Comics
Published June 29, 2020

Read Jason Aaron's Complete Thor Saga

Dive into 7 years of stories, including 'Thor: God of Thunder,' 'Unworthy Thor,' Jane Foster’s run as the 'Mighty Thor,' and 'War of the Realms’!

Over the years, Jason Aaron has become one of the most prolific writers at the House of Ideas, penning the adventures of some of the most prominent characters around. Over the past decade or so, he's tackled Wolverine, the X-Men, Hulk, Ghost Rider, the PunisherThanos, Doctor Strange, and the Avengers, but—as of now—the character he's spent the most time with is Thor!

The first and last solo issues of Jason Aaron's seven-year run with Thor
The first and last solo issues of Jason Aaron's seven-year run with the God of Thunder.

Aaron began working on the classic version of the character in 2012 with THOR: GOD OF THUNDER, but then went on to shepherd the lightning lord through a series of ongoings, travels through time, an identity crisis, a new person wielding the hammer, and even a war across all ten realms!

While he's still riding the lightning in AVENGERS (2018), we're going to run through all of Aaron's Thor books in chronological order so you can follow along from the beginning! 

THE GOD BUTCHER

Aaron began his work on Thor with the GOD OF THUNDER series in 2012. Over the course of the first 11 issues (collected in the GOD BUTCHER and GODBOMB trades), the modern Odinson got wrapped up in a battle with Gorr, the God-Butcher who wanted mortal beings to depend on themselves instead of the gods that he felt betrayed him during his life. Gorr proved such a dangerous and persistent foe, bolstered by his possession of the mighty All-Black the Necrosword, that he faced Thor back in 893 A.D., in the present, and even towards the end of the galaxy when Thor had become King of a mostly dead Asgard! 

Gorr versus Thor in THOR: GOD OF THUNDER (2012) #2.
THOR: GOD OF THUNDER (2012) #2

To stop Gorr's time-spanning Godbomb—unwillingly built by Shadrack, god of bombs—the current Thor teamed up with Young Thor, King Thor, and even the latter's granddaughters Frigg, Ellisiv, and Atli to finally defeat the God-Butcher, though they could only bury the Necrosword, not destroy it...

THE ACCURSED 

After a bit of a respite in issue #12's "Once Upon A Time In Midgard," mags #13-18 reintroduced a villain whose machinations would fully come to fruition several years later: Malekith. The Dark Elf not only freed himself from a spider-guarded prison in Hel, but struck the first blow in what would become the War of the Realms, which resulted in the creation of the League of Realms, an action squad with one individual from each of the realms.  

Though Thor and the others attempted to quash Malekith's plans right away, his ascension to the throne of the Dark Elves led to political problems and, eventually, freedom. Along the way, readers got a taste of exactly how far Malekith would go to see every realm touched by war and the extent of his plans to make it all happen. More of this later...

LAST DAYS OF MIDGARD  

From there, the Young Thor of 894 A.D. dealt with libations and monsters in "Days of Wine and Dragons" (in issue #18) which led directly into the final GOD OF THUNDER arc, "Last Days of Midgard!" In this, S.H.I.E.L.D. environmental agent Roz Solomon—who debuted in ish #12—investigated Roxxon and its nefarious CEO Dario "Minotaur" Agger with some help from Thor.  

Meanwhile, in the far future, King Thor fought the likes of Galactus to save Midgard in an attempt to resurrect his favorite place in all the cosmos with some help from an entity that nearly killed them all not long before, All-Black the Necrosword.  

ORIGINAL SIN 

While not solely a Thor book, the Aaron-penned ORIGINAL SIN played an enormous part in the character's journey. After Uatu the Watcher was assassinated, a group of heroes began investigating, including Thor.  

Thor enters the Tenth Realm.
ORIGINAL SIN (2014) #5.1

The series also included a number of offshoot stories like the one in ORIGINAL SIN #5.1-5.5 by Aaron and Al Ewing. This story more firmly established Angela and the realm of Heven into the ongoing Thor mythos.  

