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Thor Epic Collection
Thor Epic Collection, Vol. 12: Runequest
Thor confronts a barrage of foes - from Storm Giants and the Crusader to Graviton and the Lord of Darkness himself, Dracula! The battle for Asgard - the battle for life itself - is set when Loki and war god Tyr steal the Golden Apples of Immortality and unleash the Midgard Serpent. Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three must face a world-destroying menace and prevail - or age and die like mortal men! Then, to save Jane Foster, Thor and Sif embark on a quest into the cosmic depths of the Runestaff! Also featuring a rare black-and-white Thor adventure and retellings of classic Asgardian the birth of Thor, the forging of Mjolnir, the humbling of Thor and more! Collecting THOR (1966) #320-336 and ANNUAL #11, and BIZARRE ADVENTURES #32.
456 pages, Paperback
Published August 9, 2016
4 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Doug Moench
2,071 books122 followersDoug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok. Moench has worked for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics and many other smaller companies; he has written hundreds of issues of many different comics, and created dozens of characters, such as Moon Knight. In 1973, Moench became the de facto lead writer for the Marvel black-and-white magazine imprint Curtis Magazines. He contributed to the entire runs of Planet of the Apes, Rampaging Hulk (continuing on the title when it changed its name to The Hulk!) and Doc Savage, while also serving as a regular scribe for virtually every other Curtis title during the course of the imprint's existence. Moench is perhaps best known for his work on Batman, whose title he wrote from 1983–1986 and then again from 1992–1998. (He also wrote the companion title Detective Comics from 1983–1986.)
Moench is a frequent and longtime collaborator with comics artist Paul Gulacy. The pair are probably best known for their work on Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu, which they worked on together from 1974–1977. They also co-created Six from Sirius, Slash Maraud, and S.C.I. Spy, and have worked together on comics projects featuring Batman, Conan the Barbarian and James Bond.
Moench has frequently been paired with the artist and inker team of Kelley Jones and John Beatty on several Elseworlds Graphic Novels and a long run of the monthly Batman comic.
Moench is a frequent and longtime collaborator with comics artist Paul Gulacy. The pair are probably best known for their work on Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu, which they worked on together from 1974–1977. They also co-created Six from Sirius, Slash Maraud, and S.C.I. Spy, and have worked together on comics projects featuring Batman, Conan the Barbarian and James Bond.
Moench has frequently been paired with the artist and inker team of Kelley Jones and John Beatty on several Elseworlds Graphic Novels and a long run of the monthly Batman comic.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 25, 2021
When he took over the title with Thor #337, Walt Simonson completely redefined Thor as a character and mythos. It was a complete status quo shake-up complete with new characters, new identities, and a whole new fantasy feel that made it unique and memorable. As the decades have gone on, Simonson has prevailed as the definitive greatest of all time Thor run whose influences can be seen in every facet of the character. Modern runs by JMS and Jason Aaron, current ongoings like Donny Cates, and the entirety of the MCU version of Thor would look completely different without Simonson. To fans, Simonson "saved" Thor from decades of mediocrity as some poor Superman/Captain Marvel rip-off.
In essence, Simonson saved Thor from... stories like this. Stories that might be bad, might be good, but are never truly great. No creator in this Epic Collection is putting out career-defining work. Doug Moench is not known for his writing work on Thor. Bill Sienkiewicz is not considered a GOAT artist because of his Thor covers. Alan Kupperberg is not an artist whose name you associate with Thor. These stories are most often forgettable and the collection as a whole could be entirely skipped. Maybe the only big status quo changes it addresses, like the whereabouts of Jane Foster, are a part of Thor's history that is better left forgotten.
Though this collection is not without positives. This volume contains the latter parts of Doug Moench's run, yes, but most importantly it collects all of Alan Zelenetz's run on the title. Zelenetz is one of the most underrated Thor writers, one whose contributions set the ground for Simonson's incredible run. The best story of this volume is the story of "The Crusader", by Zelenetz and Bob Hall in Thor #330-331, which tackles Thor's role as a religious symbol in the modern age as he comes against an extremist Christian who wants to cleanse the world of heretics. He brings back Jane Foster, fixing up that little bit of continuity that is just confusing and was never developed properly. And, most of all, he sets in motion the big break-up between Thor and Sif which makes her wonderful arc in Simonson's run possible.
Zelenetz's run isn't a run I would put up there with the greatest comic runs of all times. It probably wouldn't make Thor's top 5, either. But it might make the top 10, and for a character who has spent so much time being poorly written or inconsistent the fact that Zelenetz was able to move the mythos in such a positive direction deserves respect. He, and the host of talented artists on the book, was a band-aid that patched up some of the bigger cuts in Thor's history so that future writers could take the character somewhere better.
