Thor & Loki: In the Land of Giants : a Norse Myth

Graphic Myths and Legends

by Jeff Limke

Out of the great halls of Asgard, home of the Norse Gods...came one of the greatest Norse legends. Thor, powerful god of thunder, and his brother Loki, the trickster, were eager to resolve an argument: Does strength always win, or do brains always beat brawn? To find an answer, they travel to the strange and forbidding land of giants. There they will face a series of challenges that will prove once and for all which god is right. Or will it?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Mythology, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Book

48 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Thor (T) in comics...but a couple years ago I decided to start looking into some of the Norse legends to 'fill out' the character more. This is a very good rendition of one of the many Norse legends that has T as a central character. Art is great!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I actually checked this out from the library on my card. Yes, the librarian gave me a funny look as I leaned over and whispered, "um, could you please tell me where the comic books are?" And yes, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I'm new to comic books but to my surprise, they're growing on me.

This one wasn't a Marvel comic book (I looked but couldn't find one) so the character of Thor is a little different than I was expecting--or perhaps more like the rash, cruel, arrogant, pre-Jane, Thor in the first Marvel movie--and I wouldn't recognize Loki from his picture but the relationship between the two brothers is essentially the same and cracks me up just like in the movies. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this ancient Norse Myth brought to life.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeously illustrated tale of Thor and Loki (not the Marvel versions).

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book skilfully retells the Norse myth in a slim, fast-paced graphic story. The drawings are great.

[4Adrian7966 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book rather quickly, but i just guess thats because its a graphic novel. I got introuble reading it in my class, but i think it was worth it, mostly because he just told me to put it away, due to the great story line. The book starts with a question,"which is better brain or bronze". Thor and loki are fighting over this question, and they go to the land of the giants to simply proof who is right. They stop by a mortal family of four's home for food and a place to sleep for the night. Thor gives those mortals one of his sheep to eat, but he becomes very angry when the yongest boy disrepects his sheep by trying to take out its bones. However Thor did not give them all the sheep and he became furious at the boy. The father bribes Thor by saying take the kids, so that way they would stay alive. Apperantly the boy can run very fast and the girl, the older one, can cook very well. As Thor travels to the land of the giants,with the two mortal children, he finds a giant in an enormous forest. The rest is up to you to find out and read for yourself.

Enjoy =D

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The myths of a culture say a great deal about their early views of the world, to understand the people of the Scandinavian countries, it is necessary to know something about the Norse gods. Thor was a god of great power, he signified brawn, always ready to use his strength to resolve a situation. Conversely, Loki was the intelligent trickster, preferring to use his brains to outwit and confound opponents. The two gods are also brothers and in this story they act like brothers, bickering over which is better, brains or brawn.
Together, they travel to the Land of the Giants, bickering all the way. While there, they both face great challenges that they lose, not realizing that the tasks are impossible. This is a graphic novel rendition of a classic Norse folktale that includes some fundamental psychology of sibling rivalry. The story is told very well and is an ideal way to introduce Norse mythology to children in late elementary school.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my son's first book of Norse mythology, and a story that I was eager to share with him as Norse mythology has been my personal favorite since I discovered it as a child. It's a graphic novel version of the story from the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning about Thor, Thjálfi, and Loki's journey to Útgarða-Loki's keep. The retelling and the illustrations beautifully capture the contentious friendship between Thor and Loki ... as well as the imagination of my child.

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This comic did draw heavily on the Norse myth and partly on the marvel Thor and Loki...I think. Last I checked, Thor and Loki were not brothers--or even adopted brothers--in the myth. I could be wrong though. The art was good and Thor and Loki looked nothing like what you will expect if you saw the marvel movies. Still, it was a good illustrated version of the myth that mythology lovers may enjoy reading.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great Comic Book. I didn't even know that it wasn't made by Marvel (I don't think my school did either). It's about the greek gods, Thor & Loki. They argue about which is better, brains or brawn. they take two children with them to the giants land to do some challenges. that's all I can say without spoiling the book, so all I'll say is that they do fail.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was duped into thinking this was a Marvel graphic novel and as I'm digging in Thor is coming off a lot more of a (bleep) then in the old comics so I check the cover again and it has nothing to do with Marvel.

Still a fun quick read going over a few of the better-known myths about Thor.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable retelling of the Utgardloki myth, if a little terse (and a lot clearly--though not acknowedledgely--drawn from Marvel's version of Thor and Loki). The art accented the humor of the writing nicely.

[Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had known this would be a telling of the tale from Gylfaginning, but was expecting the typical Marvel spin on the characters. It was refreshing to find characters that were fairly true to the Icelandic sagas.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit short. But I liked it.

[Midgey]

Cute.

[Munch · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does a 48 page book that's only telling one story REALLY need a table of contents?
Other than that weird choice, this is a pretty basic retelling of a classic Thor & Loki story (note, these are the actual Norse gods, not the Marvel characters). I'm pretty sure I read this story in Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, so I knew where things were headed pretty early on. The presentation works fine, without being fancy. I'd say it's fine for what it is, but you will probably be better served to get the Norse Mythology Volume 2 to see the story presented in Mark Buckingham's distinctive style.

[Beth]

Swift graphic novel telling the story of the Viking Gods on their trip to the Land of Giants to settle a bet on whether strength or cunning is strongest. The reader has fun, but the gods don't admit the bet is settled.

I was sad the sister didn't get a moment of awesome. Dumb historical sexism.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Truism of Norse philosophy the strong impose their will, unless the weak use their wits to avoid the consequences. The Scandanavian elucidation of Thucydides: The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.

[James Goddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read

A quick read. Well drawn and written. Familiar characters and a back story explained. Not sure how much reread value there is, but worth reading once if you like myths and legends.

[Sha Mohamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

best..

[Amy Adams · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not great. The only good part was how well the illustrations depicted the story being told. However, the story overall was lacking. It was disjointed, and the decisions the characters made didn't make sense. There were some mythological elements pulled in, but the story, as far as I know, is the work of the author's imagination. It jumps around too much. There are two female characters in the book. One is an "old crone" and the other is a girl who is allowed only to cook. When it comes time to compete in challenges, she's told she can't because she's female. That was the factor that led me to give this book one star instead of two. I wouldn't recommend this book.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre:Graphic Novel, Science Fiction
Copyright:2007

I'm really not a big graphic novel fan. The story was good and entertaining. I would recommend it to my students who enjoy graphic novels and the story of Loki and Thor.

[K.L. Morrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel had amazing drawings. The story line is the age old question whether brawn or brain is better.

[Samantha Heater · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok