Review by Ian Keogh
George O’Connor continues his explanation of Asgardian gods with a look at Thor, in comics at least, the most famous of them all. He was briefly seen in Odin, and O’Connor has been careful to avoid any resemblance to the Marvel character. Here Thor is red-headed, he rides his goat-pulled chariot, his hammer has a completely different design and his title logo is in runic script. He’s also boastful, but best not to call him out on his exaggerations as you don’t want to anger the quick-tempered son of Odin as he’s also the strongest of the Norse gods.
He’s the best narrator of his own stories, in which of course he’s always the hero, but O’Connor illustrates them in a way showing how little he cares for others, and while he always emerges smiling, not everyone else does. Loki accompanies Thor in some tales here, not visually resembling his Marvel counterpart, but closer to him in character as a trickster. We also meet his counterpart, in a glorious tale of chicanery and deception. Loki features so often, in fact, that there may not be enough stories left for his own later volume.
The primary source of the Norse myths as we know them today are the stories collected by Snorri Sturlson in the 13th century as the Prose Edda, and they provide O’Connor’s source material. He brings out the humour through his cartooning, Thor frequently reduced to a buffoon despite his fearsome strength. As O’Connor points out in his afterword, it’s an equally valid interpretation of the source material.
A bunch of fun stories framed by a sequence of Thor attempting to persuade a ferryman to transport him across a lake are completed by considerable back of the book material. O’Connor explains his sources, Norse terms, and where he’s deviated into interpretation rather than strictly following the legends. These are a bunch of great stories by any reckoning, and O’Connor really brings them to life, and not just for the intended young adult audience.
