El Poderoso Thor: La balada de Bill Rayos beta

Beta Ray Bill

by Walter Simonson, Óscar Estefanía (traducción)

Contiene The Mighty Thor 337-340 USA.¡Por fin en el mejor formato la más memorable etapa del Dios del Trueno jamás realizada! Walter Simonson marcó un antes y un después en la historia de Thor el Poderoso con su irrupción en la serie. Sus aventuras, capaces de recuperar toda la épica de los tiempos de Jack Kirby, alcanzan una excelencia pocas veces contemplada en el noveno arte. De Asgard a la tierra, de las calles de Manhattan a las llanuras del Valhalla, acompaña al Hijo de Odin en su cruzada definitiva. Con el debut de Billy Rayos Beta.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

100 pages, Hardcover

Published March 20, 2007

About the author

Walt Simonson is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' Thor from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned work Star Slammers, which he inaugurated in 1972 as a Rhode Island School of Design thesis. He has also worked on other Marvel titles such as X-Factor and Fantastic Four, on DC Comics books including Detective Comics, Manhunter, Metal Men and Orion, and on licensed properties such as Star Wars, Alien, Battlestar Galactica and Robocop vs. Terminator.

He is married to comics writer Louise Simonson, with whom he collaborated as penciller on X-Factor from 1988 to 1989, and with whom he made a cameo appearance in the 2011 Thor feature film.

Reviews

[Patrick]

This book collects the very first appearance and story arc of everyone's favourite horse-faced cyborg, Beta Ray Bill. It is very much his story. Thor is around for most of it, but this is easily one of his most embarrassing outings. Hence why it's called The Mighty Thor in The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill.

Bill's spacecraft is headed for Earth when it is intercepted by Thor. In classic superhero fashion, they forego any helpful discourse and immediately resort to violence. I won't spoil the outcome for you, but just look at the cover. Bill has Thor's armour on and he's wielding a hammer made of gold. You can figure out how well it went.

Look, I'm not saying Beta Ray Bill is the most badass character ever to appear in a comic. But when you shit-kick a god and come away with full ownership of their most treasured possessions AND their super powers, you're making a pretty good case for yourself.

[James DeSantis]

This was great. Beta ray bills introduction is great with a battle of two mighty warriors. A ending I really enjoyed way more than expected. I'll have bigger review for first big volume.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine]

Here, Thor and his world are grounded in the Norse mythology, but are not strictly limited to it. Simonson makes use of the science fiction elements Marvel infused with Asgard to elevate the world and its inhabitants' stories to new cosmic heights.
Of course, Beta Ray Bill's introduction is the really important thing here. The character succeeds in being as fascinating and inspiring as anyone wielding an enchanted hammer should be.
An aside: one brief sub-plot here involves the old trope of the woman as a prize for winning a battle. As soon as the statement to that effect was made, I sighed and prepared myself to read a problematic segment in an otherwise timeless story. But what the outcome of the battle and how characters handled it was a pleasant surprise that turned that tired old idea on its ear.
This is one of the stories I would refer to If I were ever asked for one that defines Marvel's interpretation of Thor and the related myths.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel]

El talento de un Simonson en su mejor momento brindó a Thor la que posiblemente sea su mejor etapa, partiendo con esta saga (muy recordada por los lectores regulares) donde se trazan futuros cambios para el superhéroe. La aparición de un extraño objeto en el cielo llevará al dios nórdico a un encuentro con un insólito guerrero, involucrándose ambos en una misión que exige sacrificios y mucha introspección en páginas dibujadas con energía y vigor. UNa gran revisión para su época que mantiene su vigencia.

[J.]

I didn't love this itself, but I did like the characters, the art, and the ideas being bandied about. The actual plot sort of bored me, but I think I would keep reading after this.

[Juan]

Un comic de inicios de los '80, que se conserva en muy buena forma. Muy entretenido y completamente épico.

[Harry]

A well executed introduction to one of Marvel's most celebrated underdogs (underhorse?). Despite being a Thor comic this is very much Bill's story and it would have been interesting to see how conflicted original readers were with both Thor and Bill opposing each other. Simonson's narrative really edged in Bill's favour and being the first character outside of Thor and Odin to wield Mjolnir was something special.

The other story involving Sif, Lorelei and Loki was a bit cumbersome at times, as I imagine most readers, myself included, want to focus on Bill. The segues between these stories was poorly implemented also, jumping seemingly at random rather than swapping at logical parts of each narrative. The dialogue was rather stilted too, though that tends be the nature of most 80s Marvel comics in comparison to today's style of writing.

Overall however, The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill is a solid, neat little story, 80s Marvel quirks aside.

[Mark]

Almost 25 years later, Simonson's quirky take on Thor still holds up really well--and in some ways may even be better now than it was when it first came out. Simonson manages a perfect pastiche of and homage to Kirby's Asgardian melodrama with crisp storytelling and a quintessential 1980's vibe. Would that all my re-visits to Bronze Age "classics" were as enjoyable as this one!

[Dave]

Introduced me to one of my favorite comics characters - Beta Ray Bill. What a FANTASTIC story!! Simonson took the premise of "Whosoever be worthy" of Mjolnir and crafted a dynamite story based on it, introducing readers to one of Marvel's most noble characters ever.

