THOR #602 (Marvel – Straycnski / Djurdjevic )
Greg and I were talking about this book, and comparing notes of what were gonna say. I for one don’t miss the big ol’ battles. For me, the tension in this book comes from the political intrigue and gamesmenship. And I like the subtle interplay of gods (and goddesses) and men again. These things all make it good for me.
The big battles have been so lame lately, blatantly, annoyingly, contrived that I don’t miss them at all. Take the Secret Invasion: Thor mini-series, a three issue titanic battle that was a complete waste of time. And while the Bor fight was tense and dramatic it was sort of an obvious vehicle. That the Bor fight led to Thor’s exile was dramatic sure (an beautifully drawn I must say), but that it was the catalyst for Thor’s exile was kinda lame.
Even though, I do like the intrigue in the book, there are times when it makes no reasonable sense, like why would Baldur listen to Loki? That would be like Spider-Man making a deal with Mephisto, that’d be stupid. He knows, every Asgardian knows Loki is a snake. That kind of stuff drives me nuts.
But ya gotta wonder how much of these plot lines are Editor driven. Mr. Stracycnzki may have intended to let the Asgardians stay in Kansas, but no because of Dark Pain in the …he had to concoct a way to get Asgard to Latveria. I think the weakness of so many of Marvel’s books is because of Editor’s Mega-Plot Demands. But it’s not about quality at Marvel is it? It’s about selling as many books as possible. If they happen to publish some good books in the meantime, like Thor, clearly they’ll toot their own horn, but they are a success despite the Marvel system. Sad really.
I say let’s let the writers write, and the editors edit.
The problem is we buy the stuff regardless, hoping lightning will strike and we will be awed. And hoping, and er…hoping. What I’m hoping now is that the new price increases with actually return to the system to some sort of reasonable supply and demand based on quality. I mean who’s going to consistently pay $3.99 or $4.99 or $5.99 for books that aren’t that good, or for an endless array of meaningless cross-overs, that may or may not actually have anything to do the the main mega-plot? We’ll see, but I’m hopin’.
Okay, and yeah, Thor is a good book.
