Thor Odinson Appreciation 2018

[HaveAtThee]

Chris Hemsworth's 'Thor' has never felt like a scary-impressive millennia old god of war and thunder that people like Captain America and Nick Fury regard with a mix of respect and awe (like in the comics). Instead he's just a crinkly-eyed grinning surf-jock who gets funnily tasered and / or backed over by cars. It took them two lackluster movies before they gave up and made a straight up comedy, in the style of Guardians of the Galaxy, with Ragnarok.

I don't think the MCU ever 'got' Thor. (To be fair, it took three tries to get a great Banner / Hulk...)

They weren't ballsy enough to go the whole way with Thor. To blend the cosmic with the mythological fantasy.

They never asked the question "Wait, what if these beings that Scandinavians told stories about actually existed and wielding life-changing powers?" It was never really dealt with. It's almost as if no one cared that suddenly a Norse Myth actually came to life, and what the ramifications were for the world culture.

Only time it was ever tacitly addressed was Black Widow's comment in Avengers after Thor took Loki from the Quinjet. "I'd sit this one out, Cap. These guys come from the legends, they're basically gods." Followed by Cap's deadpan remark about how they dress.

Thor should've been viewed with a sense of awe maybe with a bit of fear, given his power and stature. I think Branagh tried to achieve the "mythological space opera" tone in the first film but obviously he didn't have the massive MCU war-chest of today to be able to go big.

[Frontier]

Upcoming cover?

[brettc1]

The true power of Thor -

Warrior of thunder, no fear hath he
to face his fate,
Victorious in death, triumph from tragedy
he seizes boldly.

Whined he did not,
no moping or sulking for fates cruelty
were hear from his lips.

Nothing mattered but
the will to smite evil, laying it low
no matter the cost.

This, now, is his truth.

Would you know more?

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

..and a very HAPPY birthday to Arthur "Art" Adams!!!

Thor by Art Adams http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....day_art_adams/

[Gamma Burst]

I don't think creative ever wanted Thor to return in 2007. I don't think the post-2000 bevy of Indie-style writers care for a character with both mythological, magical and cosmic background. I'm sure they had plans to make a Thor movie, so they decided to bring Thor back.

JMS said more than once that Thor only came back because he took up the challenge to write the new ongoing, and that no one else wanted to even touch the character at that time.

[Alpha to Omega]

JMS said more than once that Thor only came back because he took up the challenge to write the new ongoing, and that no one else wanted to even touch the character at that time.

IIRC before JMS, Marvel were planning on having Mark Millar write the the book based on concepts by Neil Gaimen who had the awful idea that Asgard's artifacts would fall to Earth and then be picked up by various people and empower them, with a new Thor being a teen who picked up Mjolnir after it crashed in the mid-west. Greg Land was supposed to do the art. Millar writing Thor was even confirmed by Brevoort at one point but then Millar kept delaying it until finally just dropping out completely and Thor was left in limbo until JMS said he'd do it.

[Frontier]

IIRC before JMS, Marvel were planning on having Mark Millar write the the book based on concepts by Neil Gaimen who had the awful idea that Asgard's artifacts would fall to Earth and then be picked up by various people and empower them, with a new Thor being a teen who picked up Mjolnir after it crashed in the mid-west. Greg Land was supposed to do the art. Millar writing Thor was even confirmed by Brevoort at one point but then Millar kept delaying it until finally just dropping out completely and Thor was left in limbo until JMS said he'd do it.

With a concept and creative team like that, thank goodness it fell through the cracks...

[Alpha to Omega]

With a concept and creative team like that, thank goodness it fell through the cracks...

Yeah, the concept was pretty reviled by most Thor fans at the time and was nicknamed Thorville.

[The Cool Thatguy]

You could even look at Ragnarok and see that it doesn't seem like Marvel as a whole really "gets" or cares for Thor as he traditionally is, although I think generally he's pretty on point when it comes to the cartoons.

The greater problem is really two fold, within the MU.

First, they want to avoid magic, as it's been traditionally used, at all costs. Magic generally plays fast and loose with chekhov's gun, isn't great with limitations and by it's nature ill defined.

Hence why the sequel defined everything as science.

Second...they kept wobbling on their decision. Sequel said they weren't Gods, and no such thing as magic. Third, they said that they were Gods, magic was used (albeit vaguely), etc.

They should have made a decision and stuck with it

[juan678]

King Thor Stories return
C.B. points how Christian Ward will be doing a back-up story in THOR #1 focusing on King Thor, with Mike Del Mundo doing the lead story.

[HaveAtThee]

IIRC before JMS, Marvel were planning on having Mark Millar write the the book based on concepts by Neil Gaimen who had the awful idea that Asgard's artifacts would fall to Earth and then be picked up by various people and empower them, with a new Thor being a teen who picked up Mjolnir after it crashed in the mid-west. Greg Land was supposed to do the art. Millar writing Thor was even confirmed by Brevoort at one point but then Millar kept delaying it until finally just dropping out completely and Thor was left in limbo until JMS said he'd do it.

I actually think Neil Gaiman would be quite an interesting choice to write Thor.

If I had a personal pick, I'd want to lure Hickman back to do a lengthy Thor run. I think he would have high concepts and he seems to understand the tone of the character as well as write a proper speech pattern for him.

[GrandEleven]

I'm really not convinced any of this has anything to do with feminism - Thor has been out of favour with the Marvel creative elite for a while now. If it wasn't Jane replacing Odinson, I'm sure it would have been someone - I don't think Aaron is very comfortable writing a positive Thor, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see the main heroics in the upcoming storyline revolving around contemporary mortals being given the power of the gods.

Careful now, feminism has nearly become "she whom shall not be named" in the Thor community. The conspiracy runs so deep I'm surprised no one has mentioned that the climactic villain had the word "man" in his name and made some kind "man-hating" accusation.

[Frontier]

King Thor Stories return
C.B. points how Christian Ward will be doing a back-up story in THOR #1 focusing on King Thor, with Mike Del Mundo doing the lead story.

With the benefit of hindsight and how Aaron has been writing Thor and Odin, I'm not sure how I feel about the return of Old King Thor...

[numberthirty]

With the benefit of hindsight and how Aaron has been writing Thor and Odin, I'm not sure how I feel about the return of Old King Thor...

Even if you aren't interested in the return of Old King Thor, the wrinkle that accompanies that return could be worth a look.

[JKtheMac]

JMS said more than once that Thor only came back because he took up the challenge to write the new ongoing, and that no one else wanted to even touch the character at that time.

IIRC before JMS, Marvel were planning on having Mark Millar write the the book based on concepts by Neil Gaimen who had the awful idea that Asgard's artifacts would fall to Earth and then be picked up by various people and empower them, with a new Thor being a teen who picked up Mjolnir after it crashed in the mid-west. Greg Land was supposed to do the art. Millar writing Thor was even confirmed by Brevoort at one point but then Millar kept delaying it until finally just dropping out completely and Thor was left in limbo until JMS said he'd do it.

The title was in a creative wilderness. I don't know enough about why Jurgens finished but he seemed to bring his run to an abrupt halt. Does anyone know the story there or was it just a cancellation? It felt to me that Jurgens was finally finding his feet after a mediocre start and some ignoring of canon - when I finally managed to read through his run. (Not quite a fan.)

Then we had the very tacked on Michael Avon Oeming Disassembled story which didn't really flow from the existing story and IMO would have been better as a mini. This probably killed the ongoing. Then we have a big gap to the next recognised Thor of JMS. A time of minis of variable quality and relevance. It felt like Marvel were groping for a concept that would work. In some ways Thor was a devalued character after far too much self-reflection, disconnected from his roots by wave after wave of change. The Gaiman idea reflects this. Start with a mortal again. Get back to the roots of the character. Gaiman has never been afraid of wish fulfilment.

JMS brought success back to the title. He had a clear idea for how to develop the ideas and themes, he was inclusive of previous canon but very much set on his own path. It clearly connected with critics and found an audience. But, we can only guess where the path was leading because he left prematurely. His path didn't include being forced to be a key player in a line-wide crossover.

P.S. For an interesting read I would recommend this Jurgens interview. It is particularly interesting when it starts to examine the shift in comics after 9/11 and how this had an impact on writing Thor.

P.P.S. CBR had an interview when JMS left.