Thor Odinson Appreciation 2018

[Jekyll]

Ah so I take it to avoid Jason Aaron’s run then

Was dropping by to see other than Simonson who you guys would recommend? I loved JMS on Spider-Man, how was his Thor run?

[Wall-Crawler]

So petty, please Marvel, take Jason Aaron as far away from Thor as possible, this dude should never go anywhere near Thor, just stop the massacre.

[Steroid]

So petty, please Marvel, take Jason Aaron as far away from Thor as possible, this dude should never go anywhere near Thor, just stop the massacre.

I refuse to accept that affter a couple thousand years of experience that the God of Thunder has no game. This crap is why i am on the verge of dropping Avengers for the first time since I was 9 years old. Bad enough Aaron's BS made me drop Thor.

[Mr. White]

Ah so I take it to avoid Jason Aaron’s run then

Was dropping by to see other than Simonson who you guys would recommend? I loved JMS on Spider-Man, how was his Thor run?

Nah. I'll recommend Thor: God of Thunder.

25 Issues though I'll say skip Issues 13 - 17 (so stick with Vol. 1, 2 and 4).

[kilderkin]

I refuse to accept that affter a couple thousand years of experience that the God of Thunder has no game. This crap is why i am on the verge of dropping Avengers for the first time since I was 9 years old. Bad enough Aaron's BS made me drop Thor.

I keep trying to hope it will get better

I should know better by now

War of the realms fills me with dread for how it could go for thor

It might be epic, but I have no confidence in his writing of thor himself, or odin, at all

This fool of a thor I find utterly abysmal

[Steroid]

I keep trying to hope it will get better

I should know better by now

War of the realms fills me with dread for how it could go for thor

It might be epic, but I have no confidence in his writing of thor himself, or odin, at all

This fool of a thor I find utterly abysmal

I am just hoping War of the Realms marks the end of this run and a new writer comes onboard. Aaron is the true God-Butcher.

[kilderkin]

I am just hoping War of the Realms marks the end of this run and a new writer comes onboard. Aaron is the true God-Butcher.

re how he writes thor and odin I could not agree more

[Frontier]

So petty, please Marvel, take Jason Aaron as far away from Thor as possible, this dude should never go anywhere near Thor, just stop the massacre.

It's like Aaron is writing Thor like he never grew up from being Young Thor.

[Panic]

Ah so I take it to avoid Jason Aaron’s run then

Was dropping by to see other than Simonson who you guys would recommend? I loved JMS on Spider-Man, how was his Thor run?

Jason Aaron's first 11 issues were very good (collected as The God-Butcher and God-Bomb), but if you're a Thor fan I'd skip the rest.

[Daniel22]

Ah so I take it to avoid Jason Aaron’s run then

Was dropping by to see other than Simonson who you guys would recommend? I loved JMS on Spider-Man, how was his Thor run?

I love the Aaron run. I'd highly recommend it. I wouldn't put too much weight on the boards opinions, they skew heavily negative in general and don't accurately match the larger public's opinions from what I've seen. Aaron's run has been a commercial and critical success, if those are things you're interested in.

Spoilers ahead I guess... it's all years old and very general, and the titles of the trades give it away, but heads up just in case.

If you want more traditional, classic Thor I'd go with God of Thunder's four trades. It also has striking art from Esad Ribic.
After that he does something different, having someone else take up the Thor title and hammer. This happens because Odinson is found to be Unworthy and can no longer wield the hammer. If that sounds interesting to you I'd definitely check it out. The story of the person who becomes Thor is moving and tragic and beautiful imo. It does cast Odinson in an unflattering light, showing a long descent and bottoming out before the inevitable recovery, so if that's something you're not into seeing (even as part of a longer story, with a variety of themes and overarching ideas, and a certainty that Odinson will be back to his original form by the end) I'd just go with God of Thunder and skip the rest.
I think Aaron writes an excellent Loki, which is important to me in a story about Asgard.
Aaron had a very, very long story in mind from the beginning and I think he did a great job of plotting, long term story telling and juggling multiple threads and themes.
Dauterman takes over on art after God of Thunder and he's very different than Ribic but no less spectacular.

[kilderkin]

I love the Aaron run. I'd highly recommend it. I wouldn't put too much weight on the boards opinions, they skew heavily negative in general and don't accurately match the larger public's opinions from what I've seen. Aaron's run has been a commercial and critical success, if those are things you're interested in.

Spoilers ahead I guess... it's all years old and very general, and the titles of the trades give it away, but heads up just in case.

