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Thor: Vikings #1-5
Thor: Vikings
Thor: Vikings is a 5-issue comic book limited series published by MAX Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics for adult audiences, in July – November 2003. Written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Glenn Fabry.
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2001
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,498 books3,030 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
June 18, 2022
Thor: Vikings is one of the gnarliest Marvel Max books I’ve read, with Garth Ennis and Glenn Fabry teaming up for one of the most insane superhero comics Marvel has ever published. After a “village wise man” curses a band of Vikings who had just raided his village to never reach their destination, this ship full of Vikings turns into one full of invincible zombie Vikings over the centuries. One day, they eventually arrive in present-day Manhattan, pillaging and raiding the city after centuries of inactivity. Now it’s up to Thor and Doctor Strange to get involved in some time travel shenanigans to recruit a team capable of stopping these monsters. Will a Viking woman, a Nazi pilot, and a Crusader be enough to help stop this appalling attack? Also unlike most Marvel Max books, which are set on their own Earth, this one is in the same vein as Alias in the sense that it takes place in the main 616 timeline.
Ennis’ superhero books are always a joy to read since the man notoriously hates superheroes. He didn’t grow up with them, so never grew to have any affection for them. This always makes finding a superhero book by him interesting. This one features Thor and Dr. Strange, with some genuinely hilarious banter coming from the two throughout. My only major complaint about the entire book being Dr. Strange taking a backseat in the latter half of the book, as I thought Ennis wrote him great up until that point. He also treats Thor with more care than I thought he would. He still takes the piss out of both of them at certain points, but Thor & Strange don’t get it nearly as bad as the other Avengers. The most amazing part about this book is the fact it was ever even published honestly. I don’t know how Ennis got this approved or anything but it really does make me happy, it just feels like something that shouldn’t exist. It is filled with an absurd amount of horrific violence, with Glenn Fabry pulling out all the stops to render the chaos in such a terrifying way. He uses repeated imagery at points and while I’d usually call that lazy, it works so damn well here, building up the horror and tension with the pages of a single shot slowly pulling back being spread throughout the book.
I enjoyed this story a lot though, but that shouldn’t have surprised me saying Ennis was the writer. A not-too-complicated time travel story, with violence galore, and Garth Ennis writing both Thor and Dr. Strange pretty well. A Marvel Max comic you should give a chance if you can manage to track it down, as this is one of Ennis’ more well-rounded superhero books. I also still cannot get over the fact this is canon to 616, makes me laugh every single time.
Ennis’ superhero books are always a joy to read since the man notoriously hates superheroes. He didn’t grow up with them, so never grew to have any affection for them. This always makes finding a superhero book by him interesting. This one features Thor and Dr. Strange, with some genuinely hilarious banter coming from the two throughout. My only major complaint about the entire book being Dr. Strange taking a backseat in the latter half of the book, as I thought Ennis wrote him great up until that point. He also treats Thor with more care than I thought he would. He still takes the piss out of both of them at certain points, but Thor & Strange don’t get it nearly as bad as the other Avengers. The most amazing part about this book is the fact it was ever even published honestly. I don’t know how Ennis got this approved or anything but it really does make me happy, it just feels like something that shouldn’t exist. It is filled with an absurd amount of horrific violence, with Glenn Fabry pulling out all the stops to render the chaos in such a terrifying way. He uses repeated imagery at points and while I’d usually call that lazy, it works so damn well here, building up the horror and tension with the pages of a single shot slowly pulling back being spread throughout the book.
I enjoyed this story a lot though, but that shouldn’t have surprised me saying Ennis was the writer. A not-too-complicated time travel story, with violence galore, and Garth Ennis writing both Thor and Dr. Strange pretty well. A Marvel Max comic you should give a chance if you can manage to track it down, as this is one of Ennis’ more well-rounded superhero books. I also still cannot get over the fact this is canon to 616, makes me laugh every single time.
January 20, 2021
(2 of 5 for terrible Thor/Vikings/zombies fanfiction)
I knew about this for quite a time, but my closing intention to read latest Thor's runs helped me to get to it. I like Vikings, Thor is a nice character, this has 5 issues so what can go wrong?
Well, everything. I'm not getting Thor, because he got bitchslapped right from the start and comes back later when he gets his magic potion, straight from the pot, Asterix style.
