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Essential Thor #4
Essential Thor, Vol. 4
"The Fall of Asgard!" "The End of Eternity!" "A Time of Evil!" If it's not one thing, it's another - but everyone's favorite Thunder God is on top of it all, even when he's inhabiting his evil foster brother's body! Trouble comes from all directions with cosmic clashes against Galactus and the Stranger; demonic doings from Surtur and Mephisto; and Dr. Doom, the Wrecker, and Mangog picking up the slack! Plus: giants, trolls, demons, robots, and more!
Collects Thor #167-195.
600 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 1972
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About the author
Stan Lee
7,563 books2,343 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 13, 2016
This volume sees Jack Kirby hand over the artwork duties on this title to John Buscema (with a couple of fill-in issues by Neal Adams), so the art changes significantly about halfway through but remains excellent throughout.
I wish I could say the same about the writing, but Stan Lee seems to run out of ideas in this volume. The stories start to feel a bit wishy-washy and samey by the halfway mark. It's all very cosmic and dramatic but also a bit vague with some decidedly anticlimactic endings.
Stan hands this book off to Gerry Conway just before the end of this volume but Conway doesn't really have time to put his own stamp on the book yet as he's mainly tying up Stan's loose ends.
Overall, this volume's not brilliant story-wise but worth reading for the artwork alone.
I wish I could say the same about the writing, but Stan Lee seems to run out of ideas in this volume. The stories start to feel a bit wishy-washy and samey by the halfway mark. It's all very cosmic and dramatic but also a bit vague with some decidedly anticlimactic endings.
Stan hands this book off to Gerry Conway just before the end of this volume but Conway doesn't really have time to put his own stamp on the book yet as he's mainly tying up Stan's loose ends.
Overall, this volume's not brilliant story-wise but worth reading for the artwork alone.
June 23, 2020
Kirby soldiers on! For 12 more issues anyway and does a pretty good job of them, too. Just before he left Marvel, that company or Stan Lee had decided to revert from multi-issue stories to yarns that were full and complete in one comic book. The theory was that potential new fans were put off by finding themselves in the middle of a confusing story. This experiment did not last long and the stuff produced is often dismissed by old-time Marvelites but not all of it was bad. What was lost in big production was gained in the necessity to tighten plots so they fit twenty pages. By the late sixties, Lee and Kirby had developed the bad habit of stretching a thin plot over four issues. They could get away with it because Kirby’s art was still great and Stan’s dialogue could carry a reader along but art is about doing your best work, not getting away with as little as possible.
Jack Kirby’s run ended with Mighty Thor # 179, ‘No More The Thunder God’, in which Loki swaps bodies with him. For dramatic contrast, this yarn was taken over artistically by Neal Adams, a penciller so utterly different from the King that there is virtually no point of comparison. Perhaps that was the idea. It’s an interesting contrast, though, because Kirby was the man to emulate in the sixties world of comics and Neal Adams quickly became the man to emulate in the seventies. The torch was passed.
Adams didn’t stay long and the artistic reins were taken up by John Buscema. Big John produced art that is lovely to look upon and has spoken often – I’ve seen him on video – about his debt to Jack Kirby, at least when it comes to dramatic layouts and storytelling in comics. Stylistically, they are miles apart. Buscema’s figures are anatomically correct and he could draw ladies you want to rip off the page and take over to the sofa. Kirby completely ignored anatomy and generally drew ladies you would send out for pizza, though there were exceptions. I’ve seen Buscema saying he was terrified of taking over from Kirby on ‘Thor’ and ‘The Fantastic Four’. He regarded Jack as the absolute master of comics and thought Marvel was finished when he left. Buscema has since moved on to that big drawing board in the sky but I am happy to report that he did a fine job.
