Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #1 Review-Or, How Thor’s Sister Gets Her Own Comic Book
By Roger Lee
So here we are: Thor and Loki find out they have a long-lost older sister. Her name is Angela, and she just kicked Thor’s butt (see Thor and Loki: The Tenth Realm). Upon finding out she is really an Asgardian, Angela is disgusted and takes off, vowing to continue hating Odin, Thor, and Asgard. Along the way to finding their belligerent sister, Thor and Loki inadvertently release the Tenth Realm, called Heven, from a form of exile. And then, to top it off, Thor Odinson has lost his hammer to a new, female Thor (see the Original Sin story arc and the latest issues of Thor). That more or less sums up how we get to a new comic book series featuring the aforementioned Angela. As we take a look at the first issue of Angela: Asgard’s Assassin, we will avoid the major spoiler at the end of the book, but try to provide a sense of how big this new series may become.
Angela Asgard’s Assassin #1 Credit Page
Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #1 is a first solo look at a fairly new character to the Marvel Universe (who originated in another publishers’ pantheon), who could end up having a significant impact with Marvel. Besides being the newly discovered sister of Thor and Loki (and thus the child of Odin and Freyja), she is also the link between the newly-revealed Tenth Realm of Heven and the violent and selfish Angels (no, they are NOT made of spice and everything nice) and the other realms. Oh, and, she has worked with the now-popular Guardians of the Galaxy. To say she has connections is putting it mildly!
Angela Asgard’s Assassin -Stephanie Hans Art
As this is her first issue as a solo character, this book enables us to get a look at her abilities (she is very fast and very deadly), her personality (she is very confident in herself and in her abilities to take on any foes-sounds a lot like Thor actually!), but she still has the world-view of the Angelic race that raised her. That world-view is that concepts like honor and mercy (especially as exemplified by the hated Asgardians), are meaningless and weak values. The only time a ‘favor’ should be done for someone is in exchange for money, goods, or to form an unbreakable debt. So, while Angela has the physical and combat attributes of an Asgardian of royal birth, she has none of the traditional Asgardian concepts of honor, loyalty, or mercy that makes Thor, for example, a hero and role model.
Angela Asgard’s Assassin -Skottie Young Variant
This first comic in the Angela: Asgard’s Assassin series consists of a main story and a sub-plot, with different writers and artists. The sub-plot is actually a cleverly done flashback sequence that provides some context and depth to the Heven-sent aspects of Angela’s personality, particularly in the area of how she values life, death, and the concept of debt. The main story highlights Angela’s attitude toward combat and shows off her abilities.
This is a well-written book with great art. Writers Kieron Gillen and Marguerite Bennett and artists Phil Jimenez and Stephanie Hans have created a visually interesting and well-thought out exposition as to just WHO Angela is, and what she is not. Asgardian genetically, but Angelic (Tenth Realm Heven-type Angelic) in personality and world-view. An interesting mix that promises to make this new Marvel Comics series very interesting.
Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #1 is recommended for anyone who likes and is following the current titles featuring the Odinson, Thor, and/or Loki.