As always, Ennis only knows the surface of things and decides not to do "do his homework" to tell the story, making crazy shit up as long as it's brutal and bloody. I don't mind some "author's creativity per se, but there is a difference being loose on something or making things up with purpose and just making shit up. And with Thor: Vikings Ennis is especially strong with making shit up. But with comics, the art could sometimes salvage the lame writing, so did Fabry managed to save Thor: Vikings?
No, hell he didn't. Fabry is terrible, he is some kind of Dillon's brother or something, but I guess he skipped biology class too many times so they gave him for adoption. His art is terrible even for '90s standards, and this comic is 2003. He just decided to go along with Ennis and trade gore for sense.
Ennis and Fabry often wonder how items work, from human anatomy to weapons like whips, arrows or nukes. Fabry is also often confused with basic art principles like perspective or with physics like ballistic, kinetic and so. During the reading, I send a dozen photos of stupid scenes and texts because I needed to ventilate the frustration of how stupid shit this comics is. And it¨s not that "naive" kind of stupidity. It is that "I'm dumb as fuck about how that works but watch me doing it anyway" kind of stupidity.
The lucky thing is they are still experienced comics creators enough to make it work at least as a comic medium. So it is quite readable if you can sustain a high amount of nonsense, which could be fixed or avoided if the authors actually gave a shit and art which not aged well even few years after the release...
I knew about this for quite a time, but my closing intention to read latest Thor's runs helped me to get to it. I like Vikings, Thor is a nice character, this has 5 issues so what can go wrong?
Well, everything. I'm not getting Thor, because he got bitchslapped right from the start and comes back later when he gets his magic potion, straight from the pot, Asterix style.
As always, Ennis only knows the surface of things and decides not to do "do his homework" to tell the story, making crazy shit up as long as it's brutal and bloody. I don't mind some "author's creativity per se, but there is a difference being loose on something or making things up with purpose and just making shit up. And with Thor: Vikings Ennis is especially strong with making shit up. But with comics, the art could sometimes salvage the lame writing, so did Fabry managed to save Thor: Vikings?
No, hell he didn't. Fabry is terrible, he is some kind of Dillon's brother or something, but I guess he skipped biology class too many times so they gave him for adoption. His art is terrible even for '90s standards, and this comic is 2003. He just decided to go along with Ennis and trade gore for sense.
Ennis and Fabry often wonder how items work, from human anatomy to weapons like whips, arrows or nukes. Fabry is also often confused with basic art principles like perspective or with physics like ballistic, kinetic and so. During the reading, I send a dozen photos of stupid scenes and texts because I needed to ventilate the frustration of how stupid shit this comics is. And it¨s not that "naive" kind of stupidity. It is that "I'm dumb as fuck about how that works but watch me doing it anyway" kind of stupidity.
The lucky thing is they are still experienced comics creators enough to make it work at least as a comic medium. So it is quite readable if you can sustain a high amount of nonsense, which could be fixed or avoided if the authors actually gave a shit and art which not aged well even few years after the release...
January 2, 2020
More about evil time traveling vikings than it is about Thor.
After a curse goes wrong, Vikings doomed to sail the seas for centuries finally land in 2003 New York. You think Thor would show up and save the day, but its not that simple. Thankfully Dr Strange steps in to help. It feels like an action movie! Its brutal art with lots of "ironic" violence has this book with an R. This is before Disney bought them and Marvel had to be "family friendly". I liked it. It was fun seeing Thor get his butt kicked. My one complaint would be that it ends kinda quick and I wish they would have used the side characters more. They didn't even use the lady viking!!!
After a curse goes wrong, Vikings doomed to sail the seas for centuries finally land in 2003 New York. You think Thor would show up and save the day, but its not that simple. Thankfully Dr Strange steps in to help. It feels like an action movie! Its brutal art with lots of "ironic" violence has this book with an R. This is before Disney bought them and Marvel had to be "family friendly". I liked it. It was fun seeing Thor get his butt kicked. My one complaint would be that it ends kinda quick and I wish they would have used the side characters more. They didn't even use the lady viking!!!
