Customer Reviews

Essential Thor, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials)

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

 

 

This review refers to Essential Thor Volume 2.

The problem with Thor is that he's simply so powerful, it's not only hard for the reader to empathise with him, but it's hard to create a sense of threat towards him. Thor is a Norse God and his father is Odin, even more powerful. As such, there is never any real excitement when Thor is attacked by hordes of monsters or soldiers - no matter how energetic Jack Kirny's pencils - because they are like ants to him in terms of power.

Also, it's never stated exactly how powerful Thor is, or how he can be harmed or killed. Of course, popular fictional heroes never truly die, but the enjoyment comes from the suspension of disbelief and a truly menacing opponent (be it man, monster or challenge) which truly jepordize the hero.

Throughout this entire (huge) book, I can remember few instances of Thor even been scratched, let alone genuinely opposed. The Destroyer and Loki are the only two worthy foes for the Viking deity.

As for the book's other qualities, the artwork is, as previously stated, superb. But the lack of colour in the Essential books, whilst highlighting the pencils, forces the reader to concentrate on the story more and the visuals less. With Kirby's fantastic, epic creations bestowed in vivid colour, Thor comics look wonderful and add so much granduer and epic-scale to the stories. The perfect case in point is the rainbow bridge, Bifrost. It simply is colour, therefore doesn't work without colour. Many of the Marvel Essential function well without colour, but this book truly suffers.

Stan Lee's sense-shattering, exclamation-mark packed writing is as enthusiatic and character-oriented as ever. The stories draw heavily on actual Norse mythology, and then fuse it with Superman-like superheroics. It's a delicious, unique combination unmatched anywhere in comics or movies. One wonders why, considering the popularity of both fantasy movies and superhero movies at present, why Thor is not yet even in pre-production.

As it is, Essential Thor Volume 2 is far better in every regard to the first volume, but without the colour it loses so much impact. A greater recomendation would be the Thor Legends/Visionaries volumes featuring the work of Walter Simonson. Though containing less pages, these books are full colour and contain what are considered by many the best Thor stories ever, and some of the greatest superhero comics of all time.

"ESSENTIAL THOR VOL. 2" TP
reprints "Journey Into Mystery" #113-125, annual #1, "Thor" #126-136, & annual #2.




JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #113
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Don Blake reveals his secret to her(Jane Foster). Don is Thor. Jane does not believes him.

The Grey Gargoyle makes an appearance!

The Grey Gargoyle is a very good villain. He has a good style, power, looks, etc.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #114-115
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
The Absorbing Man makes his first appearance! Loki finds someone to destroys Thor. He turns Crusher Creel to a supervillain(Absorbing Man).

The Absorbing Man tells too much of his powers. He has too many expositionary dialogues. There fights are not good at all(I thought it was). They do not look good together.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #116-117
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Thor & Loki undergo "the trial of the Gods" test(on Skornheim). Skornheim is a place of dangers, traps, monsters, etc. The first to be back is the winner.

Loki wins the test(by treachery).

This is the famous "The Trial Of The Gods" arc. It is good, but it could be better.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #118-119
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
The Destroyer makes his first appearance! Loki brings the Destroyer to life.

Odin creates the Destroyer to protects Asgard in time of crisis. The Destroyer is an automaton(robot).

The Destroyer easily defeats Thor because of his invulnerability & strenght. His face visor is a dangerous weapon.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #120
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
This is an allegorical issue(actionless).

Thor, Mjolnir, Jane Foster, & Norn stones highlights the story. It is a good story.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY ANNUAL #1
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Hercules makes his very first appearance!

Hercules & Thor fight the whole issue. They fight a battle of strenght, skills, & honor.

Thor wins slightly because of his greater determination, skills, & resiliency.

Hercules appearances are the absolute highpoints in this volume. Their battles are(all) very exciting, intense, & memorable.

Thor's essence captures vividly in this issue.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #121-123
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
The Absorbing Man makes an appearance! The Absorbing Man & Loki travel to Asgard to destroy the Asgardians.

It is a good story. It is better than the first time(Absorbing Man's 1st app.).

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #124
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Jane Foster discovers his very secret finally(Don is Thor).

Don tells her about his secret because of her constant worries & sickness.

Don & Jane's love explores vividly in this issue.


A milestone!
Very memorable!
A very important issue!

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY # 125
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Thor fights the Demon!

Thor defeats the Demon convincingly. The Demon is no match at all.

THE MIGHTY THOR #126
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Hercules makes an appearance!

Hercules & Thor fight the whole issue(again).

Their fight is very exciting, intense, & strong. It is even better than the first time.



A classic!
A very important issue!
Very, very memorable!
Arguably is the best comic in this volume!

THE MIGHTY THOR #127
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Seidring the merciless makes an appearance!


THE MIGHTY THOR #128-130
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Pluto(Hades) makes an appearance!

Hercules & Thor fight Pluto.

THE MIGHTY THOR #131-132
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Rigel, the Colonizers, & Tana Nile make their first appearances!

