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Post by Batflunkie on Apr 16, 2022 20:26:51 GMT -5
So, been on a bit of a Thor binge ever since some kindly members here pointed me towards some starting place for the series. Honestly, it kind of makes me upset and even a bit angry that I never gave the series a proper chance up until recently given how much I enjoyed Alan Moore's "Horus: Lord Of Light" from 1963 as a younger man I don't think that I can fully place my finger on what I like about it the most. Maybe it's the shakespearean pageantry? Maybe it's the lore? Maybe it's Kirby at his peak? Or maybe it's all that and more?
So come thee, my faithful friends, and let us discuss the world and majesty of Thor! |
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Apr 16, 2022 20:38:41 GMT -5
I've been a huge Thor fan since I was a kid when I got hooked on Ron Frenz's Kirby tribute run around issue 408 (and written by everybody's favorite, Tom DeFalco). Funny enough, I didnt get around to finally reading the bulk of the Lee-Kirby run until last year (God bless Marvel Unlimited). I'm currently reading Jason Aaron's run from last decade and really enjoying it so far
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 16, 2022 20:41:06 GMT -5
I just bought the most recent printing of Thor Masterworks, Volume Two, reprinting Journey Into Mystery #101 to #109. I used to have all these comics, most of which I bought in the late 1970s when you could get them for $4 or $5 each.
I love this run! It gets better really fast, but that doesn’t change a thing about how much fun these stories are. The Tomorrow Man! The Enchantress! The Executioner! Surtur! Skagg the Storm Giant! Cobra and Hyde! The Grey Gargoyle! Loki! Dr Strange! Magneto! Tales of Asgard!
I especially love the Chic Stone issues. It looks like somebody made a whole comic out of stained glass windows!
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Post by Batflunkie on Apr 16, 2022 20:44:55 GMT -5
I'm also kind of conflicted on how I feel about Conway's run, having just finished it. Yeah, reads like a "greatest hits" version of Thor with no real direction and the occasional interesting idea that isn't well executed, but Buscema on art makes up for it
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 16, 2022 21:05:29 GMT -5
I only rarely followed Thor regularly, first encountered him in the Thor Annual from 1965 in which he went toe-to-toe with Hercules.  Periodically I would give his book a try, but only if it concerned Asgardian rather than Earthbound adventures. The whole Jane Foster/Don Blake thing smacked too much of Superman and Lois Lane and later on it just never mades sense to me that Thor would give Jane Foster even a moment's thought when he had Sif waiting for him on the pther side of the Rainbow Bridge. I had always loved the Norse myths, so the one-shot Tales of Asgard (Summer of '68) was a must-buy for me, too. (I almost submitted this cover for this week's one-shot contest.)  However, one of all-time favorite comic book stories has been and remains the Mangog saga in Thor #s 154-157 (Juy-Sept 1968). That was maybe the first Marvel movie. I wanted that story to go on at least one more issue, but for me, this was the onlty Thor story I ever really needed, full of grandeur, glory, guts and gods of all kinds. Probably my favorite Kirby-illustrated story. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2022 1:09:55 GMT -5
Periodically I would give his book a try, but only if it concerned Asgardian rather than Earthbound adventures. The whole Jane Foster/Don Blake thing smacked too much of Superman and Lois Lane and later on it just never mades sense to me that Thor would give Jane Foster even a moment's thought when he had Sif waiting for him on the pther side of the Rainbow Bridge. I'm a pretty big Thor fan (easily in my top 4 for Marvel, it kind of fights it out for the 3rd spot against the Avengers after Spidey and the FF), but overall I do much prefer his Asgardian adventures as well. Every time he'd say "I'm returning to Midgard", I'd be like, why?? You're in Asgard, this is so much better! And likewise what you said about Sif...Jane who now? I mean, sure, pop down there to help the Avengers from time to time so I can see you over in that title, but let's not spend too much time solo on Earth. Also so much great art on this series. And not just because there were a number of big name artists, but I felt like they were really well suited to Thor and again the grandeur and epicness of the Asgardian setting tales. Kirby, John Buscema, I'll always stick up for Pollard (he WAS my childhood at one point when he was doing this plus Spidey and FF), the great Simonson run, and yes, absolutely love what Frenz accomplished (I was never as big on his Ditko style pencils on Spidey, but Thor was a whole other story for me). Odin really did give his son the short end of the hammer a lot though. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 17, 2022 11:50:00 GMT -5
I was not a fan, early on. My first Thor comic I got in the hospital, from Conway's time. It was okay, but I hated the pseudo-Shakespearian dialogue. I read him in very small bits and pieces, some good, some okay. The longest run I ever had was when Roy Thomas started his Eternals storyline in it, before he dumped them on the side of the road. I picked it up because of The Eternals. It wasn't until I read Gerard Jones & Will Jacob's The Comic Book Heroes and it featured a panel or two of Kirby and a longship sailing through space that I decided to give it more of a try. Walt Simonson did a heck of a job on it; but, Kirby got the nature of myth, better than anyone before or since. It was only after reading an article in CBG, where someone pointed out the throughline between Kirby's Thor, the 4th World, The Eternals and Captain Victory that I realized how great Kirby really was at myth. There is much of that in the FF, too, especially stuff like Galactus.
