Thor: Tales of Asgard

Thor: Tales of Asgard by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby #1-6

by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (Co-author/Artist)

Collects
* Thor: #126-145
* Journey Into Mystery #97-125

"The legend has come true By the will of the gods, I am alive I am invincible I am - THOR " And so began the very first epic tale of Marvel's most revered hero, the mighty Thor, whose legend would grow alongside the success of Marvel comics, making him the most exciting super hero of all time Never has Thor been more sensational than during these early tales, crafted by Marvel's greatest, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Re-live classic Norse mythology in the mighty Marvel manner as well as Stan and Jack's stories of the Norse Gods and Thor before he came to Earth as Don Blake. Witness as these masters breathe life into the thunder god and some of Marvel's most enduring characters: Helmdall, Balder, Loki, Odin, and Hela. Read these stories as never before with all-new, modern coloring.

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

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 7, 2010

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Released to coincide with the cinematic debut of Marvel’s God of Thunder in a big budget summer vehicle by director Kenneth Branagh, this trade paperback collects the back-up strips from the original Thor monthly comic book. This is well produced book, featuring modern computer colors on Jack Kirby’s dynamic artwork. The digital separations and expanded palette brought out the best in Kirby’s work. I would not be averse to Marvel recoloring most of its classic archives.

These tales may be back-ups, but they enriched and embellished further Thor’s modern Marvel mythology. Lee and Kirby repurposed classic stories to build the world of Asgard and its inhabitants. Kirby’s designs gave the Asgardians a modern aesthetic that he will revisit when he gives his own take on the further stories of space gods in his own New Gods and the Eternals.

[Gustavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

La mayor parte de los comics de esta época que he leído no han envejecido muy bien. Siendo historias más cortas, el ritmo nunca parece bajar y son un poco agobiantes, como si alguien hablara gritando todo el tiempo. Estas historias, a pesar de que son muy muy cortas, mantienen un tono mucho más agradable de leer (más que nada las del principio que son más autoconclusivas).

En cuanto al arte, el dibujo de Kirby es francamente excelente incluso para estándares actuales, los personajes, los fondos, los trajes, es todo muy genial. En general estoy en contra del recoloreado de ciertas obras, pero en este caso está tan bien hecho que realmente complementa el dibujo y hace que se vea super actual.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in 793-1066AD

Stories of Thor and Loki in the early days that some are interesting and fun and some are ok to mediocre to read, some are adaptations of tales from mythology and legends and some are just Stan Lee's and Kirby's creations.

I wouldn't say recommended unless you're a huge fan of Thor, other than that, Kirby's art is always a sight for sore eyes, but again, it was just ok.

“Your anger reveals your envy brother.” - Loki

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

COOL !

[Arthur Dalla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review 2/135 - Thor: Contos de Asgard

A Graphic é um compilado de histórias curtas que eram lançadas juntamente com outras edições no passado, contando adaptações de lendas nórdicas, dentro da mitologia da Marvel.

Temos novamente Stan Lee ao lado de Jack Kirby, construindo o universo Marvel. Enquanto que Thor tinha uma revista própria que narrava suas aventuras na época, essas edições de até 4 páginas buscavam tomar histórias conhecidas da mitologia nórdica e remasterizá-las dentro do universo da Marvel. Temos o surgimento dos primeiros humanos, Odin derrotando o rei dos gigantes de gelo, a história das maçãs de ouro (que futuramente se tornou o clássico Chapeuzinho Vermelho), narradas em poucas páginas, com roteiros bem elaborados e divertidos, além de uma arte maravilhosa.

Temos também a infância de Thor e Loki, que agem de forma bem repetitiva (assim como nas lendas antigas), para demonstrar o contínuo conflito entre o filho de Odin e seu meio irmão, o que até hoje é utilizado pela Marvel. A relação entre os personagens das antigas lendas com as suas contrapartes da marvel ocorre de modo bem coerente, sendo difícil identificar onde o mito antigo acaba e onde a história começa.

A leitura se torna depois de certo tempo cansativa devido a repetição de modelos parecidos de histórias que antes eram lançadas de tempos em tempos, porém foram lidas de forma contínua nesse encadernado. Porém, a repetição não faz com que se perca tanto na experiência de ler histórias que afetaram a humanidade a milhares de anos atrás e que são novamente representadas se forma tão bela.