THE MIGHTY THOR ANNUAL #2
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
The Destroyer makes an appearance!

This is a wry, satire story.


THE MIGHTY THOR #133
writer: Stan Lee
penciler: Jack Kirby
Ego, the Living Planet makes his very first appearance!

Ego is an ominipotent entity. He creates weapons, traps, & even simulates human forms to shows his vast power.

Ego makes viral soldiers from his planetary surface. Thor must finds a way to defeats him.


This is a classic!
A masterpiece!
Very, very memorable!
A very important issue!
Arguably the best comic in this volume!

THE MIGHTY THOR #134-135
Writers: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
penciler: Jack Kirby
The High Evolutionary makes its very first appearance!

THE MIGHTY THOR #136
writers: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
penciler: Jack Kirby
Thor & Jane go to Asgard(to wed). Jane needs to passes a test to proves her worth.

Jane fails the test miserably. She could not takes the Asgardians themselves. Odin sends her back swiftly(Earth).

"To Become An Immortal!" is the title of this story. It is a very, very emotional story.

This is a very memorable moment of the story:

Thor very angrily walks(seemingly to attacks) to his father in despair but holds back & remorses quickly-- this happens when Odin sends Jane back to Earth swiftly. Thor believes his father deliberately fails Jane because she is a mortal, and a mortal cannot weds an immortal.

Sif also makes an appearance.

Thor's essence captures vividly in this issue.


This is a classic!
Very, very memorable!
A very important issue!
Arguably the best comic in this volume!






FINAL ANALYSIS:
"Essential Thor Vol. 2" TP
3.5 of 5 stars
***1/2 = very good
Rating: B-



Overall, "Essential Thor vol. 2 TP" is not as good as the first volume(*****), but it is still a very strong book. It has many best moments.

For example, #126, #133, #136, & annual#1 are five-star stories.

Issues #116-117, #118-119, & #124 are four-star stories.

This is a good follow-up volume.

For Thor fans only.

Beginners read volume 1(first).





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RECOMMENDED!!!

Any Essential volume containing Lee/Kirby's work is a bargain. Each gives you over 500 pages of what some would call the greatest comics ever, the template, the source of many big-budget action or space opera movie ideas, and some of the downright funniest, best-scripted and action-packed comics ever printed. (I know I used "action" twice in one sentence but with Lee/Kirby it's unavoidable.) In Essential Thor Volume 2, another reviewer is absolutely correct: the creative duo figure out that Thor can be more than an ersatz Superman (right down to the red cape) and start throwing mind-boggling concepts or moments into every issue. Thor suddenly contends with his cantankerous father Odin, his scheming brother Loki, spectacular slugfests with Hercules (one punch of which appears on the cover) and hilarious well-written exposition, big headed colonizer aliens and gizmos and gadgets that would be right at home in one of Lucas' recent prequel trilogy flicks. This one really does have it all--incredible art, unforgettable dialogue, amazing action, and kooky, not-as-catchy villains like The Demon (making this, I think, the third time this name was associated with a character Kirby worked on). And if you'd like to know the story behind these stories, check out my nonfiction Lee/Kirby history Tales to Astonish. Essential Thor is a must-have (especially with the Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 4, which can inspire another longwinded testimonial to the greatness of the most creative comic duo of all time).

The second volume of the Essential Thor collects the Thunder God's adventures from Journey Into Mystery #113-125, Thor #126-136 and Annual #1-2. Fans of the old Marvel Superheroes daily show will immediately recognize that many of these issues were adapted for the TV show. A stupid bit of trivia but I grew up on that stuff. Of all of Jack Kirby's works at Marvel Thor was always my favorite. Kirby drew Thor with such majesty and power and his stories against villains such as The Destroyer and Ego, The Living Planet were usually on such a grand scale.

Couple that with the fact that Thor had perhaps the most complex personal life of any Marvel character in the 1960's. He's the only hero whose normal identity was the alter ego and not vice versa. As Don Blake he had to weigh his personal life and love of Jane Foster with his God-like responsibilities to Asgard and his relationships with his Father Odin, Brother Loki and his love Sif. Great stuff for the early 1960's.

Several classic Thor villains make their first appearance during this run including The Absorbing Man, The Destroyer, and Ego. The classic Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 would introduce us to the Greek God Hercules as he and Thor would have a knock down drag out battle. Hercules would appear again later as Thor would assist him in a battle with the evil God Pluto.

This book also features the first appearance of the High Evolutionary as well. Kirby was truly fantastic in this long run on Thor. The Vinnie Coletta inks are about the only downside. Vinnie was well known for taking short cuts in his inks. You'll see a definite difference between his inks and those of "Joltin" Joe Sinnott"

These are truly classic works of the Silver Age!

Whenever the greatness of Lee/Kirby collaborations are discussed, their amazing Fantastic Four run is at the top of everyone's list. After finishing Essential Thor vol. 2 I think their Thor comics deserve a seat at that same Silver Age table of greatness. In this volume you get the debut of Hercules and his rivalry/friendship with the Son of Odin. Along with Hercules come the Greek gods and the villainous Pluto. Ego the Living Planet threatens the universe. In the back up stories, Tales of Asgard, we see the Warriors Three (Hogun, Fandral and Volstagg) join Thor at center stage to battle Fafnir the dragon, fend off Ragnorok and of course deal with Thor's evil brother, Loki. Highly recommended.

