Customer Reviews

Avengers Disassembled: Thor

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The mighty Thor, as a Marvel Comics character, has a 40-plus year old history. Such an icon should be treated with espect, even when sagging sales justify the cancellation of his monthly book.

A crass way to capitalize on such a cancellation would have been to produce a "let's kill the entire cast!" plot for the final issues, the way it's been done repeatedly in the past. That is, it would have been crass were we not talking about the Norse gods, whose entire life is overshadowed by the inevitability of their eventual doom during Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. Because of that aspect, ending the series with the destruction of the gods' world actually makes sense.

The problem with Ragnarok, however, is that's it's been done to death during the book's long career. What would make this one different from the ones that preceded it, be they prophetic visions, fake ones, near-calls or genuine but not quite final?

Oeming pulls it off successfully in this collection. This book does not have quite the originality of the Kirby or Simonson runs, it manages to tell a moving story of Asgard's fall and pay homage to the 40 years of history that it puts an end to. It manages to make sense of the recurring Ragnarok events; it ties many loose ends we often didn't realize existed; it uses most of the cast with respect (albeit sparsely, as events happen rather fast). The ending is also quite amazing, unexpected, and entirely appropriate.

Never has the mystic hammer Mjolnir been depicted as such a powerful weapon (its forging caused the extinction of the dinosaurs) and never has Thor had to face such terrible choices. He manages to pull through as a tragic and heroic figure, and his passing into history is worthy of his legend.

The only problem I see with this story is that it's practically impossible to follow up. Marvel is bound to use the character again at some later date, and that will cheapen this excellent tale of Asgard's last days. But don't let that keep you from enjoying it today!

With Brian Michael Bendis disassembling the Avengers, his Powers partner, artist Michael Avon Oeming, was given the duty of writing the final (for now anyway) storyarc for the Mighty Thor. Collecting the Ragnarok storyarc, this TPB finds Thor's home of Asgard in ruins, his sibling Gods dead and dying, and even his hammer Mjolnir has been shattered. The thunder god is pushed to his limits to save his world, even if that means he must be the architect of it's destruction to do so. Thor hasn't been this good a read in years, no lie. Not since Walter Simonsin's legendary run have I felt so compelled reading a Thor book, if (when) the book gets relaunched, I pray that Michael Avon Oeming is at the helm scripting it. The art by Andrea Divito is plain old beautiful, giving Thor a "don't mess with me" look like he's never had. It's sad, compelling, and surprisingly full of emotion. This is the best Thor has been since Simonsin, and this is an absolute must have for any and every Thor fan.

Wow, this book has it all, Pretty close to every character that's appeared in Thor's 40 plus years of service to the comic book community, the biggest battle Thor has ever faced (and if you've read much Thor you know thats saying ALOT) and of course Ragnarok, the untimely end of an immortal race.

Di vito's art is some of the finest I've seen in years, and Oeming should stick to writing, instead of penciling (and that is in no way a dig on his art, but an incredible compliment to his writting ability)

if you are a Thor fan this is a must read, if you are an Avenger's fan this is a must read (and I think you'll be a Thor fan afterward) and if you're just a comic fan in general it's... you guessed it, a must read (and again I believe you will be a Thor fan afterward)

Having collected the most current 300 or so isssues of Thor I can say withot a doubt this is the finest Thor story arc I've ever read.

If you've ever wanted to indtroduce anyone who's a mythology fan to comics, or Thor in particular this is the one and only way to go.

First off, I will note that Walt Simonson strongly denies ever telling anyone that he hated this story arc and also states that he has yet to read it. You can read his statement here:

http://www.comicboards.com/thor/view.php?rpl=050628234211&q

As for the book, it is a powerful story with great characterizations that will make a Thor fan proud. In the beginning, the dialogue was a bit weak, but it improves towards the end of the story. I recommend it strongly.

I spent quite a bit of time searching for this trade paperback, and for the most part it paid off. AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED: THOR sold out very quickly and is currently out of print, but there's no good reason for Marvel to keep this off the shelves. It's a worthwhile addition to the Thor mythos. Collecting Thor #80 - 85, it features the arrival of Ragnarok, the "twilight of the gods", but but who will REALLY be responsible for the destruction of Asgard? Loki has stolen the Dwarves' Mjolnir mold and uses its residual power to create new weapons with which he and his monstrous forces will control Asgard. Thor and his many allies (god, human, and alien) fight to save the Realm Eternal, with the deaths of familiar faces left and right. A series of trials reveals to Thor that in order to truly save Asgard, he must do the unthinkable.

I REALLY liked this story - wow! As I am a big fan of "final takes" on comic characters (such as The Last Avengers Story, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, etc.), this provided an excellent cap to the story of Thor begun more than 40 years ago in Journey Into Mystery. Mind you, writer Michael Avon Oeming provides an out of sorts, but this book can certainly be read as the last Thor story. Oeming gives Thor's connection to Donald Blake, as well as the story of Asgard, an interesting twist, showing us that the foundations of what we've been reading for decades was not necessarily all it seemed to be - but it does stay true to the character. This is an epic saga, with all the stops pulled out. Unfortunately, the art doesn't complement the story. Andrea DeVito contributes some very lackluster, amateurish work, relying too much on hi-tech coloring and special effects to spruce it up. What makes it worse is that Steve Epting provides some absolutely beautiful covers, providing us with a tease of what could have been. If only Epting had illustrated the whole thing! I would think that with a major story like this, Marvel would have used a better artist. So I give it 4 stars only because I can't give it 4 and a half. In the grand scheme of things, this book is certainly worth the hassle to find.

