1/3/11

The Mighty Thor!

This, folks, is my first ever Thor action figure!

I bought this Marvel Universe Thor for myself as a Christmas present to, well, myself, a few days before Christmas.

I have an interesting history with Thor. My subconscious tells me that the first comic book I ever read was a Thor comic book. I'm not sure if that is a fact, but I do know that Thor is probably the first superhero introduced to me solely via the comic book medium.

Batman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk, Spider-Man, and even Captain America were all gracing the silver and small screen before and during my earliest years. I was most likely aware of all of them before I was ever handed a comic book representing any of those colorful heroes. Yet I know I saw Thor in comic form long before seeing him in any other format - in fact my only exposure to Thor in 'real' form was when he appeared in a Hulk tv special years after that series' initial run (having never seen any of those cheap sixties limited animation Marvel cartoons until adulthood.)

So as a child I knew Thor and I liked Thor, but I spent my entire youth with him existing solely in the world of comics. If not the first comic book I ever read, he has at least ingrained himself as the epitome of the 'comic book' superhero. Gaudy outfit, huge flowing cape, a strange way of speaking and phenomenal powers. The stuff of pure imagination, without help of special effects or animated magic.

All that being what it is, I have never liked any Thor action figure released before now. None of them could stand up against what my mind molded and fleshed out into a real entity as one of my earliest super hero idols.

I admit that even this Marvel Universe Thor falls a little short, but only a little. I would prefer something more in line with Jack Kirby's earliest Thor art, but this Thor figure is the best yet and certainly the first Thor I ever felt compelled to own: true Viking aesthetics, imposing stature, a rugged and manly yet handsome face, and of course a skull smashing Mjolnir forged by the gods themselves, this Thor is an impressive hero that I am glad to have finally added to my collection.

3 comments:

  1. I think my first exposure to Thor was the movie "Adventures In Babysitting".

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  2. I have this figure too Bubba and like you i would of loved a Kirby version but this one is a pretty decent.

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  3. Hey! This figure made my top 10 of 2010 list over at About.com! Great minds, bro... ;)

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