Thor Odinson: God of Thunder Appreciation 2020

[Cronus]

The Odin Force is a major casualty of the Marvel Universe. Galactus was once below Odin in power. Then he was made into a "cosmic" being and elevated above pretty much everyone. They others were elevated above him. The issue is not the characters; it's the endless power-escalation of the MU over the past few decades. What Marvel really needs is a major power DE-escalation and enough solid editors to keep the writers in line. Just my thoughts though.

I agree about better editorial oversight. But I think its perhaps one of the things editors have become sensitive to inasmuch as in order to attract new talent to books, that kind of oversight could be exasperating to writers.

I say, as mentioned in my previous post above, folks come up with a "fact check reference thread" for Thor specifically. Powers, personality, friends, enemies (and their power sets) could all be listed with links and issue/reference numbers so writer's can quickly check this information. Just a thought.

[Agent Z]

Because heroes are the underdog. They need enemies bigger/more powerful than themselves

Hulk is an anti-hero. So part of the dramatic tension is what he will do to the world around him, like Spectre.

That is not universally the case for every hero. Superman and Batman are the top dogs in their respective corners of their universe with the number of foes that are equal to or more powerful than them countable on one hand. Thor himself is consistently more powerful than the majority of his enemies. Black Panther is the ruler of the most technologically advanced country on earth. Not ever hero is or should be the underdog.

[The Cool Thatguy]

That is not universally the case for every hero. Superman and Batman are the top dogs in their respective corners of their universe with the number of foes that are equal to or more powerful than them countable on one hand. Thor himself is consistently more powerful than the majority of his enemies. Black Panther is the ruler of the most technologically advanced country on earth. Not ever hero is or should be the underdog.

It is the general rule of thumb for heroes, though yes Superman is the exception. Hell, the number of villains equal to him are few and far between, let alone superior.

But you miss my point, as I was discussing why Hulk can be immortal, get healing, etc. He's an anti-hero. Prt of the tension is what he might do.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

All of a sudden Thor 4 is transformers.

Also Hulk is not in Thor 4, that we already know.

Screw this movie.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

It is the general rule of thumb for heroes, though yes Superman is the exception. Hell, the number of villains equal to him are few and far between, let alone superior.

But you miss my point, as I was discussing why Hulk can be immortal, get healing, etc. He's an anti-hero. Prt of the tension is what he might do.

Mongul, Brainiac, Doomsday, Cyborg Superman, Darkseid (even though he wasn't meant to be a Superman villain) and General Zod would beg to differ.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Mongul, Brainiac, Doomsday, Cyborg Superman, Darkseid (even though he wasn't meant to be a Superman villain) and General Zod would beg to differ.

Mongul and Doomsday only have superstrength roughly equal to Superman. They lack any of his other powers, and Doomsday hasn't been a meaningful threat since his intro.

Brainiac is rarely Superman's equal, simply overwhelming him with tech.

The rest, , are only equal to Superman, at best (yes, I include Darkseid in that).

Also? Six villains equal to Superman, ain't a lot. And none are superior in strength (even when they should be, like Darkseid)

Compare with Thor. When written correctly, the Destroyer is always his physical superior. Mangog and Kurse's characters are being vastly stronger than Thor. Thor's in the top weight class of heroes, but there are villains just as powerful or moreso.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

Mongul and Doomsday only have superstrength roughly equal to Superman. They lack any of his other powers, and Doomsday hasn't been a meaningful threat since his intro.

Brainiac is rarely Superman's equal, simply overwhelming him with tech.

The rest, , are only equal to Superman, at best (yes, I include Darkseid in that).

Also? Six villains equal to Superman, ain't a lot. And none are superior in strength (even when they should be, like Darkseid)

Compare with Thor. When written correctly, the Destroyer is always his physical superior. Mangog and Kurse's characters are being vastly stronger than Thor. Thor's in the top weight class of heroes, but there are villains just as powerful or moreso.

Mongul and Darkseid were originally stronger than Superman. But then Jeph Loeb happened. The last time Doomsday was impressive was in Hunter/Prey.

[Frontier]

Mongul also has his instincts as a conqueror.

[Crossfist]

A few issues into Simonson's Thor and I really like. I love the whole Bill arc and the celebration after had had some really cool character moments (Odin gifting the enchantment to Bill warmed my heart).

Also love it whenever Volstagg is on the page. I hope there's more of him.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

A few issues into Simonson's Thor and I really like. I love the whole Bill arc and the celebration after had had some really cool character moments (Odin gifting the enchantment to Bill warmed my heart).

Also love it whenever Volstagg is on the page. I hope there's more of him.

Volstagg has always been the lovable comic relief of the Thor mythos.

And yes, this was back when Odin had full control over the Mjolnir enchantment. No fickle sentient storm BS

[Jness]

A sad truth.

What are your thoughts on creating a thread called, "Writer's Fact Check Sheet: Thor", and having posters contribute knowledge and information revolving around, among other things, Thor's power set? I mean, some folks spend countless hours creating mods for video games. For FREE. Just because they love the game so much. Some of these mods greatly improve the game, depending on what you play.

Writers could have a free resource on the world's greatest comic book web site and browse these "fact check threads" in complete anonymity and write characters that are are more...consistent. Really, it would be similar to a "respect thread", but designed for writers. I mean, it could be divided in multiple ways...personality, powers, network of friends, enemies and their power sets, etc...

There are some pretty knowledgeable posters on CBR that could really make this a cool thread.

Ah, the freshness of youth. =) I think this is a nice idea. However, the "editors" job at Marvel is less of an editor and more akin to a project manager, albeit a very low paid project manager. Thus, it's unlikely this resource would see very much use. But by all means if you were interested in doing it for your own benefit or entertainment, go to town.

[Cronus]

Ah, the freshness of youth. =) I think this is a nice idea. However, the "editors" job at Marvel is less of an editor and more akin to a project manager, albeit a very low paid project manager. Thus, it's unlikely this resource would see very much use. But by all means if you were interested in doing it for your own benefit or entertainment, go to town.

Wow, and there's the person I definitely didnt tag for a response, complete with condescension.

I wonder, should I be more concerned with the semantics of administering editorial duties at marvel comics or more concerned with writers that dont have the first clue about how to present a character and then get offended when its pointed out they're screwing up?

But thanks for sharing.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

Mongul also has his instincts as a conqueror.

Yes, but he's a one note and thuggish space potentate who is there to destroy stuff and putting over heroes (or other villains like when he got wrecked by Sinestro). I think he exhausted his narrative potential with the original War World story and For The Man Who Has Everything.


Darkseid's problem is that most authors are shitty at writing his voice and how he operates. After Kirby, only Giffen, Simonson and Grant Morrison (True Darkseid being a goofy rainbow monster aside) gets the character as a cold, calculating and insidious God of tyranny.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

How about giving Thor eye beams powerful enough to disintegrate Wolverine's adamantium skeleton along with lightning speed?

[HaveAtThee]

I agree about better editorial oversight. But I think its perhaps one of the things editors have become sensitive to inasmuch as in order to attract new talent to books, that kind of oversight could be exasperating to writers.

I say, as mentioned in my previous post above, folks come up with a "fact check reference thread" for Thor specifically. Powers, personality, friends, enemies (and their power sets) could all be listed with links and issue/reference numbers so writer's can quickly check this information. Just a thought.

Editorial discipline going by the wayside (as well as essentially tossing out continuity) is what has caused the downward spiral of superhero storytelling, IMO. The cherry on top was Quesada's "Anything goes!" approach to editorial duties.

New writers also have to understand that they're dealing with licensed IP's and not their creator-owned projects. I totally support creative autonomy but there has to be a symbiosis between writer/artist and editorial team to maintain some sort of continuity in the story since a character like Thor has appeared in stories virtually uninterrupted for nearly six decades. It's sort of jarring to read a Thor story by different writers in the last ~20 years as it's clear that there's a different writer in different time periods, whereas 30-40 years ago a creator shift was not as obvious. Walt Simonson was not very fond of Shooter's iron hand editorial style but that didn't stop him from producing one of (if not the) the seminal Thor runs in the characters' history. And in the age where X-Men ruled the roost Thor was consistently a top 4 selling book from the company under Walt.