Welcome to a new Multiversity article! We live in a world where there are tons of comics left and right for us to devour in our nerdery. Of course, sometimes you have a character who becomes so popular (or is receiving some kind of push) and you end up finding yourself with lots of titles and no clue where to start. Where is a new reader to comic books supposed to go in? How about old fans who are attached to the character?
This is why we’re here. We will attempt to help and narrow down where you should go to find your favorite characters and enjoy their stories. This week, I’ll be tackling Thor. Thor is receiving quite a new and grand push from Marvel, which is really no surprise considering he has a movie coming up in the next year. As other websites have noticed, the God of Thunder has starring roles in eight books as well as finding himself on one team book. It’s quite a handful of titles!
So… where do we start?
Cross the Rainbow Bridge Check behind the cut for my thoughts on where to focus your attention for all your Asgardian needs.
Thor: The eponymous title is obviously the place to start for any Thor fan. Want to know where to go for the main adventures of the God of Thunder? Well, look no further! Thor’s ongoing title was restarted by JMS in 2007, bringing Thor as well as the entire Asgardian realm back to life after the events of Ragnarok in 2004. Since then, we’ve seen Thor exiled from Asgard, seen Asgard destroyed and Loki killed, and currently Thor is traipsing through Hell. This week, Thor’s final issue under the hands of Kieron Gillen comes out, and at the end of September begins the reign of Multiversity favorite Matt Fraction, with art by Pasqal Ferry. What better time to come to the book then now? If you haven’t been reading before Gillen, just wait an issue and start at #615! Bam! A Thor for the Heroic Age indeed.
Should We Get It?: Yes. Get it. Duh.
Thor: First Thunder: Thor: First Thunder is a mini series that will act as an introduction to the character for new fans. In essence, it’s simply a retelling of his origin. That might seem like an element to turn of people, since Thor’s original origin was nothing more than an issue long, but I’d say here Marvel out on this one. We’ve seen successful retelling of origin stories in the past (see: DC’s Secret Origins for Green Lantern and Superman), and the mini will be written by Bryan JL Glass, the writer of Mice Templar. Those of you who have read Templar know that Glass does have a great grip on fantasy writing. This could honestly be pretty good, especially for people generally new to the character. How Glass is going to stretch this story out for five issues will be interesting, but this should be a good place for new fans of the character to hop into.
Should We Get It?: If you’re new to Thor and don’t know his origin, or just love a good fantasy story, I’d say yes – but it’s not essential.
Thor: The Mighty Avenger: I have not read an issue of this book. Most of the books I’ll be talking about are speculative, but this is out and I haven’t read it. Why? To be honest, I haven’t really felt like it was essential reading to me as a Thor fan. The book is more of an All Ages friendly type ordeal (from my understanding) which focuses on one and done type stories of the God of Thunder and his motley crew (including Beta Ray Bill).
That doesn’t mean this book is bad, though. In fact, following Marvel’s own Agent M on Twitter and Tumblr leads to quite a lot of spam for the book, as he very openly loves it. The book has even had a Double Rainbow in it recently, and will be reprinting it’s first two issues at the end of the month in a special Double Rainbow edition. What does it mean? Well, it could mean that the book is quite good, and I’m just ignoring it like a fool. This one’s up to you, folks.
Should We Get It?: If you want. I don’t see it as essential reading to the character’s story, but I hear nice things about it frequently through various forms of the internet. Flip a coin if you have an extra $2.99 a month.
Astonishing Thor: Marvel has certainly been beefing up it’s Astonishing line lately! We’ve got minis from both the X-Men and Spider-Man/Wolverine, and now Thor gets his own short story in the “cracks of continuity” world of the Astonishing.
There is obvious pull to this book. First of all, the Astonishing line in general has been rather great so far (even if X-Men’s art has been called into question by fans frequently), and the book will be written by Rob Rodi. Rodi is writing two Thor books at the moment, but he’s also responsible for a rather fantastic Loki mini which has received (to my knowledge) rather universal love from fans. On top of that, Mike Choi will be doing the art. Mike Choi! Have you read X-Force? Choi is fantastic. I can only imagine what his Thor will look like, especially when going up against Ego the Living Planet.
Should We Get It?: I’d recommend it. It’s a mini, and the Astonishing line as well as Rodi has proven themselves reliable. But really, it comes down to how many minis you want to get into (as you will see from the rest of the list). I don’t see it as Thor essential reading, but certainly a worthwhile read.
Ultimate Comics Thor: This to me is the only no questions asked title. Ultimate Thor is a mini that will be written by my current favorite new writer – Jonathan Hickman. Hickman has the full potential to be the next Grant Morrison in my book, and I will always highly recommend any title he puts out without even having read it – which shows my obvious bias.
