Villordsutch reviews Ragnarok #1…
Ragnarök…the Twilight of the Gods in Norse mythology…the destruction of the Nine Worlds. And now, three hundred years later, the birth of vengeance. Walter Simonson returns to comics in a BIG way with an all-new series… and doing what he does best! My wife and my children are dead. My brothers and sisters are dead. My parents are dead. The Great Enemies still live. But I swear on the shattered bones of my kinsmen… they will not live forever. I shall become… the storm. Walter Simonson is one of the most acclaimed and respected creators in comics. He has done defining runs on Thor, Manhunter, Star Slammers, Elric, Orion and more. Now, in his first creator-owned series in 20 years, he brings his tremendous artistic arsenal to a brand new world… the twilight world of Ragnarök!
Now regular readers of my articles may have seen the words “Tubby Viking” at the bottom, and I have to inform you those two words describe me rather well. Looks and occasionally mentality too. So when the review list came up and the word “Ragnarok” burnt upon my phone screen I nearly dropped my phone as I rapidly responded to the editor’s email.
For those whomissed the preview the other day you can see it here, but finally after 20 years Walter Simonson (Thor, Star Slammers) returns to comics with his first creator-owned series and it doesn’t start off too well for the good guys as you see Armageddon finally striking and we all die. For those unaware of what Ragnarok actually is, here’s a handy Wikipedia link for you, but too give you a quick overview, there’s a huge end of the world battle and the Norse Gods (Odin, Thor etc) meet their timely end, the world floods and we all perish. The End. Technically afterwards it’s all supposed to begin again with two humans and a fertile world to sow seeds, but so far this comic isn’t following that path.
Walter Simonson has left the world barren of everything that is good; all we have left is evil and wrong. A world which is nothing more than a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and it’s in this hive we meet our protagonist, a female Dark Elf called Brynja. Brynja is not only a loving mother and wife but also a very highly skilled assassin who has been called to the nearest town for an ultimate job which will make her child immortal (so not overly evil). Gathering a band of assassins to join her for the chance to earn some gold, we soon discover what her job actual is. The Hammer chained to the door is a bit of a clue, but when we finally get to see our skeletal god chained to a throne it’s a rather shocking climax to issue one.
Ragnarok #1 is good starting issue to this series from Walter Simonson, though it feels rather step-by-step on occasion. I still enjoyed the uncomplicated aspect of an opening issue that laid out a limited amount of characters so I could enjoy the speed and payoff; though I do hope that in future issues we do see more of an increase in character development, otherwise the unchallenging nature of Ragnarok could become rather dull. Walter is also behind the artwork which I enjoyed a lot – the Citadel and the Chained God are especially brilliant – and the colours from Laura Martin bring a very bleak and forsaken tone to this comic.
If you’re a fan of your D&D comics or your fantasy in general, you’d do well picking Ragnarok up, as this could be the beginning of something rather great.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published July 23, 2014. Updated November 7, 2019.
