Thor (2018-) #9

Marvel Comics

Writer: Jason Aaron

Artist: Mike Del Mundo

Jason Aaron’s road to the War of the Realms takes us on a brief visit to a new member of the Agents of Wakanda – Roz Solomon!

Roz has had an interesting journey in the pages of Aaron’s books. She started off as an environmentalist in the ranks of SHIELD and love interest of Thor. After that, she replaced Jane Foster as Midgard’s representative in the Congress of Worlds. Finally, when T’Challa became the new chairman of the Avengers and started a new support network for the team, Roz joined that same network as a covert agent. She was given some really high-tech equipment, including a gun that fires vibranium bullets. Not a small honour, seeing that in Wakanda, they never joke about vibranium.

The Ups

Roz has been a really cool character, so it’s great to have an entire issue dedicated to her and see what she’s been up to. Her interactions (however brief they may be) with Dario Agger and Thor, two characters that, in one way or another, she has considerable history with, are really cool and interesting. Especially the one with Thor, as we get to see just what a badass she’s become.

After getting some backstory on Roz joining the Agents of Wakanda, we get a chance to see her on duty. And damn is it awesome. She gets to take on some really scary and menacing members of Malekith’s army, and ultimately besting them using her incredible wits. It is only here that we see the titular hero, reduced to a mere cameo appearance in his own books. It might seem weird, but Aaron uses him really well in the context of this issue and nicely conveys the point he’s trying to make – Roz Solomon is a badass.

For most parts, Mike Del Mundo’s art is really nice. While I’m not a huge fan of his “painted” style, there are parts and moments where it works wonderfully. It really shines when he gets to use vibrant and bright colours. 

The Downs

Despite some cool character moments and a really clever battle that spans almost half of the book, it does start off kinda slow and dull. The first couple of pages contain huge chunks of dialogue dedicated to giving us some context. Aaron decided to cram a lot of info in the issue which is okay, but it also messes up the pace and makes the book feel a bit sluggish.

As mentioned earlier, Mike Del Mundo’s art shines with the use of some vibrant and bright colouring. The darker and pages, though? Not so good. Roz’s dialogue with Dario looks nowhere as good as the visit to the Lut desert, for example. But let’s be real, I’m just being picky.

Verdict

Despite the titular hero being reduced to a cameo in his own book, the issue is a great one overall. It fits nicely in the larger narrative that Aaron’s been building up for almost 6 years now and gives a supporting character a chance to shine. And shine she does.