Generations: The Thunder - REVIEW and SPOILERS

[Harpsikord]

How is there not a thread for this already? Oh well.

This is probably my second or third favorite Generations issue, the dynamic between Jane and such a young Thor is really good, the setting is really good, and it's fun to see Thor's dynamic with Odin - as well as a pretty gruesome Loki design that I'm especially fond of, and the callbacks to other parts of continuity are especially good - as well as a peek into the future with something that's clearly a look at what's to come in Avengers 100000000 etc B.C.

Onto the spoilers!

We start with Thor, many years ago, in the weapons hall of Asgard. Mjolnir still sits upon it's rock, and Thor is still trying to lift it from it's place... and he does, sort of. At least, he lifts it higher than he ever has before now.
But then he gets yelled at by Odin. Because Odin is a mean dad, like King Triton, and just doesn't want to let his child with glorious hair have fun.
Odin argues that no one should touch Mjolnir because it's too powerful and unpredictable but Thor argues that he's ready. He's worthy! Odin tells him to be worthy of him instead of the hammer. And then tells Thor to come to a party. In formal wear!
Thor hates the formal wear, which is his classic costume. I hate it too, Thor, don't worry.
Odin disallows Thor from even drinking any mead until after the party is over and Thor decides that Odin is trying to ruin all of his fun - so he sneaks out on a flying goat and goes to Midgard, after hearing a prayer from some vikings.
The Vikings found egypt, and in this timeframe, finding Egypt means finding Apocalypse. So it's Viking vs Clan Akkaba, and the Vikings were losing. Thor decides to help.
This is after Uncanny Avengers #6, so Thor and Apocalypse have some history.
Thor and Apocalypse are boutta have it out, until suddenly there's some strange lightning. You know where this is going, right?
Enter: Jane Foster! Thor is quick to question Jane about where she got Mjolnir and how she got it and all that stuff, since even he can't lift it just yet, and initially believes that she was sent here by Odin. Also, she's highkey judgey about him being misogynistic. Fight him, Jane.
Jane figures out that this is definitely not the Thor she knows and that she traveled through time. Not hard to figure out, I guess, but she doesn't know the how or why.
The Thor's fight Apocalypse, and the Odinson rallies the vikings to fight against Clan Akkaba. Jane gets to see firsthand how Thor inspires the vikings, and vice versa!
... and then there's Loki. Jane socks him in the head with Mjolnir after he offers to read her future and she's like boy, bye. He knows he deserved it too, seeing as how he's the one that set up this conflict to get Thor out of Asgard.
Then he poofs, promising to see Jane again.
The Thor's take down Apocalypse and the vikings beat Clan Akkaba, and then it's celebration time on the open seas - led by Thor's flying goat. Thor sneaks away from the revelry to talk to Jane, and he gets that Odin didn't send her now. Jane tells him they never saw eye to eye and when Thor asks who she is, she tells him that she's a friend from another time. How did Jane learn to wield Mjolnir? Well, from watching him of course.
That, of course, is met with skepticism because Thor can't even lift it yet! Git gud, Thor.
She tells him that it isn't his divinity that makes him the god that he will one day become, but his humanity. And she's right, right? Thor is sort of a step ahead of the rest when it comes to the other Asgardians. He also reminded her, through their fighting together, why Jane shouldn't be so quick to let go of her humanity - of Jane Foster.
And then she poofs and Thor decides she was a witch, but I think we all know better than that.
Cut back to Asgard, to the hall of weapons, with Thor making an attempt to lift Mjolnir once again - and once again, he fails, but he lifts it higher still. Soon will be the day that he can lift the hammer.
Cut, once again, to somewhere in the cosmos. It's Odin, discussing Thor and his... impossibility with someone. The comparison between Odin and Thor is actually kind of funny, with both of them being antsy, though Odin that he argues a reason.
The voice asks why he's called her, of all figures, here to speak of this. Doesn't he have a few wives? A few. But none compare to her. Not to Odin, not to many.
It's hard to compare to The Phoenix Force. For, she says, there are no others like her.
Odin misses the time when he "had" the Phoenix, though she plays it coy and claims that he is arrogant. She tells him that what he longs for is either long dead or never existed at all, and threatens to burn Asgard to the ground should he summon her again. Odin laments that it's hard to forget, and of course, wouldn't it be?
And the issue ends on a page showing the Phoenix and Odin embracing, seemingly in love like Odin insists. The Power Couple of eternity, I guess?