September 18, 2023
2.5/5.0
May 31, 2014
Estuvo cerca de las tres estrellitas porque dentro de todo me pareció un comic entretenido. Pero los traspiés son tantos, y entorpecen tanto el resultado final, que no puedo darle más que dos estrellitas. Me molesta que tengan poca imaginación a la hora de pensar cómo detener a unos vikingos inmortales. Me molesta que uno de los buenos reclutados para hacerlo sea un piloto de nazi bueno que entiende que Hitler es un hijo de puta (todavía estaba vivo cuando lo "extraen" al presente) pero que justifique la matanza de civiles y millones de personas inocentes para parar una guerra. Me molesta que otro de los guerreros elegidos sea un cruzado que evidentemente actúa sólo por el afán de violencia y que, pese a ser un católico recalcitrante, no tenga problemas en ayudar, a través de hechicería a un dios pagano. Me molesta que aunque sea un comic netamente para adultos sean tan pacatos a la hora de agarrársela contra las religiones en general y contra la asquerosa historia de violencia de la humanidad. En resumen, me parece que Ennis estaba muy poco espabilado cuando se embarcó en este laburo, y menos mal que quedó en mini serie nomás. Mi pregunta ahora es si él mismo le puso pocas ganas desde un principio o si le habrán puesto muchas trabas editoriales y que por eso terminara entregando un laburo tan evidentemente edulcorado. En cuando al dibujo de Fabry, no está mal, sirve a la hora de narrar acción y/o atrocidades, pero sin dudas como historietista no se llega ni a sus propios talones como portadista. En resumen: conviene pasar de largo salvo que se sea MUY incondicional de los autores o el personaje.
August 11, 2016
Regalo de un gran amigo. Una historia cojonuda que se ríe de todo sin tapujos. Grande Ennis, como siempre, y el dibujo es brillante. Thor y Dr. Estraño vs zombis vikingos en la Nueva York del siglo XXI. Brutal.
March 8, 2014
Garth Ennis, onestamente, non vale granché come scrittore, a meno che non amiate le storie di violenza senza alcun rispetto per i personaggi altrui e le loro caratterizzazioni. Cosa ci sia di originale in una nave di vichinghi zombie maledetti che dopo mille anni raggiunge New York e vi porta morte e distruzione, solo Ennis lo sa. Ma si sa, il nome fa vendere, specie a chi di arte sequenziale capisce poco. Thor è una parodia di se stesso, il Dr. Strange è appena meglio delineato. I coprotagonisti sono di un piattume unico. E pensare che considero questa una delle opere più riuscite di Ennis.
Read
July 28, 2011So... I hate Garth Ennis and bloody grotesque horror. And I'm lukewarm on zombies. But all said, this wasn't that bad. If you can ignore the fact that Ennis loves to use sexual violence against women and the manly 'whip it out and measure' fistfights, the story is actually good. Stephen Strange is really the hero of this book, as well as the three descendants. All of them are excellent characters and make this story fascinating. Not my cup of tea but well done.
January 28, 2014
A guilty pleasure. Thor is more a foil to Dr. Strange and others that the lead in this title. Not the best Ennis/Fabry work, but still good.
Amusing side note: copy read was from my library. Someone had gone through and censored cleavage throughout with a black Sharpie, but apparently was okay with the zombie Viking level of violence throughout.
Amusing side note: copy read was from my library. Someone had gone through and censored cleavage throughout with a black Sharpie, but apparently was okay with the zombie Viking level of violence throughout.
September 25, 2020
"The living tire! The living fail!
It is the dead that last forever. "
I learned that this book existed less than an hour ago while browsing Ennis' bibliography and I'm still kinda shocked that it:
A). Was as unrepentantly violent as it was.
and
B). Was as good as it was.
October 31, 2016
Čtivé, krvavé, šablonovité.
September 7, 2023
Garth Ennis and Glenn Fabry craft a pretty weird Thor miniseries set in Marvel's MAX line of comics. The story revolves around a group of Vikings that have been cursed to sail endlessly searching for land until they eventually do find their way ashore again. Except it's centuries later, and the land they've found is present day Manhattan. The Vikings, imbued with supernatural powers, begin to launch a violent conquest of the city, which Thor and the Avengers fail to stop. Thor is approached by Doctor Strange, who proposes an alternative strategy to take on the undead Vikings - time travel. Plucking out histories from the ages, Thor and his ragtag group of heroes fight to defeat Harald Jaekelsson and his plundering army. The story is pretty dumb with the overabundance of violence really being the selling point here. It's not really all that much of a Thor story - he's in it I guess, but there's nothing really new we learn about the Thunderer here. A pretty forgettable Thor story and perhaps one of the odder entries in the MAX line.
September 5, 2024
Me pareció interesante, pero me preocupó bastante que mis alumnos de primaria estén leyendo esto, ya que tiene algunas cositas un poco... Bueno, che, no me parece como para menores de doce. Es un crimen?