Em uma época onde não haviam easter-eggs, é possível perceber até certo descompromisso em estabelecer longos elementos a serem reutilizados no futuro, já que era uma época onde a única preocupação era estabelecer personagens novos e divertir leitores. Tal descompromisso, ao mesmo tempo que pode desagradar aqueles que buscam uma conexão grandiosa entre as histórias, acaba também por trazer certa leveza, permitindo que a narrativa flua com o objetivo único de contar uma história, o que foi até surpreendentemente positivo na leitura da edição, apesar de depois de certo tempo cansativo.

Falando um pouco sobre a arte, a edição passou por um processo de recolorização digital, com a afirmação que as técnicas antigas de pintura eram bem limitadas. Apesar do conflito que esse tipo de coisa pode gerar quanto a permanência de elementos que levam a obra a manter sua originalidade, as novas cores agradaram a mim, favorecendo a leitura.

Concluindo, temos mais uma edição divertida de se ler. Apesar dos altos e baixos causados por história de certa forma semelhantes, o quadrinho impressiona pela forma que narra história do passado da humanidade, com um curtos roteiros bem construídos e com uma arte maravilhosa.

[Eddie B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the first half in "Thor Omnibus Vol. 1" and I would have thought that it was much better than the second half (in which the great art of Jack Kirby was destroyed by the inking of Vince Colletta) that gradually started to drift from the self-contained retelling of classic norse mythology to create some more "original" episodic tales borrowed more from "Sword & Sorcery" and "Arabian Nights". I would have thought so, but in that second half I've read those eight pages from the tale of Harokin The Barbarian (Thor #132 & #133) which I will forever consider among the best I have ever read in a comic book. And I bet young Mike Mignola must have really liked this Tale of Asgard.

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le Storie di Asgard, apparse in appendice a Journey Into Mystery e Thor, vengono qui intelligentemente raccolte in un unico volume.
Siamo, per il grosso delle storie, al fantasy puro, e nelle prime c'è la versione Marvel dei miti cosmogonici norreni.
Veramente una bella lettura, totalmente distaccata dalla continuity Marvel, ottimamente disegnata da Jack Kirby e per lo più chinata da Vince Coletta.
Diciamo che non è un capolavoro, ma si lascia leggere bene e l'alternanza tra momenti comici (grazie di esistere, o voluminoso Volstagg) e momenti eroico-tragici, con attimi di pura epica, è ben equilibrata.
4 stelle.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirby's art and imaginative concepts stand above Stan Lee's pretentious lexicon which most of times cause the reading of these stories to become very boring because of unfit and obvious flourishes which aim to convince everybody that uncle Stan is a genius story teller rather than adding a narration.

So, please, try to read these stories only concentrating on the art and discard the text, you will not miss anything because Kirby's genius is present in every frame- Marvel has increased the beauty of the colorization using computer reconstruction which at the end makes it more remarkable - in his successful attempt to bring Norse mythology to the comics medium.

Jack Kirby is 5 stars. He was the man.
Edit: I have finally read Kirby's prose - not quite good so, Kirby's art is 5 stars, his text just ok.

Edit: It was kind of naive of my part to call the King's prose as not so good, I will keep it here as a proof of my lack of judgment.

Edit: I feel I am more stupid than ever, after reading this http://www.tcj.com/jack-kirby-intervi... I realize Stan has never written anything so I will have to start evaluating the partnership Stan Lee/Jack Kirby as a Jack Kirby thing. One thing is for sure when the King was quoted as writer and artist the text is more fluid.

Quote from that interview:

GROTH: You turned out monster stories for two or three years I think. Then the first comic that rejuvenated superheroes that you did was The Fantastic four. Can you explain how that came about?

KIRBY: I had to do something different. The monster stories have their limitations — you can just do so many of them. And then it becomes a monster book month after month, so there had to be a switch because the times weren’t exactly conducive to good sales. So I felt the idea was to come up with new stuff all the time — in other words there had to be a blitz. And I came up with this blitz. I came up with The Fantastic Four, I came up with Thor (I knew the Thor legends very well), and the Hulk, the X-Men, and The Avengers. I revived what I could and came up with what I could. I tried to blitz the stands with new stuff. The new stuff seemed to gain momentum.
:
:
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GROTH: On all the monster stories it says “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” What did he do to warrant his name being on them?

KIRBY: Nothing! OK?

GROTH: Did he dialogue them?

KIRBY: No, I dialogued them. If Stan Lee ever got a thing dialogued, he would get it from someone working in the office. I would write out the whole story on the back of every page. I would write the dialogue on the back or a description of what was going on. Then Stan Lee would hand them to some guy and he would write in the dialogue. In this way Stan Lee made more pay than he did as an editor. This is the way Stan Lee became the writer. Besides collecting the editor’s pay, he collected writer’s pay. I’m not saying Stan Lee had a bad business head on. I think he took advantage of whoever was working for him.