Back in ORIGINAL SIN, everything changed for the Odinson when Nick Fury whispered something in his ear that made him unworthy of Mjolnir! What might have seemed like a small moment actually led to a total upheaval of the Odinson's life—and the mysterious new Thor that took his place! GOD OF THUNDER officially ended with issue #25, and though it seemed to tell a series of quick vignettes, these tales laid the groundwork for volumes of Thor stories to come!  

WHO IS THOR!?

Between ORIGINAL SIN and SECRET WARS, a new THOR (2014) series debuted and lasted for eight issues. Throughout this entire run, the identity of the new female Thor remained a mystery to everyone, including the readers. Still, this new Thor took on Frost Giants, Dario Agger, the Destroyer and, briefly, a very angry Odinson.

She also managed to befriend Roz Solomon, tick off Odin, and ingratiate herself to many heroes. Just before all of reality went topsy turvy in SECRET WARS, readers learned that it was actually Jane Foster under the helmet, even though it was killing her as a person going through cancer treatments. This arc also featured the distraught Odinson losing his left arm to Malekith in battle and getting an uru replacement.  

Jane Foster wields Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor!
THOR (2014) #1

To round things out, Aaron wrote the King Thor story in THOR ANNUAL (2015) #1, which carried on his desire to see Midgard live on into the incredibly far future.  

THORS  

In SECRET WARS, it was established that, when the Ultimate Universe destroyed the main Marvel Universe, Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and Molecule Man struggled to build a patchwork Battleworld from pieces of alternate realities. Many of those worlds had versions of Thor and Doom that managed to take control of them, making Thors the peacekeeping organization of the realm.  

Aaron brought his talents to the SECRET WARS tie-in THORS (2015), which found a series of alternate reality Thors trying to solve a murder mystery. More importantly to the overall Aaron-Thor story, this tie-in introduced the Ultimate version of Mjolnir into the reconstituted Earth-616 after the events of SECRET WARS.  

THUNDER IN HER VEINS 

Thanks to some incredible heroics, the Marvel Universe got back to something like normal after SECRET WARS. But even the massive cosmic reset still left Jane Foster with cancer. It was revealed that, while she turned into a physically perfect Thor when she transformed, her body purged the chemotherapy that was helping her mortal self heal. The process did not remove the cancer itself because it was part of her on a cellular level. So, every time she changed, it actually set her therapy back by leaps and bounds.  

That, however, did not stop her from doing her best to serve Midgard, Asgard, and all the other realms both as Thor and as Earth's representative in the Congress of Worlds. At the same time that Malekith continued to build his forces, Thor dealt with opposition from Asgard itself, a visit from Loki, treason charges against Lady Freyja, and a full-on battle with Odin that unwittingly gave the Mischief God time to stab his step-mother in the back...and that was just in the first five issues of MIGHTY THOR (2015)!

Jane Foster summons the power of Thor when disaster strikes.
MIGHTY THOR (2015) #1

LORDS OF MIDGARD 

The second arc of MIGHTY THOR started off with Loki telling his ally Darrio Agger about one of his own adventures from 896 A.D. That two-parter (in issues #6-7) showed the effects dragon blood could have an a warrior, something the Roxxon CEO made note of as part of Malekith's Dark Cabal.  

In mags #8-11, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began questioning Foster about being Thor while Agger ran afoul of some of the ridiculously wealthy and evil business people of Earth. Both of these threads came together in a tale that almost saw a plummeting Roxxon Island destroy Manhattan (even with Agger's dragon blood-infused minions trying to protect him)! 

The standalone "The Untold Origin of Mjolnir" (ish #12) saw Thor learn the secret history of her weapon/companion in the Halls of the All-Knowing in Omnipotence City. There, she came to understand that Odin had defeated the God Tempest, the Mother of Lightning before having it combined with uru and forged by dwarves. It became a weapon so powerful and unwieldy that it was all but left alone until his son began hearing its call.  

