Thor #600 (2007)

What is Thor #600? Pomp and circumstance, triple-sized, with high-octane battle scenes (not to mention well crafted duplicity, two new backup stories -- one by Stan Lee -- and several reprints from the early days). Marvel pulls out all of the stops to celebrate Thor, and it works. The opening story pits Thor against Bor, who is Thor’s grandfather. Michael Straczynski finally gives us a foe worthy of Thor…a Thor so cosmically powerful now (he created the new Asgard by his lonesome) that his past foes (like Crusher Creel, Mr. Hyde, and others) all look like children. Strapped by this dilemma, Straczynski has avoided pitched battle scenes, and concentrated on heightening subterfuge instead. Nice idea, especially with finally giving Loki his due, though the down side is that it has slowed the pace of the series to a crawl…and how many scenes of Doctor Don Blake can we watch? I’ll avoid digressing more, but I will say that this issue goes back to the basics, highlighting the Asgardian appeal of the character, with their cultural need for battle to help define oneself. Refreshing...Thank you, Michael. As for why this is issue #600? I don’t know…since they don’t count the “Journey Into Mystery” issues that ended the original series, even as they do count the earliest ones. Interesting…and arbitrary.