Wow! I didn't know mainstream comics could get so deep and literary. The writer pulls out all the stops and has Thor attacking the very Norse universe. At first, when i saw the Thor disassembled label, I thought it would be some cheap tie in to the Avengers disassembled work (which is also great by the way) like Captain America Disassembled (My favorite character but not the best book). It is not. It is the end of all things for the Thor storyline, at least for that point in time before the revamp. Even if you have never read a Thor comic, it doesn't matter, there's all the background info you need provided in flashbacks. Captain America, Iron Man and Beta Ray Bill all make appearances and not just cheap cameos either. If just this collection of stories were put to film as is, it would certainly garner Academy Awards left and right. I've always liked the Norse Mythology better than Greek and Roman Mythology because, well, the gods are not immortal. They can and are fated to die in the Norse Apocalype: Ragnarok which is what is happening in this very well drawn, well written and brilliantly conceived masterpiece. Consider the beginning. Thor's hammer is cracked and his enemies have weapons forged by the same mold that created his (until now) invincible hammer. Most of his family is dead or dying, missing limbs and on the run. From then on, the action doesn't let up and Thor's character progresses in such deep and mystic ways, that it is obvious that the writers felt that this was perhaps, the last Thor comic that may ever be and they wanted to end it right. This is what, in my humble opinion, they have done to great achievement.

I don't think I've ever read anything by Michael Avon Oeming before and after doing so, I'm still not sure what to think. The first of this book was mind blowing fight after jaw dropping fight, all drawn amazingly by Andrea DiVito. However, the last half, especially the final chapter, was so metaphysically confusing that I don't know what happened except I'm sure it was all undone by later writers. Overall it was a decent read but better to look at.

This trade collects Thor #80-85 and it is his tie in to the Avengers Disassembled event. During that event somebody at one point asks where Thor is, and this explains his absence and why you never saw the founding Avenger during the teams downfall. Michael Avon Oeming, who is better know for his artwork on the indie book Powers, is writing and Andrea DiVito, who is a newcomer is on pencils. I've never been a longtime Thor reader and have only read a couple trades here and there about him so I had limited knowledge about him going into this but honestly didn't have too much of a time following what happens. Loki is trying to get his hands on a mold of Mjolnir and is getting aid from Surtur, which ends up causing a war between them and the gods of Asgard. A buddy of mine who is a big Thor fanboy told me they involved pretty much every character from Thor's comic history in this arc. Thor has to make some hefty sacrifices and brings about Ragnarok, which in effect wipes out the whole Asgard mythology, including Thor, from the Marvel universe. I will admit this was some heavy reading. It was very dark and it really felt like all of Asgard was in despair. Artwork wise this was beautiful, DiVito's style worked very well for this story and hope to see him in more books. I would say this is on par or even better than the main Avengers Disassembled story, this felt a little more epic and truly brought an end of an era for Thor. I would also recommend the sequel to this story, "Stormbreaker - The Saga of Beta Ray Bill" which deals with Beta Ray Bill and the aftermath of Ragnarok happening for him.

I know this story came out years ago but for some reason I could never find it anywhere so I just now got around to reading it and I was not disappointed. This story is pretty epic and great step forward for Thor as a character. It is the end of the Aesir and also the end of who Thor used to be. Through the hard choices he makes and the loss he suffers throughout the story, you see some serious development in this longtime Avengers mainstay. Reading this will also make you appreciate the new run on the series more as you get the skinny on why Thor is rocking the Thousand yard stare and seems overall more zen and mature. The only complaint you could make is that you might want a little more from the story but really just because it's so good and brings up lots of interesting plot points that would be great if given more development. As it is though this is a great read supported by some pretty decent artwork.
PS: The new Nightmare on Elm Street is pretty damn boring 20 minutes into it.

And so, the saga of The Mighty Thor come to a close. At least, the Asgardian universe created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby way back in the 1960s has been obliterated, seemingly for once and for all, as Thor himself brings about the one, true Ragnarok, twilight of the gods, super-armageddon.

Writer Michael Avon Oeming cleverly deals with the fact that Marvel's Thor has dealt with multiple Ragnaroks over the years, explaining to readers that Thor and his compatriots (spoiler alert) have been caught in a vast cosmic joke for countless millennia, and that the Ragnarok story isn't the world-ending finale we'd all been lead to believe, but rather a sideshow staged of the amusement of some uber-gods who toy with the Asgadians for reasons of their own. Thus, a newly-cosmic, ever-heroic Thor brings an end to their torture by making Ragnarok real -- and allowing every godly friend he has -- Sif, Balder, Hogun, Volstagg, et. al. -- to die, for reals and forever. Also, one by one, fall his greatest mythical enemies: Ulik, Loki, Surtur and all the classic baddies of years gone by. It's a big event, and a reasonably engrossing story... Thor himself (spoiler alert) appears to have survived the destruction of his reality, but has put himself in suspended animation, somewhere out there in the mega-universe, so we will doubtless see him resurrected at some point. But the official word from Marvel is that this is the for-real end of the old Asgardian paradigm. An interesting way to close out a title that has gone through long, long periods of stagnation. Rest in peace, Norse pantheon. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)