The Wagner stuff starts with Roy Thomas's return to the series in Thor #272. It leads into and is intertwined with the Celestials epic that begins with #283. The whole thing is definitely one of the highlights of the series as a whole.

I stopped reading shortly after that so I can't say anything about what came later, but based on my sporadic knowledge my highlights would be:

1. Kirby/Lee: (approx. #115-177)
2. Ragnorak/Celestials (Roy Thomas with J. Buscema, then Keith Pollard, #172-300)
3. immediate post-Kirby run (Stan lee with mostly J. Buscema, but a few memorable Neal Adams issues, #178-192)
4. beginning of Gerry Conway era (#195-203)

I won't claim it's going to meet anyone's expectations for what a Thor run should be, but it is very strong in its own unique way. It's got nothing on the Kirby era, but (then again) what does?

Thor 131-135 Stan and Jack create the Rigellians, Ego and the High Evolutionary in a matter of months.

This was right after creating the Inhumans, Galactus & the Silver Surfer and the Black Panther in FF.

An amazing burst creative energy.

I liked Simonson's Thor #337-on best I think. He drew a great goat-drawn chariot!
Obviously there's got to be a Lee & Kirby run that's probably thee ground zero for the character but I only had sporadic single issues here and there... anything with Hercules in tends to be pretty good (I had Annual #1 and also #127), and the first Ego The Living Planet 'saga' (circa #133).

I think #221-234 is a decent early '70s run, some Herc some Firelord some Ego, and then the Len Wein space quest that starts in #255 and runs to #267 was pretty good and has the Warriors Three, Sif and the/a Recorder along for the ride (even has Simonson art at the end)!
Much later in 2000 there's a pretty nice story from #21-25 with Thanos and Mangog, and the Recorder again, plus Firelord.

I really like the DeFalco/Frenz run from #383 through 459 with it's retro 70's style for feel and tone. You get The once and Future Thor, more celestial's fun, interesting Black Knight teaming, more Egyptian god's, Thor vs Juggernaut, the Black Galaxy Saga, Eric Masterson stepping into the role, the Thor Corps and new villain Blood Axe created. 

Also it doesn't get much better than the relaunched '98 Thor from Jurgens and Romita Jr. Those issues 1-25 with some fill-ins makes for one spectacular run. Incredible art making the Thor and the Asgardian's look truly powerful! And Dan Jurgen's providing some really creative storylines. 

And as one who was reading Thor off the stands at the time, The Gerry Conway run hold's a special spot for taking Thor into Space and away from Earth. Those Galactic stories felt more interesting for me than seeing Thor's umpteenth beat down on some lame Earth villain. 

To the runs mentioned above, I would add Michael Avon Oeming's Thor disassembled storyline (from Thor vol. 2, 80-85). It's available as a trade paperback too.

That story is meant to bring the saga of Thor to its conclusion; the character would go missing from the shelves for a few years after it. (It happened as the old Avengers book was also brought to an end, to usher in the era of the New Avengers with Spidey and Luke Cage).

I have the utmost respect for those issues, for several reasons. First, even if it's pretty obvious that an editorial mandate is behind the idea of ending the Thor mag until someone finds a way to rejuvenate the formula, Oeming rises to the occasion and writes a truly powerful conclusion that manages several things at once.

First, it's a very dramatic and solid tale in its own right. It chronicles the final days of Asgard, and this time it's for real. I don't think it's a spoiler to reveal that pretty much everybody dies, and Asgard is destroyed. 

Second, it's a great capstone to all the Thor storylines that came before. Not only do we see old and familiar faces one final time, but we finally find out why there were so many Ragnaroks in the past. (I mean, there really should have been only one, right? But we witnessed it half a dozen times or so over the years). It also has great little ideas, like how the forging of Mjolnir, a looooooog time ago, caused so much cosmic upheaval that Earth's dinosaurs were wiped out by falling debris!

Finally, it gives Thor (in what might have been his final appearance) the chance to grow as a character, and to take a truly heroic and epic decision. It also has a neat meta message about comics always retelling the same stories.


I knew there was no way the character would stay gone (exploitable intellectual property that it is) but love Thor as I do, I would have been fine with the idea that this was truly his final adventure.