Al Ewing wants Immortal Thor to surpass his epic run on Immortal Hulk

This August, writer Al Ewing will take the reins on Marvel Comics’ god of thunder with Immortal Thor #1. The series is a must-have for fans Immortal HulkThat title instantly raises eyebrows. Ewing’s HulkThis comic book ran 50 issues of riveting horror and smashing stories, culminating in a tale where Hulk went through Hell to get God to answer why things go wrong.

Naming an Al Ewing project “immortal” is no subtle thing. Speaking to Polygon via email, Ewing said the book’s title is his version of throwing down a gauntlet. If Ewing has his say, Immortal Thor won’t just equal Immortal HulkIt will be surpassed.

“Putting [Immortal] on a book I’m writing is a promise to the reader, and to myself,” Ewing wrote. “I was the one who pitched the title — not editorial, not anyone else — and it was basically a self-challenge. Can I publish a similar book again? Will I be able to do it better? If I don’t try I will just lay down on the ground and the grass will grow in my place.

“I want to take another swing at that ball, and this time, I don’t just want to knock it into the outfield, I want to hit it right out of the park and stroll calmly around the bases. I want to write something that goes as far and as hard and as powerful as the other book did, to give a similar experience to the people who supported that book and supported me through it and took something deep out of it, but with the benefit of experience.”

“In Norse myths, they called him Thunderer,” says Marvel Comics’ official solicit for Immortal Hulk #1. “Vuer has he been called, and Hloriddi. The Gods know him as Asgard’s King, keeper of Mjolnir, hero of the tales. When injustice grips the Earth and ancient powers bring down the sky, he fights for those who cannot — and when the tale is done, we will know what that cost him. This is the story of THE IMMORTAL THOR.”

“Doors are indeed opening,” Ewing wrote, when we asked if he could share anything about the story of Immortal Thor that didn’t make it into the solicit, “buried secrets are waiting to be unearthed, and ancient gods — elder gods, if you will — are coming to bring trial and sorrow to Earth, Asgard and Thor personally, and he’s going to need to be his absolute highest self to face them. Even then, Thor might not survive. These omens have a sinister tone. The storm is at the gate.”

Ewing is trying to get his readers to understand that Immortal ThorThis book is akin to Immortal HulkThe song is in Thor’s key.

“Hulk was horror and tragedy,” he told Polygon, “but Thor tacks more toward fantasy and hope. Bruce Banner is fractured by his origin, going through a hell of his own making to gain the power of a monster — Don Blake becomes the person he truly is inside, and in so doing, gains the power of a god. An unconventional god. Long hair in the early ’60s was more of a flex than we might credit, though I do remember Jane fantasizing about giving him a haircut.) To put my biblical hat back on for a second — if IMMORTAL HULK was the Old Testament, IMMORTAL THOR is the New Testament.”

Picture: Alex Ross/Marvel Comics

The same as Immortal Hulk’s Hulk-sized length, Ewing says he already has a “rough map” to Immortal ThorHe hopes that the series will continue even longer. He is is joined on the book by artist Martín Cóccolo (DeadpoolMatt Wilson, who is a designer of interiors (ThorJust as with colors, you can use a ). The same as Immortal hulkLegendary painter Alex Ross is providing the cover artwork for every issue. Ross consulted on Thor’s costume design for the series — “a new take on ‘Kirby Classic,’” as Ewing put it.

“Alex really wanted to connect with the energy of Jack Kirby’s original design,” Cóccolo told Polygon via email, “and he also thought that revisiting Kirby’s costume was fitting with the concept of Immortal Thor.” The artist couldn’t say much about what he’d been working on without spoilers, simply saying that he was enjoying turning the pages on Ewing’s script without knowing what would happen next, to “let Al cook.” He wanted to assure readers that he was “making Al’s story as beautiful and as powerful as I possibly can.”

The Readers Look Forward to Immortal Thor will want to pick up Marvel’s Thor AnnualFirst issue, on stands July 5, 2009. The issue #1 will include a story to bridge the gap between the current and the future. Thor series — written by Torunn Grønbekk (Mighty ValkyriesJuan Gedeon, a well-known artist (Jurassic League) — to Immortal Thor’s starting point. Ewing said that it is easy for new readers to understand. Immortal ThorStart reading at #1.

“Thor has risen to the role of All-Father of Asgard,” Ewing told Polygon, “so in addition to his own power, he now has the Odin-Power of his father, which he’s learning his way around. (Odin had a lot of time to practice, and the “Thor-Force” has its own rules that Thor’s learning.) In recent times, he questioned his worthiness for the role, and the role of God of Thunder, and that made for some amazing stories — but those stories have been told, and we’re telling a new one from where they ended. Thor is holding the hammer. Thor is the King. Now we see how the King of the Gods responds to king-size challenges.”

Immortal ThorOn August 23, #1 will arrive on shelves.