THE UNWORTHY THOR 

Teased in the first arc of MIGHTY THOR, readers finally got another glimpse of the Odinson in UNWORTHY THOR (2016), a five-issue series that also picked up on a few threads from THORS. After smiting some trolls on the moon, the Odinson received word from the Unseen (the being previously known as Nick Fury) about another hammer's existence on Old Asgard.  

The Ultimate Mjolnir had landed there, but the Collector got to it first...and stole the whole place! He then imprisoned Thor in hopes of getting the Asgardian to somehow activate its power. After struggling with his identity, Thor managed to overcome his hammer-madness and worked with Beta Ray Bill, Thori the Hel-Hound, and Toothgnasher the goat to defeat Collector—as well as a disguised Hela and Thanos' minions Black Swan and Proxima Midnight. After realizing the new hammer didn't truly belong to him, Odinson managed to free Old Asgard and left the weapon there for the War Thor to hoist it.

The Unseen talks to Thor.
THE UNWORTHY THOR (2016) #1

This series also answered the mystery of what Fury said to Thor back during ORIGINAL SIN to make him unworthy: "Gorr was right," meaning that mortals truly don't need gods—something Odinson has (and will continue to) struggle with for all his days. 

THE ASGARD/SHI'AR WAR  

While Odinson battled for his sanity, and later his freedom, Thor had her own adventures. MIGHTY THOR (2015) #13-14 saw a rejuvenated League of Realms take form with members like Angela, Sif, and Roz Solomon, among others. In their attempt to save the Light Elf queen, they ran afoul of a former member turned into Kurse by Malekith.  

From there, things got even crazier as Gladiator and his Imperial Guard invaded Asgard to kidnap Thor (issues #15-19). As it turned out, the Shi'ar gods Sharra and K'ythri wanted her to compete in the Challenge of the Gods! Though Thor wanted to leave, they threatened to harm innocents if she did...so she stuck around. That is, until the completely vapid and pointless destruction brought about by these prima donna deities led to her revolt! Thankfully, the Asgardians decided to show the bird brains what happens when you steal one of their own and showed up en force. Thanks to some assistance from Quentin Quire and Odinson, the two groups worked together to stop the Phoenix's rampage after the Shi'ar gods unleashed her!  

This arc also saw Roz replacing Jane on the Congress of Worlds, Jane and Odinson making up, the near-rise of Queen Sindr in Muspelheim, and Mangog racing through space towards Asgard!

THE WAR THOR 

When Malekith arranged for the fire demons of Muspelheim to attack a refugee camp of Light Elves in the land of the dwarves, scores of innocents died—including a group of children Volstagg vowed to protect. His sorrow led him to the Ultimate Universe Mjolnir which turned him into the War Thor (seen in MIGHTY THOR #20-23). With unimaginable power, he attacked Sindr's realm, Nidavellir, tearing through the fire demons as well as their allies Enchantress and Ulik. Though near death, Jane turned back into Thor and eventually managed to convince him to stop his rampage before it hurt innocents.  

Around this same time, Aaron also penned GENERATIONS: THE UNWORTHY THOR AND THE MIGHTY THOR (2017) which came about in the wake of SECRET EMPIRE. This issue featured the current Thor traveling back to Ancient Egypt to fight Apocalypse and Loki alongside a pre-worthy Thor!  

THE DEATH OF THOR  

For the final arc of MIGHTY THOR, the numbering switched over to the legacy count making a jump from #23 to...#700! In that final story, Aaron paid off so many incredible story elements both epic and heartfelt. In issues #700-706, Malekith's path to the War of the Realms seemed all but assured, especially as Mangog landed on Old Asgard. Volstagg returned to his War Thor form to stop the beast, but ultimately failed. Malekith then told Mangog where to find the rest of the Asgardians, leading to a far more dangerous and deadly rampage.  

The fate of all the Thors hang in the balance!
MIGHTY THOR (2015) #700

Though she knew one more transformation would kill her, Jane Foster became Thor and flew off to save her adopted home. To that end, she tethered the monster with uru cable, attached it to Mjolnir and threw it into the sun, an act that destroyed the hammer and killed Jane. However, in a fit of mourning, Odin resuscitated her, allowing Foster to remain a mortal fighting cancer without the difficulties of becoming Thor. This also facilitated Odinson's return as Thor, though with only a spec of Mjolnir left.  

