Comic Info
Comic Name: Thor (Volume 2)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Michael Avon Oeming/Daniel Berman
Artist: Andrea DeVito
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2004
Thor (2) #80
Reprints Thor (2) #80-85 (August 2004-December 2004). Ragnarok is coming and the Norse gods will fall. The Ragnarok is both a death and rebirth, and it is unstoppable. With the end, Thor and his people will start again…caught in an endless loop. Thor doesn’t intend to let that happen. If the end is coming, he intends to let it be the real end. Ragnarok cannot be stopped, but the circle can be broken!
Written by Michael Avon Oeming with Daniel Berman, Avengers Disassembled: Thor (sometimes titled Thor: Ragnarok) is part of the Avengers Disassembled storyline and represents the end of the Thor relaunch series. Following Thor: Gods and Men, it features art by Andrea DeVito and was also reprinted as part of Thor: Heroes Return Omnibus—Volume 2.
Thor: Ragnarok was a big deal. It represented not only the end of Thor storyline started by Dan Jurgens, but also the real end of Thor. It was big, epic, and it dove deep into Norse mythology. Avengers Disassembled: Thor is a fun entry in one of Thor’s best runs.
Thor (2) #83
Oeming really makes the story feel epic. Dan Jurgens took Thor in a completely different direction, but the Oeming story does mesh well with his run on the comic. With Asgard above NYC and Thor as the ruling god of his people, it was completely new. Writers often tried to humanize Thor and this volume really worked to make Thor a deity along with his people. It was kind of exciting.
With the turn of direction in the storytelling, it became an almost What If? title. This was a bit unfortunate in that it didn’t mesh well with other Marvel titles. Asgard sometimes hung over Manhattan and other times wasn’t mentioned. The idea of a city of gods floating over the city seems like it would affect almost everyone, and it seems like it should have been more of an event series instead of just events happening in Thor. The series did not necessarily fit into the whole Avengers Disassembled storyline which was more focused on the Scarlet Witch’s mental breakdown, but it was a natural progression for the series.
Avengers Disassembled: Thor continues to stand out as one of Thor’s better runs. It also feels like a real ending. The story is all about breaking the cycle, and resurrecting Thor feels like it downplays the significance of this comic’s storyline…which is a real shame. The character is too popular and too important to stay dead however. A clone Thor played an important role in Civil War and the real Thor was resurrected in 2007 by J. Michael Straczynski.
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