Marvel wasn’t finished, either. There was enough new talent coming on board to keep the ship running. Most of the new talent were writers and some say that the sixties was the age of the artist at Marvel and the seventies was the age of the writer. Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway and other college types (can I say hippies?) grew up reading Stan Lee and wanted to join in the fun. Gerry Conway took over the Thunder God in Mighty Thor #193. Stan Lee filled the interim between Kirby and Conway with Doctor Doom, the Infinity/World Beyond five-part story and yet another Loki-takes-over-Asgard yarn. Loki has gained possession of the Odin-ring and so has the right to rule. In earlier days, he got Odin’s sceptre. Anything Odin wears is named after him and if you grab it you can take over. ‘Loki has the Odin-socks and the Universe is doomed!’ It all got a bit silly at times.
The so-so stories are redeemed by Buscema’s beautiful art, usually inked by Joe Sinnott, but a couple of times by John’s brother, Sal, his favourite inker. The last issue here, Mighty Thor # 195, is inked by Vince Colletta. I have spoken ill of Vince in regard to his inks on Kirby but that was for what he failed to ink. When he does apply the fluid he does a pretty good job and his thin line style seems particularly suited to Thor, making things seem slightly mediaeval somehow, like old etchings.
‘Essential Thor Volume 4’ collects Mighty Thor # 167 (August 1969) to Mighty Thor # 195 (January 1972). That’s a good hunk of reading material at a very reasonable price. Nearly half of it is Kirby and the rest is Adams and Buscema which makes it a pretty good buy.
Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/
Jack Kirby’s run ended with Mighty Thor # 179, ‘No More The Thunder God’, in which Loki swaps bodies with him. For dramatic contrast, this yarn was taken over artistically by Neal Adams, a penciller so utterly different from the King that there is virtually no point of comparison. Perhaps that was the idea. It’s an interesting contrast, though, because Kirby was the man to emulate in the sixties world of comics and Neal Adams quickly became the man to emulate in the seventies. The torch was passed.
Adams didn’t stay long and the artistic reins were taken up by John Buscema. Big John produced art that is lovely to look upon and has spoken often – I’ve seen him on video – about his debt to Jack Kirby, at least when it comes to dramatic layouts and storytelling in comics. Stylistically, they are miles apart. Buscema’s figures are anatomically correct and he could draw ladies you want to rip off the page and take over to the sofa. Kirby completely ignored anatomy and generally drew ladies you would send out for pizza, though there were exceptions. I’ve seen Buscema saying he was terrified of taking over from Kirby on ‘Thor’ and ‘The Fantastic Four’. He regarded Jack as the absolute master of comics and thought Marvel was finished when he left. Buscema has since moved on to that big drawing board in the sky but I am happy to report that he did a fine job.
Marvel wasn’t finished, either. There was enough new talent coming on board to keep the ship running. Most of the new talent were writers and some say that the sixties was the age of the artist at Marvel and the seventies was the age of the writer. Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway and other college types (can I say hippies?) grew up reading Stan Lee and wanted to join in the fun. Gerry Conway took over the Thunder God in Mighty Thor #193. Stan Lee filled the interim between Kirby and Conway with Doctor Doom, the Infinity/World Beyond five-part story and yet another Loki-takes-over-Asgard yarn. Loki has gained possession of the Odin-ring and so has the right to rule. In earlier days, he got Odin’s sceptre. Anything Odin wears is named after him and if you grab it you can take over. ‘Loki has the Odin-socks and the Universe is doomed!’ It all got a bit silly at times.
The so-so stories are redeemed by Buscema’s beautiful art, usually inked by Joe Sinnott, but a couple of times by John’s brother, Sal, his favourite inker. The last issue here, Mighty Thor # 195, is inked by Vince Colletta. I have spoken ill of Vince in regard to his inks on Kirby but that was for what he failed to ink. When he does apply the fluid he does a pretty good job and his thin line style seems particularly suited to Thor, making things seem slightly mediaeval somehow, like old etchings.
‘Essential Thor Volume 4’ collects Mighty Thor # 167 (August 1969) to Mighty Thor # 195 (January 1972). That’s a good hunk of reading material at a very reasonable price. Nearly half of it is Kirby and the rest is Adams and Buscema which makes it a pretty good buy.
Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/
November 29, 2017
This book collects Issues 167-195 of Thor. The nearly 2 1/2 years include Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's last issues. Kirby left after Issue 179 and was replaced as the artist by Neal Adams for Issues 180 and 181, then John Buscema is the artist for the rest of the book. Lee wrote through Issue 192 and was then replaced by Gerry Conway.
Most of the first dozen issues felt very much like reruns of previous Thor stories. They were things that had happened before with similar monsters and plot lines. I'd noticed the same sort of slump Lee went through on both Amazing Spiderman and Fantastic Four after so many years writing those. One exception to this that wasn't all that great is when Odin sends Thor on a quest for Galactus. Galactus calmly provides his origin story over multiple issues and then Thor leaves without ever fighting him because Odin had wanted...something.
The highlight of these issues is Kirby's art. Even in Black and White, it just leaps off the page, with epic action and amazing splash pages. It's very fun to read.
The first really great arc is Issues 179-181 which has Loki effectively swapping appearances with Thor. It's a fun that puts Thor in a very challenging position.
Issues 182 and 183 are Thor in Latveria v. Doctor Doom. This is a decent story, although it's a bit cynical for a Stan Lee story from the early 1970s.
Issues 184-188 has another fight to prevent Ragnorak. This time Odin goes off to fight an entity known as Infinity and Thor follows later. Except for Loki's half hearted invasion in Odin's absence, this is a good story with a solid twist.
Issue 189 and 190 has Hela, the godess of death, coming after Thor because she's upset about the whole "Ragnorak" is cancelled thing. The story has some interesting points, though a bit of a coup out ending.
At the end of Issue 190, Loki becomes ruler of Asgard because he found the Odin ring because Odin left it laying around (because that's exactly what you do with a talisman that makes you ruler of Asgard.) This story runs through Issue 194 and into Gerry Conway taking over. The story is interesting. Both Lee and Conway manage to make Loki more malevolent and intimidating than in the other times he'd taken over Asgard. The threats and risk for Thor remained high. For Conway's first issue, he brings in the Silver Surfer as guest star.
The Loki plot ends at Issue 194, so I'm really mystified whiy the book continued on because Issue 195 starts another multi-part plot involving Mangog.
Overall, while this isn't as good as some of the previous volumes, this book has some great art work, and the latter stories had some very exciting and inventive stories. Worth a read for Thor fans. Verily.
Most of the first dozen issues felt very much like reruns of previous Thor stories. They were things that had happened before with similar monsters and plot lines. I'd noticed the same sort of slump Lee went through on both Amazing Spiderman and Fantastic Four after so many years writing those. One exception to this that wasn't all that great is when Odin sends Thor on a quest for Galactus. Galactus calmly provides his origin story over multiple issues and then Thor leaves without ever fighting him because Odin had wanted...something.
The highlight of these issues is Kirby's art. Even in Black and White, it just leaps off the page, with epic action and amazing splash pages. It's very fun to read.
The first really great arc is Issues 179-181 which has Loki effectively swapping appearances with Thor. It's a fun that puts Thor in a very challenging position.
Issues 182 and 183 are Thor in Latveria v. Doctor Doom. This is a decent story, although it's a bit cynical for a Stan Lee story from the early 1970s.
Issues 184-188 has another fight to prevent Ragnorak. This time Odin goes off to fight an entity known as Infinity and Thor follows later. Except for Loki's half hearted invasion in Odin's absence, this is a good story with a solid twist.
Issue 189 and 190 has Hela, the godess of death, coming after Thor because she's upset about the whole "Ragnorak" is cancelled thing. The story has some interesting points, though a bit of a coup out ending.
At the end of Issue 190, Loki becomes ruler of Asgard because he found the Odin ring because Odin left it laying around (because that's exactly what you do with a talisman that makes you ruler of Asgard.) This story runs through Issue 194 and into Gerry Conway taking over. The story is interesting. Both Lee and Conway manage to make Loki more malevolent and intimidating than in the other times he'd taken over Asgard. The threats and risk for Thor remained high. For Conway's first issue, he brings in the Silver Surfer as guest star.
