Thor

We are rounding out the comic recommendations for the big 3. We’ve done Captain America and Iron Man so here we are with Thor. Thor is possibly the hardest character to do MCU based comic recs for because his storylines are quite possibly the furthest from their comic book counterparts so some of these might be a little bit of a stretch so bear with me, but more so blame the MCU. Fans that are upset with Thor’s portrayal on screen actually aren’t wrong, I like that Thor’s portrayal is very different from his comic book counterpart but I understand why comic fans would not like the changes.

So let's start with the first Thor movie, now in the comics Thor has to prove his worthiness a few times. He loses his ability to wield Mjolnir at various points in time, so we’re just gonna focus on a single experience. We’ll start with his first appearance in Journey into Mystery #83 (1962), and his establishment in the Marvel universe in Journey Into Mystery #101 (1964). The title was then renamed for him picking up with Thor #179 (1970).

Okay…one of the reasons Thor: The Dark World was so poorly received was because it has no real comic book counterpart. The MCU kind of pulled it out of their asses and they didn’t do a very good job. One of the reasons the MCU as a whole is so successful is because they do base enough things off of the comics and so when projects are detached from them entirely audiences can tell. Even if you don’t read comics you can tell that the original thought wasn’t well thought out or connected.

Thor Ragnarok dramatically changed the tone of MCU’s Thor and really only has vague comic book counterparts so these are going to include a lot of the same characters and relationships but really no story similarities. So let’s go with the Thor comics that are titled Ragnarök. Thor #272-278 (1966) were all compiled and titled Ragnarok, Thor: Ragnarok is also its own 6 issue mini-series from 2006.

Thor Love and Thunder was actually more connected to the comics then people gave it credit for. I personally loved the movie and I think people who didn’t are too dead set on Thor being an overly serious, dark character and that’s not necessary. These comic book recommendations are going to be more Jane Foster as Thor focused as that's really what the film centered on. I'm a little upset that they went from the beginning of her story to the end of it in a single film but her comics are great. So let's start with The Mighty Thor Volume 4 (2018), this was Jane’s origin as Thor. Her entire Saga is compiled in Jane Foster: Saga of the Mighty Thor and it brings together Thor #1-8, Thor Annual #7 (2015), Mighty Thor #1-5, #8-11, #13-14 and Generation: Unworthy Thor and Mighty Thor #1. Her Thor story ends in The Death of the Mighty Thor before she becomes a Valkyrie. So this film arguably has the most comic book counterparts to choose from. Now they aren’t going to have the humor and outward comedy that the films do, but they are very emotional wonderful stories.

I think Thor plays an interesting role in the Marvel comic book universe, mostly being the brooding muscle of the team. But he has some really great storylines as well as just being someone that kind of has some very human realities and struggles which is kind of Marvel’s specialties. Taking people that are gods or godlike and making them more human.