I didn’t pick up J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Thor when it began back in 2007.  Thor is one of those characters that you either get really right, or really, really wrong.  I understand he’s a tricky character to write.  The way he speaks, and even his character in general, lends itself to, in the hands of the wrong writer, being really boring.  His alter ego, Donald Blake, does lend to some interesting stories, but quite often Blake is left off to the side or written out of the comic entirely.

I enjoyed the start of volume 2, by Dan Jurgens and John Romita, Jr.  That run eventually led to being taken over by Michael Avon Oeming, just in time to tie into the whole Avengers: Disassembled thing, and Thor entered the “sleep of the Gods.”  Thor volume 3 started up and I had zero to no interest.  I love Olivier  Coipel’s art, but J. Michael Straczynski was coming off of a run on Amazing Spider-Man that I just really didn’t like.  In fact, his run on the title is what led me to drop the title.

Still, Aron kept telling me how great the book was, so when I got a good deal on the trade paperback collecting the first six issues of the run, I thought I’d go ahead and give it a shot.  What did I think?  Check out my thoughts after the jump!

Still, Aron kept telling me how great the book was, so when I got a good deal on the trade paperback collecting the first six issues of the run, I thought I’d go ahead and give it a shot. What did I think? Check out my thoughts after the jump!

Thor reminds me why I read Marvel Comics in the first place. It seems like the more Marvel Comics I drop from my weekly purchases, I come across one that reminds me the type of great comics they have the potential to produce. The book has great humor, spectacular fight sequences, and is really just an all around great read.

Thor is back, and so is Donald Blake.  Still, Asgard isn’t.  Using Mjolnir, Thor rebuilds Asgard in Oklahoma, paying for the land with Asgardian treasure.  Finding out that Tony Stark cloned him and used the clone to battle against non-registered heroes during Civil War, he confronts Stark and basically, kicks the everloving crap out of him.  Then, Thor begins the search to resurrect his fellow Asgardians, who have been residing within the bodies or mortals.  Unfortunately, he’s also tricked into resurrecting the one God he had every intention of not, and the course is laid for even more troubles to come.

I’m looking really forward to picking up the rest of this run.  The first six issues had everything that I love about Thor – the majesty of the character, Donald Blake’s selflessness, all the while including some great humor, tense action, and all in all, excellent storytelling.

Pick up Thor below!