In the end, that's all this volume is. It's the last remnants of a dying franchise, moments before it is brought back to life again. A stop-gap, filler, forgettable work that doesn't get much praise and in reading doesn't deserve much either. It's only worth checking out if you're a big time Thor fan who wants to read any and everything Thor, and get some extra context for some of the small details in Simonson's run that immediately follows.
In essence, Simonson saved Thor from... stories like this. Stories that might be bad, might be good, but are never truly great. No creator in this Epic Collection is putting out career-defining work. Doug Moench is not known for his writing work on Thor. Bill Sienkiewicz is not considered a GOAT artist because of his Thor covers. Alan Kupperberg is not an artist whose name you associate with Thor. These stories are most often forgettable and the collection as a whole could be entirely skipped. Maybe the only big status quo changes it addresses, like the whereabouts of Jane Foster, are a part of Thor's history that is better left forgotten.
Though this collection is not without positives. This volume contains the latter parts of Doug Moench's run, yes, but most importantly it collects all of Alan Zelenetz's run on the title. Zelenetz is one of the most underrated Thor writers, one whose contributions set the ground for Simonson's incredible run. The best story of this volume is the story of "The Crusader", by Zelenetz and Bob Hall in Thor #330-331, which tackles Thor's role as a religious symbol in the modern age as he comes against an extremist Christian who wants to cleanse the world of heretics. He brings back Jane Foster, fixing up that little bit of continuity that is just confusing and was never developed properly. And, most of all, he sets in motion the big break-up between Thor and Sif which makes her wonderful arc in Simonson's run possible.
Zelenetz's run isn't a run I would put up there with the greatest comic runs of all times. It probably wouldn't make Thor's top 5, either. But it might make the top 10, and for a character who has spent so much time being poorly written or inconsistent the fact that Zelenetz was able to move the mythos in such a positive direction deserves respect. He, and the host of talented artists on the book, was a band-aid that patched up some of the bigger cuts in Thor's history so that future writers could take the character somewhere better.
In the end, that's all this volume is. It's the last remnants of a dying franchise, moments before it is brought back to life again. A stop-gap, filler, forgettable work that doesn't get much praise and in reading doesn't deserve much either. It's only worth checking out if you're a big time Thor fan who wants to read any and everything Thor, and get some extra context for some of the small details in Simonson's run that immediately follows.
June 18, 2023
The Thor material in this volume doesn’t get nearly as much love as the more famous runs, and frankly I can see why: It’s kind of a ho-hum, business-as-usual period of Thor. Still, I was consistently entertained throughout this volume.
This is very much Shooter’s Marvel, with the traditional nondescript Marvel House drawing style, and plenty of done-in-one “any comic is someone’s first comic” stories. I grew up on this period of Marvel though so it’s hard to be objective; this material is warm and fuzzy comfort reading for me.
The first 3-issue arc by Doug Moench, featuring an odd menagerie of half-gods, is rather goofy. And hey, nothing wrong with goofy, but with Thor I kind of expect more Grand Cosmic drama, with plenty of pathos and pompous Shakespearean dialogue.
The book pics up with a short Bizarre Adventures story by Alan Zelentz, with gorgeous greytone art by John Bolton. Now this is what I’m here for. At 14 pages I wish it were longer, but it’s a great story, maybe the highlight of the book for me. Proper high fantasy drama.
Steven Grant then guest-scripts a fun little tale of young Thor against the being known as the Dark Man, though is true identity is revealed later on in a nice twist.
Then it’s back to Moench for five issues. It’s kinda mundane stuff, but he does a good job of balancing Don Blake and his Midgard existence with the noble superheroics of Thor. We get a trio of done-in-ones pitting Thor against Graviton, Mephisto and the Scarlet Scarab. Nothing special, but the Mephisto story has a nice moving ending.
The Tales of Asgard back-ups returns in issue 324, the events of which lead into the main story of issue 327. Loki and Tyr conjure a plot to dethrone Odin, but the gods of Asgard are having none of that. They bring the conflict to earth, and valiant battles ensue.
Sif decides to stick around on earth but she has a hard time adjusting to life here. This storyline plays out over the next several issues. Issue 328 sees her taking on the bizarre videogame villain Megatak - and that’s it for Doug Moench; with issue 339 Zelenetz takes over the writing for the rest of the book. He brings some coherence and direction which I felt was missing with Moench.
Thor goes up against the Crusader, a religious zealot on a, well, crusade to punish heathens who have turned away from God. A fun two-parter which raises some interesting questions about faith and worship.
Next up is another two-parter pitting Thor against Dracula - I was not expecting that. I liked the story, though this rendition of Dracula pales compared to that of Wolfman/Colan.
Then we get the titular Runequest story, which concerns Jane Foster, and her shared identity with Sif. (I always found that rather confusing.) Thor and Sif must travel to an alien planet to retrieve the Runestaff from Kamo Tharnn, in order to ressurect Jane Foster. An entertaining story, I liked the sci-fi elements here.