This is a very interesting collection, in that it brings together many of the early Thor tales by the master--Jack Kirby. Not only do you get some classic first appearances (ie: Hercules), but you also get to see the evolution of Thor in these very early appearances.

These issues will be particularly revealing to modern fans, who haven't been exposed to Thor's range of powers, or to the amazing things that Odin can do when written properly.

These are classic comic stories, and are highly recommended.

I own every Marvel Essential volume out there and Thor Vol. 1 is probably my least favorite. Stan Lee has said that the key to creating a good superhero is to not make him too powerful and to give him human flaws; this is a lesson that I guessed Lee himself learned after basing his third Marvel superhero after the freakin' Norse god of thunder. Thor's origin was pretty weak (a lame-footed American doctor in Norway beats back the invasion of the Stone Men from Saturn using a magic cane). Things got better when Stan and Jack started drawing more stories and characters from the Norse mythology (Loki is the perfect nemesis for Thor and the Tales of Asgard feature some of Kirby's best artwork) but it also added an additional layer of confusion (why do all other Norse gods like Balder and Heimdall still live in Asgard while Thor only exists when Dr. Blake taps his cane?). But overall, the stories were just pretty uninspired: Dr. Blake loses his cane and can't become Thor at a crucial moment (twice), mobsters kidnap Blake and force him to operate on their boss (twice), a teleporting/telekinetic magician hurls international monuments around and tries to bury Thor underneath a building (TWICE!), Dr. Blake builds an android (would a surgeon/thunder god really know how to do that?), and Mr. Hyde (he's really strong!) and Cobra (he's really bendy!) lose to Thor several times and then later decide to fight Daredevil (to me, that's like one of Superman's foes deciding to try his luck against Jimmy Olsen. No offense, DD).

This all brings me to my review of the long-awaited Essential Thor Vol. 2 which, I must admit, is where the thunder god really earns his status as a classic character.

During this period in the mid-60's, Lee and Kirby returned to the series full-time and created some villains that would definitely test the mettle of the immortal Avenger. Thor squares off against the Absorbing Man (who assumes the properties of any material or person that he touches), the Destroyer (an invulnerable armored construct), Ego (he's a planet with a face!), the High Evolutionary (his army of animal-men would make Dr. Moreau slink back to his island in shame), and the Prince of Power himself, Hercules (What can I say? Deities from ancient pantheistic religions make great comic book characters!).

Even better, the multi-issue stories that Stan and Jack come up with are very unique and memorable. Thor and Loki take each other on in the Trial of the Gods (Loki cheats the whole time, natch!). A ruthless reporter blackmails Thor into giving him an eye-witness account of fabled Asgard. Thor is conscripted by an alien race into taking a dangerous mission in order to save Earth from colonization (Who says the FF should have all of the intergalactic adventures?). Also, a Hollywood agent hires Hercules to replace Steve Reeves in the next Hercules movie (If you've seen Hercules Unchained, in the MST3K DVD #7 or in the actual movie, then you'd probably agree that a replacement would be necessary). The celebrated Tales of Asgard takes a new turn as it tells a continuing tale of Thor, the Warriors Three, and Loki setting sail to prevent Ragnarok. Finally, I really enjoyed the last issue of the collection in which Jane Foster attempts to become an immortal so she can wed Thor. I won't spoil anything for those of you who haven't read it, but it does an excellent job in shaking off some of the silly and extraneous baggage of the early issues and setting up a more sensible direction for the later issues to take (Come on Volume 3!).

I wouldn't say that I found the book to be flawless; you're going to see some valleys as well as some peaks. Thor's confrontation with the Demon, a Southeast Asian witch-doctor (?), is set up over three issues only to end with Thor dropping him with one punch. Then Thor struggles with Siedring the Schemer, who is like a copy of a copy of a copy of Loki. Speaking of the god of mischief, Loki loses his fashion sense when he trades his horned helmet and scale mail shirt in for a winged tiara and green spandex. He's even dressed like that during the flashbacks in the Tales of Asgard; the Norse gods work in mysterious ways, alright.

The bottom line is that this book contains Thor's first truly classic stories. I was put off by how earthbound the early issues were, and Volume 2 proves how much more exciting and majestic Thor could be when he's not tied down by Blake's medical practice or his harried girlfriend. I highly recommend Thor's latest Essential for those who are interested in some excellent Silver Age Marvel tales. As Odin would say: I have spoken!

This assortment of Thor's earliest adventures is a great showcase of one of Marvel's greatest heroes!

There's an inker in the Thor series that was notorious for erasing details in Jack Kirby's art. Despite all the alterations to his original pages; the power of Thor comes thru in this second volume. I only wish the Essencials were on CD or DVD also. I wish I could see all of these classics in color!