And... that's it! I really liked it, especially the Phoenix bits. There's a lot of Phoenix going around lately. I can dig it.

[KingDragonlord]

What a shock. They wouldn't let Real Thor have his hammer, even though thats supposed to be the conceit of Generations (heroes in their prime as we remember them). Because heaven forbid Real Thor measure up to Fake Thor for even one issue. Can't go risking the all important message to just tell a story the fans want (hence Phoenix shows up to upstage Odin for no reason.)

They can't even stop being themselves long enough to offer the olive branch. I'd be more miffed about this if this direction in the company weren't costing Marvel dearly in sales (sure, fake thor is one of their best sellers but when your best seller is selling at 50,000 that only shows how bad your company is doing overall).

[Harpsikord]

What a shock. They wouldn't let Real Thor have his hammer, even though thats supposed to be the conceit of Generations (heroes in their prime as we remember them). Because heaven forbid Real Thor measure up to Fake Thor for even one issue. Can't go risking the all important message to just tell a story the fans want (hence Phoenix shows up to upstage Odin for no reason.)

I get the feeling you missed the point; there wasn't any upstaging; both Thor's were on equal levels and there was literally nothing to upstage between Odin and Phoenix. It was just a conversation.

[KingDragonlord]

No, it was FemThor and Unworthy Thor again. We couldn't have Worthy Thor for one issue. And FemThor couldn't resist lecturing Thor from, like, 5000 years ago about his uncouth language (I'm sorry if Ancient Egypt doesn't quite live up to woke 2017 standards)

[KingDragonlord]

Honestly even having them equal is an insult. Thor is Thor. Thats his name. He's a god. He is him and has been throughout many ages. To have some mortal woman who's only filled the role for a year or so (in story time) be as good or better is an insult to him and the fans.

[Za Waldo]

Second or third favorite Generations? Talk about damning with faint praise, there's only four of these things.

Mostly seemed kind of dumb to me. There's something fun in there, but it's buried under a bunch of bullshit. I haven't really read all that much Jason Aaron, and what little I've read I've liked, but this? It's almost hard to believe this Jason Aaron is the same person that did The God Butcher and Secret Wars Weirdworld. So much of this comic is just cringe. Basically ever time an attempt at humor is made it hurts, and there's too many attempts given have terrible they are.

The best thing about the comic may be something I can't even tell if it's intentionally, which maybe should disqualify it as such, but whatever, this comic ain't got much. But I liked how Thor is kind of the villain of this comic. It's pretty funny that Lady Thor doesn't seem to get that she's on the wrong side of what's happening there, I can't tell if that's just totally unintentional, or if she's just kind of dumb, but it's funny either way. Like see never seems to stop and think: Hey, I'm in Egypt with a bunch of Vikings...maybe Apocalypse isn't in the wrong this one time?

Has Thor's hammer evwr been show to work like it does in this comic? Like when I think about how his hammer works it's a pretty binary worthy unworthy system. But what is he here, like 10% worthy? He can kind of pick it up but he can't fully pick it up.

And who comes up with this intros? They need to be stopped. It reads like the lamest intro to an anthology series ever. And that last line: This Journey Is A Gift. Yeah, a gift you say, ok, sure, whatever. So far the journey has been more like a cure, like some bizarre punishment for being anyone who dared ask for the original version of characters back.

[Prof. Warren]

I get the feeling you missed the point; there wasn't any upstaging; both Thor's were on equal levels and there was literally nothing to upstage between Odin and Phoenix. It was just a conversation.

I get the impression that the only thing that would please fans who despise the Legacy characters is if all of these issues were the classic versions outshining their Legacy counterparts in every scene, on every level and for the Legacy characters to be openly shamed and humiliated. Even though every one of these issues has portrayed both generations as being capable and heroic in their own equally important ways, the fact that they're put on equal footing is perceived by these fans as degrading and insulting the original.

These fans just want the originals to assert their superiority, to reclaim their crowns, and for the Legacy characters to be revealed as cheap frauds -
preferably with an open letter of apology from Marvel to all the "real" fans to be included in the back of every issue. Anything less than that is catering to SJW's or whatever.

As for this issue, I'd say it's likely my favorite so far, just edging out the Phoenix issue. Jane and Thor both have wonderful moments and the tag at the end certainly is an intriguing glimpse of what's in store in Legacy.

