Gillen does such an excellent job with these characters it's a shame they were handed over to Fraction at the end of hi short run. For starters, he does a better job than most of dealing with the fatal contradiction of the Thor series: If the Asgardians really are immortals, where does the narrative tension come from? Gillen's Dr. Doom, who ran the very real chance of falling into supervillain ridiculousness, is ominously creepy and it's easy to accept him as a formidable opponent of the Asgardians. Gillen also wins big points for not writing the latter as credulous patsies to Loki's schemes (I'm looking at you here, Fraction) and writing a Loki who's both menacing while believably gaining and losing control over the situation as the plot necessitates. For his part, Tan's art is dynamic with a vibrantly dark color scheme that suits the narrative well. To further sweeten the deal, the volume closes with "Welcome Back Thor," a mini-Marvel chapter that's riotously funny and basically justifies the cover price in its own right.