GROTH: But he was essentially serving in a capacity as an editorial liaison between you and the publisher?

KIRBY: Yes, he wasn’t exactly an editor, or anything like that. Even as a young boy, he’d be hopping around — I think he had a flute, and he was playing on his flute.

GROTH: The Pied Piper.

KIRBY: Yeah. He’d come up and annoy me, and I told Joe to throw him out.

GROTH: Stan wrote, “Jack and I were having a ball turning out monster stories.’’ Were you having a ball. Jack?

KIRBY: Stan Lee was having the ball.

ROZ KIRBY: I remember Jack would call him up and say it’s going to be this kind of story or that kind of story and just send him the story. And he’d write in everything on the side.

KIRBY: Remember this: Stan Lee was an editor. He worked from nine to five doing business for Martin Goodman. In other words he didn’t do any writing in the office. He did Martin Goodman’s business. That was his function. There were people coming up to the office to talk all the time. They weren’t always artists, they were business people. Stan Lee was the first man they would see and Stan Lee would see if he could get them in to see Martin Goodman. That was Stan Lee’s function.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pocos meses después de la primera aparición de Thor en el nº 83 de Journey into mistery, la editorial Marvel se vió en una disyuntiva. Por un lado interesaba que un nuevo personaje con gran tirón como Thor sirviera para ayudar a establecer el incipiente universo que estaban creando, por lo que lo adecuado sería situar sus aventuras en él, con personajes y antagonistas propios del universo Marvel, pero por otro lado existía la intención de que Thor sirviera para introducir temas mitológicos en los cómics que publicaba la editorial.

Relatos de Asgard vino a solucionar el problema, se trata de un conjunto de historias conclusivas de 5 páginas que sirvieron como complemento a los comics de Thor. En este conjunto de relatos nos encontramos con historias como el génesis de los dioses nórdicos, la profecía del Ragnarok, historias de origen de Thor, Odin, Balder, Loki... así como variadas aventuras de Thor con personajes y escenarios propios de Asgard, encontrándonos con las primeras apariciones de personajes y antagonistas que luego serían importantes como Lady Sif, Hogun, Fandrall, Volstagg, Surtur, Fafnir... Estas historias de complemento sirvieron para establecer casi todo el trasfondo de la mitología nórdica en el universo Marvel.

En estos relatos nos encontraremos con un Jack Kirby a sus anchas, su estilo se presta mucho al tono épico y legendario necesario en una publicación como esta. La distribución de viñetas, muy clásica y formal (la primera página de cada relato es una ilustración a página completa, mientras que las demás páginas están divididas en cuatro viñetas de igual tamaño, ocasionalmente se unen las dos viñetas de arriba o las dos de abajo para dar lugar a una viñeta de media página) permiten ilustraciones de gran tamaño muy adecuadas para reflejar con gran espectacularidad y detalle las escenas. Por otro lado los diálogos y textos de apoyo usan un lenguaje muy grandilocuente y barroco, muy apropiado para historias mitológicas.

Adecuado sobretodo para fans de Thor, pero le puede gustar también a cualquiera que se quiera acercar al personaje sin necesidad de preocuparse por la continuidad de marvel.

[Phillip Berrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly good read.

A collection of short 5-page stories about Thor's younger years while he was still in Asgard. It also investigates some of the other Asgardian characters such as Loki, Heimdall, Baldur and the Warriors Three (i.e. Voltagg, Fandral & Hogun).

Whether or not Marvel actually used these stories as strict canon, I am not sure, but the idea was brilliant; establish the mythology of the character so it can be used in the main book.

To me the best part of this collection was the last storyline that explains why Hogun is called 'Hogun the Grim'. What a mashup this is. It is influenced by mythologies from the Baltic through to the Persian Gulf and beyond and where I thought I should be disapproving, I actually found myself enjoying the story for what it was.

