MIGHTY MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE MIGHTY THOR VOL. 2 - THE INVASION OF ASGARD

by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (Illustrator)

The stories that built the Marvel Universe, from the brilliant minds of legendary creators - now available in an accessible new format the whole family can enjoy! As Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Asgardian saga kicks into high gear, witness the evolution of Thor and the introduction of more of his classic cast of characters! In this volume, you'll behold the return of Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, the Cobra and Mister Hyde - while witnessing the debuts of the Enchantress, the Executioner and the Grey Gargoyle! And to top it all off, Thor battles the mutant master of magnetism, Magneto - and renews rivalries with his trickster brother, Loki, alongside Doctor Strange! Titanic "Tales of Asgard" reveal the untold history of the Norse gods! Collecting JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (1952) #101-104 (A & C stories) and #105-110.

Genres: Graphic Novels

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 5, 2022

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

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 2: The Invasion of Asgard collects Journey into Mystery #101-109.

Okay, this is going to be a short one. This was way more enjoyable than the first Thor masterwork, mostly due to Jack Kirby's art, but it's still not great. Stan Lee's dialog makes me roll my eyes and I'm not super into Thor on earth stories. I want my big Asgardian battles! Thor vs. Loki and Thor vs. Magneto were cool. Thor vs. Executioner and Enchantress was pretty good too.

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Kirby totally commits to Thor, but Stan Lee can’t quit telling stories that involve lame earthbound “super“ villains fighting the God of Thunder and Dr. Don Blake’s soap opera-like life with nurse Jane Foster. This volume includes Journey into Mystery issues 101-109, which means Marvel either is getting cheap (most Masterwork volumes contain at least ten issues) or there was some compelling reason to stop at 109 (like the first Daredevil volume included issue 11, since it was part two of a two-part story). I have my suspicions that Kirby really dug doing the Tales of Asgard back-up stories, and that brought him back to Thor full-time; once the action in each issue’s Thor stories switches to being more about Asgard than Earth, the back-up feature goes away and I think Kirby becomes a happy camper, sticking with the book until he goes to DC in 1969. JiM 104 is the classic “Giants Walk the Earth” issue, which brings Odin to Midgard to try and stop this foolish Thor loves Jane Foster nonsense (a subplot that quite frankly all but derails the stories each time it pops up; eventually Dr. Don Blake and his love for Jane are both put to rest and Thor is Thor almost full-time), bringing along Surtur and Skagg amid yet-another Loki plot to take the Asgard throne. Chic Stone inks the bulk of the stories in here, being Kirby’s primary inker for a year or so around 1964-65, also doing great work on Fantastic Four and Captain America. This volume once again features a new Michael Cho cover (not shown here) and is much more readable than the first Thor MMMW.

[Mr. Stick · Rating 3 out of 5]

"IF YOU MISSED THE PRECEDING ISSUE OF THE MIGHTY THOR, SHAME ON YOU! NOW, OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF OUR HEARTS, WE PRESENT A BRIEF SUMMARY TO BRING YOU UP TO DATE -- BUT DONT LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!!"
- Editor's note from the beginning of Journey Into Mystery (With The Mighty Thor) #106.

This child-like enthusiasm and playfulness that he shared with his readers is what made Stan Lee so successful in the comic biz.
The writing here is still a corn and cheese sandwich. The Cobra? Ugh! Why not Doom? Or possibly Kang (almost as bad as Cobra)? I loathe Cobra.
Better writing than the first volume, but that's mostly just the Asgard side stories (which almost make up for the cringy villain monologing).
Slightly more "gooder." Three stars.