Thor, Vol. 1
by J. Michael Straczynski
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Book Summary Information
Author: J. Michael StraczynskiIllustrator: Olivier Coipel
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-13
ISBN: 0785117229
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Marvel
Book Reviews of Thor, Vol. 1
Book Review: omigosh, Thor is an Okie
Summary: 5 Stars
Thor in post-Ragnarok and the future as an open road? I never thought much about it before, until this new series came out, but Thor has always been a strange hybrid of Norse mythology and metropolitan superhero. It took J. Michael Straczynski's wresting away of Thor from the big city - and away from other superheroes and from jaded New Yorkers - and plonking him in the Midwest and in stories not soaked in hokey costumed crimefighting sensibilities for it to sink in that, yes, there's a much better way to present this thunder god. Removed from freaks in tights, one can better comprehend the myth and grandeur inherent to this Odinson who, as Straczynski forcefully reminds us, is a friggin' deity! Just my longwinded way of saying that this new series is friggin' AWESOME.
It turns out, there's a dawn after the Twilight of the Gods - and that Ragnarok isn't the end of all things Asgardcentric. In truth, with the Ragnarok cycle broken, the future now lies unwrit, unshackled by prophesy. This new series opens up in an otherdimensional purgatorial void with a metaphysical discourse between Thor and Donald Blake (who used to be Thor's corporeal host). The chit chat concludes with a coming to terms and an epic fighty fight as Thor, before he can return, must fend off ravening monsters (because "...birth, like death, comes only thru great pain."). So, after a few years' absence (3 years?) from Marveldom, the mighty dude with the hammer is back.
This series is so good, brother! I don't know that this atones for J. Michael Straczynski's kakapupu treatment of Spidey in One More Day, but his work on THOR does put him in slightly better standing with me (although just thinking about OMD sets my blood a-boiling). Straczynski takes a slow burn approach in re-establishing Thor and Asgard on Earth (or Midgard). But the deliberate pace allows you to soak things in as the thunder god adapts to his new, more rural environment and to again being alive. Thor embarks on a personal quest: to find and restore his fellow Asgardians, now scattered across the globe as humans unaware of their true identity - and also to rebuild Asgard. I knew I was into this series once I read issue two and glimpsed that awesome two-page layout of Thor raising up Asgard on the Oklahoma plain. But what really gets to me (and still has me snickering) was what happens afterwards as both the local sheriff and the protesting landowner come rolling around. How Thor deals with their grievances is just simply priceless.
There's a terrific fish-out-of-water flavor, as well as an interesting rural fantasy element, introduced as the revived Asgardians find themselves rubbing elbows with their new neighbors. The neat thing is that these midwesterners, salt-of-the-earth types that they are and simple in their lifestyle, create a refreshing dynamic with how they interact with these Norse myths on legs. Straczynski treats us to beautifully-handled scenes such as an ill-at-ease local having an evening conversation with a beautiful, scantily-clad Asgardian and, before that, the Asgardians attending their neighboring town's townhall meeting ("...we heard there was cake."). One awkward exchange (and of course it's with Volstagg) results in the mayor jotting down a reminder to schedule a sanitation and safety code inspection for Asgard. Hah! It's these little touches which make this series great. My favorite panel, though, features the imposing, massively built Thor looming over his mailpost as he reads his incoming mail. It's a brilliant image.
Straczynski is spot on in steering his hero away from standard superhero shenanigans (although, he does pop up in Hulk, Vol. 1: Red Hulk (v. 1) and Secret Invasion). Straczynski instead allows the series to develop its own distinct voice, quite dissimilar, tonally and thematically, to the more routine Marvel titles. In his search for fellow Asgardians, the thunder god bumps into Iron Man in New Orleans - and bad blood will out, as Thor is very miffed with his DNA having been used to create a berserko clone. Verily, he then giveth to ye ol' Shellhead a monumental arsewhuppin'. Thor has, by the way, seeminly dispensed with the "thee-ing," "thou-ing" and "forsoothing," which to me makes him even more credible (except that, secretly, I kinda dug the flowery speechifyin').
By the way, with the resurrection of the thunder god, can a certain scheming god of mischief be far behind?
Straczynski's stuff wouldn't be half as effective without Olivier Coipel's stuff. Coipel turns your head with his striking, somewhat stylized artwork, embellished by Mark Morales's inks. Their Thor looks awesome, brimming with that aura of might and majesty. Thor should ever be rendered thus (That's right! If Thor won't talk like this anymore, then, by gum, I'll giveth it a cracketh!).
The THOR Vol. 1 trade paperback collects issues #1-6 and reproduces Coipel's original covers, as well as giving us a look-see at design sketches by Coipel and the THOR variant covers by Michael Turner, Arthur Suydam (includes the Zombie Thor variant), Gabrielle Dell'Otto, Ed McGuinness, Lee Bermejo, and Arthur Adams.
J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel are doing a bang-up job of shepherding this mother. THOR the series is elegantly layered, rich in contemplative moments, sound characterisation, nice touches of humor, and, occasionally, in awesome demonstrations of true power unleashed. This is how the thundering Odinson should be, not a trite superhero, but rather a mighty god amongst men. And wielding a friggin' mystical hammer with which to smite down wickedness. The hammer's name is Mjolnir, but I prefer to call it Who'syadaddy?
Now if these issues would only come out on schedule. Can I get an "Aye, verily"?
Summary of Thor, Vol. 1
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 #1-6Science Fiction Books
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