Customer Reviews

The Mightly Thor in The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill

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In the mid eighties, Walt Simonson redefined the mythos of one of marvel's greatest heroes: the mighty Thor. Revamping the flagging series with not only exceptional artwork and dynamic frame-sets, Simonson brought Thor back to the roots of Norse mythology and legend. Simonson's epic storyline concludes with a fantastic spin on Ragnarok (the final battle of the gods)and ties up every loose end since the beginning of the series' run. The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill collects the first few issues of this amazing moment in comics' history. It is well worth reading for any serious comics fan, fantasy/sci-fi artist or mythological affectionado.

Bill's tragic, yet mighty Ballad is one the coolest stories I've ever read. It's been 14 years since I read it and it still inspires my own work in the computer game field. Thanks Walt. You're the man!

This collection of stories involving the introduction of Beta Ray Bill achieves a truly godly feat, it actually makes Thor entertaining!

I've never been able to get into a Thor story, a little too mythical for my tastes, but this TPB is like watching a Norse mythology sci-fi movie! It's got it all, Cyborg robots, talking spaceships and alien invaders.

But most of all the story really fleshes out each character perfectly, making them seem like more than just omnipotent deities in the clouds.
Each character has their moment to shine in a meaningful way.

The basic plot involves S.H.I.E.L.D. intercepting photos of an alien invasion, Thor investigating and in the process losing his hammer to an alien creature. That's right, another was worthy to wield Mjolnir. The creature is transported to Asgard and will not give up the power because he won it in a "fair" fight and needs it to rescue his people.

The story goes on from their, but their are major plot changes in the world of Thor by the end of the story and even a happy ending.

This is definitely one of the best comic stories I have read in a long time and encourage anyone who finds a copy to buy it!

Who would have thought that a funny looking big orange alien guy would have made a good Thor analogue. Only Walter Simonson, it would seem, and when he came up with this, he came up with one of the best Thor stories Marvel had ever done.

Bill showed Thor what it meant to be a hero, and proved himself again and again.