Thor

Vol. 2, Issue 32

This is another "100 Page Monster", containing one main, new story and several reprints. I'm going to focus on the new material, though I'll include comments on the reprint material.

"Forever Kursed"

Storytellers: Dan Jurgens & Andy Kubert

Inks: Scott Hanna & Jesse Delperdang

            Thor has sharpened up a little since Jurgens was joined by Kubert, inasmuch that I don't feel as inclined to doze off as I did when John Romita Jr. was working with Jurgens. How anyone could take Thanos, Mangog and a threat of cosmic Armageddon and bore me to tears with it displays an almost amazing ability to waste potential.

            Since Kubert's joined the idea has apparently been to attempt to please the audience with what saved the book from cancellation circa 1983: Walt Simonson. Hey, there are far worse styles they could choose to imitate, and to be perfectly honest they're playing it with less whimsy than Walt did. However, there's little mistaking the shift in graphics style, and the sudden influx of Kurse, Malekith, Beta Ray Bill and the Cask of Ancient Winters, all of which were created by Simonson during his stint on Thor. Beyond that, though, there's not much to commend this one. Oh, yeah, Sif's been put in charge while Odin takes another of his interminable naps, and she gets to whup on the big, bad ol' chauvinistic Malekith at the end while all the male cast members look on wide-eyed, which I suppose is to be taken as simultaneously comedic and affirming to the former fairer sex. I am so tired of everyone in comics, especially the females, getting "attitude". I suppose dignity and reserve, even for a goddess who has been around for centuries - at the least - is outmoded.

            Yeah, I'm being a big meanie again. Maybe I've just outgrown this stuff? Uh-oh. Next issue debuts Thor Girl? Oh, my... the Attitude-O-Meter will be off the scale, no doubt.

            In the same issue, though, there are back-up tales from old issues, most if not all of which, to be perfectly blunt, are better than the main feature.

            The first is a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby tale (one of three in this issue) which is always an excellent start. "To Become An Immortal" primarily focuses on Thor's attempt to get his mortal love, Jane Foster, raised to goddess. Quite a step up. Unfortunately she wimps out. Of course, that's okay since that was also the same issue where we were introduced to the goddess Sif, who was to become Thor's next and long-term love interest. Maybe if they'd seen what was to become of her a few decades later they wouldn't have bothered...

            Next is a Roy Thomas/John Buscema tale which seems to have been chosen partially to demonstrate Thor's mythic-level abilities and partially because the editor remembered it as the first regular Thor issue he bought.

            Next is a Walt Simonson issue featuring the return of Kurse, and I suppose that was enough for them to choose it. I haven't reread the Simonson run in a while, but as I recall this issue - well over two years after he'd taken over the title with issue #337 - was seeing a decline. Perhaps part of the reason this was chosen, though, was because the trade paperback collection of Simonson Thor stories covers the earlier ones..?

            Finally, there's a two-part Stan & Jack effort that ran as a "Tales of Asgard" back-up, covering the Asgardian end times: Ragnarok.

            Especially if one's new to the series and characters, this is a fairly good collection of stories, despite my griping.

                                                              MJN

Any comments?