The Loki plot ends at Issue 194, so I'm really mystified whiy the book continued on because Issue 195 starts another multi-part plot involving Mangog.
Overall, while this isn't as good as some of the previous volumes, this book has some great art work, and the latter stories had some very exciting and inventive stories. Worth a read for Thor fans. Verily.
November 18, 2018
There was a couple of issues here that were really dragging the muck up from the bottem of the barrel but, when it was good it was pretty spectacular.
Some fine art by some great artist: Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, John Buscema.
Some fine art by some great artist: Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, John Buscema.
June 8, 2022
This volume includes the issues that introduced me to Thor. I remember reading the Neal Adams issues, so I must not have seen the Kirby issues before these essential volumes.
June 29, 2014
This was really good! I think the reason is this soap opera obsessive thing where there is something going wrong with Asgard. Like "everyone's going to die" and they milk it for five issues.
Also, everyone is fairly likable, especially Thor. He defends humans, jumps to the defense of everybody, there is a lot of discussion of civil rights and humanity and stuff, it's fun.
The action is pretty good, but mostly as a sidenote for the drama. Like Thor can't succeed by punching the crazy villain, we're all going to die.
I don't have a lot to say about this book, mostly because it reads really clean, and it doesn't have any real drag to it. The stories sort of run together, but mostly because they're all about Asgard, Thor, Odin, and Loki in similar combinations.
The art by Jack Kirby is solid, while Neal Adams (alas, only one issue) and the Buscema Bros. draw like they actually know what a God looks like, the characters and action look terriff...
If you like melodramatic superheroes, this is your read.
Also, everyone is fairly likable, especially Thor. He defends humans, jumps to the defense of everybody, there is a lot of discussion of civil rights and humanity and stuff, it's fun.
The action is pretty good, but mostly as a sidenote for the drama. Like Thor can't succeed by punching the crazy villain, we're all going to die.
I don't have a lot to say about this book, mostly because it reads really clean, and it doesn't have any real drag to it. The stories sort of run together, but mostly because they're all about Asgard, Thor, Odin, and Loki in similar combinations.
The art by Jack Kirby is solid, while Neal Adams (alas, only one issue) and the Buscema Bros. draw like they actually know what a God looks like, the characters and action look terriff...
If you like melodramatic superheroes, this is your read.
October 10, 2020
Not that much completely new stuff this time around, but some solid stories and nice art. The past of Galactus was a highlight for me. It made sense that they wouldn't have them battle it out, because they did that already at the end of the last volume.
This issue is starting to show the creative strains that kills the title for me in volumes later down the line (at least until around the 80s). Lots of round two's with past villains with a little spin here and there (wrecker, Ulik, Hela), and filler fights in between. Odin vs Thor was a dramatisque standoff i enjoyed a lot, and it was really satisfying seeing someone (Hela in this case) actually show Odin that he can't always get what he wants without consequence.
The good stuff was really good, most of the other stuff still solid. It all goes downhill in the later volumes, so in comparison i had a good time with this one.
This issue is starting to show the creative strains that kills the title for me in volumes later down the line (at least until around the 80s). Lots of round two's with past villains with a little spin here and there (wrecker, Ulik, Hela), and filler fights in between. Odin vs Thor was a dramatisque standoff i enjoyed a lot, and it was really satisfying seeing someone (Hela in this case) actually show Odin that he can't always get what he wants without consequence.
The good stuff was really good, most of the other stuff still solid. It all goes downhill in the later volumes, so in comparison i had a good time with this one.
July 5, 2016
As someone who really enjoyed the tail end of Vol. 1 and all of 2 and 3, this is a painful farewell to the Lee/Kirby tenure on the title. The late-Silver Age strains on the team were showing as they throw Thor into one recycled, listless peril after another, though the stories don't improve any when John Buscema takes over the art (though visually he's a treat) or Gerry Conway takes over the writing; heck, two multi-issue arcs in this volume use exactly the same McGuffin (Loki stealing the Odinring to take over Asgard). Not without its moments, but a disappointing collection overall.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews