A Valkyrie Calvary In War Of The Realms #2
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The heroes of Earth continue their struggle against Malekith’s forces as the War of the Realms wages onward. Calling for backup is impossible, as Roxxon, on the behalf of Dario Agger, is blocking signals around the world. Doctor Strange is having trouble conjuring a teleportation spell though, as Malekith’s war witches are controlling magical output in New York. Thankfully, backup arrives in the form of Odin and the Valkyrie, but is even that enough to stop Malekith’s army.
War of the Realms #2 shows us the pitched battle in the heart of New York. Malekith’s allies seem to be winning the conflict, but the Avengers fight onward.
Admittedly, the plot is a little lighter in this issue, and the focus is put more on the ebb and flow of the fighting. Of course, it’s also working overtime to setup some of these spin-off titles, and it gets pretty naked at times.
Brunnhilde the Valkyrie gets a fair amount of focus in this issue, something of which I’m very in favor. She gets to charge across the sky and through dark elf soldiers.
Odin gets a moment to prove he’s not completely useless anymore, which is nice too. Thor, by contrast, is strangely absent from the issue.
The final few pages do slow the pacing quite a bit. The heroes are pulled from the battle, and a lot of exposition is given (all of which definitely sets up the spin-off comics).
Russell Dauterman’s artwork continues to be both atmospheric and powerful. The abundance of fighting in this issue only really works because of Dauterman’s phenomenal artwork and Matthew Wilson’s vivid color work.
War of the Realms #2 isn’t as engaging as the opening issue, but it does have plenty of high moments and excitement spread throughout the runtime. The advertising for spin-offs is fairly galling, but Jason Aaron and Russel Dauterman ultimately succeed in giving an entertaining comic here. It’s worth a recommendation; feel free to check it out.
War of the Realms #2 comes to us from writer Jason Aaron, artist Russel Dauterman, color artist Matthew Wilson, letterer VC’s Joe Sabino, cover artist Arthur Adams with Matthew Wilson, and variant cover artists Victor Hugo, Julian Totino Tedesco, Giuseppe Camuncoli with Elia Bonetti, Javier Garron with David Curiel, David Lopez with Edgar Delgado and Mike Hawthorne.
