Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Thor

The Evolution of Marvel Cosmic, Part 4: King Kirby & Princeling Thor’s Mission to Space, 1966

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[covers & interiors by Jack Kirby (p), Vince Colletta (i), Stan Goldberg (c), Artie Simek/Sam Rosen (l)]

Part 3 of this “Evolution of Marvel Cosmic” series is here, along with links to previous posts.

Before the introduction of the imperial but adorable Rigellians—of the fictional galaxy Rigel, a name taken from a real star in the Milky Way, part of the Orion constellation—Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s Thor comics were thoroughly rooted in two things: a pulpy, streamlined reinterpretation of Thor-centric Norse myths, squeezed into backstories (excellent stuff, really), and very silly, mostly mundane villains for him to fight (like Cobra and Mr. Hyde)—but there was a lot of potential with screwball ideas like the Absorbing Man (imbued with Asgardian enchantments courtesy of the God of Lies) and having the Nordic Thunder God encounter the gods and heroes of Ancient Greece (Ares and Hercules). [Read more…] about The Evolution of Marvel Cosmic, Part 4: King Kirby & Princeling Thor’s Mission to Space, 1966

Marvel THEN! Thor: God of Thunder Review

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In October 2012, Marvel rebranded their entire line of comics under the “Marvel Now” banner, an era that would effectively last for three years until 2015’s Secret Wars. It’s a fan favorite era of comics, under the editorial reign of Axel Alonso, with titles like Hawkeye, Superior Spider-Man, Thor: God of Thunder, and Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers among many others.

2022 marks the 10 year anniversary of Marvel Now, so at Comic Book Herald, we’ll be looking back at the best, most interesting, or just downright most confounding Marvel Now titles. This is “Marvel Then.”

Jason Aaron is a man obsessed with legacy. It’s hard to fault him for it because legacy is a quintessential part of being human. When we part from this world, what do we leave behind? Philosophers have spent centuries trying to determine the pathos behind it, but the act of wanting something (or even someone) to outlive you and propagate through time is intrinsic to the human experience.

But the legacy that Jason Aaron leaves behind today is a far cry from the legacy he was building up ten years ago, during the Marvel NOW! Era. Nowadays, it feels like a race between writers to leave their mark on the biggest intellectual property in the world, and at the forefront of that race is Jason Aaron, who currently claims nine hundred and four creations within the Marvel Universe alone. Going back to read the very beginning of his seven-year-long run on Thor after years of enduring his latest works feels refreshing, especially with the hindsight of an entire decade helping to colour my reread. [Read more…] about Marvel THEN! Thor: God of Thunder Review

The Saga of Jane Foster: Before the Mighty Thor

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Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster returns to the MCU this summer in Thor: Love and Thunder—as the Mighty Thor, no less! And, with the arrival of this movie, just like in 2014 when Jane became Thor in the comics, you’ll probably see a ton of retrospectives about Jane that go a little something like “Jason Aaron saved this Silver Age character from obscurity, turning a forgotten damsel in distress into one of Marvel’s most iconic heroes.” And they’ll be mostly right—about the latter part! In truth, we shouldn’t minimize Jane’s long comic history to only the early days, when her only purpose really was pining for Thor and getting kidnapped by villains. Granted, this erroneous view of Jane is popular for good reason: she’d never been the protagonist of her own story until 2014, and her best stories—without exception—have been told since. So, to be clear, my purpose here isn’t to uncover hidden gems but to contextualize how Jane Foster became what she is now, and how Jason Aaron didn’t so much reinvent her as he did advance her into the next logical step. Even with sixty years worth of scattered stories through so many different creators, very few of whom were concerned about Jane’s legacy, a clear picture still emerges if you know where she’ll end up. [Read more…] about The Saga of Jane Foster: Before the Mighty Thor

Omnibussin: Give Thor Some Love (and Thunder), Part 2

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Our attempt to decide how Marvel should ideally collect all of Thor comics in omnibus format continues, with all the Silver Age and Bronze Age material already covered in the first part. Thankfully, things get much easier to work out from here: after Simonson, whose work on Thor received a dedicated omnibus back in 2011, writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz collaborated on the title and a few spin-offs for nearly a decade, taking Thor well into the nineties. [Read more…] about Omnibussin: Give Thor Some Love (and Thunder), Part 2

Omnibussin: Give Thor Some Love (and Thunder), Part 1

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Thor’s had knockout run after knockout run in comics for the last several years, and with the release of the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder film this will be the first character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to get a fourth solo film. So, with interest in Thor at an all-time high, it’s the perfect time for Marvel’s publishing arm to give Thor some more love (and thunder) in the omnibus department, and our aim today is to ascertain just how they should go about it! [Read more…] about Omnibussin: Give Thor Some Love (and Thunder), Part 1