REVIEW: Marvel Vault of Heroes: Thor (Book One)

Synopsis:

This is a collection of seven stories dealing with the god of thunder. This issue begins with a tale called lip service, Thor is in action stopping a few criminals and rescuing Jane Foster on the way. Jane lets him know that she’ll tell of his exploits to Dr. Donald Blake. Thor then turns back to Donald Blake with a bemused look on his face, little does Jane know that Donald Blake is the Mighty Thor! I am so in love with the IDW/Marvel tales as they bring me back to the basics of what I grew up on. They even get some of the people who worked on the title’s back in the day like Louise Simonson. All the elements of a good classic Thor story are evident here, the conniving Loki trying to manipulate Odin into doubting his son, the relationship between Jane and Dr. Blake, and a vile villain hell-bent on creating evil for his own personal gain. Loki interferes only to have his plan backfire on him! This is classic stuff, simply told and eager to be discovered. Other stories include Dr. Blake examining a young child only to have that examination interfered with by a frost giant! He has no choice, of course, but to become his alter-ego. We also see Thor and Loki as children in fabled Asgard. Then it’s a brief retelling of the Donald Blake version of Thor’s origin. We also get appearances from other heroes like Nova and the Avengers, Galactus taking out an ad in a classified looking for a new herald to give the title a little humor and a modern sensibility. The Executioner shows up, Thor recalls taking on some pirates many years ago. This is an awesome title and I’m enjoying it immensely! Great stuff includes Thor’s defense of a village against a pirate ship and how Valkyrie convinces Nova to join her and Thor on their noble quest.

Many artists contribute to this collection and I enjoy all of their takes on the Asgardian and his crew but I think my favorite has to be Ronin Cliquet who worked on issues three and four respectively. His work is less cartoony and gives me the classic Marvel feel I think these titles need. His battle in ancient times against the pirate ship gives a Conan-esque feel to the proceedings that I really enjoy. Though I must say that I enjoyed each artist’s contribution and all are worthy to render the god of thunder. Highlights include the first splash with Thor and the splash with Thor taking on the demon.

In Conclusion:

Keep these IDW mash-ups happening! These stories bring me back to my childhood. I’m hoping to see some Marvel characters team up with IDW titles, who wouldn’t want the Avengers to meet the Ghostbusters or Peter Parker, Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy to meet Marty McFly? Then we could get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to team up with Peter Porker Spider-ham or even the Impossible Man. The possibilities are endless! (****1/2 (9.5)

SCORE: 4.5/5

Writer – Louise Simonson, Paul Tobin, Todd Dezago, Joe Caramagna
Art – Rodney Buscemi, Jon Burman, Jeremy Freeman, Ronan Cliquet, Amilton Santos, Ron Lim, Scott Koblish, Kevin Sharpe, Terry Pallot
Colors – Guru EFX, Sotocolor, Digital Rainbow, Chris Sotomayer
Letters – Dave Sharpe
Publisher – Marvel/IDW

Author Profile

Kevin Given

Kevin Given has studied with â€œ Longridge Writers Group â€ and â€œ Writerâ€™s Boot Camp â€ a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the â€œ Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter â€ franchise which includes novels and comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of â€œ Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter â€ # 1 and â€œ Files of Karl Vincent â€ # 1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series â€œ Dracula Rising â€ (working title) and developing â€œ Foul Blood â€ into comic book form. Don't forget to check out the YouTube show " Comics: Let's Talk " hosted by Kevin Given