Earth is at war, besieged by an army of Frost Giants, Trolls and Fire Goblins – and the mighty Thor is nowhere to be found! But could it be that the key to turning the tide is…Thor’s baby sister? Journey into Mystery with Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Wonder Man, and Balder the Brave as they go on an epic quest to save Earth’s only hope! (And, yes, deal with diaper duty.)

Marvel‘s War of the Realms is an event that Marvel hasn’t done in some time. It’s an almost line-wide event with numerous spin-offs. With just the first issue of the main series out, it’s hard to know how important those spin-offs will be and how much they’ll add to the enjoyment of the experience.

Written by The McElroys, War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #1 is the first miniseries to launch focused on a team whose job is to protect Thor’s baby sister.

With Balder acting as the center of the adventuring team the first issue feels like an off the rails Dungeons & Dragons adventure as he and his party must get the baby and dodge the bad guys. The issue is the gathering of heroes, with little explanation of how they’ve been found and a long pursuit by a death truck.

The interaction of the characters are key as there’s some solid humor to it all but the issue overall just feels neither good nor bad. It just is. It’s a modern setting for a roleplaying game adventure with fantasy settings and there’s some potential, especially the reveal at the end. Overall, the story is just rather average. A lot is packed in with not a whole lot explained.

The art is decent. Andre Lima Araujo, with color by Chris O’Halloran and lettering by Clayton Cowles delivers the action with some decent designs. The fantasy in a modern world look works and works well, especially the “death truck” pursuing the heroes. The characters all look good. But, like the story itself, there’s some tonal issues with the images. At times going for a more humorous style and at other points a more serious fantasy tone. Some page layouts stand out but overall, like the story, the art is also so-so.

The issue is an ok one. It tells one slice of the bigger story and time will tell how important that slice is. In the end, that may be the judge of the worth of the series. But, so far, this is a spin-off you might want to save your money.

Story: Clint McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy
Art: Andre Lima Araujo Color: Chris O’Halloran Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review