Flashback Friday is something I’ve been doing here at Bookwraiths for a while now: a time when I can post my thoughts about books and graphic novels that I’ve read in the past and never gotten around to reviewing. With the hectic schedule of day to day life and trying to review new books, I never seem to find the time to give these old favorites (or vile offenders) the spotlight that they deserve. But with a day all to themselves, there is no reason I can’t revisit these blasts (or bombs) from the past, so let’s take a look at a FLASHBACK FROM THE PAST!



My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.

Winter of 1983. I was a full-grown and mature thirteen (13) year old. That is what I believed anyway. By this point, I had put all the things of childhood behind me – even my beloved D&D mostly – to focus on grown up things: sports, music, girls, and cars. Not necessarily in that order. This meant the days of me sitting around reading comics was over. Forever! Sure, I still ran an eye over the comic rack at the local gas station or the bookstore at the mall, but other than just looking at them, I didn’t read those kids books anymore. But then something strange happened to me one day at the mall: I saw the cover to Thor #337.



Even though I had never been a Thor fan, I was drawn to the book like a fly to a bug light. The image of this strange alien destroying Thor’s name on the cover just got my attention, and I could not resist picking it up to see who he was.

Now, honestly, I didn’t have much optimism that the book was going to be worth reading; I mean, comics had really cool covers all the time but weren’t really worth reading – especially Thor in those days. But since the artwork was cool, I just had to open it up and look at the first few pages. That naturally led me to reading those pages which caused me to read more and . . . You get the picture.

As I finally closed Thor #337, my mind was filled with Simonson’s breathtaking images of immortal Asgardian gods, the honorable Beta Ray Bill and his beloved fleet, and the promise of an ominous bad guys waiting just outside everyone’s notice, and it was then that I had an epiphany only a 13-year-old could believe was an epiphany: comics were not just for kids. The proof was here in my hands with a book which rivaled any movie or “literary” work I’d ever read in sheer storytelling brilliance.

Needless to say I started reading Thor on a monthly basis at that point, and for the next – almost -three years, I waited patiently every month for the next issue to arrive in my mail box. The story of Beta Ray Bill, which had began in Thor #337, was just the tip of the iceberg I found as Simonson led me on a whirlwind of adventures with the God of Thunder. Adventures that I still recall with great pleasure to this day, and before you even ask, yes Thor is still my favorite Marvel character, because your first “love” is always the best remembered and most fondly recalled I’ve found.

I rated this collection (5) stars. I do not give 5 stars lightly. However, these issues of Thor by Simonson deserve five (5) – maybe six (6) stars – because this is without a doubt one of the greatest runs on a comic book ever! Of course, I read this collection having fallen in love with Thor issue by issue long ago, but I still believe you will love it to. You just won’t have to wait a month before your next fix.

`Nuff said