After his fated death by the hands of Loki, The Mighty Thor becomes the Unmighty Not-Thor in The Mortal Thor #1.

Following the conclusion of The Immortal Thor, the God of Thunder has apparently been reborn as Sigurd Jarlson, a Norwegian tradesman suffering from amnesia in New York City. With no substantial memory of who he is prior to his time in the Big Apple, he quickly finds himself targeted by the Roxxon Corporation for refusing to work as a union scab, and this will —unbeknownst to him— serve as the start to his path towards potentially reclaiming his forgotten godhood. You can take the immortal out of Thor, but even as The Mortal Thor, his bones are heroic.

Described by writer Al Ewing as the second act of his ongoing Thor saga, The Mortal Thor #1 would be easily mistaken as a creator-owned original story outside of a cursory mention of Beta Ray Bill, as there is very little indicating this is a Marvel comic you’re reading. And that’s a compliment! He is, after all, not a concept exclusive to the house that Jack and Stan built, and anyone could tell a Thor story if they wanted. But with the dramatic irony we possess going into this series, we know which character we’re following and what exciting new avenues he could go down at this stage in Ewing’s overall arc. It’s not a completely new status quo for the character, obviously; he did start his publication history as the amnesiac Donald Blake. But the approach here is what’s notable.

Ewing, in my opinion, is a master at his craft who I’m not even sure is at his peak powers yet, so every new series launch from him is full of potential. (He’s even managing to make Mary Jane Venom work, which is nothing short of admirable.) If anyone has earned the right to be let cook, it’s him. But the whole team is delivering great work, with Pasqual Ferry’s scratchy, scraggly art fitting the story and Matt Hollingsworth’s expectedly great colors making every page look vibrant. Even the lettering by VC’s Joe Sabino is worth pointing out, and that job is often a thankless task that at best goes unnoticed. While you would obviously get more out of this first chapter if you’ve been following along since the beginning, The Mortal Thor #1 is a (pun unintended) worthy middle part that also serves as an unusually decent entry point.