January 20, 2018
De longe um dos trabalhos que menos gostei de um dos meus roteiristas prediletos.
May 6, 2021
I'm not sure whether Garth Ennis phones books in or whether he just completely lacks self-awareness, but this was like a parody of his worst tendencies. The concept of tracking down the druid's descendants across time was the only good concept, mostly wasted.
November 9, 2020
The central idea isn't bad, but the problem is that the book takes so long to assemble this team to help Thor fight the vikings that they really don't do much at all.
It's kind of disappointing, since I had initially only read the issue where they are first introduced and was curious for years about what they would end up doing. But they are criminally underutilised and Garth seems to forget their original characterisation, or the fact that most of them come from Medieval Europe, almost at once.
The worst handled is probably the Teutonic Knight who, just before being whisked away from the past, had just burned an entire town down for heresy, screaming about there being only a single way to worship and venerate Christ as he was slashing people to pieces for the heinous crime of "having a slightly different interpretation of the Bible". And then he's just fine hanging out chumming with the Norse Pagan god of Thunder. Without as much as a hint of conflict. This was a MASSIVE wasted opportunity.
The Vikings too are rather meh, with any, very slight, characterisation at all, given to their leader, whom Thor fails to defeat until...he decides to punch him EVEN HARDER and then suddenly he wins.
It's kind of disappointing, since I had initially only read the issue where they are first introduced and was curious for years about what they would end up doing. But they are criminally underutilised and Garth seems to forget their original characterisation, or the fact that most of them come from Medieval Europe, almost at once.
The worst handled is probably the Teutonic Knight who, just before being whisked away from the past, had just burned an entire town down for heresy, screaming about there being only a single way to worship and venerate Christ as he was slashing people to pieces for the heinous crime of "having a slightly different interpretation of the Bible". And then he's just fine hanging out chumming with the Norse Pagan god of Thunder. Without as much as a hint of conflict. This was a MASSIVE wasted opportunity.
The Vikings too are rather meh, with any, very slight, characterisation at all, given to their leader, whom Thor fails to defeat until...he decides to punch him EVEN HARDER and then suddenly he wins.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2012
Ottaen huomioon, että Garth Ennis on yksiä sarjakuvan pahoja poikia, turpaan veto ja raiskaaminen ei varsinaisesti tulleet yllätyksinä.
Ja mikäs siinä, kyllähän sitä mielellään lukee, Thorin kohdalla vaan se tarina näemmä jäi juurikin tuohon.
Viikingit hyökkää-Thor ottaa tattiin-Tohtori Outo heittää pari loitsua- ja konnat voitetaan heittämällä ei varsinaisesti ole mikään kovin dramaattinen stoori.
Ennis ei koita keksiä Preacheria uudestaan vaan kirjoittaa kiltisti vasurilla makkararahat leivän päälle.
Ja kokeneena miehenä tajuaa sen itsekkin, näin ollen alistaja-sadisti-natsi-viikingeistä revitään kaikki irti.
Ja Fabry kuvittaa hienosti sen kuinka messerschmitt hyökkää lentävän viikinkilaivan kimppuun, eikä ne veriroiskeetkaan huonoja ole.
Suomennos on laatu työtä ja Tohtori Oudolla ja kumppaneilla on ihan hauskaa sanailua.
Ne ansiot vaan jäävät tähän.
Ennis ei ole huono, mutta tällä kertaa laiska.
Tarinasta kertoo paljon se, että sen mielenkiintoisimmat ja muistettavimmat osatekijät ovat juman kekka sivuhahmot (eikä nekään nyt NIIN muistettavia ole).
Ja mikäs siinä, kyllähän sitä mielellään lukee, Thorin kohdalla vaan se tarina näemmä jäi juurikin tuohon.
Viikingit hyökkää-Thor ottaa tattiin-Tohtori Outo heittää pari loitsua- ja konnat voitetaan heittämällä ei varsinaisesti ole mikään kovin dramaattinen stoori.
Ennis ei koita keksiä Preacheria uudestaan vaan kirjoittaa kiltisti vasurilla makkararahat leivän päälle.
Ja kokeneena miehenä tajuaa sen itsekkin, näin ollen alistaja-sadisti-natsi-viikingeistä revitään kaikki irti.
Ja Fabry kuvittaa hienosti sen kuinka messerschmitt hyökkää lentävän viikinkilaivan kimppuun, eikä ne veriroiskeetkaan huonoja ole.