[L.R Johansson]

Hmm, I must admit towards being a little bit disappointed that it wasn't the classic worthy Stan and Jack Thor which Jane-Thor met in this story, but I enjoyed it none-the-less.

If one wants to read about an old Worthy Thor meeting Jane, then look no further than 2015's Ultron Forever, where the Simonson-era Thor meets Jane.

Oh, and he meets Unworthy Thor as well, but it's the cybernetic HICKMAN-version! Whom has become truly villainous and a thrall of Ultron.

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Avenger...orever_Vol_1_1


None the less, although it was an enjoyable issue, it was mostly some light fun, and not necessarily the deep and complex, in commentary and writing, on what it means to be Worthy, and whether or not that changes, as some of us would have liked - but still, fun. The art is outstanding as well, and I wouldn't mind Mahmud Asrar as the new regular artist on Thor once Odinson regains his worthiness after Generations.

Second or third favorite Generations? Talk about damning with faint praise, there's only four of these things.

Mostly seemed kind of dumb to me. There's something fun in there, but it's buried under a bunch of bullshit. I haven't really read all that much Jason Aaron, and what little I've read I've liked, but this? It's almost hard to believe this Jason Aaron is the same person that did The God Butcher and Secret Wars Weirdworld. So much of this comic is just cringe. Basically ever time an attempt at humor is made it hurts, and there's too many attempts given have terrible they are.

The best thing about the comic may be something I can't even tell if it's intentionally, which maybe should disqualify it as such, but whatever, this comic ain't got much. But I liked how Thor is kind of the villain of this comic. It's pretty funny that Lady Thor doesn't seem to get that she's on the wrong side of what's happening there, I can't tell if that's just totally unintentional, or if she's just kind of dumb, but it's funny either way. Like see never seems to stop and think: Hey, I'm in Egypt with a bunch of Vikings...maybe Apocalypse isn't in the wrong this one time?

Has Thor's hammer evwr been show to work like it does in this comic? Like when I think about how his hammer works it's a pretty binary worthy unworthy system. But what is he here, like 10% worthy? He can kind of pick it up but he can't fully pick it up.

And who comes up with this intros? They need to be stopped. It reads like the lamest intro to an anthology series ever. And that last line: This Journey Is A Gift. Yeah, a gift you say, ok, sure, whatever. So far the journey has been more like a cure, like some bizarre punishment for being anyone who dared ask for the original version of characters back.

Yes, it has, all the way back from Stan and Jack's run.

From the original Journey Into Mystery #100:


(ignore the digital recolouring, couldn't find the original, and I can't be arsed to dig out my Marvel Masterworks)

The first story of how Thor became worthy then continued for a couple of issues, read more about it here:

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Tales_of_Asgard_Vol_1_1

There are several stories of how Thor became worthy, which is contradictory, and certainly the Aaron version is such, BUT... because of the nature of Thor's cosmology with cycles of Ragnarok, it all kind of fits together - i.e the story is slightly different for every cycle.

[butterflykyss]

I will leave what I wrote in the thor appreciation here as this wasn't created or u didn't see it when I posted in Thor appreciation.

my thoughts on the issue was this:

I must say the thor generations did not leave me liking either thor. they invaded a sovereign land and pillage their possessions. didn't seem heroic at all. even wuth apocalypse being evil in the context if this story his home and people were invaded and they had every right to defend themselves. maybe thor of the past would go along with the Vikings actions but Jane there is no excuse. especially since she berated thor about being misogynistic and trying to employ some moral authority. highly disappointed in the thors.

[Haquim]

I do not dislike Jane Thor but she's becoming quite hard to bear, acting all high and mighty and smashing people around based on supposed moral authority. I disliked her in the last issue of Thor (I think her grandstanding with Volstagg was unnedeed) and I disliked her this issue. There's a difference between showing how Jane is a competent heir to Thor's mantle and turning her into the best Thor ever (somehow able to smash Odin around) because the author wants to pass a political message.

As for the vikings... they were vikings, pillage, rape, murder is what they did. And Thor was one of their main gods who endorsed their "lifestyle" (later christianity, as it always did, used him as a symbol for Christ and turned Loki and IIRC Odin into devils). Judged on today's morality they were appaling human beings, yet to me doing that is childish and anachronistic.

