Thor is the All-Father of Asgard, and everything else happening in the best new comics

It took not one, not two, but four Thors to bring the War of the Realms to a close this past week. When the dust settled, the Dark Elf Malekith had been eaten by his own war dogs, Thor was All-Father of Asgard, Loki was alive, and Jane Foster was well on her way to becoming Valkyrie.

But that’s not the only thing that happened in comics last week.

Welcome to a new Polygon experiment: part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art,” part society pages recap of superhero lives. This is Monday Funnies (working title), where I share the comics I enjoyed this week.

There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. Let’s start the whirlwind tour!

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War of the Realms #6

Four Thors! Four Thors! Four Thors!

Thor #14

Jason Aaron, Scott Hepburn/Marvel Comics

Thor #14, a War of the Realms tie-in issue, gave us a bit more background on how exactly we got those four Thors, by zeroing in on the experience of the young and unworthy Odinson and his trip through time to the War of the Realms.

Avengers #20

Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness/Marvel Comics

Enough Thor. Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, was recently imbued with a bunch of Celestial energy, and it’s supersized her transformations. In this issue Jason Aaron and his collaborators examine the upside Jennifer has found in not being seen as a sex object anymore. It’s a take I’m glad to see, but I can’t help wondering if it’d be stronger if it was coming from a female creator.

Marilyn Manor #1

The latest from Magdalene Visaggio (Eternity Girl) and Marley Zarcone (Shade, The Changing Girl) is Marilyn Manor, about an alternate 1980s in which the president’s hard-rocking daughter decides to throw a rager in the White House. In the first issue alone, there’s the discovery of a sex dungeon, ghosts, and a lavishly costumed dream sequence. Fans of Visaggio’s work and Shade, the Changing Girl should definitely pay attention.

Space Boy, Vol. 4

Stephen McCranie/Dark Horse Comics

I ... love Space Boy? It’s just a beautifully drawn, atmospheric high school mystery story about a girl from space and a boy who may — or may not — be from space. I read every collection.

Wonder Woman #73

Steve Orlando, Aaron Lopresti/DC Comics

Last week’s Wonder Woman was a nice little one-shot story bringing back a classic villain, with great writing from Steve Orlando and art from Aaron Lopresti.

Action Comics #1012

Brian Michael Bendis, Szymon Kudranski/DC Comics

One of the quietest subplots of the recent Action Comics run is that the Daily Planet’s gossip columnist has a paparazzi photo of Clark Kent’s wife, Lois Lane, kissing Superman, and I can’t wait for the moment when it becomes a main plot.

Martian Manhunter #6

Steve Orlando, Riley Rossmo/DC Comics

The first issue of Martian Manhunter showed us martian sex, and now: MARTIAN BIRTH.

Dial H for Hero #4

Dial H for Hero is the kind of series where no single page can do it justice. Its characters are all scrambling over a telephone that can turn a person into a never before seen superhero for exactly one hour. Which is to say, there’s at least one brand new character in every issue — usually more.

Sam Humphries’ creativity here is rivaled only by Joe Quinones’ ability to put it on the page in an endless morphing of styles. Seen here, pitch perfect send-ups of Sin City, Moebius, and ... Captain Underpants?????

Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham #1

Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Jason Latour/Marvel Comics

Overall I was not super into this issue, but the story written by the writers of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is good. It’s about Spider-Ham and Howard the Duck contemplating the endless churn of being too weird to ever be main characters but also too weird to ever stop getting cameos and references in comics.

Wolverine: Exit Wounds #1

Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca/Marvel Comics

Also not a great anthology issue, but deserves mention for a story from Chris Claremont that’s all about how Wolverine makes a damn good ramen.

Fantastic Four #11

Dan Slott, Paco Medina, Kevin Libranda, Paolo Villanelli, Juanan Ramírez/Marvel Comics

The Fantastic Four have a pickup truck called the Fantastic 4x4 and that is ALL I NEED TO SAY to justify this issue’s inclusion here.

Thanos #3

Tini Howard, Ariel Olivetti/Marvel Comics

You’d think a story about Gamora’s childhood with Thanos would be grim as heck, and it is, but Tini Howard keeps it compelling.

Runaways #22

Rainbow Rowell, Andrés Genolet/Marvel Comics

Runaways is! Good!

Black Panther #13

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Acuña/Marvel Comics

I want to find the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda arc of Black Panther more compelling than I do, but now that the series has finally made contact with Earth again, I’m hoping it starts to hook me again.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8

Tom Taylor, Ken Lashley/Marvel Comics

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is sweet, it’s low-stakes, it’s a gift every month.