Laertes

So, I'm hyped for the Thor movie! However, I've always been a DC kid so I know next to nothing about the character. I have really only encountered him in the Busiek / Perez JLA/Avengers crossover. I'm looking for Thor trade paperback recommendations (trades only, please, I can't handle single issues anymore).

I'm not ideologically pure, so I'll take any Ultimate recommendations in addition to regular Marvel universe. While you're at it, I'll also take any Avengers trade recommendations, (preferably featuring Thor), including any Ultimate(s).

I'm looking for, you know, the better story arcs, the ones that give the essence of the character(s) that prep me for the movie(s). Thanks.

Hokeyboy

Anything by Walt Simonson is FANTASTIC. The rest is IMO not worth reading.

MBoyd

There is a Walt Simonson Thor Omnibus coming out soon. You could get it all in one big $80 chunk on Amazon or there are shorter $20 trade paperbacks. As for prepping for the film, it looks like they draw somewhat off of a recent run by J. Michael Stracynski available in $40 Omnibus or a couple of trades.

brayzie

I also recommend the Walt Simonson run. I got a few old issues at an antique store one time. I never liked Thor, but I was pleasantly surprised how good it was.

Also, Thor and Warriors Four: Power Pack is also a good read. 4 issues and all ages but a pretty fun story.

majorjoe23

The Simonson omnibus and Jack and Stan's issues are really all you need.

Bronkster

Maybe because it's been so many years since I've read them, but I have freakin' fond memories of the Stan and Jack run. Granted, the real early stories were corny, but once things got well established, it was an epic journey (into mystery! ha!). I've been wanting to go back and reread all that I have (too many gaps, dammit) because I got them all as back issues when I got into Marvel in the early '70s - I read them as I got them, so I never got the true benefit of the story arcs. I really feel that whole period of Thor is sadly overlooked.

davidh777

I agree the Lee-Kirby issues are worth reading as the start of the character. The first Marvel Masterworks in in TPB (they used to be HC only), or you can get more pages in black and white with Essentials.

I flipped through the Tales of Asgard trade the other day and will probably pick it up at some point. Also from the Lee-Kirby era but shorter stories focused on Thor and the gods rather than Thor among mortals.

madcougar

Two words: Heroes Reborn. Run, don't walk to get it.

JasonF

Thor didn't have a Heroes Reborn book, Mister Wise Guy.

Everyone else is spot in in recommending the Simonson run and the Lee/Kirby run. Those two are head and shoulders above anything else that's been done with the character (and head and shoulders above most anything that's been done in superhero comics ever).

There are a few trades of a Jurgens/John Romita Jr. run from the late 90s that are pretty good.

There are a couple of trades of a Roy Thomas run from the late 70s/early 80s that tie together a lot of Marvel mythology -- including the various Marvel pantheons (the Marvel version of the Norse gods, the Marvel version of the Greek gods, etc.) as well as Kirby's Eternals and make sense out of it (sort of). It's a fun ride if you like Roy Thomas's stuff.

There's an Ellis/Deodato trade that I've never read, but if you like Ellis and and/or Deodato, you might want to check that out.

Laertes

Thanks y'all. I've been hearing about the Simonson since I was a kid. No one recommends any Ultimate stuff?

MBoyd

Ultimates series one and two are probably the best of that bunch, but again I haven't been keeping up. I guess they have had several more Ultimates series and an Ultimate Thor series.

madcougar

Actually... he was pretty much nonexistent in the Heroes Reborn universe if I recall correctly - which I may not.

On an entirely unrelated note, I am selling a huge batch of Heroes Reborn books on eBay. If you like REALLY small rendered feet and gaping open mouths, this lot is for you!

JasonF

He was in the Heroes Reborn Avengers book. In fact, they used the relationship between the regular Thor and the Heroes Reborn Thor as the climax of the whole Heroes Reborn story.



Worth it just for this ridiculousness:


"Anatomy? What's that?"

davidh777

That looks like a satyr in a loincloth

davidh777

Is one of those the Ragnarok volume? I'm a Norse myth fan so I'll probably get this at some point just to see that epic storyline in a Marvel version. Plus I always thought Sif was hot in the '70s.