Issue 336 then sees the Sif storyline come to a resolution. And last up is Annual 11, a multi-part re-telling of Thor’s origin.
And so ends an era of Thor, for after this Walt Simonson takes over. And while he revolutionized things and took the book to a whole new level, there’s something to be said for the material in this book too: Nothing special, just solid old-school 80s Marvel storytelling.
This is very much Shooter’s Marvel, with the traditional nondescript Marvel House drawing style, and plenty of done-in-one “any comic is someone’s first comic” stories. I grew up on this period of Marvel though so it’s hard to be objective; this material is warm and fuzzy comfort reading for me.
The first 3-issue arc by Doug Moench, featuring an odd menagerie of half-gods, is rather goofy. And hey, nothing wrong with goofy, but with Thor I kind of expect more Grand Cosmic drama, with plenty of pathos and pompous Shakespearean dialogue.
The book pics up with a short Bizarre Adventures story by Alan Zelentz, with gorgeous greytone art by John Bolton. Now this is what I’m here for. At 14 pages I wish it were longer, but it’s a great story, maybe the highlight of the book for me. Proper high fantasy drama.
Steven Grant then guest-scripts a fun little tale of young Thor against the being known as the Dark Man, though is true identity is revealed later on in a nice twist.
Then it’s back to Moench for five issues. It’s kinda mundane stuff, but he does a good job of balancing Don Blake and his Midgard existence with the noble superheroics of Thor. We get a trio of done-in-ones pitting Thor against Graviton, Mephisto and the Scarlet Scarab. Nothing special, but the Mephisto story has a nice moving ending.
The Tales of Asgard back-ups returns in issue 324, the events of which lead into the main story of issue 327. Loki and Tyr conjure a plot to dethrone Odin, but the gods of Asgard are having none of that. They bring the conflict to earth, and valiant battles ensue.
Sif decides to stick around on earth but she has a hard time adjusting to life here. This storyline plays out over the next several issues. Issue 328 sees her taking on the bizarre videogame villain Megatak - and that’s it for Doug Moench; with issue 339 Zelenetz takes over the writing for the rest of the book. He brings some coherence and direction which I felt was missing with Moench.
Thor goes up against the Crusader, a religious zealot on a, well, crusade to punish heathens who have turned away from God. A fun two-parter which raises some interesting questions about faith and worship.
Next up is another two-parter pitting Thor against Dracula - I was not expecting that. I liked the story, though this rendition of Dracula pales compared to that of Wolfman/Colan.
Then we get the titular Runequest story, which concerns Jane Foster, and her shared identity with Sif. (I always found that rather confusing.) Thor and Sif must travel to an alien planet to retrieve the Runestaff from Kamo Tharnn, in order to ressurect Jane Foster. An entertaining story, I liked the sci-fi elements here.
Issue 336 then sees the Sif storyline come to a resolution. And last up is Annual 11, a multi-part re-telling of Thor’s origin.
And so ends an era of Thor, for after this Walt Simonson takes over. And while he revolutionized things and took the book to a whole new level, there’s something to be said for the material in this book too: Nothing special, just solid old-school 80s Marvel storytelling.
August 25, 2022
Lagostas espaciais gigantes.
Não tem como dar errado.
Porém, antes do... prato principal, as primeiras histórias - do Moench - são histórias bem simples naquele climão início dos anos 80; algumas menções à mitologia tradicional, a menagerie de Rimthursar, uma coleção de criaturas míticas que aparecem em Chigaco e, na verdade, fazem parte de um plano para conquistar o Reino Eterno, e um plano diabólico do Loki e do Tyr para roubar as maças douradas - responsáveis pela imortalidade dos Asgardianos. Esse último força os deuses a virem para a Midgard, e depois de tudo resolvido, Lady Sif resolve ficar por aqui para ficar ao lado do Thor porque tá na hora de desempatar esse casório.
Dá pena da coitada.
O Thor larga ela e vai fazer, literalmente, qualquer outra coisa; apitar campeonato de bocha, salvar um polvo gigante, apagar incêndio, enfrentar o Drácula que, como ninguém tava chupando, queria chupar o imortal pescocinho da Lady Sif, até quando ele vira o Donald Blake, ele larga ela para atender uma unha encravada. Porém é por aqui que a historia começa a ficar mais legal, entra um tal de Zelenetz nos argumentos, e o Don Blake é acusado de matar a Jane Foster. Começando assim a busca pela Jane Foster. Lá no fundo é uma história meio sem pé nem cabeça, mas eu achei bem divertido; envolve lagostas espaciais, cajados místicos, picaretagens esotéricos, sábios cegos e um cara - Não Sei O Quê Kincaid - que poderia ser o irmão gêmeo do Donald Blake e esse é o cara que casa com a Jane Foster, porque Deus do Trovão que dorme, a onda leva.
