HAMMERS OF THE GODS

Junior versions of Thor, Sif, and Loki set out for the land of the Dwarves, with a young bard and a battle kitten in attendance.

With references to Xemnu from the Magic Planet to further cement its connection to the Marvel Universe, this series kickoff assembles a cast of juvenile Norse godlets and hangers-on to, mostly, get each other into and out of jams after the vainglorious god of thunder decides that the only way to impress his one-eyed dad is to snatch a mysterious artifact from the Dwarves. So it’s off to Nidavellir for mighty battles with titanic robots and dwarf lord Brokkr Warcrafter (wielding a magic hammer called, imaginatively, Hammr). Meanwhile, as Thor literally fulminates when he doesn’t get his way, and Sif fumes at being rewarded for her years of martial training by being assigned as his minder, shape-shifting trickster Loki makes suspiciously friendly overtures to Thor’s sidekick, self-described “Bard of Bards,” Fandral. Even though the chapter heads come with cues, it’s hard to keep the multiple narrators distinct, except perhaps Wygul, Sif’s new feline companion who chimes in at the close. The gags, too, come off as perfunctory, and the story, which is framed in short chapters festooned with frenetic scenes of outsized monsters and costumed kids in stylized postures, barely gets underway before cutting off abruptly. Most characters are drawn with light skin other than Heimdall, Bifrost’s gatekeeper.

Thin sauce over a half-baked side dish.