If you want more traditional, classic Thor I'd go with God of Thunder's four trades. It also has striking art from Esad Ribic.
After that he does something different, having someone else take up the Thor title and hammer. This happens because Odinson is found to be Unworthy and can no longer wield the hammer. If that sounds interesting to you I'd definitely check it out. The story of the person who becomes Thor is moving and tragic and beautiful imo. It does cast Odinson in an unflattering light, showing a long descent and bottoming out before the inevitable recovery, so if that's something you're not into seeing (even as part of a longer story, with a variety of themes and overarching ideas, and a certainty that Odinson will be back to his original form by the end) I'd just go with God of Thunder and skip the rest.
I think Aaron writes an excellent Loki, which is important to me in a story about Asgard.
Aaron had a very, very long story in mind from the beginning and I think he did a great job of plotting, long term story telling and juggling multiple threads and themes.
Dauterman takes over on art after God of Thunder and he's very different than Ribic but no less spectacular.

This is a nice summary of the run I feel

And it has sold well

As for the consumer reaction I think it's mostly evenly split, I think there are plenty of people who love it, and about the same who don't, with a good number of them still buying the book out of character loyalty even if they don't really like it

Of course we can never know for sure, but it's comics, there have always been books well received that didn't sell and others that sold well because people buy no matter whether they enjoy it or not just coz they have always bought that character

Incidentally imo thor still is no where near recovered from the terrible whisper move imo, this current version is nothing like thor has generally been written and much more like Hercules

But at least he's not constantly depressed and propping himself up with an angry drink

Sure he still drinks, but at least he's apparently more cheerful now, almost to the point of spoof

Maybe there's a link there

But this isn't anything like thor has mostly been portrayed since he became an adult

Which depending on your view may be good or bad of course

[Daniel22]

This is a nice summary of the run I feel

And it has sold well

As for the consumer reaction I think it's mostly evenly split, I think there are plenty of people who love it, and about the same who don't, with a good number of them still buying the book out of character loyalty even if they don't really like it

Of course we can never know for sure, but it's comics, there have always been books well received that didn't sell and others that sold well because people buy no matter whether they enjoy it or not just coz they have always bought that character

Thanks. You're right, it's impossible to know how most people really feel about something. It's a little easier with Thor or Daredevil than Spider-Man or Batman, because the former have smaller bases that buy the title regardless of how much they like it currently, but it's still impossible to say for sure. I just believe that as a general rule the boards skew way more negative than everywhere else. A few dedicated posters can make it seem like nobody likes a book, but in reality 40,000 people liked it just fine, we just didn't hear from them. Anyway I guess it doesn't really matter in the end to me. Most of the things I love don't sell and get cancelled while books I don't care for go on forever, so what's popular doesn't really reflect what I would like, usually. That sounds way more hipster than I really am!

I will say I saw a ton of people who were new to comics pick up the book when the new Thor came on the scene. They really resonated with some people and drew eyes to the book. The sub list at my shop grew by over a hundred percent when they took over and went back to normal when their time as Thor was up, and the first trade with the new Thor has been a huge seller. There's a flip side to that, with the Odinson fans who really dislike that period of the book, of course. But anything that brings new readers to comics is a good thing in my book. When it's because of a story that people were able to connect with on an emotional level, and able to intensely relate to despite the fantastical setting, that just makes it even more of a good thing imo.

[Frontier]

I will say I saw a ton of people who were new to comics pick up the book when the new Thor came on the scene. They really resonated with some people and drew eyes to the book. The sub list at my shop grew by over a hundred percent when they took over and went back to normal when their time as Thor was up, and the first trade with the new Thor has been a huge seller. There's a flip side to that, with the Odinson fans who really dislike that period of the book, of course. But anything that brings new readers to comics is a good thing in my book. When it's because of a story that people were able to connect with on an emotional level, and able to intensely relate to despite the fantastical setting, that just makes it even more of a good thing imo.

I totally understand why people responded so well to Jane's run and tenure as Thor and what that brought to the table. I totally get that, and I can see why Aaron's stories became such a hit with people.

I just wish it hadn't come at the expense of the character who's name is actually Thor, or his mythos.

So it's a double-edged sword in my opinion.

[Username taken]

Honestly, the Thor he wrote back then really doesn't jive with how he writes Thor now in my opinion.

Exactly.

It's pretty crazy.

I understand that he's trying to show that Thor has been affected by losing his hammer and his worthiness but he seems almost like a completely different character.

[JackDaw]

I totally understand why people responded so well to Jane's run and tenure as Thor and what that brought to the table. I totally get that, and I can see why Aaron's stories became such a hit with people.

I just wish it hadn't come at the expense of the character who's name is actually Thor, or his mythos.

So it's a double-edged sword in my opinion.

I just don’t understand it at all.

I agree there’s enough “pluses” in the run to prove that Aaron is a good writer.

But he’s chosen to write Odin and Thor massively out of character for large parts of the series. And I actually think I could also put together a credible argument to suggest he’s also written Jane out of character as well...what is there before the Aaron run to support notion that she could quickly become a totally fearless, skilled warrior?

For me..having read about 40 issues of run, I think I’ve read enough to come to conclusion that for me the plus points of the writing aren’t strong enough to make me ignore what I believe is poor characterisation. I very likely won’t read any more of it.