Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

After reading and enjoying the Walter Simonson Mighty Thor, I picked up some more interesting-sounding Thor comics, the first of which was this set of nine single-issue stories by Roger Langridge (of Smithson and Doctor Who Magazine fame) and Chris Samnee (who would later illustrate a highly acclaimed run on Daredevil). This is pure comics, everything I want a superhero story to be. Fun but with a serious substrate, character driven, fast. In these stories, Thor comes to Earth for the first time, meeting Jane Foster, who is these stories is a museum curator. He's been exiled by his father-- but he doesn't know why, making it hard to redeem itself.

As he settles into life on Earth, he defends women against creeps, goes out drinking with the Warriors Three and meets Captain Britain, tries to confront Heimdall, battles dinosaurs with Captain America, meets other Avengers like Ant-Man and Iron Man, and falls in love with a human. Each story is entertaining on its own, but clearly also building up to a bigger thing. Part of a continuity all its own, it avoids much of the gloom and mediocrity that pervade contemporary superhero comics. The art is gorgeous, and makes you love Thor all over again. I have never been as interested in or charmed by Jane as I was here.

The crime, of course, is that continuity-free superhero comics don't sell. This is a distillation of the best of Thor and Marvel, but that's not what the market wants, and thus this was cancelled after eight issues plus a Free Comic Book Day tale. The eighth issue wraps up some of the strands, but there was clearly more story to be told-- that never will be. This is disappointing but not so disappointing that I would recommend against the book. If you want fun, funny, epic, charming Thor comics, pick this up.

This tells the story of Thor, who has been banished to Earth by his father Odin until he learns some humility. While various versions of this story have been told in comics ever since Thor was introduced to Marvel Comics (and yet another version makes up the story of the film Thor), this book manages to feel fresh and new. Thor is honorable, yet still a little immature. He is hyperfocused on getting back to Asgard, and trying to figure out why he was banished in the first place (he’s experiencing some amnesia). In the meantime, he meets Jane Foster, a curator at an Oklahoma museum, gets a few visits from home, brawls with Captain Britain at a pub, tangles with Namor the Sub-Mariner (whom I always have trouble taking seriously because of those silly wings on his ankles), and learns the true identity of Iron Man.
The colors are bright and the artwork is deceptively simple. I can’t praise Samnee and Wilson enough for bringing this story to life visually. There were moments that made me laugh out loud, and others where I truly felt sorry for Thor and his plight. Poor fella just wants to go home. I particularly enjoyed that any time Loki showed up he mentioned that he had learned a new trick by reading a book he shouldn’t have been reading. This makes me wonder about the libraries in Asgard. Is there a restricted section in the palace library, like at Hogwarts (I am of course assuming that the Asgardian royal palace has a library, because if it doesn’t, then it’s hardly a palace I’d want to visit). And if there is a restricted section, why would Loki, a prince of Asgard, not have ready access to it simply by virtue of his rank in Asgardian society? I’m thinking too hard about this, I’m sure, but that’s the fun of comics, isn’t it?
If you’ve read a bunch of Thor comics, then you must be sure not to miss this one. If you’ve only seen the movies or only have a passing acquaintance with Marvel comics Thor, then you will enjoy this book. It’s an easy jumping-on point, and gets to the heart of the characters pretty quickly. Have fun! ( )