JasonF

There are two trades called "The Eternals Saga." The first reprints Thor 283-291 and Annual 7; the second reprints 292-301. The Marvel version of Ragnarok is in there somewhere -- I think the second trade -- but it fits into a larger story about the Celestial Host unleashing its judgment on Earth that spans both volumes.

davidh777

Thanks! Ragnarok is a new trade that looks like it's just before the Eternals trades, issues 272-278 (hmm, that sounds short). I'd probably like all of them.



I've been meaning to read my Simonson Thor for years, and I've taken it on at least a couple vacations. I guess I'll try again on my next one.

davidh777

Long plane flight = finishing my TPB!

Unfortunately, as may or may not have been obvious from my previous post, I thought this was a self-contained volume and TPB 1 left me hanging, and there are multiple volumes in this series. So now it's off to find #2...

This is epic stuff, though, and as someone who devoured Norseology a long time ago, I loved all the references to those characters and scenarios, and at one point I thought Simonson was leading us to Ragnarok itself. Parts made me feel like Simonson was more at home in sci-fi (what's with the name ?), and it gave me a similar vibe to McFarlane's Spider-Man, which I also read in Visionaries format. Without doing the research, they feel like the same era to me, from a time when I was not following comics.

majorjoe23

davidh777

is it just me, or was he never named in his initial appearance, then in the next issue they used his name like it was common knowledge?

(I guess I would have known there'd be more than one Simonson volume considering they're doing an omnibus.)

JasonF

Interesting, since the two don't seem at all similar to me.

Anyway, Simonson's Thor run was cover dated Nov. 1983 until Aug. 1987. McFarlane worked on Amazing Spider-Man March 1988 until Jan. 1990 with writer David Michelinie, then wrote and drew Spider-Man (no adjective) from August 1990 until November 1991. I'm not sure which ones are reprinted in the McFarlane visionaries trade.

davidh777

The McFarlanes I read were #s 298-320-something, so probably all of his run. It might have been the thin-lined style, but the Thor just struck me the same way for whatever reason.

I went to my usual vacation LCS to look for Simonson #2 but they didn't have it. That's the trick with an LCS--how are they supposed to know that I'm going to come walking in having read Simonson Visionaries #1 and looking for #2? They didn't have it (nor did they have #1), but they did have the two Eternals volumes JasonF mentioned so I bought the first one. These may technically be out of print but used copies are fairly inexpensive. Still, I wanted something to read and I like supporting an LCS so I paid the $24.99 (didn't want to commit $50 for both volumes). I'll give credit to the shop guy for mentioning to me "This is a two-parter" even though that isn't readily apparent on the cover. So he did know his stuff, even if he mostly watched TV and never acknowledged me while I was browsing the store. The store did have some character ("Hot Indie Picks!" "Staff Must-Reads!") but the personal touch came up a bit short.

Anyway, I read Eternals 1 and didn't get a big charge out of it. I'd probably eat it up if I was familiar with Kirby's Eternals because resolving/continuing their story line was the main focus, while Thor mostly seemed to be a vehicle for that, though they kept tossing in little Ragnarok references here and there. I might pick up a used copy of #2 at some point since some reviews say that volume is better.

davidh777

Got Ragnarok for my birthday

And now for whatever reason, Amazon has buy buttons back on the two Eternals volumes even though they're backordered. Might get the second one just to finish that story.

And I'm looking at Simonson TPB #2 but the Omnibus is cheaper than TPBs 2-5 so I'll probably go that route instead.

davidh777

It was painful, but I went ahead and dropped the $70+ on the Simonson omnibus. It was cheaper than getting the rest of the TPBs and it really does look awesome.

fujishig

Yeah, I think I'm going to bite on the Simonson Thor Omni too, despite having picked up the first few Visionaries trades. Next they'll do Peter David Hulk to make me feel even dumber for picking up those earlier trades.