18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A disappointing end to Straczynski's time on the title., January 30, 2010
J. Michael Straczynski came onto "Thor" with the launch of the current volume (after twelve issues renumbered to continue the combined numberings of all previous volumes), and now, after 16 issues, it concludes in this volume, which collects issues 601-603 and the "Defining Moments" special (which is effectively #604). The previous two volumes were generally of good quality, albeit with flaws, and unfortunately the final one brings out many of the least-appealing aspects of Straczynski's time on the book. Some spoilers follow.
Straczynski's departure from the book occurred, for those not aware, as a result of differences with Marvel editorial. Straczynski generally prefers to work in his own corner, and one condition of his writing the title was that Marvel would give him eight issues free of any outside interference. He got that; nearly double that, in fact. But when planning began for "Siege", a major storyline that would heavily involve Thor and his mythos, Straczysnki bowed out, leaving Marvel scrambling to find someone else to write the title in the leadup period (the ball was eventually picked up by Kieron Gillen, very capably I might add).
This volume picks up from the previous one, with Thor exiled with a broken hammer following the death of his grandfather Bor, an incident that occurred because of Loki's manipulations. Loki, with the ear of the new king, Balder, continues to play everyone like a fiddle, convincing everyone else to move to Latveria, home of his ally Dr. Doom. Several plots are resolved here, such as Thor's girlfriend Sif being missing, albeit somewhat abruptly. However, others are not, and when JMS departs the book, he leaves the Asgardians in midstream in Latveria, albeit with a sense that a corner has been turned that could almost pass for a real conclusion. Meanwhile, the story of the romance between Bill, a short-order cook from Oklahoma, and Kelda, one of the Asgardians, comes to a head.
Many of JMS' weaknesse come to the fore here, particularly the extent to which Thor (the main character) and Balder are written as extremely stupid and incompetent for the dual purpose of making Loki look brilliant and allowing Bill a shot at heroism. Very little of this story should really have happened, nor could it without people inexplicably confiding and trusting Loki when they should know much better by now, and an heretofore unnoticed excessive petty legalism among Asgardians that defies common sense. Thor is remarkably passive and unexplored as a a lead character; the return of Sif, which you'd think would be a big deal, elicits only a single page of followup, and Thor is reduced to small cameos in the final two issues of the run. The one area where the book does not fall down is the art of Marko Djurdjevic, which is excellent as usual.
Rather disappointing, but I would encourage people to check out Gillen's followup, which manages to bring faster pacing, a more competent Balder, and Thor in his proper place at the center of the action.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Decent end to Straczynski's run, but an inconclusive book, March 10, 2010
"Thor, Volume 3"
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
(Marvel Comics, 2010)
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J. Michael Straczynski, in revamping the literally moribund "Thor" franchise, did a good job revitalizing Marvel's Asgardian mythology... Over the years, Thor has been one of the most problematic Marvel titles, suffering mainly from a too-super protagonist and a frequent lack of inspired writing: perhaps the editors were right to have killed Thor off a few years back. Nonetheless, in his brief run (which closes with this volume), Straczynski joins Walt Simonson and the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby team in crafting one of the truly great versions of this iconic hero. Although the plot drifted a bit in the last few issues, this was a fine, evocative story arc. Unfortunately, Straczynski left some balls up in the air (what, exactly, happens with Loki and Doc Doom?) but it's nice to see someone take the character serious for once. I wouldn't have minded reading more from JMS, but I'll still check out v.4 to see what happens next. Make Mine Marvel! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Thor Vol 3, September 20, 2011
This review is from: Thor, Vol. 3 (Paperback)
I purchased this as a birthday gift for my son, who is a HUGE Thor addict... The book is truly a work of art. Beautiful, top quality pictures and paper. I also purchased Vols 1 and 2. He was very pleased. Would recommend this to any Thor fan.
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