Thor Odinson: God of Thunder Appreciation 2020

[kilderkin]

It has certainly shifted already, from being overwhelmingly negative to being mostly positive, at worst a "mixed bag", so things have definitely shifted. Even for me, although i have some problems with the run i can still tell that Cates really tries to write something fun and that he loves writing Thor as a Norse god of death metal or something, he enjoys the character, this is not the same sense i got from Aaron. Eh that guy appreciated Aarons writing more than the run itself, my biggest problem with him is that he would contradict himself and defend things that should be indefensibly, for instance we can agree or disagree with a writer or his writing, but once you use a comic book to literally break the 4th wall to mock some fanboys on twitter, that's pretty pathetic... and Aaron did it multiple times.

Agreed about Cates, his heart seems in the right place and agreed about Aaron who I felt didn't like the Thor mythos at all

I also have no time for using the books to have a go at people, some may say it's fair game, for me it's an abuse of power

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

I'd argue since 2007 when Thor returned it's been mostly a mixed bag of narrative quality and characterization. IMO, the highlights are slowly becoming overshadowed by the lows, but that could be because of the general way a character like Thor (and other powerful beings based on magic) is treated in the company. The Quesada/Bendis/Millar Marvel Knights injection greatly influenced how superheroes and characters in general are handled in Marvel and that style is still prevalent.

Quesada and Bendis always hated fantasy and space oriented characters and think the best way to make them likeable is writing them like thugs from Brooklyn.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

It has certainly shifted already, from being overwhelmingly negative to being mostly positive, at worst a "mixed bag", so things have definitely shifted. Even for me, although i have some problems with the run i can still tell that Cates really tries to write something fun and that he loves writing Thor as a Norse god of death metal or something, he enjoys the character, this is not the same sense i got from Aaron. Eh that guy appreciated Aarons writing more than the run itself, my biggest problem with him is that he would contradict himself and defend things that should be indefensibly, for instance we can agree or disagree with a writer or his writing, but once you use a comic book to literally break the 4th wall to mock some fanboys on twitter, that's pretty pathetic... and Aaron did it multiple times.

I think JK was one of those comic bookers who only follows their favorite writers, and they follow them everywhere, even when they work on characters they couldnt care less about and drop the book the moment their favorite writer finishes the run.

Most of Bendis and Loeb careers thrived on that type of fans

[your_name_here]

I can’t really get a feel for this current run on Thor. It’s moving at a very fast pace, even for Cates. I’m sticking with it, but it just feels a little weird at the moment (can’t even call that good or bad - I just don’t quite grasp it yet.)

The first couple pages of #1 though were great. I’d like to see some kind of return to that than the cosmic/galactus side of things.

[Intothevoid]

I think JK was one of those comic bookers who only follows their favorite writers, and they follow them everywhere, even when they work on characters they couldnt care less about and drop the book the moment their favorite writer finishes the run.

Most of Bendis and Loeb careers thrived on that type of fans

Oh yea, i hate fans who follow around writers and defend them on every turn, like i love what Greg Pak did for Hulk, he is one of the people most responsible in recent time for having Hulk get the respect he deserves and he has written stories that are even known to mainstream audiences like Planet Hulk, which is what the movie Ragnarok is basically based off, but even than i don't follow him blindly and can admit that after he left Hulk back in 2011 he has been pretty much a subpar writer, he hasn't delievered anything of even remotely the same quality.

Cates is another writer that has garnered quite a large cult, which could be a very bad thing, especially for ones ego, he is still a relatively new writer but has a massive following, i heard his Absolute Carnage event outsold the Watchmen comics, which is insane but also stupid... i mean Absolute Carnage was run of the mill event, nothing spectacular about it, it will be forgotten in a couple of years, while Watchmen has reached iconic cultural status.

I can’t really get a feel for this current run on Thor. It’s moving at a very fast pace, even for Cates. I’m sticking with it, but it just feels a little weird at the moment (can’t even call that good or bad - I just don’t quite grasp it yet.)

The first couple pages of #1 though were great. I’d like to see some kind of return to that than the cosmic/galactus side of things.

Yep, one of my complaints about this comic(if we ignore the stuff about power level inconsistencies which some people find to be a silly complain and it's fine i will give them that), the pacing is killing me... ever since the end of issue 1 we have been in non-stop fights and it looks like it will continue in issue 4 as well, no time to develop the story, develop this new threat, develop the characters, develop the "alliance" that Thor and Galactus have, seriously Cates needs to hit the breaks and give me at least 1 issue were we aren't fighting for 90% of the comic and maybe instead fight for 10% of the comic and 90% of it is used to develop story/characters more.

[CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree]

Oh yea, i hate fans who follow around writers and defend them on every turn, like i love what Greg Pak did for Hulk, he is one of the people most responsible in recent time for having Hulk get the respect he deserves and he has written stories that are even known to mainstream audiences like Planet Hulk, which is what the movie Ragnarok is basically based off, but even than i don't follow him blindly and can admit that after he left Hulk back in 2011 he has been pretty much a subpar writer, he hasn't delievered anything of even remotely the same quality.

Cates is another writer that has garnered quite a large cult, which could be a very bad thing, especially for ones ego, he is still a relatively new writer but has a massive following, i heard his Absolute Carnage event outsold the Watchmen comics, which is insane but also stupid... i mean Absolute Carnage was run of the mill event, nothing spectacular about it, it will be forgotten in a couple of years, while Watchmen has reached iconic cultural status.



Yep, one of my complaints about this comic(if we ignore the stuff about power level inconsistencies which some people find to be a silly complain and it's fine i will give them that), the pacing is killing me... ever since the end of issue 1 we have been in non-stop fights and it looks like it will continue in issue 4 as well, no time to develop the story, develop this new threat, develop the characters, develop the "alliance" that Thor and Galactus have, seriously Cates needs to hit the breaks and give me at least 1 issue were we aren't fighting for 90% of the comic and maybe instead fight for 10% of the comic and 90% of it is used to develop story/characters more.

Venom and Carnage will always sell regardless of the author.

And your rant about the comic being non-stop action with little plot development reminded me of Linkara's reviews of the Youngblood comics where he mentioned this exact problem.

The nineties have returned to comics in sneaky ways. The only thing missing is the giant guns and characters scowling in every page.

[Intothevoid]

Venom and Carnage will always sell regardless of the author.

And your rant about the comic being non-stop action with little plot development reminded me of Linkara's reviews of the Youngblood comics where he mentioned this exact problem.

The nineties have returned to comics in sneaky ways. The only thing missing is the giant guns and characters scowling in every page.

Sure but beating out every comic novel ever, including the Watchmen is a bit silly. I don't even dislike Cates as a writer, i think he at the very least writes very fun stories, but he has garnered a cut and i think no matter what book he picks up they will follow.

Ah Linkara, that's someone i haven't watched in a very long time.

The nineties was one of the worst decades for comics, it's probably best not to return to that decade.

[Jekyll]

Sure but beating out every comic novel ever, including the Watchmen is a bit silly. I don't even dislike Cates as a writer, i think he at the very least writes very fun stories, but he has garnered a cut and i think no matter what book he picks up they will follow.

Ah Linkara, that's someone i haven't watched in a very long time.

The nineties was one of the worst decades for comics, it's probably best not to return to that decade.

By Watchmen are you referring to Doomsday Clock? There is a reason Cates outsold that book, mainly because DC did such a horrible job of handling it's release schedule. A 12 issue maxi-series should not take 3+ years to be released.

[Guthwulf]

Sure but beating out every comic novel ever, including the Watchmen is a bit silly. I don't even dislike Cates as a writer, i think he at the very least writes very fun stories, but he has garnered a cut and i think no matter what book he picks up they will follow.

Ah Linkara, that's someone i haven't watched in a very long time.

The nineties was one of the worst decades for comics, it's probably best not to return to that decade.

What do you mean by outselling Watchmen? As I understand Absolute Carnage was the most sold collected edition of that month, what is completely normal considering Watchmen has been in stores forever, and is still selling pretty well.

[Intothevoid]

By Watchmen are you referring to Doomsday Clock? There is a reason Cates outsold that book, mainly because DC did such a horrible job of handling it's release schedule. A 12 issue maxi-series should not take 3+ years to be released.

What do you mean by outselling Watchmen? As I understand Absolute Carnage was the most sold collected edition of that month, what is completely normal considering Watchmen has been in stores forever, and is still selling pretty well.

Unless i understood wrongly, according to Cates, Absolute Carnage is the highest selling comic book trade ever, outsold even Watchmen. It doesn't seem like he was referring to a specific month but in general.

[kalai]

I like Donny Cates run in general, I think he got the tone of Thor better than Aaron did.
Then again, Aaron seemed to understand Thor back in his God of Thunder days, so we will see.

[kalai]

Unless i understood wrongly, according to Cates, Absolute Carnage is the highest selling comic book trade ever, outsold even Watchmen. It doesn't seem like he was referring to a specific month but in general.

I think that's a joke, cause in promotion, they promoted it as trying to outsell X-men#1 and they stick to that joke .

[Wall-Crawler]

Quality on the Thor books did not decline in 2007, in fact that was a very good year because we got the amazing JMS to resurrect and re-establish the character in the world and he did it the best way possible, he left the book on 2009 I believe and then we got Kieron Gillen who was on the book for around a year, the quality remained consistent and I think Gillen's short run is vastly underrated.

Quality declined in 2010-2011 when Fraction took over the book and began the slow transformation of Thor into something unrecognizable to the noble but badass warrior he was.

[tliscord]

I like Donny Cates run in general, I think he got the tone of Thor better than Aaron did.
Then again, Aaron seemed to understand Thor back in his God of Thunder days, so we will see.

I’m liking Cates so far. Aaron’s spin was a bit jolting but I nevertheless enjoyed it. I’m probably ready for a bit more cerebral Thor at this juncture however one can’t argue with this writing .... 9E8C293D-A022-4ECA-87F7-30B9E98140C6.jpg

Indeed, the golden age of craft ale!

[Electricmastro]

Thor #322 (August, 1982). Art by Ed Hannigan.