Thor Visionaries - Walter Simonson, Vol. 5 [Paperback]

Walter Simonson (Author), Sal Buscema (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: 4 and up

Whom the gods would destroy they first work over pretty darn well, and deadly blows fall like rain as the thunder god runs a gauntlet set by Loki and Hela! With the Absorbing Man, the gruesome Grendell, and the Midgard Serpent in his path, Thor's survival may force him to become one of his own worst enemies - namely, the Destroyer! Featuring the Avengers, the Warriors Three, and X-Factor! Collects Thor #375-382

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (February 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785127372
• ISBN-13: 978-0785127376
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #693,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simonson's excellent Thor vision, volume 5, May 25, 2008

By 

"extreme_dig_cm" (Chicago, Il USA, Amazon.com Fan!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thor Visionaries - Walter Simonson, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

Walt Simonson's famous Thor run is currently collected in 5 trade paperbacks; he writes & draws the 1st three, and then mostly just writes the last two. My favorite volumes are the 1st three, but the entire run is really well done.

Highlights here for me...
*Issue 375- Thor gets a golden arm. Tony Stark's special gift to Thor helps him with his broken arm.
*Issue 376- Absorbing Man! A great fight; Sal Buscema does a great job on the artwork this issue.
*Issue 378- Thor's new look is complete. First he grew a beard, then he got a golden arm; now he has full armor!
*Issue 380- Thor vs. Serpent! It's Simonson's all splash-page climax to his legendary run.
*Issues 381 & 382- Avengers, the Destroyer, Kurse, Balder, Loki & more. A great finale.

Most creators like to start & finish their runs on high notes, with whatever weaker points, if any, being in the middle. Simonson manages to bring his stay on Thor to a satisfying end, hilariously resolving things with Loki, and a pinup with the new-look Thor. His layouts for issue 380 are worth the price of admission, yet Sal Buscema's contributions shouldn't be neglected. Buscema's art here looks like a mix between Simonson's style, and the more recent style of John Romita Jr. believe it or not. Some of Buscema's better work to date!

Included in this volume:
*Issues #375 to #379- Walt Simonson writes; Sal Buscema pencils & inks
*Issue #380- Walt Simonson writes & layouts; Sal Buscema finishes
*Issue #381- Walt Simonson writes; Sal Buscema pencils; Joe Sinnott inks
*Issue #382- Walt Simonson writes; Sal Buscema pencils & inks

P.S. Great news for Thor fans: Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson Volume 1 TPB (New Printing) has been re-released in 2009, with high-quality color reconstruction & better paper! It's nice to see the cover of Thor 338 as that TPB's cover.

-UPDATE 2011- The newly reconstructed colors here represent the typical cleaning up of the original 80's colors, like Marvel does with all of their 80's paperbacks these days. These colors are *not* the same as the even newer colors in the 2011 Thor Simonson Omnibus. The omnibus colors are a whole different kind of 'new', specially made for that release.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars All good things must come to an end, March 9, 2008

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thor Visionaries - Walter Simonson, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

Writer/artist Walter Simonson's iconic run on Thor comes to an end in this fifth Thor Visionaries collection, which finds everything coming together for the Norse God of Thunder. Weakened and surrounded by enemies, Thor takes a stand against his evil half-brother Loki and an assortment of other baddies. One thing you will notice about these last issues of Simonson's run is that his writing and art seem inconsistent at some spots. Sal Buscema provides artwork here as well, which is quite good as one can expect, and everything does get wrapped up pretty well by the end of the collection. Simonson would stand to this very day as the absolute best creative mind to ever take on The Mighty Thor, and it's easy to see why. While this Thor Visionaries installment doesn't always fully display that fact, Simonson's run remains revered and respected, as well as a lofty height to climb for future writers to tackle. All in all, the fifth collection of Thor Visionaries is a must have for Thor enthusiasts to conclude Walter Simonson's run, and the climax alone is worth the price of admission.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The grand finale, March 2, 2008

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thor Visionaries - Walter Simonson, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

THOR VISIONARIES: WALTER SIMONSON VOLUME 5 concludes Walter Simonson's run as writer and oftentimes-artist. It was a great haul for Walt, beginning with the hard-to-beat saga of Beta Ray Bill waaay back in #337 and constantly upping the ante with each consecutive storyline. This collection includes issues 375 - 382, in which the curse of Hela, placed upon Thor in the previous volume, is felt in full: his bones are brittle, he cannot heal, and he cannot die! Thor seeks out Hela, hoping to force her to remove the curse, but when he is beset on all sides by the Wrecker, the Absorbing Man, dark elves, Grendell, an army of frost giants, Fin Fang Foom, the Midgard serpent, and his deceitful step-brother Loki, how can he hope to succeed? Well, Thor proves to be trickier than you'd think, and the final ace up his sleeve is a doozy!

Obviously, there's a lot going on in this volume, and it seems at times that Simonson can't keep up with it all. The writing isn't quite as strong as in previous volumes; in fact, at times it seems erratic. Still, as he was also illustrating X-Factor at the time, I guess I can cut him some slack. While this book is obviously designed to highlight Simonson's work, I have to call special attention to the artwork of Sal Buscema. This is the best I have ever seen from him - truly spectacular stuff! While Simonson does provide pencils for one story (and they're good!), I found myself wanting more from Buscema. This volume stands as a testament to both of their skills, and an excellent conclusion to a highly-praised run.