Radiant Comics

I’m back from the comic shop this week and I got no new comics but I did get a giant hard cover collection:

And now for a review of something I’ve read recently.

“Thor: The Warriors Three” by Alan Zelenetz and Charles Vess

The first story in this book is a one shot issue of “Marvel Spotlight” from 1976 by Len Wein and John Buscema. The rest is five “Marvel Fanfare” issues from 1984 and 87-88. This is the second of three impulse buys of old Thor stories that I purchased recently. The “Marvel Spotlight” issue actually ties into the first Thor book I bought “Thor: If Asgard Should Perish” by Len Wein and John Buscema. That was a nice coincidence as I read that issue when I saw it fit in with the other Thor book.

I mainly bought this book for the Charles Vess art. I don’t have a lot of examples of his work but I’ve always liked it. I was not a regular reader of “Marvel Fanfare” beyond it’s first year or so so I’ve never seen theses issues which are 13, and 34-37.

The stories are all about Thor’s three friends Volstagg, Fandrall, and Hogan. They’re kind of a buddy team of Asgardian gods. The stories are not much to write home about. They’re not bad but they’re not up my alley. The main four issue story is a fantasy tale of Thor’s brother Loki trying to stop a wedding so that bad luck will befall Asgard, home of the gods. We get an issue each of the Warriors Three going on their own individual quests and then they all get together with Thor to defeat Loki. If you like folklore-like fantasy quests you might like this.

It is the art that is the draw for me. Vess doesn’t have a style like most comic book illustrators as his stuff is more influenced by older illustrators and fantasy artists. He’s got a sort of thin-lined, decorative, adventurous style that can be really pretty. The fourth issue of the final story is especially nice looking. Vess opens up things with large panels and the Warriors Three fight a dragon. The color is at it’s most effective here too. Worth the price of admission.

So unless you’re a fantasy fan I wouldn’t be looking for a great read with this volume. But if you’re a Charles Vess fan or a fan of comic art in general this is definitely worth a look.