Suomennos on laatu työtä ja Tohtori Oudolla ja kumppaneilla on ihan hauskaa sanailua.
Ne ansiot vaan jäävät tähän.
Ennis ei ole huono, mutta tällä kertaa laiska.
Tarinasta kertoo paljon se, että sen mielenkiintoisimmat ja muistettavimmat osatekijät ovat juman kekka sivuhahmot (eikä nekään nyt NIIN muistettavia ole).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2019
So we know this is going to be a Garth Ennis tale because page 1 panel 1, woman being raped.
Then the story is rapey rapey, bit more rape, rape rape rape. Excessive violence. Rape.
(Subtext folks, Thor gets raped too! Ooooh! Edgy!)
Also a medieval untrained magician with very few powers finds a way to create hundreds of super powered super undead mega vikings who can defeat every superhero in the Avengers (and rape them), via a simple blood magic, and... nobody else in the Marvelverse has ever used this same spell?
So, it's rapey bullshit. I mean. Really. This is a turd of a comic. I can't state that strongly enough.
Also, does Garth Ennis have a hard on for Nazis or what?
Then the story is rapey rapey, bit more rape, rape rape rape. Excessive violence. Rape.
(Subtext folks, Thor gets raped too! Ooooh! Edgy!)
Also a medieval untrained magician with very few powers finds a way to create hundreds of super powered super undead mega vikings who can defeat every superhero in the Avengers (and rape them), via a simple blood magic, and... nobody else in the Marvelverse has ever used this same spell?
So, it's rapey bullshit. I mean. Really. This is a turd of a comic. I can't state that strongly enough.
Also, does Garth Ennis have a hard on for Nazis or what?
October 24, 2014
You want some vicious, badass Thor? Read this book.
September 22, 2018
Needed more decapitations.
January 4, 2018
I have to confess, I’ve never been a huge fan of Thor in the comics, mainly due to him almost always being portrayed as a stoic and beefy jock, who spoke “ye olde English “ and, while being a core member of the avengers, always seemed sidelined to me for some reason. However stumbling up on this comic in my local game store during their “post-Christmas “ clearance sale, I was not only intrigued by the two big names featured on the cover, but also by the book’s very attractive price point. I figured what the hell, and bought it to fill my comic haul that day. I came home praying that the money I received from my grandparents the day prior didn’t go to waste. And surprisingly... the comic wasn’t half bad. It’s no where near the quality Mr. Ennis is known for from his AMAZING Punisher Max series, but going into this with expectations as low as rock bottom, I can’t say I regret purchasing it. For starters the art by Glenn Fabry is a classic. It’s not Alex Ross, but it’s iconic and conveys the story well. The writing is good too but as aforementioned, don’t expect the Punisher. It’s just another zombie story, but with a nice twist - Nordic viking warrior zombies! It’s not going to change the industry and blow everyone’s mind, but at least it’s original. The ending is, sadly, super super predictable, hence why it left me slightly underwhelmed. The gore, however, is here and there’s a ton of it, thanks to this title being under the “Max” imprint. All in all this isn’t a must read, but it can be picked up by comic newbies who want to get familiarized with the titular character, without buying An omnibus for a shit ton of money and never finishing it. Thor Max is a very high B-
April 10, 2024
Undead vikings invade Manhattan - Thor (and Doctor Strange) to the rescue!
Garth Ennis made a rare foray into superhero comics with his Preacher artist Glenn Fabry in this relatively-unknown 2003 Thor comic (when he does write for Marvel, he tends to write “street-level” characters like The Punisher and Nick Fury and ignore/slight the more colourful superheroes - this is the man who also wrote The Boys after all!). Unfortunately, I can see why this book is out-of-print and largely forgotten as it’s quite poor.
The storyline is contrived in how this threat emerges in the most superhero-populated city in the Marvel Universe and nobody but Thor (and Doctor Strange) can stop them. The viking zombies causing chaos in Manhattan felt cheesy to the point where I thought I was reading an unproduced Troma movie Ennis had once written!
Glenn Fabry’s art is excellent as it always is. This book is a MAX title, meaning it’s aimed at adult audiences, and Fabry takes full advantage, drawing very gory scenes that you’d almost never see in a Marvel book. His Thor though is weirdly feminine in some scenes.
It’s good to have a lil subversiveness in the Marvel Universe now and then and the art is solid, but Thor: Vikings is still an unremarkable, one-note, predictable, and quite dull Thor adventure. Lesser Ennis then - if you want to read his better Marvel comics, check out his Punisher and Fury books instead.
