Thor #4, written by Donny Cates, with art by Nic Klein, and colors by Matt Wilson, continues the oddly-paced adventures of Thor: Herald of Galactus. Previously, the newly-crowned All-Father Thor had the monotony of his position broken by Galactus falling out of the sky, and asking for his help against the Black Winter. This “star plague” works its way through universes, destroying everything in its path, and the only thing that has any hope of stopping it is Galactus. But only if he can find three specific planets containing a special, exotic energy...and consume them. Thor agreed to act as his new herald, being gifted with the power cosmic, to seek out the planets for him, if only to make sure that any life on these planets would be spared before he consumed them. The first stop didn’t go well, and the thunder god and Galactus immediately came to blows. Things got even more complicated when Thor’s old friend Beta Ray Bill showed up, disappointed and enraged by his “brother’s” willingness to work for the world devourer. They, too, began to fight, and Bill’s hammer Stormbreaker was destroyed in the battle. Finally, Sif, newly appointed as the guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, intervened and forced Thor to stand down. Now, Thor must reevaluate his new mission, and decide if he will go on.

At the heart of this story, Cates really has a great, and truly original, idea. The thought of Thor being supercharged with the power cosmic, and begrudgingly leading Galactus to devour planets to save the universe, is a mind-bending concept that could lead to tons of great twists and turns, and character-altering incidents. Unfortunately, so far, he doesn’t seem to be providing much story past the initial hook. The pacing, which is all over the place, seems to be the biggest symptom of the larger problem. The first three issues consisted of Thor accepting the mission, and then being surprised that Galactus didn’t really care to stick exactly to their deal, plus the interruption by Beta Ray Bill, because who doesn’t love that guy. Then, the fourth issue speeds up past all the other planets being found, and lands on a moment that should be absolutely character-breaking for Thor, but comes across more as “ugh, I really don’t like that you made me do this, but we’ll deal with it another time”. Of course, Cates is a skilled writer, and he loves to deconstruct, so he could have some unexpected complications coming that will bring it all together in the end, but only time will tell.

As mentioned above, Thor just can’t seem to stop being surprised by how much Galactus doesn’t care about the lives of the people living on the planets he consumes. It’s just shocking how naive Thor is throughout this story. He may typically be an “attack first, and ask questions later” kind of guy, but he’s also a seasoned veteran of war, and has had a few run-ins with Galactus. He knows this guy’s M.O., and Galactus even keeps telling him he doesn’t care about anything but eating the planets in time to save the universe from the Black Winter. Of course, you’re going to have to keep saving these people despite Galactus. There should be zero surprise there, and it just comes across as underdeveloped writing.

Klein’s non-flashy art, along with Wilson’s muted colors, are somewhat unconventional for this type of “cosmic” story, but they seem to work to make it feel more grounded than it would be in other hands. For every moment that Galactus appears to eat a planet, there is a sense of doom and horror that this team carries out better than most. These are scenes that have played out countless times in Marvel comics, but it’s never quite been so weighted as it is here. They get major points for bringing something new to this old Marvel concept, so here’s hoping they stick around to keep surprising the readers.

Overall, it’s too early to tell if this story is really working yet. It started as one thing and seems to be evolving into something else, resulting in somewhat confusing pacing. In the long run, that could be a good thing. Right now, it just seems sloppy or uneven, at best. Cates, over his time at Marvel, has earned enough goodwill with the readers to keep them around a little longer, though. Just how long, nobody knows.

Grade: B+