[Del torro]

Hmm, I must admit towards being a little bit disappointed that it wasn't the classic worthy Stan and Jack Thor which Jane-Thor met in this story, but I enjoyed it none-the-less.

If one wants to read about an old Worthy Thor meeting Jane, then look no further than 2015's Ultron Forever, where the Simonson-era Thor meets Jane.

Oh, and he meets Unworthy Thor as well, but it's the cybernetic HICKMAN-version! Whom has become truly villainous and a thrall of Ultron.

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Avenger...orever_Vol_1_1


None the less, although it was an enjoyable issue, it was mostly some light fun, and not necessarily the deep and complex, in commentary and writing, on what it means to be Worthy, and whether or not that changes, as some of us would have liked - but still, fun. The art is outstanding as well, and I wouldn't mind Mahmud Asrar as the new regular artist on Thor once Odinson regains his worthiness after Generations.




Yes, it has, all the way back from Stan and Jack's run.

From the original Journey Into Mystery #100:


.

Lol, this is a complete contrast to Aarons Version of Odin that is screaming at Thoor to drop the hammer because no one should use it, here Oin is proud that his son is becoming worthy.

About the Vikings and their nature, i dont think we can complain about that, its how they were. And since the gods are formed from stories the vikings told themselves amd created in the image of the people that worship (and created) them. It explains why pillaging, raiding, slaying dragons, drinking, never backing down from a fight, courage and whoring makes a man worthy.
But with the times changing, the nature of public perception shifting and the age of heroes coming, the interpretation of worthiness has changed to saving the world, courage, never backing down, protecting. In a way, the perceptions of the people have change the nature of their gods.
Atleast thats my interpretation, but we all know its actually the sentient storm in the hammer that dictates who lifts depending on how it feels or what it ate that day. (asshole red Norvell, confused clueless civilian james olsen, cancer patient jane, narcissistic inverted loki, hydra captain America).

As mentioned in another thread, weird that Jane has a problem with the culture of calling women wench but not the culture of raiding peaceful civilizations lol. Still, Vikings will always be vikings, and thats what i love about the Young Thor issues with them that Aaron writes, it shows a pagan god with his primitive worshipers living the life

[Punisher007]

So Odin and The Phoenix did the beast with two backs? Wow that's dumb, like face-palmingly so.

[Knives]

Well the biggest surprise really is the relationship of Odin and Phoenix in the past. And yes the marvel is increasing the participation of Phoenix to other titles outside of the mutant comics like Thanos and Thor.

Obviously this creates some problem of continuity but it is also not surprising since there are many stories of love between gods.

Already about Odinson and Jane understand how some readers feel divided about this issue is the same with the O5 X-mens on the X-mens side some like and others hate and want the adults back.Well marvel encouraged this schism and maybe that's the intention, but in this issue think they did a good homage without harming one character or another.

It seems that the lesson learned was that what makes someone worthy of the hammer is the human heart and not divine power. That is why Jane will not abandon her human part even if she dies in the process.

[stillanerd]

I thought this was one of the better one of these Generations one-shots, although it was imperfect. It works well as a young Thor story, though I did feel the "gender politics," if you will, involving Jane Foster/Thor felt awkward and contradictory. Also, the art was really good in some panels, but also really off the mark in others.

Stillanerd Reviews: Generations: The Thunder (The Mighty Thor and The Unworthy Thor) #1 review

[butterflykyss]

I do not dislike Jane Thor but she's becoming quite hard to bear, acting all high and mighty and smashing people around based on supposed moral authority. I disliked her in the last issue of Thor (I think her grandstanding with Volstagg was unnedeed) and I disliked her this issue. There's a difference between showing how Jane is a competent heir to Thor's mantle and turning her into the best Thor ever (somehow able to smash Odin around) because the author wants to pass a political message.

As for the vikings... they were vikings, pillage, rape, murder is what they did. And Thor was one of their main gods who endorsed their "lifestyle" (later christianity, as it always did, used him as a symbol for Christ and turned Loki and IIRC Odin into devils). Judged on today's morality they were appaling human beings, yet to me doing that is childish and anachronistic.

I understand that is what they did and as a reader the fact this was done and jane supported this makes them both a lot less likeable. she tried to school thor on misogyny, yet she help them pillage people who did nothing but attempt to protect what waa rightfully theirs. I wasn't a big fan of thor and his mythos to begin with but this definitely took any type of interest I had of the Nordic heroes after this issue. it was very disappointing to read.