At the end of Randy Jackson's "Walt Simonson's Thor" discussion last year, I posted: "I'm waffling between "Dan Jurgens' Thor" and "Walt Simonson's Ragnarok." I've finally made up my mind. Before I get to it, though, I would like to re-read Dark Horse's Norse Mythology series (18 issues total) by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell and others as a warm-up. I pause now to complete that task...
Replies
I first read the Ragnarok saga in a school library 60 years ago. The thought that gods could die -- nay, knew they would die -- was more compelling than anything that I read in the Greco-Roman stuff. It enraptured me. I was a Thor fan before I was a Thor fan.
I have, of course, read many versions of the Norse myths since. Variant translations of the Elder and Poetic eddas, Interpretations from other cultures (Teutonic, Finnish, Swedish, etc.), many version of Der Ring des Nibelungen, and so forth. So I'm no academic master when it comes to these stories, but I'm no amateur, either.
And what I came away with from these books is that P. Craig Russell's work was glorious and magnificent and eye-popping, as usual. But Gaiman's contribution, I thought, was written for children. It is the least sophisticated version I have ever read.
That's my opinion. Come at me if you like.
The credits confuse me:
Story and Words by NEIL GAIMAN
Script and Layouts by P. CRAIG RUSSELL
What's the difference between "Words" and "Script"?
I remember discussing the prose version of this book when it came out. I wouldn't disagree that it was written for children, but I think that's more of a feature than a bug.
My guess would be: Gaiman wrote the Norse Mythology prose book. So he wrote those words, and created (or rather adapted) the story.
But then Russell took that text and, retaining Gaiman's word choices, trimmed it and arranged it and edited it to be a script. Which he then worked from to make the art.
Whenever I am about to begin a "Thor" reading project, I almost always preface it by re-reading "Tales of Asgard"... especially since it was recolored using modern techniques. I read it as individual issues, then again when it was collected in hardcover, then again before finishing off Randy Jackson's aforementioned "Walt Simonson's Thor" discussion.
I gave it a pass this time, however, in favor of the "Warrior's Three" stories by Alan Zelenetz and Charles Vess. As difficult as it was not to read "Tales of Asgard" yet again, I couldn't pass "Warriors Three" because P. Craig Russell and Charles Vess' style are so complementary; the Norse Mythology collections flow right into Warriors Three Premiere Edition.
Here is what I had to say about the "Warrior's Three" stories back in 2019's "Marvel Fanfare" discussion:
#13: “Tales of Asgard” by Alan Zelenetz and Charles Vess. Bragi, the God of Poetry, has gone missing, and the Warriors Three need to find him before the festival. Marvel has tried to resurrect Lee and Kirby’s old “Tales of Asgard” series from time to time, mostly unsuccessfully. This is one of the few times it works. All of Zelenetz and Vess’s tales have been collected in a “Marvel Premiere Edition” hardcover.
#34-37: These four issues I bought new because: Charles Vess. Vess was born to do the Warriors Three and the Warriors Three were created to be drawn by Vess. In 2010, the late, lamented (by me) Marvel Premiere Classics Library line reprinted all four of these issues, plus #13, plus Marvel Spotlight #30 in volume 49 of the hardcover series. The only thing missing was The Raven Banner graphic novel.