Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- The Mighty Thor Vol. 13

Quick Summary

Pros: The opening and closing story arcs are intense cosmic adventures that are also wonderfully creative. Aspects of Thor’s team-up with Hercules are entertaining. The artwork looks great, is packed with imagination, and makes a few major changes for the series.

Cons: A few stories end with rushed conclusions. Other aspects of Thor’s team-up with Hercules are uninteresting.

Overall: This is another collection for the fans of Thor’s journeys through the cosmos. Within this volume, there are two highly successful story arcs that deal with high-stakes battles and highly imaginative situations. Though the volume also contains another large story arc, a few complications prevent it from having the same level of appeal. Readers who enjoy cosmic Thor stories, from this era, are sure to find enjoyment within this volume.

Story

Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 13, by Gerry Conway and John Buscema, collects three major story arcs of varied appeal. The opening and closing stories are excellent. They take Thor on an exciting journey through the cosmos and force him into situations that are ripe with creativity and action. The middle story is more troubled. It struggles a bit in starting a team-up between Thor and Hercules, even though aspects of this team-up are entertaining. In the end, two-thirds of this collection is highly successful while one-third is only average.

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After an alright opening chapter, The Mighty Thor Vol. 13 quickly becomes an epic space odyssey that rivals anything from the previous collection. It pits Thor and company against opponents that are twice their size. Then, it has both sides team up to take on villains that are a hundred times their size. The conflict is exciting and humbles the Thunder God in a way that few Thor stories do.

Not only is this story entertaining, it is also wonderfully imaginative. It feels like something different from a traditional clash between forces in space, which makes it come across as something fresh and unique.

The only problem is that the conclusion to this encounter comes about rather quickly. The Rhunians realize their mistakes and change their nature almost immediately. It happens so quickly that the impact of the moment is slightly diminished.

From here, the collection moves on to a team-up between Hercules and Thor. Unfortunately, this team-up, like many other superhero team-ups, starts out with a generic fight spurred on by misunderstanding. What’s more, immediately after the heroes reconcile, they launch into another fight spurred on by misunderstanding. They then move on to a poorly paced fight against Ares, in which the villain is defeated so quickly it leaves the reader wondering why he was ever considered a threat. Luckily, the battles against Pluto and the Destroyer play out much better.

Finally, The Mighty Thor Vol. 13 concludes with a final story arc that is every bit as good as the opening one, if not better. It introduces a new herald of Galactus, brings Galactus back into the fold, and completes Ego’s transformation into a full-on villain. The conflict between all of these entities is exciting and the high-stakes nature of the conflict makes it even more memorable. However, like the opening arc, the main draw here is the intense creativity on display. Putting Galactus on the side of the angels and giving Ego a tragic backstory add additional depth to Marvel’s cosmic side and make this a more intriguing story overall.

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Art

The visuals in The Mighty Thor Vol. 13 are similar to the visuals in the past two volumes of this series: positive in a way that makes this a more enjoyable comic to experience. The comic’s artwork, mostly coming from John Buscema, is as well-crafted and beautiful as ever. It is creative in a way that makes the imaginative storytelling come across even better and is presented in a way that makes the story flow with ease.

Where this collection stands out is in the way it advances the visual presentation of this comic series and, by extension, the Marvel Universe. The Destroyer’s appearance here is sleeker and more refined than before. It makes it seem more deadly and dangerous. Meanwhile, Galactus is presented with less “human” attributes, taking on the appearance many fans will recognize today. Though this change is not significant from a visual standpoint, it does a lot in making this bizarre and otherworldly being live up to his bizarre and otherworldly nature, rather than simply looking like some strange human being.

This collection is also distinct for containing a number of two-page spreads, which the volume’s introduction explains came from an editorial decree from Marvel at the time. In some places, these two-page spreads pass by with little fanfare; they look nice but don’t do much more than a normal set of pages. However, in others, they really capture a specific moment. There are cosmic events and meaningful arrivals that take place here and are made even more significant by the fact that they take place over two-pages. Though this change appears to have been forced on the artists by the higher-ups, it worked out in a positive way.

Continuity

Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 13 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 12 (Review).

The story here continues in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 14 (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Thor and Hercules fought Ares back in Avengers #98-100, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 10 (Review). 
• Hercules was trapped in the underworld back in Thor #130, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 4 (Review). 
• Thor previously fought the Destroyer in Thor #152, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 6 (Review). 
• A note in Thor #224 makes reference to the presence of a different “Destroyer” in the Captain Marvel comics. This character appears in Captain Marvel #27-34, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 3 (Review). 
• Galactus swore not to attack Earth back in Fantastic Four #123, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 12 (Review). 
• Galactus attacked Earth for the first time back in Fantastic Four #48-50, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (Review). 
• Thor fought Galactus back in Thor #169, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 8 (Review).
• Thor and Ego fought Galactus in Thor #161, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 7 (Review).