To End Wall Wars – War Of The Realms #6
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Thor has given up his eye to Yggdrasil and Earth’s own sun in the hopes that he may learn the means by which he can end Malekith’s War of the Realms. Unfortunately, Thor must give up one last thing: his final shard of Mjolnir. With this he rallies a coalition of Thor’s from the past, present and future, and they charge to Stonehenge to kill Malekith and save Freyja and Odin. Meanwhile, in New York, Daredevil is the final thing standing against Laufey armed with the Casket of Ancient Winters as the whole world freezes under Laufey’s wrath.
War of the Realms #6 brings the Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman-helmed Thor epic to a bloody and bombastic conclusion. We get to see the team of Thor’s reunite to end the reign of Malekith and his war.
Like the end to Infinity, this issue caps off a crossover series that struggled at times with the scope and various angles with an exciting and well-paced finale. Like Infinity, I’ll also probably remember War of the Realms most for this issue than the bad ones.
That doesn’t excuse how slow and unfocused this series was at times, but, as a singular issue, War of the Realms #6 is a hell of a ride. Seeing Thor(s) finally take it to Malekith is very cathartic, and it’s nice seeing Daredevil play a pivotal role in this as the replacement-Heimdall.
Oh, and that death that you knew couldn’t be permanent? You win a no-prize for guessing that one correctly.
Needless to say, Russell Dauterman knocks it out of the park with this finale too. His vision of Thor is iconic, and he’s the centerpiece of many epic scenes throughout the issue. The fight scenes are, appropriately, mythical, and Matthew Wilson caps it all off with a brilliant tapestry of colors.
War of the Realms #6 is a brutal yet intensely fun ending to this crossover series. Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman stuck the landing with a final issue (not counting War of the Realms: Omega) truly worthy of Thor. This one gets a recommendation for sure. Feel free to give it a read.
War of the Realms #6 comes to us from writer Jason Aaron, artist Russell Dauterman, color artist Matthew Wilson, letterer VC’s Joe Sabino, cover artist Arthur Adams with Matthew Wilson, and variant covers by Giuseppe Camuncoli with Elia Bonetti; Terry and Rachel Dodson; Victor Hugo; Mike del Mundo; Irina Nordsol; and Luke Ross with Edgar Delgado and Mike Hawthorne.
Final Score: 8.5/10
