Thor Epic Collection, Vol. 8: War of the Gods

Thor Epic Collection

by Len Wein, Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby (Cover Art)

Len Wein lifts Mjolnir aloft and rallies forth the armies of Asgard! When the Time-Twisters seek to destroy Earth, Thor embarks on an adventure with Zarrko the Tomorrow Man. It’s a battle through time (with dinosaurs!) that will impress you to the end. Then, Thor fights the Firelord in the jungles of Latin America and only Jane Foster can save him! The Warriors Three ramble off on a solo adventure, while Thor returns to Asgard to face the one and only Mangog! Their battle will rage across the Fabled Realm, taking Thor to the Hel in a quest to save Odin. Also featuring all-new “Tales of Asgard,” Thor vs. Ulik the Troll and a giant, 42-page Annual epic with Hercules!

COLLECTING: Thor (1966) 242-259, Annual (1966) 5; Marvel Spotlight (1971) 30; material from Marvel Treasury Edition (1974) 10

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Collections

392 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2022

About the author

Len Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.

Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Reviews

[Sean Gibson]

One of my favorite Thor runs of all-time, this volume features iconic artwork by Big John Buscema and some tremendously compelling storytelling by Len Wein. Can't miss stuff for fans of the long-haired, mallet-swinging Shakespeare talker*.

*Note that this was also my high school nickname.

[Vaughn]

Most of the stories in here are really good. There's some overarching stories with the first half of the book dealing with the return of Odin and him not acting like his usual self, and the second half where Thor and his friends go in search of Odin who is missing all over again.

Last volume saw the return of Jane Foster which annoyed me. I much preferred Sif. This time, however, Jane has the soul of Sif inside her, which makes her a much more competent and likable character. This subplot see's some interesting developments in this volume as well.

Several of Thor's rogues gallery return here too. Thor battles Zarrko the Tomorrow which takes him to the end of the universe and the mysterious Time Twisters. He also battles Firelord, Mangog, Hela, Ulik and Grey Gargoyle.

The highlights for me were the first story with the Time Twisters (a great concept), the Marvel Spotlight issue which focuses on the Warriors Three who go for a night out but end up helping a woman save her husband from some gangsters who have targeted him, and the last story: War of the Gods. This story had the Asgardian Gods led by Thor helping the Norse vikings in their war against the Greeks, who have the Olympian Gods and Hercules on their side.

This was strong volume of 70's Thor, and I'd say it's better than the 7 volumes preceding it.