Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- The Mighty Thor Vol. 9

Quick Summary

Pros: Aspects of the book’s major story arcs are entertaining. The battle between Thor and Doctor Doom is highly satisfying. The book’s artwork is solid.

Cons: Other aspects of the book’s major story arcs are flawed. A few of the individual chapters are so lackluster that they feel instantly forgettable.

Overall: This is a somewhat decent representation of what the Thor series is capable of. It has moments of excitement, some solid artwork, and one story arc that stands out as something truly special. However, it also has moments of frustration and a number of quick stories that fail to stand out at all. In the end, the book has some appeal to it but not enough to recommend it as one of the better examples of Thor’s adventures in this era.

Story

The Mighty Thor Vol. 9, by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, is mostly divided into stories of three separate categories. The first category consists of a few isolated chapters that are so forgettable that they fail to stand out at all. The second consists of stories that are more entertaining but still have their fair share of flaws. The third is an awesome battle between Thor and Doctor Doom that is sure to delight fans of either character. Together, these categories make up a book with some severely mixed quality. Newer readers may enjoy seeing some fun moments from Thor but older readers will easily recognize this volume as a mediocre representation of this series.

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The forgettable chapters in The Mighty Thor Vol. 9 are isolated stories that take place over a single comic issue. These have Thor fighting various villains and defeating them rather quickly. Though these stories have some exciting moments, they fail to define themselves as anything worth remembering.

The more memorable chapters in The Might Thor Vol. 9 have concepts that help them stand out. One story arc centers around Loki taking complete control over Asgard. This leads to an exciting twist that puts Thor in a more precarious position than usual. Another story arc takes a similar approach by having Thor and Loki switch bodies, confusing Thor’s allies.

However, these more memorable chapters are also marred by a few significant problems. Loki’s control over Asgard feels ridiculous from the start, since he is apparently looked at as both an invader and a ruler by the Asgardian people. It is an inconsistency that makes it hard to fully get behind what is happening. Meanwhile, the story arc about Thor and Loki’s body switching paints Odin as an omnipotent god in some places but an ignorant fool in others. These negative factors prevent these arcs from living up to their full potential.

Luckily, The Mighty Thor Vol. 9 ends strong, with two chapters about a fight between Thor and Doctor Doom. The fight forces Thor to use his wits to outsmart the Latvarian ruler in a way that would make the Fantastic Four jealous. It also exposes some great traits in Doom, such as his ability to threaten without threatening or his strange sense of vanity. While all of this is going on, there is also an added threat coming from Asgard, one that instills promise in future stories. Hopefully, this satisfying closing arc is a sign that the series will improve as it enters the next volume.

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Art

The majority of The Mighty Thor Vol. 9 consists of some great artwork from Jack Kirby. Throughout this volume, Kirby flexes his ability to blend the mystic qualities of Norse mythology into the cosmic wonder of Marvel Comics. This is particularly satisfying in the few chapters that also feature inks by Bill Everett, which are easily the best looking chapters in this book. Though the sights here are not quite as imaginative as they were in previous volumes, they still feel true to the characters and concepts of this series.

There are also places in The Mighty Thor Vol. 9 where other artists step in to fill gaps between Kirby’s work. John Buscema is able to produce visuals that maintain Kirby’s style and do justice to the God of Thunder. Neal Adams also produces a few chapters that somewhat maintain the visual consistency of the series, even if they aren’t exactly his best work. All in all, the artwork across this comic is pretty successful.

Continuity

Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 9 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 8 (Review).

The story here continues in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 10 (Review).

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

• Thor dealt with the Circus of Crime back in Thor #145-146, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 6 (Review).
• The Abomination was “imprisoned on a distant planet” back in Tales to Astonish #91, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 3.
• He was pulled from this prison in Silver Surfer #12, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Silver Surfer Vol. 2.