[Steven]

This is a collection of the Beta Ray Bill series in the Thor comic from several years back. I'd remembered it fondly, and having sold off my Thor comics, picked this collection up because I wanted to see if it held up. And, indeed, it does. It's a quirky sidenote of a comic -- an alien is worthy to hold Mjolnir, which leads to a all sorts of shenanigans. Mostly it's a standard hero-comic (the two heroes "accidentally" fight one another at first, before resolving their differences and working together -- Shocker!), and one thing I like is that this is back in the era where frankly these heroes aren't all that humanized, which is appropriate in a comic book about mythological characters. Loki is more a Trickster god than he is a person who occupies a god role, etc. I like to keep my comics symbolic. Ahem. Anyway, the book was everything I was hoping, a nice yarn.

[Jo]

Walter Simonson's run in the Thor series was one of my first serious relationships with American superhero comics, after a long flirt with manga and french works; to this day, "The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill" remains one of my favourite superhero stories of all time. Characters are awesome, narrative is so powerful, twists are great, and everything exudes sorrow and might. It feels an instant classic, and it delivers everything it promises. Rythm of the story might be a bit slow, considering today's standards... but, other than that, this is an awesome comic.

[Marles]

an essential Thor storyline

[Jack Morelli]

Beta Ray Bill is such a unique and interesting character but the rest of the narrative is just whatever.

GORGEOUS art though

[Fugo Feedback]

Por lo que voy leyendo hasta ahora, el Thor de Simonson es un comic muy de su época, con lo bueno y lo malo que eso conlleva. Esta primera historia no falla a la hora de armar una saga épica y heróica, donde se mezclan con relativa facilidad el género de superhéroes con la particular "visión Marvel" de la mitología nórdica (que, por otro lado, conozco apenas). En sólo cuatro números se presenta un personaje nuevo que parece malo, se hace bueno, se enfrenta a Thor igual (¡y le gana!) y juntos destruyen un ejército invasor. Todo eso en menos de 100 páginas. A algunos le gustará que todo pase a las chapas. A mí personalmente me parece que si querés mostrar una mega-guerra entre dos facciones poderosísimas, tenés que darle más de un capítulo de 22 páginas para que la tensión resulte creíble. Por otro lado, el dibujo de Simonson era medio burdo en la época, y hay escenas en las que falla en hacer una correcta visualización de su propio guión, pero se deja leer y tiene escenas verdaderamente bien hechas. El coloreado: mñah... También es muy "producto de su época". No tengo ningún apuro por agarrar el #2 pero seguro que lo voy a terminar leyendo más temprano que tarde. Ahí veremos si se la sigue bancando, si mejora o si desbarranca rápido.

[Devero]

La Panini ha pubblicato anche in Italia una raccolte della Ballata di Beta Ray Bill.
Bill è un personaggio che a me piace moltissimo, perché di fondo è un Thor che usa di più il cervello.
Ma in queste quattro storie c'è l'inizio di quella che forse è il più bel ciclo fumettistico serializzato di sempre, con Simonson ai vertici dell'arte. Di certo è il miglior ciclo di Thor di sempre, anche superiore a quello di Stan Lee e Jack Kirby, ed inizia qui, con questa ballata ricca di colpi di scena, suggestioni e magia, e un Surtur nell'ombra magnifico come nessun altro è riuscito a disegnarlo. Ci si cala in pieno nella mitologia norrena.

[H. Givens]

Old-school awesome craziness. I really appreciated the author's note at the beginning where he explained the motivation behind creating Beta Ray Bill. He said he wanted to explore the possibility of somebody else being "worthy" to carry Mjolnir/"possess the power of Thor." If it was a beautiful blonde Adonis, nobody would be surprised. He wanted to create a monster who was worthy to carry the hammer, and that's awesome.

[Paul]

I read the Marvel Graphic Novel Collection version of this. This is the first time I have read a Thor book without losing interest. I wasn't keen on Reborn, or In The Name Of The Gods, but this I really enjoyed. The character of Beta Ray Bill was a great introduction. I would definitely read more of Walt Simonsons Thor, because he absolutely nails it for me.

[Caleb Brown]

It's an awesome read. Few Thor comics are good, but this is one of the greats. The relationship between Thor and Bill is a fun dynamic. The lesson Thor learns from Odin is important for his character moving forward. Bill is the coolest forgotten character in Marvel. This book is fun from front to back.

[Mike Thomas]

This is a great Thor tale, written and drawn by Walt Simonson, a hark back to the golden age of Marvel and Jack Kirby. Its a good story, with a funny joke about DC's Superman disguise, and a two panel cameo by Clark Kent and Lois Lane, very funny. A very good read, highly recommended......

[Angela]

Thor is asked to help out SHIELD against an invading alien. This is the introduction of Beta Ray Bill, one of the most unusual characters in Thor. It's essential reading even if the plot is not that great. It's a game changer for the series. A good read.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Alberto Carlos]

Estupenda, como dice un reseñador anterior es un cómic de su época con lo bueno y lo malo. Historia épica y ligera, sensacional el arranque del Thor de Simonson.

[Matt Nicholls]

Up with Straczynski's run as the best Thor comics I've ever read!

[Steven]

I was a huge non-fan of Walt Simonson's art and stories during his 'legendary' run on Thor - and have seen no reason to change my opinion over the last 20 years.

[Little Timmy]

Great story arc in the Thor comic series. Simonson writes and draws an incredible story. Very recommended