A little rough and ready, but lots of fun.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

AND JACK KIRBY you stupid GoodReads whothef***ever didn't give him credit! It's no secret that Thor and the Tales of Asgard stories were one of Kirby's favorites. It shows with this collection of back up stories from Journey Into Mystery and Thor. This is one of those that I think Stan of course helped with dialogue but the bulk of this from art and plots just drips of Kirby. He would revisit some of these concepts at DC with his New Gods material. That is one reason why I think this is all or mostly Jack. The plots are all over the place and then it finds a central narrative and the hyperbolic dialogue is awesome and what Stan did so well. I didn't think I would like the recolor job but it really serves Kirby's art very well. It doesn't get 5 stars because the plots of some of these short but brilliant stories are indeed all over the place.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee/Kirby Thor comics are my favorite Marvel Comics ever. They really are. This stuff is so grand and sweeping, yet so warm and fun (Volstag has to be the most fun Marvel character to write). Old tales of Asgard to start things off, but Lee and Kirby quickly settle into telling big, multi-part mythological epics (in five-page chunks!) of Thor and, later, the Warriors Three on epic quests for the salvation of the kingdom. Great, big, fun stuff. The new computer coloring is a little glaring at times, but the stories and line art hold up beautifully. A terrific book.

[Andy Dainty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was pretty disappointed with this book; admittedly the poor start was due to the constraints of mini stories. I did enjoy the book a lot more when a story arc was run over several issues however there were still niggling irritations in the narration, the most annoying being that surely the Asgardians would not repeatedly refer to themselves as Argonauts since the Argo was a Greek ship!

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo mejor que podés hacerle a un entretenido y variopinto guion de Stan Lee es ponerle el excelente dibujo con impresionantes diseños de Jack Kirby. Larga vida al Rey.

[Noel Manhattan · Rating 5 out of 5]

La mejor introducción para leer los cómics de THOR. Me he quedado realmente impresionado por el nuevo color digital y por la calidad de la edición de Panini Cómics España.

[Bree Hatfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this after I finished Thor Masterworks 1, which the first few issues of this series has in it. The first three masterworks volumes are included on Kindle Unlimited so I read all of the issues in those; it doesn’t equate to the entirety of the run, but I figured it was close enough. I also didn’t read the last half or so of the third volume because I simply couldn’t do it anymore. I knew going into this that it wouldn’t be accurate, but it was so much worse than inaccurate, it was egregiously awful.

Firstly, the whole good and evil thing was really annoying. I know that’s a huge trope for comic books of the time, but it simply does not work for Norse myths. If you’re going to write about these myths, you need to have knowledge about their culture, which obviously isn’t the case here.

There is so much wrong when it comes to Loki and his backstory as portrayed here. Firstly, his mother, Laufey, is an evil male warlord? Why? What was the point? They jump through so many nonsensical hoops to make Loki evil and none of them make any sense. Secondly, equating his kingly ancestry to righteousness is such an icky aspect of Norse mythology. If you’re going to idolize any aspect of their values, it should not be this one. Thirdly, the excuse they use for Loki’s evil nature is simply that he was evil from birth… That’s extremely christianized and problematic even beyond the christianization. I know this is the 60s, but this was written by the same man who wrote Spider-Man. Stan Lee knows how to do nuance, he just disregards it for this series.

Sometimes the tales are advertised as being representational of the translated myth, and I really wish they wouldn’t do that. It’s not that big of a deal, but every time they say that it’s a straight up lie. And that’s not an exaggeration. The whole of this series is VERY loosely connected to Norse mythology, so there’s no reason to pretend to ground it in the proper translation.

So, yeah. Don’t read this. The only reason it has more than 0 stars is because of Jack Kirby’s art which isn’t even present if you buy the collected edition.

[Markus Risser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some time after the Mighty Thor debuted in the Marvel Universe as the norse thundergod banished to Earth Stan Lee and Jack Kirby felt it would be a neat idea to explore his backstory, making Thor more than a "ordinary" superhero, embracing his mythological background. And so Kirby had a chance to create this outlandish world of Asgard and characters like Odin, Loki (who had appeared in Thor comics before), Baldur, Sif and all the other gods of the nordic pantheon.
"Tales of Asgard"'s biggest flaw is the 5-page format that makes it hard to create a compelling story within this limited space and so the early stories, drawing directly from the Edda and starting with the creation of the Universe, the rise of the Asgardians and Odin's rule feel rushed and hectic, as if you only get to see every third panel and have your mind fill the gaps. The second "cycle" develops the history of antagonism between Thor and Loki up to Ragnarok. The series is starting to find its groove here, telling stories over several issues and therefore finally being able to get more epic in scope. The third cycle introduces new characters with Hogun, Fandral and fan favorite "voluminous" Volstagg and setting them on epic quests (these stories have been released in Germany during the Condor days).
Kirby's superior artwork (which clearly sets the path to his New Gods/Fourth World universe for DC) is nothing short of breathtaking and Lee's Shakespearean dialoge fits the subject matter well (and luckily has been preserved in German translation).
The early parts of this collection are a bit tough to handle but once Lee and Kirby stop simply retelling the old legends and start to build their own, it's becoming a fun read, and even if you don't care for the stories too much you simply have to admire the artwork.