Além disso, temos o Escaravelho Escarlate, um herói egípcio que por algum motivo é cinza, e um anual que conta a história do Thor desde a concepção - inclusive com o Odin dando uns pegas na Deusa Terra - passando pela adolescência e o exílio até a primeira aparição na era "moderna" do Universo Marvel.
Eu achei bem divertido, tem os vícios do início dos anos 80; o ritmo lento e cheio de explicações furadas e recordatórios; a arte é bem ok, não prejudica e não embeleza nada demais. Acho que é um excelente exemplo de um gibi comum da sua época.
Não tem como dar errado.
Porém, antes do... prato principal, as primeiras histórias - do Moench - são histórias bem simples naquele climão início dos anos 80; algumas menções à mitologia tradicional, a menagerie de Rimthursar, uma coleção de criaturas míticas que aparecem em Chigaco e, na verdade, fazem parte de um plano para conquistar o Reino Eterno, e um plano diabólico do Loki e do Tyr para roubar as maças douradas - responsáveis pela imortalidade dos Asgardianos. Esse último força os deuses a virem para a Midgard, e depois de tudo resolvido, Lady Sif resolve ficar por aqui para ficar ao lado do Thor porque tá na hora de desempatar esse casório.
Dá pena da coitada.
O Thor larga ela e vai fazer, literalmente, qualquer outra coisa; apitar campeonato de bocha, salvar um polvo gigante, apagar incêndio, enfrentar o Drácula que, como ninguém tava chupando, queria chupar o imortal pescocinho da Lady Sif, até quando ele vira o Donald Blake, ele larga ela para atender uma unha encravada. Porém é por aqui que a historia começa a ficar mais legal, entra um tal de Zelenetz nos argumentos, e o Don Blake é acusado de matar a Jane Foster. Começando assim a busca pela Jane Foster. Lá no fundo é uma história meio sem pé nem cabeça, mas eu achei bem divertido; envolve lagostas espaciais, cajados místicos, picaretagens esotéricos, sábios cegos e um cara - Não Sei O Quê Kincaid - que poderia ser o irmão gêmeo do Donald Blake e esse é o cara que casa com a Jane Foster, porque Deus do Trovão que dorme, a onda leva.
Além disso, temos o Escaravelho Escarlate, um herói egípcio que por algum motivo é cinza, e um anual que conta a história do Thor desde a concepção - inclusive com o Odin dando uns pegas na Deusa Terra - passando pela adolescência e o exílio até a primeira aparição na era "moderna" do Universo Marvel.
Eu achei bem divertido, tem os vícios do início dos anos 80; o ritmo lento e cheio de explicações furadas e recordatórios; a arte é bem ok, não prejudica e não embeleza nada demais. Acho que é um excelente exemplo de um gibi comum da sua época.
February 27, 2025
The comics in this volume might not be anything memorable, but for the most part they're pretty good, fun stories.
The first half of this book concluded Doug Moench's run. The highlights for me were a story where 5 bestial demigods possessed 5 humans on Earth, a redemption story about a demon called Darkoth, and an attack on Odin and Asgard by a group of villains including Loki, Tyr and even the Midgard Serpent!
The second half of the book contained the entirety of Alan Zelenetz's short run. I enjoyed some 2-parter stories here, including a story where Thor starts getting worshiped by some people, and as a result is attacked by a religious zealot named the Crusader. There was also a fun story where Thor faces Dracula and some vampires.
Some other gems in this book are the 1983 Annual which retells and clarifies the origin of Thor, and an issue of Bizarre Tales with some amazing art-work.
The volume concludes with Thor and Sif going on a quest to find and restore Jane Foster to life, and also concludes Sif's conflict about whether to stay on Earth or Asgard. It ties everything up for Walt Simonson's fresh start in the next volume.
The first half of this book concluded Doug Moench's run. The highlights for me were a story where 5 bestial demigods possessed 5 humans on Earth, a redemption story about a demon called Darkoth, and an attack on Odin and Asgard by a group of villains including Loki, Tyr and even the Midgard Serpent!
The second half of the book contained the entirety of Alan Zelenetz's short run. I enjoyed some 2-parter stories here, including a story where Thor starts getting worshiped by some people, and as a result is attacked by a religious zealot named the Crusader. There was also a fun story where Thor faces Dracula and some vampires.
Some other gems in this book are the 1983 Annual which retells and clarifies the origin of Thor, and an issue of Bizarre Tales with some amazing art-work.
The volume concludes with Thor and Sif going on a quest to find and restore Jane Foster to life, and also concludes Sif's conflict about whether to stay on Earth or Asgard. It ties everything up for Walt Simonson's fresh start in the next volume.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews