With the release of Thor: Ragnarok on November 4th, I figured now would be a good time to try out a new idea. Since plenty of people really love the superhero movie genre, but do not really read the comics, I decided to start doing "Top 10" lists for the superheros that have a movie either being released or having just been released. Thor just came out, so he seems like this is the best place to start.
For this first list I decided to keep it simple: the Top 10 Thor Stories. Some of these are single issues, some are full story arcs, some are mini series, and there is even a graphic novel on the list. The only requirement is that a character named Thor is a central character to the plot. There are five main criteria I am using for this list: writing, art, creativity, impact, and legacy. I'll explain these criteria more as we delve into the list, so let me begin with number 10.
10. Thor Croaks (Thor Vol 1, 364)
This one-shot (single issue story) is just a solid, funny comic that is one of the more light-hearted stories in Walt Simonson's run on The Mighty Thor. Simonson is one of the quintessential writers in the history of the Thor character. While I could have made this list entirely our of stories he wrote, I am just going to include a few that suit the criteria. Thor Croaks has some of the more clever writing from Simonson's run and it shows even on the cover.
The art in this book is just good. Nothing spectacular, but solid work from Simonson with Becton on colors. The creativity is the biggest reason this comic makes the list. The Mighty Thor, the Prince of Asgard, is a frog. How do you pitch this to someone and get the go ahead to write the story? Simonson is great, so he had the creative ability to make it work. Impact, however, is where this comic contributes the least.
The Thor Frog saga felt like an afterthought when released. Falling between the "Secret Wars II" and "Mutant Massacre" events, 1986 was a busy year for Marvel Comics, this book lost some of its immediate impact because of it. While not generating much impact, this book actually has a decent legacy. Thor Frog is a character that led to the creation of Throg, which is essentially the same.
Throg is a human who was turned into a frog, fought alongside Thor, lifted a piece of Thor's hammer, and became Throg (comics are weird sometimes), but he exists because of Thor Frog. Throg has been in comics as recent as 2016, so that's quite the legacy.
Writing: 7/10
Art: 5/10
Creativity: 9/10
Impact: 3/10
Legacy: 7/10
Total: 31/50
9. Blood and Thunder (The Mighty Thor #468-#471 & others)
This story arc is so hard to get a consensus judgement on that I feel like some Thor comic fans place this as one of the best stories and others wouldn't have it in their top 20. Given the criteria that I set forth at the beginning of this list, I can justify its placement at 9. The writing in this story arc is good, but forgettable. Jim Starlin and Ron Marz are great writers, but something that occurs often with big story arcs is slightly disjointed writing because of multiple "cooks in the kitchen" getting in each others way. It can happen with writers in these situations, but it is almost guaranteed to happen with artists. This series has some great art, but it is held back by differing styles and the occasional bad panel. Just like with "Thor Croaks," this arc benefits from its creativity. A story about Thor running through Marvel Cosmic's heaviest hitters is not the biggest stretch for the character at the time, but the concept of "Warrior's Madness" was a great way to make it believable. Warrior's Madness became an easy way to give Thor a berserk mode similar to Hulk. The immediate impact of this story stems from the dynamic change between Thor, Odin, and Loki. Without spoiling to much, Thor and Odin become closer, and Loki wants revenge. The legacy of this arc is mostly the Warrior's Madness. A way to easily make Thor more powerful, the Warrior's Madness appears pretty much anytime Thor has to taken on someone strong than him. I stated earlier that the Warrior's Madness was akin to the Hulk, and that includes the drawback of loss of control and logic.
Writing: 7/10
Art: 6/10
Creativity: 7/10
Impact: 5/10
Legacy: 7/10
Total: 32/50
Now that I have used the first two spots on this list to explain my logic on the criteria, I am going to start just using the ratings. At some point I want to go more in-depth with these comics, but for the sake of having the list be a bearable length, I think the ratings will suffice.
8. Marvel's Siege (Siege #1-4 & others)
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Writing: 5/10
Art: 7/10
Creativity: 6/10
Impact: 8/10
Legacy: 7/10
Total: 33/50
7. The Unworthy Thor (The Unworthy Thor #1-#5)
Writing: 7/10
Art: 7/10
Creativity: 8/10
Impact: 9/10
Legacy: 3/10
Total: 34/50
6. Thor Vol. 4 (Thor Vol. 4, #1-#8)
Writing: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Creativity: 9/10
Impact: 9/10
Legacy: 3/10
Total: 36/50
5. To Wake the Mangog (Thor Vol 1, #154-#157)
Writing: 7/10
Art: 5/10
Creativity: 9/10
Impact: 9/10
Legacy: 8/10
Total: 38/50
4. Journey into Mystery #83 (Thor's Debut)
Writing: 7/10
Art: 5/10
Creativity: 8/10
Impact: 10/10
Legacy: 10/10
Total: 40/50
3. Loki (Graphic Novel)
Writing: 10/10
Art: 9/10
Creativity: 9/10
Impact: 9/10
Legacy: 6/10
Total: 43/50
2. The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill (Thor Vol 1, #337-#340)
Writing: 9/10
Art: 7/10
Creativity: 10/10
Impact: 9/10
Legacy: 10/10
Total: 44/50
1. Thor Disassembled (Thor Vol 2, #80-85, aka Ragnarok)
Writing: 9/10
Art: 7/10
Creativity: 10/10
Impact: 10/10
Legacy: 10/10
Total: 46/50
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