Garth Ennis made a rare foray into superhero comics with his Preacher artist Glenn Fabry in this relatively-unknown 2003 Thor comic (when he does write for Marvel, he tends to write “street-level” characters like The Punisher and Nick Fury and ignore/slight the more colourful superheroes - this is the man who also wrote The Boys after all!). Unfortunately, I can see why this book is out-of-print and largely forgotten as it’s quite poor.
The storyline is contrived in how this threat emerges in the most superhero-populated city in the Marvel Universe and nobody but Thor (and Doctor Strange) can stop them. The viking zombies causing chaos in Manhattan felt cheesy to the point where I thought I was reading an unproduced Troma movie Ennis had once written!
Glenn Fabry’s art is excellent as it always is. This book is a MAX title, meaning it’s aimed at adult audiences, and Fabry takes full advantage, drawing very gory scenes that you’d almost never see in a Marvel book. His Thor though is weirdly feminine in some scenes.
It’s good to have a lil subversiveness in the Marvel Universe now and then and the art is solid, but Thor: Vikings is still an unremarkable, one-note, predictable, and quite dull Thor adventure. Lesser Ennis then - if you want to read his better Marvel comics, check out his Punisher and Fury books instead.
April 3, 2020
Harald Jaekelsson is a viking whose brutality in battle earned him a curse. As he heads for the New World the curse manifests itself by having a thousand years pass by without Harald and his warriors realising it. Eventually they make it to New York City, but not in the time they expected, but in present day. They still thirst for blood and barely notice that the world around them has changed as they begin the slaughter. Only magic as powerful as the curse that animates them will lead to their demise.
January 5, 2020
Última Leitura S04E07 - Thor: Vikings, de Garth Ennis e Glenn Fabry. Esse gibi é um misto de emoções. Primeiro pelo texto do Ennis, que sempre disse que despreza super-heróis, e ele prova isso mais uma vez com uma das maiores surras que o Thor toma em toda a sua história. E é pra um Viking zumbi. Junta com o maravilhoso desenho do Fabry, com seu estilo próprio, ele faz um Thor muito bonito, e alguns Vikings assustadores. Juntando os dois temos uma história muito divertida e sanguinolenta. Acredito que tenha sido a única apresentação do Thor no selo Marvel MAX, e acho que o estilo de história não poderia ter sido melhor pra esse selo. Um gibi bonito e divertido pra se ter na coleção.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2024
I enjoyed this a lot more than I anticipated. I bought it as a bit of a curio. I'm a big fan of Ennis' Punisher MAX run, but the man has something of a reputation for edgy stuff. So, I was morbidly interested to see his take here. And it's actually a lot of fun! And not particularly mature, especially in comparison to his other MAX title. Crucially, it doesn't feel like it's been phoned in and it gives Ennis a chance to talk history and even venture into his other favourite topic: World War 2. It's worth a read.
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May 31, 2020Mira que es bruto Garth Ennis. Este “Thor contra los zombis vikingos del tiempo” vendría a ser un antecesor espiritual de Crossed, Vol. 1. Abstenerse almas sensibles o de koala.
No lo puntúo porque (casi) nunca sé cómo puntar cómics superheroicos.
No lo puntúo porque (casi) nunca sé cómo puntar cómics superheroicos.
May 8, 2018
An all-time favourite of mine. I first read this digitally in my dark room as a broody teen and it certainly appealed to me then. It's brutal and something different to your usual Thor. Something I appreciate. I'm going to challenge myself on this one and re-read it to see if I get the same feels and rate it just as highly. Watch this space.
March 16, 2022
Man, what a fun book. Eveything that you would wait from Garth Ennis on this one, you get it.
Zombie Vikings, magic, norse gods, violence, blood, gore and some fun touches made this some of the best Max's titles.
And Glenn Fabry art is great. Look a lot as the if the late Steve Dillon's (Ennis's partner in crime) was doing it. Go get it, you'll enjoy it.
Zombie Vikings, magic, norse gods, violence, blood, gore and some fun touches made this some of the best Max's titles.
And Glenn Fabry art is great. Look a lot as the if the late Steve Dillon's (Ennis's partner in crime) was doing it. Go get it, you'll enjoy it.
February 5, 2017
Good premise and storyline, but gratuitous gore beyond what a MAX tag called for and a cheap shot at the sitting president in 2003.
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