However, here is my “non-biased journalism” caveat: Ultimate Thor will assuredly be an entertaining read, but making it a “must own” will pertain to you having read the Ultimate universe before – and specifically, Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. Now, I’m not saying that reading Ultimate Thor without that knowledge means you won’t “get it.” In fact, I’m sure you will. This is an origin story for Thor, and I imagine it’ll be pretty easy to get into. However, what makes this a “must own” is if you actually like the Ultimate universe, which recently I know a lot of people have had fallings out with.
Should We Get It?: If you’re an Ultimates fan, then yes – get the title. If you’re a Hickman fan, than obviously yes – get the title. But if you don’t like the Ultimate universe, and you somehow don’t know who Hickman is, you might want to save your money for Fantastic Four.
Me? I’ll be getting it no questions asked. But it’s not Thor essential reading.
Iron Man/Thor: Iron Man/Thor is another mini from Marvel pitting Tony Stark together with Thor to have some kind of adventure together. Hmm. Seems innocent enough. We’ve actually seen the two pair up before alone, such as in this week’s Free Comic Book Day story written by Matt Fraction and arted by John Romita Jr. An entertaining one-shot assuredly, but this mini isn’t going to be written by Fraction. It’s going to be done by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, aka DnA. The art will be provided by Scott Eaton, and all we know of the story right now is that they will be fighting an enemy that is both technological and magical at the same time. Sounds like Dr. Doom to me, but who knows.
Should We Get It?: I’m undecided right now, which means I’d lean towards no. I love me some DnA, but in a world with a ton of Thor and Iron Man, I’d give this one more time before making a decision. You have until November, and until we see or hear more about it, I wouldn’t get it on your pre-order list just yet (unless you’re the world’s biggest DnA fan out there). I can’t imagine it being Thor essential reading.
Chaos War: Thor: Oh, tie-ins! How they vex us fans. Chaos War is assumedly going to be pretty incredibly for fans following the story of Incredible Hercules ever since World War Hulk happened in 2007, but what do we do with tie-ins? They’ve been one of the most vexed qualities of events to all comic fans.
So what do we know about the Thor tie-in? Well, it’s a mini comprised of two issues written by DeMatteis with art by Khoi Pham. To me (and many comic fans), they basic rule is to get the tie-in if it’s written by the writer (or one of) of the event, and DeMatteis is not involved with the main story at all. That gets Chaos War’s tie-in the thumbs down – but again, it comes to personal choice. What’s good abotu it? Well, DeMatteis is an entertaining writer, and I enjoy Khoi Pham’s art a lot. Two issues also won’t break anyones bank account. But as far as the whole Chaos War event goes? I assume it won’t really have a big impact.
Should We Get It?: It’ll be a fun little story, but I’d ignore it unless you want every Chaos War tie-in. It won’t be Thor essential.
Thor: For Asgard: This mini has actually started already, and it’s the second mini written by Rob Rodi (the first being the aforementioned Astonishing Thor). I gave the first issue a good review, and I recommend checking it out. Marvel Knights books are really pretty fun universally, and for the most part I’ve enjoyed every Marvel Knights title I’ve taken the time to read. On top of that, Simone Binachi’s art works PERFECTLY in the book. It’s going to be a short mini, but it’s worth checking out – at least in trade.
Should We Get It?: If you can’t get a mini right now, I’d recommend it in trade format. It’s not an essential reading story, but the first issue was pretty damn great.
Avengers: Thor is a member of the Avengers, and unlike other people who will be featured in this column, this is his only team. The adjective-less Avengers book (and it’s validity) has been discussed on the site before, but I will say this – Bendis is the Avengers writers these days. There’s no way around it. If you want to read the stories of the Avengers, read this book, and have Thor as a main character as a bonus. Plus, Romita Jr is drawing him again (previously seen in all those Jurgens trades Marvel has been putting out recently from the Heroes Reborn era), so I only see pluses here.
Should We Get It?: I should say so, yes. Not essential for Thor fans, but that’s an added bonus all around!
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Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention a couple additional titles: Loki, The Warriors Three, Thunderstrike. These are all Marvel minis that are coming up for November all revolving around characters involved in Thor’s world. Heck, it might even be worth noting that Beta Ray Bill is over in the Thanos Imperative at the moment. However, the way I see it? These are all 100% up to you. I myself will be picking up Loki because the character intrigues me, but I can’t say I’ll be focusing on the Warriors Three or Thunderstrike much. I can actually assure you I won’t be looking at Thunderstrike, because I think the main selling point for that book is a nostalgia factor for 90’s fans. Warriors Three might get a browse from me come November if only because Willingham is behind the book, and I’m a fan of his work. Ultimately though, if you’re looking to find entrance paths into the world of Thor, I don’t think any of these books are essential.
