Thor by J. Michael Straczynski—Volume 3

Comic Info

Thor (3) #601

Reprints Thor (3) #601-603 and Thor Giant-Size Finale #1 (June 2009-January 2010). Thor finds himself exiled, Mjolnir broken, and with new clues to the location of Sif. With Loki trying to manipulate Balder into a deal with Dr. Doom, the Asgardians could find themselves leaving Oklahoma for Latveria. Thor might have to take a risky chance if he hopes to save Sif, and the love of between the human Bill and the Asgardian Kelda could turn deadly.

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Thor by J. Michael Straczynski—Volume 3 is a Marvel Comics collection. Following Thor by J. Michael Straczynski—Volume 2, the volume wraps up Straczynski’s run and features art by Mark Djurdievic. The issues in the volume were also collected as part of the Thor by J. Michael Straczynski Omnibus.

J. Michael Straczynski is really overrated in my opinion. While Thor is always a notoriously difficult character to write. I’ve always thought Thor’s supporting cast was one of his strengths, and I do commend Straczynski for recognizing that.

The biggest problem I have with the run is the basic concept. I don’t like the Asgard in Oklahoma storyline nor am I interested in the relationship between the people in Oklahoma with the Asgardians. To really buy into this storyline, you need to accept this as an interesting story, and I cannot. A big aspect of the previous run on Thor was breaking the cycle of Ragnarok, but it seems that they are all just repeating everything anyway (including the convenient injury to Don Blake’s leg which always plagued him in the original series).

Thor Giant-Size Finale #1

The other aspect of this collection is that is problematic is that it is Straczynski’s final storyline. The story just kind of ends. Bill (who as I mentioned above, I don’t particularly care about) died but the ending of the book feels more like a whimper instead of a bang. Straczynski was leaving Marvel for DC, and I guess his plans for Thor were part of the casualty.

I do like Mark Djurdjevic’s art for the series. I think there needs to be a real weightiness to the characters since they are gods and even characters like Doom are bigger than life. It isn’t particularly revolutionary comic book art, but it fits the story and the text.

Thor by J. Michael Straczynski—Volume 3 is an ending…I guess. It feels very unfulfilling and that is how I felt about his whole run in general. A lot of the story aspects were used for the first Thor film (which I wasn’t a big fan of as well). Kieron Gillen was left picking up the pieces after this and Thor J. Michael Straczynski—Volume 3 was followed by Thor: Latverian Prometheus.

Related Links:

Thor by J. Michael Straczynski—Volume 1

Thor by J. Michael Straczynski—Volume 2