The Mighty Thor #20

   Now that's what Marvel needed: another Thor.

   It was inevitable, I suppose, since they had an extra magic hammer laying around.

   In the recent Unworthy Thor mini-series (which starred the real Thor), the Odinson (you know, Thor) discovers the hammer of the Ultimate Thor, which somehow survived the Secret War (although the Ultimate Thor did not).

   You might expect Odinson to take up that hammer - or perhaps the Mighty Thor (Jane Foster) to take it and return Mjolnir to its previous owner.

   But that would all be too predictable, so instead we have a new figure claiming the massive new hammer (for reasons that are terribly tragic and out of character) - but at least we know who he is up front, so there's no secret identity to wrestle with.

   I understand the urge to duplicate popular characters - the fans love them, so let's give them more of the same.

   But it's also possible to have too much of a good thing, as the Superman titles of the '60s and the modern-day Spider-Man Family of spinoffs clearly indicates. But as those earlier efforts show, too much duplication waters down the original - and in this series, the real Thor is just a shadow of his former self.

   Here's hoping this new Thor has a brief run.

Grade: B

---------------