Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- The Mighty Thor Vol. 7
Quick Summary
Pros: The opening chapters are a great transition into this one. The Mangog story is incredibly exciting and has a great metaphor at the center. Some tantalizing questions are given answers. The final story arc is as exciting as the Mangog one and depicts an amazing battle. The artwork is fantastic and really digs into the cosmic side of Marvel.
Cons: One of the stories ends with a slightly upsetting deus ex machina.
Overall: This volume doesn’t just return the Thor series to its former glory, it pushes it further than it has ever gone before. Over the course of this volume, Thor is pushed to his limit, secrets come to the surface, and the fate of the entire universe is threatened. Most of this is also backed up by some great meaning and all of it is backed up by some incredible artwork. This volume may be one of the best in this era and is something anyone interested in Silver Age Thor should read.
Story
After stumbling briefly in the previous volume, The Mighty Thor Vol. 7, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, brings this series to new heights. The stories here are all wonderful to read on their own and, together, help add some gravitas to the series as a whole. One depicts the rise of a villain with the power to destroy the entire universe, another answers a question that has been present since this series began, and the final one has a battle between two powerful, cosmic entities that easily lives up to its own hype. Each story is entertaining and a few are steeped in metaphor in a way that gives them additional meaning. In the end, this volume may be one of the best from this era and is definitely worth checking out.
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The Mighty Thor Vol. 7 starts out on Earth, where Thor is dealing with more of Loki’s trickery. It is an entertaining escapade that helps transition the narrative from the previous volume to this volume. In addition, starting the story out on Earth is a nice way to prepare readers for a volume that will mostly take place in Marvel’s more cosmic locations.
Which is where the narrative heads upon the arrival of Mangog. This new villain incredibly powerful and is able to easily destroy any hero in his way. As he slowly approaches Asgard and gets closer to his goal to destroy all life, the tension builds significantly and the hopelessness of Thor’s cause becomes more apparent. Which, then, makes Asgard’s ultimate victory over this foe even more significant. It also helps that this entire story feels incredibly creative and is made even more meaningful by its clear metaphorical connections to WWII.
The only downside to this arc is that it ends with somewhat of a deus ex machina. If Thor knew he could wake Odin by using the power of the storm then it seems like he would have done that a lot earlier. Or, if he was just biding time until then, he should have at least told the other Asgardians that this was his plan. It isn’t a huge issue but it is a flaw in an otherwise quality story.
After the battle with Mangog, Thor returns to Earth and the series brings up a question that I’m sure many readers have had since this series began: what is the bizarre connection between Don Blake and the Mighty Thor? This story explains that Don Blake never existed, he was simply a personality, created by Odin, to teach Thor humility. It is a satisfactory answer to a puzzling question that makes readers appreciate Odin’s wisdom and gives Thor more character development. Though I do wish this question had been addressed at some earlier point in time, receiving an answer now is better than not receiving one at all.
From here, Thor returns to the cosmos in order to mediate a fight between Ego the Living Planet and Galactus the Devourer. These are probably Marvel’s two most powerful antagonists, at this time, so pitting them against each other is a great way to create tension and detail a high-stakes battle. The resulting conflict ends up being as exciting as one would hope and is even further enhanced by Jack Kirby’s epic artwork. In this volume’s introduction, Arien Schumer also points out that the plight of the Wanderer’s appears to mirror the plight of the Jewish people, which gives the entire encounter more meaning from a metaphorical standpoint. All in all, these few chapters are an incredible way to close out an incredible volume.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The artwork in The Mighty Thor Vol. 7 is highly positive from start to finish. Jack Kirby’s artwork looks great on every page and is assisted even further by Vince Colletta’s inks. The story flows from page to page, characters look great, and the action is as intense as it needs to be. Kirby also gives readers some incredibly detailed shots that simply look impressive no matter what else is going on, which is definitely the case for a few close-up shots of Odin.
This volume is also notable in how well the artwork complements the cosmic nature of the storytelling. Jack Kirby goes wild with the cosmic wonder seen throughout this book. Kirby Krackle abounds when powerful beings surge with energy, Kirby Tech can be seen both Asgard and in the depths of outer space, and collages are used when moments simply have to have an otherworldly visual quality to them. Ego, in particular, looks incredible, as his appearance seems to shift on every page while managing to still be identifiable. All of this helps define this book as taking place in a world that is different than anything readers are familiar with, which really suits the tone of the book’s story.
Continuity
Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 7 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 6 (Review).
The story here continues in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 8 (Review).
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Information about Galactus was previously detailed in Fantastic Four #48-50, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (Review), and then in Fantastic Four #74-77, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 8 (Review).