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 17, 2022 12:49:38 GMT -5
Thoroughly enjoyed the Lee/Kirby Journey into Mystery and main title run, but still found much to take in the early - mid 1970s period, as well. Thor as a character was also used well more as an accent / back-up in Avengers stories, rather than a leading player.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2022 13:34:37 GMT -5
I'm a pretty big Thor fan (easily in my top 4 for Marvel, it kind of fights it out for the 3rd spot against the Avengers after Spidey and the FF), but overall I do much prefer his Asgardian adventures as well. Every time he'd say "I'm returning to Midgard", I'd be like, why?? You're in Asgard, this is so much better! And likewise what you said about Sif...Jane who now? I mean, sure, pop down there to help the Avengers from time to time so I can see you over in that title, but let's not spend too much time solo on Earth. My view on this has changed. As a kid, I didn’t want him spending too much time in Asgard. I wanted him to go to Earth. As an adult, the more Asgardian the better. I want him away from Earth as often as possible. My first experience of Thor was some videotapes featuring episodes of the 60s cartoon he appeared in (wasn’t it called The Marvel Super Heroes?). Whenever I read a Thor comic, the theme from that show plays in my head. Which is nice! I was disappointed that Hercules, who is rather arrogant, beat him in a 60s tale. Really wanted Thor to win that one. |
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Post by tarkintino on Apr 17, 2022 14:19:45 GMT -5
My first experience of Thor was some videotapes featuring episodes of the 60s cartoon he appeared in (wasn’t it called The Marvel Super Heroes?). Yes, that was The Marvel Super Heroes, where Thor was featured in 24 episodes, adapting many of his early Journey into Mystery and Thor stories, with several appearances from Loki, the Cobra and Mister Hyde, among the expected Asgardian supporting players. The creative team behind the series (Grantray-Lawrence animation) were provided with a great deal of creative directives from Stan Lee, and they knew just how to make Thor so very different (one might say "operatic") from the other characters of the series. That, and an excellent source of library music made The Mighty Thor cartoon in the running for the character's best adaptation, yes even over the MCU's version, since it was astoundingly faithful to the comics. Author J. Ballmann is currently writing / releasing a series of exhaustive books on Grantray-Lawrence's The Marvel Super Heroes and Spider-Man cartoons. So far, he's published Spider-Man (vol. 1), The Invincible Iron Man and as of 2021, the subject of this thread. You would get a kick out how the series were produced and the way stories were rewritten or took plots--even reactions from other issues, but its--hands down--the best resource ever written about Marvel's 1960s cartoons. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 17, 2022 14:46:18 GMT -5
Ah, yes; Gantray-Lawrence, putting the "limited" in limited animation. If your local station paired them with a Cambria show, look out!
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Post by Batflunkie on Apr 17, 2022 15:57:58 GMT -5
Ah, yes; Gantray-Lawrence, putting the "limited" in limited animation. If your local station paired them with a Cambria show, look out! What was more limited looking? Clutch Cargo, Rocky & Bullwinkle, or the Marvel Super-Heroes? But seriously, as I've said previously, I loved the Captain America Marvel Super-Heroes serials to pieces during my youth. Watched what was included on the VHS I got religiously. All I knew for the longest time about Captain America were the WWII stories and the 1990 movie Thought the Namor ones were pretty good too |
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Post by Batflunkie on Apr 17, 2022 16:20:40 GMT -5
Something that I've also found strange is how seemingly unphased Thor and the rest of the Asguardians are to alien races or even other gods from other beliefs
IDK, feels something more should have been made of it
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 17, 2022 17:07:39 GMT -5
You could probably tell I'm a big Thor fan. He is never showcased better than when he appears in the Avengers. Especially in he early issues, you can tell that the villains are genuinely afraid of him. I have say that the revelation that the Asgardians are nothing more than space aliens sort of ruined them for me. But I never worry about reconciling the Movies with the comics.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,451
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Post by shaxper on Apr 17, 2022 17:14:07 GMT -5
I've never cared for Thor as a character, but those Kirby issues are so choc-full of imagination that I find them utterly irresistable, all the same. Anytime I find a Kirby issue for under $10, I always buy it. The High Evolutionary storyline was a personal favorite of mine during that time.
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