The Complete Thor

[Starbreaker]

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.

 

[Turtletrekker]

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.

 

[Agenda]

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.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

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

 

[Skellington]

^ 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.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

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.

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.

 

[Hound of UIster]

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.

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

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.

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.

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

 

[Starbreaker]

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.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

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.

 

[Starbreaker]

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.

 

[Greg Cox]

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.)

 

[Forbin]

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.

My brother! Simonson rocked it.
And I loved the way he drew the Enchantress as Debbie Harry.

 

[Mike Farley]

and currently Kieron Gillen

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

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.

 

[Trevacious]

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

 

[Skellington]

and currently Kieron Gillen

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

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

Gillen is writing Iron Man.

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