War of the Realms: Omega #1 is not so much a full epilogue story to the “War of the Realms” event as a tasting menu for the various spinoffs that come after it. Kudos to Marvel for putting these in their own comic instead of stepping on Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, and Matthew Wilson’s literal thunder as they hit the high point of Aaron’s Thor epic. With one last omniscient conversation between Daredevil and Heimdall as a framing narrative, Omega #1 tells the story of Jane Foster, Loki, and Punisher while setting up Jane Foster Valkyrie #1, Loki #1, and Punisher Kill Krew #1.

Even if it’s mostly just a conversation between Daredevil and Heimdall, the framing narrative of Omega #1 is a fantastic conclusion to Daredevil’s struggles with godhood that Jason Aaron penned in War Scrolls. It’s also reunion of one of my favorite recent Daredevil art teams of Ron Garney and Matt Milla, who transform the look of their framing narrative from fantasy to street level as Daredevil goes from talking about gods, prayers, and Valhalla to stopping a mugger with the help of some Yggdrasil forged fighting sticks. Aaron also brings up some interesting ideas like Daredevil’s guilt about his own faith and beliefs making him a good God of Fear that protected Midgard in their direst need. It connects to his recent writing of Thor that the best god isn’t one that fights for the mantle, but acknowledges the responsibility that is thrust upon him.

The first story in Omega #1 features Jane Foster and the Valkyries in a morgue where she hopes to help find them some peace and is written by Aaron and Al Ewing with art from Cafu and Jesus Aburtov. Jane interacts with Lisa, who used to date the superhero America Chavez, and they both can empathize on what it’s like to be connected to someone with so much power and be ordinary. It’s a nice human interaction before a beautiful transformation sequence where Jane takes on the responsibility of reopening Valhalla and finding rest for the Asgardians. Cafu’s art is clean and photorealistic, but not too stiff while Aburtov’s colors are bright, glossy, but a little sad. Jane played a major role in “War of the Realms”, and it’ll be nice to see her as headliner for a little bit in her own series that looks to continue to play on Aaron’s themes of faith and belief that he has explored throughout his Thor comics.

On the more mischievous side, there is a story starring Loki and his undersized Frost Giant buddy Drrf from Daniel Kibblesmith, Oscar Bazaldua, and David Curiel. As evidenced by his work on Valiant High, Lockjaw, and Deadpool vs. Black Panther, Kibblesmith excels at combining comics continuity with funny and genuinely heartfelt moments. And there are a few of those in this short story as Loki takes a young Frost Giant under his wing after he spots the little guy using a stew pot lid as a sled. Bazaldua’s cartoon-y style visuals are a good fit for this book and capture Loki’s every smirk and glint of mischief in his eye. He earned the role of king of Frost Giants by killing his father, but it will be difficult to keep the respect of this murderous and cannibalistic realm. However, adding Drrf to the equation keeps the tone of the story light and not super serious in a Game of Thrones kind of way.

The final Omega #1 short story is a Punisher one, from Gerry Duggan and the fantastic Juan Ferreyra that shows that the War of the Realms never really ended for one person: Frank Castle. Castle is barbecuing stray Helhounds with a flamethrower, breaking up Asgardian revelry with semi-automatic gun fire, and making sure the inhabitants of Midgard don’t loot in the post-War chaos. His mission of vengeance towards criminals has expanded from mortals to fantasy beings thanks to the losses suffered by the people, and especially the children of New York, during the War. However, the real star of the Punisher story isn’t the brooding revenge or monster becomes monster hunter narrative book, but Ferreyra’s art, which he colors himself and has a Steve Dillon meets Heavy Metal vibe. The combination of melodramatic dialogue and captions and over the top violence is a winner.

War of the Realms Omega #1 accomplished what it set out do, which is to pique my interest in the upcoming Jane Foster, Loki, and Punisher comic book series that are spinning out of the event. The artists for these books are especially well-cast, and Cafu’s beautiful take on Jane Foster’s transformation from mortal to Valkyrie was the highlight of this entire one-shot. Also, Juan Ferreyra is such an underrated artist, and I’m excited to see his take on creative fantasy monster executions.

Story: Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, Daniel Kibblesmith, Gerry Duggan
 Art: Ron Garney, Cafu, Oscar Bazaldua, Juan Ferreyra
 Colors: Matt Milla, Jesus Aburtov, David Curiel
Letters: Joe Sabino, Clayton Cowles, Cory Petit
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review