Thor: Ages of Thunder

At a time when comic fans are bombarded with Iron Man tie-ins, it’s nice to see another classic Marvel character getting the treatment. In the Thor one-shot, Ages of Thunder, we get a glimpse of the Thunder God long before he became involved with the world of Man, embroiled in a romance with Jane Foster and tangled with Mister Hyde and the Cobra. In other mediums, this would be called a ‘prequel’ to the Mighty Thor. Rumors of the Thor movie have included the idea that it would be set entirely in mythological Asgard as a fantasy film. This comics could be a way to get readers used to the idea.

Written by Matt Fraction (of Iron Fist) and drawn by Iron Man’s Patrick Zircher (part 1) and newcomer Khari Evans (part 2), the comic is a collection of mythological tales of Asgard. In both, Thor whoops Frost Giants with such extreme violence that it becomes apparent that this is a very different character than the one we are familiar with. This Thor is very much a force of nature, a beast of battle and a God of few words. Most of the story is told through narration which may turn some readers off, but it is used so well that I miss the convention that used to be a quintessential part of the Marvel Comics mystique very dearly.

The pair of stories involve Asgard during a time when the race of Gods was pitted against the Frost Giants almost constantly. The set up for both tales is that Thor fells a Frost Giant in battle with a hammer blow through the skull. The killing blow is so deadly that the Giant’s falling body destroys part of Asgard’s city wall.

In the first story, a simple human promises to fix the damage to the wall in return for the Enchantress’ hand in marriage. Loki convinces wise Odin to honor the wager, demanding that the stone cutter finish the work in six months with no assistance. The task is absurdly impossible, so Odin agrees. Things get a little hairy from there as the human actually manges the monumental task, resulting in the punishment of Loki the Lord of Mischief. The second tale involves a punished Loki being offered a way out of his suffering by a Frost Giant. The only catch, you guessed it, the hand of the Enchantress in marriage. In both stories, Loki causes trouble which gets so out of hand that Thor has to intervene and remind the pantheon of Gods why he is the favored son.

It’s a fantastic comic and I’m glad I took the ‘risk’ in buying outside of my comic book collecting comfort zone. The writing is in a classic style and the mixture of art is top notch stuff. At the conclusion, there is promise for a follow up called Reign of Blood. Marvel must be unsure of the chances of success to launch a Thor ongoing spin-off, but if all the stories are as good as this one, I think they should take the chance!

Remember, this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, so be sure to stop by your local comic book store and stick up on all the great material out there (including this comic)

The Mighty Thor script leak

Budgeted at a whopping $150 Million, the upcoming movie production of Marvel Comics’ The Mighty Thor is expected to be something special. Recently, a script for the Michael Vaughn (Stardust) picture was leaked, giving anxious fans a glimpse into what could be the most ambitious super hero film ever made… aside from Steel of course.

The Marvel Comics series as envisioned by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was a vision of super heroics featuring a Norse god thrust into New York City of the 1960’s. Bound to the human form of Doctor Donald Blake, The Mighty Thor must contend not only with super villains set on besting the god of thunder in combat but also the fact that he will never be allowed to admit his love for his co-worker nurse, Jane Foster. A typical slant of comics at the time for Marvel, the unrequited love angle kept the comic fresh and interesting. But it was not until the back-up feature ‘Tales of Asgard’ that things heated up for the monthly series.

Tales of Asgard was key in fleshing out the lush landscape of Marvel’s Asgard, with Kirby’s beautiful art used to retell stories right from Norse mythology. It was these back-up tales that added a level of grandeur to the Thor monthly comic, making it a whole universe in 23 pages. Thankfully, the makers of the feature film are using this source material to base their film on.

Comics2Film has the skinny:

“Imagine, if you will, that ‘300‘ had a plot. Now imagine a version of ‘Lord of the Rings‘ that was a bit less artsy, with elves that were a little less pretty and a lot more badass. Now add a big freakin’ hammer that can summon thunder and lightning. Get the picture? That’s the movie I saw when I read this script. With any luck, that’s the Thor movie we’ll get.”

Follow this link for all the details…

Mighty Thor Movie News

As reported on ComicBookResources.com:

Screenwriter Mark Protosevich talked to the Chicago Tribune (registration required) about his passion for Asgard. “That project is as much a passion project for me as ‘I Am Legend,’” he said. “I was a comic book kid. Thor was my absolute favorite. There used to be a segment in the Thor comics called ‘Tales of Asgard’ — and it’s much more akin to that. It really is set in that world. It does deal with Earth. The primary focus we’re taking on it is really all about the Norse myths.”

This is good news. With so many directions to take this project in, the fantasy angle is the best one.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 60’s, Thor is the embodiment of the Norse thunder god who shares his existence with Doctor Donald Blake. The series was a typical action tale with the usual Marvel Comics twists of unrequited live. Doctor Blake was deeply in love with his nurse, Jane Foster, but thought of himself as too frail to win her affections. Added to the complication was the fact that Odin the Allfather was furious that his son Thor was wasting his time with a mortal.

The character of the comic book series spent much of his time on Earth transforming between his alter ego and super heroic form, battling menaces from the stars and deep within the planet itself. But the series always came to life when Thor traveled to fabled Asgard, which spawned a series of stories ‘Tales of Asgard’ all depicted in stunning Kirby style.

If the film can capture just a portion of that magic, it should be a great flick.

But, uh… who’s to play ol’ goldilocks?

Recommended:

The Mighty Thor Resurrection
Thor: The Dark Gods
Avengers Disassembled: Thor

The Mighty Thor 1-3

For roughly the past decade, Marvel Editorial has been trying valiantly to turn back the clock for their monthly comic book characters. For example, after Grant Morrison advanced the X-Men in his run on the comic on which humanity discovered it had a scant twenty five years before it became extinct and mutants took over, Marvel undid all that progress by making mutants a minority again and the X-Men now have Sentinels on their front lawn watching their every move. Spider-Man became married and even an Avenger. Now he is on the run from the Mighty Avengers, police and many of his former friends and the life expectancy of his wife is looking dimmer than that of Aunt May.

In the case of The Mighty Thor, it’s more complicated.

Thor was killed off in an incredible storyline by Michael Avon Oeming called Ragnarök in which he destroyed the great weaving machine that kept him in an endless cycle. Not only Thor, but all of the Asgardians were no more. It was a stunning read and sadly missed by many comic readers at the time. I’m hoping that as this new series gains momentum, fans will journey over to the bookshelf to read the collection.

In J.Michael Straczynski’s new series, Thor is compelled to return to reality from the void we left him in because there is work to be done. The weird bit is that it is his human half, the Doctor Donald Blake, who coaxes him back. Through battle and struggle with demons of the netherworld, Thor regains his consciousness and is back. Given the craziness that has transpired in his absence (In Civil War, Tony Stark cloned Thor from a strand of the thunder god’s hair and turned his creation into a killing machine), the return is not a pleasant one.

What JMS and new artist to the character Olivier Copiel (last seen in the less than successful House of M) accomplish is classic Marvel Comics magic. As many readers of my blog may have noticed, I’ve been reading mostly DC Comics lately. As the quality of DC has (in my opinion) wavered of late, I decided to look back at the House of Ideas for ways to squander my hard-earned cash. It’s too bad because there are lots of great comics coming out from Marvel. I’m going to have to find money somewhere to catch up on what I have missed.

Anyone want my Justice League of America 1-13?

The first three issues of the new Thor have sold out. This lead to my missing out and ultimately Marvel collecting them in one collection called The Mighty Thor 1-3. While admittedly the first issue is quite slow, the remaining issues are full of humor, drama and action. They are so good that I thought I was reading a Stan Lee/John Buscema comic. This is what makes Marvel and DC so different. Many readers (myself included) have said that it’s character over icon, and that’s partly true, but it goes deeper than that.