[Julian]

A compilation of very short backup stories from the early-ish Thor era, drawn by Jack, written by Stan. The early going is mostly short retelling of Norse mythos, the later ones introduce the Warriors Three and start in on some bizarre territory like journeys to Zanadu-- Kirby's imagination was clearly about to go off the rails. I liked the later stuff better as it blossomed into some continuing stories that fleshed out Hogun, Fandral and even Volstagg, whom no one writes as good as Stan. Overall, a must for a Thor and/or Kirby enthusiast and good fun for anyone who enjoys ye olde Marvel of the Silver Age.

[Beth Huddleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by the beginning of this graphic novel. It seemed as if the beginning was researched from the ancient Norse myths. The end was much more fantasy based for the comic book world of Thor, but I enjoyed the characters.

[James Batchelor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series/collection starts well with origin stories and Norse legends. But while it builds up to an intriguing story about Ragnarok, this ends abruptly and is left unresolved. The book never grips you the same way after and is a slog to finish

[blank · Rating 4 out of 5]

"By the beard of Odin, what have I stumbled onto?!!"

The old weirdo guy who stumbled upon the aliens sums up my feelings toward Thor.

[Luiz Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

5,0

QUADRINHOS: http://www.planocritico.com/category/...

[Juraj Búry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prekvapivo nuda. Tento formát Thorovi nesedí a nezachraňuje to ani predstavivosť dua Lee/Kirby. Navyše, vynovená kresba tomu tiež nepomáha.

[Christopher Hatch · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was a slog to read.

[Guido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Las inapelabres Historias de Asgard en la genial CDdNGM.

[Pablo]

Una pequeña delicia, especialmente viendo cómo establecen las mitologías. Engelhart las recompone aún mejor (¡qué gran escritor!)

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten times better than the actual Thor comics of the era (by the same writer and the same artist mind you).

[André Ferraz]

1Salvat.clássico2

[Kapitol Tank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recopila muchos capítulos cortos de Tales of Asgard. Debería revisar bien cuántas.

[Jon Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the early Marvel comics can often be a painful experience – whilst they fizz with an almost amphetamine energy they’ve aged horribly badly, an inevitability in an era of swift developments in terms of the comic medium and changing social attitudes. They’re often staid in their structure and a different world in terms of their treatment of women and different ethnicities. None of which is particularly surprising when you consider the volume of work they were churning out each month.

Above all though what their stories tend to lack is scale, geographically and in terms of the story they tell. In this world there’s no time to reflect on what’s happened, to give it proper weight. Instead the heroes are eternally rushing off to foil the next villain’s plan. You start wondering how the hell they don’t collapse of exhaustion at times. But the lack of depth can be almost painful at times, particularly with the status quo at the end of each story essentially unchanged. It wouldn’t be until Chris Claremont’s run on the X-Men that long term character development and self-mythologizing would become popular.

Tales of Asgard is a slight exception to that general rule. Early Thor tales, for all they deal with gods and aliens, are standard Marvel fare and lack grandeur. The strips collected here were originally backups to the main Thor stories but, in presenting some backstory, they provide some weight to the main strip. They start as epic tales in a didactic Boy’s Own style, great deeds of Odin and mini biographies of Thor. Over fifty or so issues it develops beyond that format, embracing ongoing storylines. Often these are clearly improvised, stories finishing on what seems like an author’s whim to be replaced by an idea they’re more interested in. It gets genuinely fun when Lee and Kirby start bringing in thinly disguised characters from other mythologies – the series is often at its best when mixing Norse mythology with 1001 Nights and Christian demons. The other real spark is the introduction of Volstagg as comic relief, something that undermines the po-facedness of other contemporary Marvel books. There’s a sublime Kirby cliffhanger which allies Volstagg comedy to approaching menace, the definite high point of these books.

These aren’t essential reading in their own right, but they’re the first fumblings of the company toward something greater, towards a sense of scale beyond the next month. And it’s always good to be reminded of how good Jack Kirby was, his clean lined art matched by some finely economic storytelling. Even with the repetitive nature of battles and talk of honour and nobility these stories don’t wear down the reader as much as the contemporary superhero strips tend to. Not essential, but fine curios in their own right.