The Complete Thor

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Starbreaker, Jun 25, 2011.

  1. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I've decided I'm going to do something crazy. I'm going to read every Thor story from 1962's Thor the Mighty and "The Stone Men From Saturn" in Journey into Mystery #83 all the way to 2011's Astonishing Thor and beyond. I think I've found a pretty good chronology of all the mainstream continuity appearances, and I plan to just go to town on reading as much as I can.

    I didn't really have any experience reading Thor stories except for a random crossover here and there, but the movie really piqued my interest in the character, and I spent some time at the library reading some Tales of Asgard, and I'm hooked.

    Any particular exciting issues I should keep an eye out for? I'll be doing some periodic reviews on here to keep you updated on my progress.
     
  2. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    Wow. Good luck with that. Do you have access to the whole run?

    The Walter Simonson Thor is, IMHO, the best of the entire run.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2011
  3. Agenda

    Agenda Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I tried doing this. It didn't work too well. Thor is inconsistent throughout its run. It starts out sucking for a bit. It all of a sudden becomes iconic during the Kirby/Lee years. Then it goes back to sucking for the most part (not totally of course, there are always exceptional issues). You basically have to wait until Walter Simonson for it to get really good again - as good as Thor has ever been, imo. After that, the Tom DeFalco era was entertaining as a kid, but not on the same level as Simonson. After that, almost all Marvel comics went through a period of sheer unreadability (it was the late 90s after all). I didn't read the new JMS stuff.
     
  4. TheMasterOfOrion

    TheMasterOfOrion Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Best runs
    The JMS trilogy (Babylon's J. Michael Straczynski)

    Walt Simonson's run with Hela, Midgard Serpent and Beta Ray Bill

    The Ultimates I and II run....an Alternative Mark Millar universe timeline featuring the Avengers

    Thor fights the Surfer and Mangog...Essential Stan Lee and Jack Kirby stories

    and currently Kieron Gillen

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NowlAbyOvEI
     
  5. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    ^ I second the Kieron Gillen comment; the current God Butcher arc is absolutely bitchin'.

    Tom DeFalco's Thor was a guilty pleasure way back when; pseudo-sixties superhero antics that bucked the trend of the more "mature" zeitgeist.

    I also have to recommend Warren Ellis' 4-issue run from (I think) issues 496 to 499, which kind of reinvented Thor as a mythic yet vulnerable figure. Was actually a bit disappointed when the series reverted to a more generic superheroey feel.
     
  6. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    That's an odd little run. I've wondered if Ellis was supposed to do more than those four issues and then bailed on the series when Marvel mandated an Avengers crossover and the lead-up to Heroes Reborn within six months of Ellis' first issue. (Which I think was #493.) The reason I call "Worldengine" odd is that at the end of the third part the story seems to be heading in one direction, but then Ellis wraps a lot of things up in a hamfisted manner in the fourth part, then William Messner-Loebs set up a new status quo where Thor and the Enchantress are supernatural investigators.
     
  7. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The original Lee and Kirby run
    Walt Simonson's run.
    The first half of Dan Jurgen's run
    JMS's run

    I thought it was just a standalone fill-in arc by Warren Ellis. Kinda like his brief run on Thunderbolts, but much shorter.
     
  8. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Oh.. blast from the past. I've actually read a lot of the early Journey into Mystery comics up to this point. I've also been keeping up with the Marvel NOW issues. Thanks for the suggestions.
     
  9. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    Are you sticking with only the Thor titles, or reading The Avengers as well?

    Either way, as Turtletrekkersaid, good luck. That's a lotta reading.

    Were there any graphic novel only Thor stories? I have The Ballad Of Beta Ray Bill around somewhere, but I think that was a reprint from the comics.
     
  10. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I've been reading some Avengers titles as well. I got really caught up in AvX, so that was what I was mostly reading over the past couple of months.
     
  11. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I have no idea how well it holds up after all these years, but it was Stan Lee's original "Infinity" saga (along with the first Kree-Skrull War) that originally hooked me on Marvel Comics.

    (Not to be confused with all the stuff with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet decades later. This was a twelve-part storyline back around 1970-1971 that had Thor battling a mysterious entity known only as "Infinity." I ate it up when I was in junior high.)
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2012
  12. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    I said out, dammit!
    My brother! Simonson rocked it.
    And I loved the way he drew the Enchantress as Debbie Harry. :)
     
  13. Mike Farley

    Mike Farley Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Gillen is not the current writer on Thor. Jason Aaron is.

    Gillen is writing Iron Man.

    Simonson's run is the gold standard.

    I liked Dan Jurgens on the book as well.

    Kieron Gillen wrote a great Kid Loki tale in the recently ended Journey into Mystery.
     
  14. Trevacious

    Trevacious Captain Captain

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    Good recommends already, I just wanted to put a word in for the Thomas / Gruenwald / Buscema / Pollard run from 272-301.
     
  15. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    D'Oh! Yes, you're right. Both are good, though.