In the second issue of The Mighty Thor, the thunder god recreates Asgard in the middle of a deserted stretch of land in Oklahoma. Despondent, he sits on a lonely throne wondering what to do and is stirred from his thoughts by a police car horn. He descends the grand steps of Asgard to get yelled at by a cop for building on private property. The entire hilarious and absurd scenario is told very well, but mixes the everyday with the fantastic, something that Stan Lee and company did from day one with the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man.

It’s this mixture of the common place Joe and the gods of legend that make Marvel so spectacular. Before the heroes versus heroes and edgy heroes that kill, it was this dichotomy of banal and amazing moments that made Marvel Comics what it is today.

The new look of Thor is quite fetching and fits in with his new ‘angry thunder god’ routine. So far, the story is that Thor is rounding up the other ’sleeping’ Asgardians from the world of men and building a new Asgard. When Iron Man stops by to talk Thor into registering with the government as is law, Thor all but calls a curse down on any United States officer foolish enough to step foot on New Asgard. The outcome of the argument is a very rattled and defeated Tony Stark agreeing to accept that Thor’s home is a sovereign nation on American soil and good thing for him, Thor accepts that and lets the issue rest.I have great hope for this new series. If you have the opportunity, I strongly recommend that you pick up this three-in-one collection. Its a strong indication of where Marvel Comics has been trying to go in the last ten years and if it stays true, it’ll be quite a fun ride.

Recommended reading:
Avengers Disassembled: Thor
Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema HC (Marvel Visionaries)

Funnybook/Cartoon Movie News

VOLTRON

Variety Magazine reports that the multi-part lion-making-giant-robot Voltron is on its way to becoming a movie franchise.

The 80’s cartoon responsible for many a child trying to make a human pyramid in the backyard to fight the toughest kid on the playground, Voltron spawn a sequel series that no one really watched and a toy line that few children owned.

It remains one of the most successful (and cheap) experiments in marketing that I’ve ever seen.

20th Century Fox’s New Regency has begun work on their film entitled ‘Voltron: Defender of the Universe.’

Seeing as how big robots are now all the rage thanks to the $300 million dollar earning Transformers film, be on the look out for more of these films… perhaps Force Five isn’t far behind?

Do I see Keanu Reeves in a Gaiking movie?

PUNISHER 2

Strangely, the working title of the Punisher sequel has been announced as ‘The Punisher: Welcome Back Frank.’ I say that it’s strange because the first film largely adapted the storyline in full… except for punching out a polar bear (seen above).

Shooting begins in Montreal late September.

The Mighty Thor
Matthew Vaughn, director of the just released Neil Gaiman fantasy film, Stardust, is working on the hammer wielding Goldilocks of the Avengers, The Mighty Thor. Vaughn also worked on ‘Layer Cake’ which many say is responsible for vaulting star Daniel Craig into the Aston Martin seat of the James Bond franchise.

Mark Protosevich (”I Am Legend”) is working on the script.

Suggested reading:

Voltron - Defender of the Universe - Collection One
Voltron - Defender of the Universe - Collection Two
Voltron Volume 1: Revelations (Voltron: Defender of the Universe)
Punisher MAX Vol. 1: In the Beginning
The Punisher Vol. 1: Welcome Back, Frank
Punisher: Born
The Punisher (Extended Cut)
The Mighty Thor: Loki HC
Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Volume 3
Thor: Resurrection

Thor Rocks Out

It’s great to see all the various artists’ versions of Thor in different poses, especially John Buscema’s tall and proud Thor calmly strumming.

Can you name all the different Thors??

But what really blows my mind is that it took this long for technology to catch up to the geniuses that created the 60’s Marvel Comics Thor cartoon.

It was THAT far in advance of its time.