Thor, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

J. Michael Straczynski (Author), Olivier Coipel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2008

Thor is back! And in a story only J. Michael Straczynski could tell! Returned to the pantheon of great Marvel heroes, the Asgardian God of Thunder is reunited with the mortal form of Dr. Don Blake. Together, they must reckon with the legacy of the mythic Norse kingdom and the awakening of its immortal heroes - but in a world that may not want them back!

Collecting:

Thor #1-6

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (August 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785117229
• ISBN-13: 978-0785117223
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J. Michael Staczynski was born in Paterson, NJ in 1954, from a lower-middle-class blue-collar family that moved 21 times in his first 18 years. He began writing in earnest and selling at the age of 17 and hasn't stopped since. He graduated San Diego State University with degrees in Psychology and Sociology.

As a journalist, he has written over 500 published articles for such periodicals as The Los Anglees Times, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Penthouse, Writer's Digest, San Diego Magazine, the San Diego and Los Angeles Reader and TIME, Inc. He has also published numerous short stories in Amazing Science Fiction Magazine, Pulphouse, and various anthologies.

As a television writer and producer, he has written over 200 produced episodes, including workj on The New Twilight Zone, Nightmare Classics and Murder She Wrote. He also wrote, created and produced the series Babylon 5, Crusade and Jeremiah.

Moving from TV to film, he wrote Changeling (directed by Clint Eastwood), Ninja Assassin (produced by the Wachowskis), provided the story for Thor (directed by Kenneth Branagh), wrote Underworld 4 (starring Kate Beckinsale), and has written numerous other films that are currently slated for production.

He has won the Hugo Award (twice), the Saturn Award, the Eisner Award, the Inkpot Lifetime Achievement Award, the E Pluribus Unum Award from the American Cinema Foundation, the Space Frontier Foundation award, the Ray Bradbury Award, the Christopher Award, and over a dozen others.

He was also nominated for a British Academy Award (BAFTA) for his screenplay for Changeling.

He writes ten hours a day, every day, except for his birthday, New Year's Day and Christmas Day.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The rebirth of the gods... May 6, 2008

By Sean Curley

Format:Hardcover

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.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Thor is back from the dead...for better or worse May 7, 2008

By N. Durham HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars First time Thor reader June 1, 2010

By Cameron

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.