Customer Reviews

Thor, Vol. 1 (v. 1)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 2004, Marvel initiated a major reboot of the Avengers franchise, with "Avengers" becoming "New Avengers", the new "Young Avengers" title, and new volumes of "Captain America" and "Iron Man". Thor's title was also cancelled, but no new reboot was immediately forthcoming, as, behind the scenes, such creative talents as Neil Gaiman and Mark Millar came and went, before it finally arrived in the hands of J. Michael Straczynski. After an absence of three years or so, Thor finally made his return to publication in the summer of 2007, with JMS writing and Olivier Coipel on art (in the intervening period, Millar had gone on to do a fakeout return in "Civil War" that turned out to be a cyborg-clone created by Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Yellowjacket).

Michael Avon Oeming's excellent 'Ragnarok' story arc that concluded "Thor v.2" ended with the twilight of the Gods, where Thor realized that they had been enslaved in cyclical birth and death for years by beings known as Those Who Sit Above In Shadow. Thor broke the cycle, allowing him and his fellow Asgardians to at last rest. It was a brilliant story, and it left a new Thor series to go in virtually any direction it wanted. JMS opts here to advance into a new status quo, making the explicit point that the cycle is now broken, and the Asgardians' future is now completely open for them to decide; to a point, at least. Men, it is argued, decide if the Gods exist, and Thor's old alter ego Donald Blake, somehow now a mystical entity, recalls Thor from the void in order to revive the gods and face the future, which without them is perilous. So Thor returns to Earth, merged with Blake in a relationship that now resembles that of Rick Jones and Captain Marvel (the Marvel one). Establishing the city of Asgard in Oklahoma, near a quaint town, Thor ranges out to recover his fellow gods and, little by little, reacquaint himself with the world of men.

As far as an epic return goes, this has its moments, but it ultimately opts for a more sedate approach, one which conveys the mystical and mythical nature of Thor and his people, though at the same time it can be more than a bit slow (something aided by the erratic shipping schedule due to artist Coipel, though that is not an issue reading in trade). This arc sees Thor gather most of the pieces of his former life, with little action (there are maybe three fight scenes, total, one of which isn't a fight at all), and only two real instances of the greater Marvel Universe intruding. One is brief, and a major piece of setup, which I will leave for readers to see for themselves. The other one is major, and it represents JMS' biggest misstep on the series so far. As mentioned above, Iron Man, the leader of the pro-Registration side in the "Civil War", created a Thor clone, and here JMS drags him on stage so that Thor can beat him up. Some kind of reckoning was due for that, obviously, but, quite simply, when it comes to writing Iron Man, J. Michael Straczynski is a hack. He is incapable of treating the character, one of Marvel's oldest heroes, as anything other than a fascist punching-bag Snidely Whiplash allegory for the Bush Administration, and it drags down every single appearance the character makes in his works. He is, perhaps more than anyone, responsible for the "Iron Fascist" that many fans decry, and he shows here that he hasn't learned a thing about treating the character with respect. The confrontation, which needed to happen, is so badly written that it loses any meaning (not that that stopped many fans from cheering Thor on anyway).

Elsewhere, the story JMS chooses to tell is generally quite good, if, as said, slow. He concocts a series of amusing interactions between the Asgardians the local townspeople, while do a great job of portraying the nature of real gods, not just powerful superheroes. All this is rendered with beautiful detail by Olivier Coipel.

All in all, it is a worthy reintroduction for the Thunder God, though one hopes that, having brought Thor home, JMS will pick up the pace in future volumes, because there is so much for Thor to do.

The best thing about the new Thor isn't his costume redesign--it's writer J. Michael Straczynski's choice to ditch the faux-Shakespearean language that Thor used to speak. For Thor purests, I'm sure it's a travesty. But I've never been a fan of the Thunder God, and can't wait to see what other changes are in store (one of the biggest changes has to do with Loki...wait until you see what's become of him!). The smackdown with Iron Man lives up to the hype, although the ending is predictable and shows Tony Stark for the weasel he's become. The book is also humorous, more so than Straczynski's Spider-Man at least. This is a solid piece of comics writing.

It seems like an eternity ago (for me anyway) that Thor and his fellow inhabitants of Asgard met their demise in Michael Avon Oeming's excellent Thor: Disassembled arc (co-inciding with Brian Michael Bendis' disassembling of the Avengers), so seeing the classic Marvel hero make a return is something I've been anticipating. Babylon 5 creator and former Amazing Spider-Man writer J. Michael Straczynski gets the writing duties pretty much by default (the first, excellent review on this page will fill you in on the details), and he doesn't do a bad job as he begins to re-establish Thor's place in a post-Civil War universe. Thor/Donald Blake has made Oklahoma City his place of operations, as he attempts to locate his fellow Asgardians in this first storyarc of the new ongoing series. While it is a solid new beginning for Thor, not a whole lot really happens in this storyarc. In fact, some may find it kind of boring really. I appreciate what Straczynski is trying to do here, but it just feels like there was more that could have been put here, and it also feels like there are just missed opportunities aplenty. House of M artist Olivier Coipel provides some great artwork though, so this first arc isn't a total loss. All in all, J. Michael Straczynski makes a promising, albeit flawed, first impression with this Thor relaunch, and here's hoping that things will get better from this point forward.

Thor had always been a visually striking character to me; the lightning motif, the giant hammer, the war helmet. But I've never been one for ancient mythology, so I always put off reading any thunder god stories. With the film adaptation of the character within one year at the time of this review, I finally decided to pick something up. With the low price and great reviews, I started here.

This book was fantastic. JMS' story is about Thor trying to pick up the pieces of his life after an absence in the 616 universe. He rebuilds Asgard, looks for old friends, and tries to make sense of what has happened since he's been gone. The best chapter would have to be issue #3, where Thor visits a section of New Orleans, still stricken by the effects of Hurricane Katrina. He realizes that if he were around, he could have stopped the storm and saved countless lives. He also questions why did no other superhero do anything.

Issue #3 is also where Iron Man shows up and wants to talk to Thor. Thor is quite aware that Stark made a Thor clone for his own personal use, and Thor isn't happy with it at all. Without giving too much away, Thor, quite easily, gives Iron Man what must be the most embarrassing defeat he's ever gone through. If you hate Iron Man, you'll love it. Even if you do like Iron Man, like me, you'll love how badass Thor comes off there.

If you never knew just how powerful Thor or his trademark weapon Mjolnir are, this book gives great examples, and you get a real sense of it early on. The god of thunder has to be hands down one of the most powerful characters ever created. I was in awe looking at what this guy could do.

A lot of people have complained that the book is slow placed and needs more action. I do not agree with either statement. It's just fine with it's compelling story telling and exciting action sequences. In fact, it's great. If you've ever thought about reading Thor, this would be a great start.

I've only seen Thor in installments of Avengers, and after a while I needed to see him solo. This is the first Thor series I have read, and I'm pretty hooked. The pacing is very careful and subtle, but its not boring at all. The smooth artwork compliments the style of the series so very very well. It's very rare that you get art and story on excatly the same level, but we got it here. So I was recommended this series as an intro, and as far as grasping all of it I did ok. I saw characters "reborn" that I was unfamiliar with, but I felt like they were brought about carefully to not let things feel like an inside joke or secret. It was pretty sweet to meet all the lore characters of Thor for the first time in this fashion. I still have more questions about them, but the good thing about Stracynski is that he's got me wanting more.

I'm definately ready for volume 2. Thor is a strong series that promises a bright future for this hero. Thor is a hero you could make a terrible series for as well as an awesome one. Luckily the author has paved a path for a damn entertaining saga.

I'll be honest and say I haven't been much of a Thor fan. The whole mystical God-hero thing has never peaked my interest. However, within the past five years or so, the mainstream comic book industry has moved away from an art focused medium for kids to become a very story- oriented medium, and J. Michael Straczynski (JMS)has become one of my favorite writers as of late, during his Amazing Spider-Man run. Because I was never a Thor fan, I really don't know how he died, or left the Marvel Universe before, so I am writing this review, based solely on JMS's current Thor arc. I also don't want to re-tell the story in order not to spoil the fun for others.

With that being said, I really appreciate the perfect blend of mysticism and realism (as real as a Thunder God walking earth can be) JMS was able to achieve. While reading through it, you can definitely tell JMS did his research on Norse folklore. Not only is the dialogue between the Norse heroes realistic, but JMS was able to capture their character on paper. You can't help but feel a sense of excitement and thrill as if you were watching the film, Gladiator, and root for certain characters because they are just so cool. Furthermore, JMS brilliantly pulled of having Asgard on Earth in today's world. The best part though, is that for an introductory relaunch, JMS didn't just simply introduce the characters, he also weaves a great story and plot, while setting things up for something major. I can't say enough what an absolutely terriffic job JMS did writing this book. Olivier Coipel's art won't dissapoint either. The art is definitely on par with the writing.

I was really surprised by Straczynski's run of Thor. I was not a huge fan of the old Thor comics but this run was exciting. The story is awesome and the quality of the artwork is fantastic. The pages are the high quality glossy variety. The story is straight forward enough that someone who has not read many previous Thor comics can still have an idea of what is going on. I would recommend giving this a try.

Very original and unconventional writing for thor comics and plenty of eye candy to go along with it. Reccommended.

A solid entry into the Thor series. Top notch story of Thor finding Asgard again, finding his lost Warrior mates. The Art is amazing and the story will make you look forward to vol.2.

This book is really good, J.M's story is very interesting and Oliver Coipel's art is awesome as usual. This book presents the resurrection of the Thunder God, and how he is building his Kingdom (Asgard) on earth, this book it is a must have.