Thor: The Death of Odin

Thor (1998) (Single Issues) #39-44

by Dan Jurgens

An ancient enemy walks the world of Midgard, known to us as Earth. Victory comes at a terrible price--one that will alter forever the very hierarchy of the gods and thrust the son of Odin into a new and perilous role. Collecting: Thor (1998) #39-44

Genres: Marvel, Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

About the author

Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, and Booster Gold. Jurgens had a lengthy run on the Superman comic books including The Adventures of Superman, Superman vol. 2 and Action Comics. At Marvel, Jurgens worked on series such as Captain America, The Sensational Spider-Man and was the writer on Thor for six years. He also had a brief run as writer and artist on Solar for Valiant Comics in 1995.

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the title alone, "The death Of Odin", you would expect epic. You'd be wrong. How it came to be was too quick and then constant "reveals" revealing nothing interesting. The Jake Olson experiment is proving a misstep. The characters that have been introduced are just thrown to the wayside. Dan Jurgens Thor speak is still painfully over the top. The art wasn't thrilling or crisp. Overall, a disappointment.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly solid excepting the titular moment which is more common than Jean Grey dying for all the jokes that say otherwise. The event seems to come from this side conflict that is suddenly bigger than you realized and then the consequent feels unearned for its brevity.

I am just now remembering that the conclusion of past stories are very quickly side-stepped here too. The biggest challenge to Jurgens run is the series of incredible runs that would follow Oeming's Ragnarok. It's solid, but decades of amazing are coming.

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 4 out of 5]

short, but impactful story arc

[Mickey · Rating 1 out of 5]

More like Snore: The Death of My Attention Span, am I right?

[Joshua Bertram · Rating 4 out of 5]

By far the best trade up to this point in the Jurgens run of Thor, The Death of Odin is, as the death of a major character would suggest, a book that really amps up the stakes and consequences for these characters. I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say that yes, Odin really does die. And it is handled quite well.

The book includes a few introductory pages summarizing the couple of missing issues between this and the previous trade, and then launches into the thrilling battle that claims the life of the king. The fallout from Odin's death runs through the rest of the book, culminating in a fantastic issue (#44) in which the Asgardians reflect on the ways in which Odin impacted their lives -- and it is told completely without text. Play Clint Mansell's "Xibalba" while you "read" it, and get carried away. That issue alone is worth getting this book for, but is certainly not the only selling point.

This book marks the point at which Thor and Jake Olson are split from each other, freeing up new storytelling possibilities just at the point when their being joined together was about to start getting old.

My favourite aspect of these few issues, though, is the fact that most of them feature the brilliant art of Stuart Immonen. With his thick black lines and exuberant action poses, it's a dazzling visual treat.

[William Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anything with an appearance by Beta Ray-Bill automatically gets three stars. However, this collection really is just par for the course with Jurgens' run on this book. He has a whole hell of a lot of imagination but it clearly exceeds his talent. Keep Jurgens as an idea man or a plotter, and let someone else do the scripting. I know he was the 90's go-to guy for heavy-hitters like Superman, but the dialogue and action just seem off to me most times.

What really drags this collection down though is the artwork. Immonen's early work clearly needed a better inker, as it is often too dark, with large swaths of black randomly throughout each panel. He doesn't seem to care where the light source is as long as most of the page is black as night. It feels as though stylistically he was still coming into his own, the refined work we see produced these days on his Marvel books. At this point though, removing most of the large black areas in exchange for just a little hatching would have helped the art move in a better direction, rather than seem like an accidental spill of the ink pot.

Writing: C
Art: D

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan Jurgens had one of the better runs on Thor. Good storytelling, good art once Stuart Immonen takes over. For a comic that's been around for 50 years, Thor has always been pretty boring outside of Walter Simonson's run. This is probably the only other notable run until J. Michael Straczynski redefined the character.

[Jonesylovesbeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you saw Thor this Spring and are interested in the character start here. This trade and entire run that follows is the best Thor story ever told. Odin dies and Thor decides that he establish himself as the Lord of Earth and unite man under Asgardian rule. Truly epic.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, while these are fine comics, they aren't better than that. Thor is a difficult comic to write, and Dan Jurgens leans a little too hard into the cosmic, creating something melodramatic and unsatisfying.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like Thor as a main character. This comic included.

[Pam Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not going to give away spoilers, but there's much more commonality between Judaism and Paganism than most people think. As Rabbi Jill Hammer said, "Paganism has always been part of Judaism."