Dan Jurgens' Thor Run (1998)

[FanboyStranger]

That tracks with what I remember. The first few years looked great, but the stories were thin and there were a lot of unnecessary back-to-basics moves. Then Jurgens got more ambitious, and things ticked noticeably upwards.

I think it was the whole Jake Olsen thing that put me off the first few years. It seemed a big step backwards to me. (Not that Thor was particularly good before Heroes Reborn, but at least William Messner-Loebs seemed to be having a lot of fun with it.)

[Geralt of Rivia]

That tracks with what I remember. The first few years looked great, but the stories were thin and there were a lot of unnecessary back-to-basics moves. Then Jurgens got more ambitious, and things ticked noticeably upwards.

Huh, is that what happened? I dropped off around issue #40-something, mainly because I couldn't afford a lot on hobbies at the time and to be honest this was the first book to go, as I remember it being just passable...

I think it was the whole Jake Olsen thing that put me off the first few years. It seemed a big step backwards to me. (Not that Thor was particularly good before Heroes Reborn, but at least William Messner-Loebs seemed to be having a lot of fun with it.)

Felt the exact same way about Thor's civilian id. Not only a step backwards but it grounded the book too much for my tastes.

[HaveAtThee]

I'm a big fan of the Jurgens run. The third best Thor run of all time after the Lee/Kirby run and the legendary Simonson run. Compared to today, A TON of stuff happened with Thor. There were awesome fights and Jurgens weaved together a grand tale with the theme of godhood just beneath the surface. It was loads of fun, I loved it.

[pugbuddy]

It was a good run, but not spectacular. I favor the earlier, more traditional, issues with Romita JR art over the later issues. They were just a lot more fun.

It's nice to see the character be his own man and even when Odin was about earlier in the run, he didn't seem like the massive crutch that he is now and seemed to show Thor a bit of respect, which was nice.

This is usually how Odin and Thor were represented before Fraction got them and totally screwed up the characters interactions. Unfortunately, it seems Aaron is continuing that dynamic. Odin was not an overbearing, arrogant jerk before Fraction's run.

[Mike]

I liked it. Quite good.

[MichaelC]

I loved the first year, but after that it gradually became more and more of a mess. I lost the last bit of interest sometime towards the end of the second year.

[Götterdämmerung]

I loved it and consider it one of the top 5 Thor runs ever. To me issues 36-79 (from the Death of Odin story to the ending of the Lord of Earth) is one of the best periods Thor ever had. You can see even now how many elements guys like Arron or redoing that Jurgens did first.

Hmmm, this might be an old topic, but a recommendation like this, from ZH, is pretty compelling for me. I might have to pick up Death of Odin, thanks I was really curious!

[totalsellout]

i really enjoyed this run, it was the first marvel comic i bought when getting back into comics. it started as a back to basics comic (which marvel was really into at the time) and then just took off with the whole reigning storyline. jurgens really did seem to evolve as a writer during the run, becoming more experimental and mature by the end of it. i think both jms and aaron have borrowed a lot of ideas from this run. my one complaint is they should have let the run end the series, instead of tagging on the disassembled run to retire thor.

[Götterdämmerung]

i really enjoyed this run, it was the first marvel comic i bought when getting back into comics. it started as a back to basics comic (which marvel was really into at the time) and then just took off with the whole reigning storyline. jurgens really did seem to evolve as a writer during the run, becoming more experimental and mature by the end of it. i think both jms and aaron have borrowed a lot of ideas from this run. my one complaint is they should have let the run end the series, instead of tagging on the disassembled run to retire thor.

This is very helpful, thank you! I personally think Disassembed was so good on its own merits that it would have been welcomed at practically any time. I was delightedly surprised how good that story was.

It looks like the Death of Odin might be well enough into Jurgens' run to start with for me.

[batnbreakfast]

I have the entire volume and I think it's fantastic. I rank it right after Simonson's. Definitely worth your time if your a Thor fan.

Thor fans should give Walter Simonson's RAGNARÖK over at IDW a chance

[Götterdämmerung]

Thor fans should give Walter Simonson's RAGNARÖK over at IDW a chance

I've been THIS close to buying that book (vol. 1) from Amazon. I have been so concerned with completing my Simonson, Aaron, and JMS collections (plus tormenting myself over the hugely acclaimed yet retardedly expensive Eternals Saga) that I keep putting it off. I've heard nothing but amazingly great things about it.

[totalsellout]

not to hit your wallet again, but i picked up simonson's ragnarok and loved it , too.

[Götterdämmerung]

not to hit your wallet again, but i picked up simonson's ragnarok and loved it , too.

ARRGH! I'll pick up both that and the Jurgens Death of Odin next week, looking forward. Thanks for the reccomendations everyone! CBR is great for that every time.

[Wall-Crawler]

Absolutely wonderful run, especially when Thor becomes king of Asgard and places it above Manhattan, this does not include The Reigning which was kind of disappointing, but everything that goes in between Thor being king and prior to the beginning of The Reigning is spectacular.

My favorite run on Thor.

[fin5]

Is there a TPB that collects all of Dan Jurgens run