The Mighty Thor is easily one of Marvel’s most popular characters and his comics have been published and republished in many different collections. The Marvel Masterworks lineup includes some insight from Stan Lee which Marvel fans will be especially happy to see. The quality level in which the comics were printed is pretty good and they did a good job choosing the cover for the collection. A very nice piece of art!

The collection starts out with a bang as the Absorbing Man attacks Thor with his signature wrecking ball. His abilities are pretty potent and by making contact with Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, The Absorbing Man’s power skyrockets and he becomes virtually indestructible. His abilities are definitely risky though and if he were to touch glass before getting hit, it would be the end. The battle between Thor and The Absorbing Man is pretty good and it’s closer than you may have figured. Of course just having strength is not enough to win a battle against the Prince of Asgard!

This comic was one of my favorites from the collection. It’s always nice to see an opponent who can actually give Thor a good fight, since his battles are always epic. Unlike the modern comics, Thor shows off his super speed a lot in the comic and uses his combat experience to aid him in the battle. It was definitely a well written battle/comic.

Later on, Loki brings the Absorbing Man to Asgard where he wrecks havok upon the realm. Unfortunately, without Thor, the Asgardians go down pretty quickly. Finally the only opponent left to defy the Absorbing Man is the legendary Odin! Thor heads to Asgard, but will he make it in time to save Odin!?

Well, this comic was also pretty good. We got to have a pretty high stakes battle between Odin and the Absorbing Man. Some fans may be skeptical as to how the Absorbing Man could give Odin any sort of fight. (Much less an evenly matched one) The comic has a good explanation for this at the end so it was believable.

In the next part of the comic, which lasted the rest of the collection, Hercules comes down the Earth and starts causing some trouble. Thor had finally wrapped up all of the various problems and obstacles that had kept him from Earth, so he wasn’t exactly thrilled to see Hercules already there. Jane Foster isn’t particularly welcoming about the whole thing, but before she can talk things out with Thor, Hercules slams into him from behind with a solid hit. Thor has been ignoring him and he didn’t like that. Thor is never a fighter to stay on the ground and he immediately retaliates.

Hercules and Thor is pretty similar to the Thing and Hulk rivalry. Hercules is definitely a powerful opponent, but his level of power is nothing close to Thor’s. There were many times during the comic that Thor could have finished him off, but he didn’t. Thor knew that a single full powered hit could end up destroying Hercules and he was also hoping that Hercules would learn not to always resort to fighting right away. In his youth, Thor had also been pretty hotheaded, but he has learned to try and talk things out more through the years. Hercules will hear none of it and the fight continues. The fight becomes less one sided once someone intervenes and wrecks the honor of the battle.

In the next part of the Hercules saga, he goes to the movies and gets easily tricked by Pluto into signing a contract. Now, Thor must fight in Hercules place and defeat all the legions of Pluto. It’s a pretty solid way to end the collection and we see Thor go up against many powerful adversaries. Even the Crusher appears, but he learns that his unstoppable grip may be stoppable after all!

After each comic, there would be a mini segment about Thor’s adventures back in the olden days. He looks pretty much the same (Since he’s an immortal) and his friends are still present. The comics are pretty fun and the Warrior’s Three gets a much bigger role. They aren’t quite as action packed or as high stakes as the main comics, but they’re pretty fun to read. They also deal with the end of the universe as we know it!

All of the comics were pretty fun to read and this is currently my favorite Thor collection. We got two pretty great fights in the form of Thor vs Absorbing Man and Thor vs Hercules. Thor was a very good protagonist and I can see why he acquired such a large fan base right away. I much prefer this portrayal of him to his recent incarnations. Thor never backs down from a fight, but he also knows when to turn away and attend more pressing matters. Even if it means defeat, Thor will end up doing what he feels is right. There are several times where Thor knows that he cannot win, but he fights until the bitter end anyway. Unfortunately, Thor is probably the only character that I really enjoyed a lot. I can’t say that I liked Odin (He made some pretty iffy calls) and the rest of the Asgardians were all right. Balder was decently good and Volstagg definitely had some good lines as well. Loki pulls a lot of tricks as per usual, but he’s not supposed to be a very likable character. At most you can sympathize with him a little bit. Hercules and the Absorbing Man can be interesting characters, but I definitely wouldn’t be putting them on my really good characters list for now.

This is certainly the Marvel Masterworks volume to purchase if you are a Thor fan or if you enjoy Marvel Comics. The page count is pretty good and the price is definitely worth it considering how much fun the comics are to read. I wholeheartedly recommend checking it out.

Overall 8/10