The MIGHTY THOR: AT TTHE GATES OF VALHALLA (2018) #1 one-shot continued the celebration of Jane's time as the God of Lightning with King Thor's granddaughters paying her a visit from the future, and Malekith learning of his enemy's death and return.  

GOD OF THUNDER REBORN

The Odinson may have regained his title in the pages of THOR (2018), but he was still without a hammer. To remedy that, he had an army of dwarves continually building new versions for him to wield. At the same time, Roz and Jane oversaw refugees from other realms arriving in the Bronx. More dramatically, Loki brought Thor and Thori to Hel where he reunited with Balder and the Executioner. 

Balder enters the fray with Skurge!
THOR (2018) #1

These issues also continued the saga of King Thor in the far future and his attempts to keep his recently resurrected Midgard going. In mags #5-6, All-Father Thor reunited with his old friend Wolverine, who had bonded with the Phoenix, and tussled with Doom, now the Iron Fist, Sorcerer Supreme, and the Starbrand. Logan's sacrifice gave Thor enough power to fight and eventually defeat Doom inside the very Earth they fought over! Meanwhile, Loki proved so terrible and cunning that he managed to convince Ego the Necroplanet to give over the Necrosword powers.  

AVENGERS: THE FINAL HOST

One month before THOR launched, the title character got back together with some old friends in another Aaron-written title: AVENGERS (2018)! The first six-issue arc of that series found the team learning about Earth's true origins in relation to the Celestials, a lesson imparted in part by none other than Loki. Aaron also continued to grow the idea of an Avengers team from one millions year ago (and led by Odin) that was initially presented in MARVEL LEGACY (2017).

Part of the mission included Thor taking Jen "Hulk" Walters with him to Old Asgard where they acquired the Blood of Ymir and also kindled a bit of a romantic relationship! Ultimately, the team came together with their various resources to defeat a new host of invading Celestials! 

THE ROAD TO WAR

After years of build-up, the WAR OF THE REALMS was set to boil over, but not before a few more tales came to light. THOR (2018) #7 saw Young Thor falling in love with a human as part of an Odin-approved plan from Loki to get the godling to forsake Midgard and focus on Asgard. In ish #8, Thor went through hell to save his sister Angela from the prisons of Heven. Starting with issue #9, Roz Solomon agreed to work for Black Panther and his Agents of Wakanda, a kind of sister organization to the Avengers (which were backed by the African nation).  

After a meeting with Odin that proved less emotional and more knuckle-bloodying in mighty mag #10, Thor did get some quality time with the All-Mother Freyja. Before the war broke out, though, readers learned that Jane Foster was cancer-free and saw Thor drop his chunk of Mjolnir into the sun, which seemed to grow into a tree-shaped object!  

During this time, Thor also continued deal with AVENGERS business in issues #8-12 (as seen in AVENGERS VOLUME 2: WORLD TOUR) and issues #14-17 (collected in AVENGERS VOLUME 3: WAR OF THE VAMPIRES). In that time he helped fight Namor and his underwater forces, had a heart-to-heart with Captain Marvel, and got to know Jen Walters better on a date in ish #11. Meanwhile, AVENGERS #12 established the rest of the Agents of Wakanda in addition to Roz and another silent, yet familiar face: Odin! Before the War of the Realms, Thor also assisted his team in fighting off bloodsuckers in the War of the Vampires (in mags #14-17).  

THE WAR OF THE REALMS

Seven years after Aaron began laying the groundwork, the WAR OF THE REALMS fully erupted in 2019 with a main title, several limited series, and ongoing tie-ins including THOR (2018) #12-14 and AVENGERS (2018) #18-20. What caused all the fuss? Malekith brought the combined might of the Dark Elves, Frost Giants, Trolls, Angels and Fire Demons straight to Midgard!  

The Odinson swears vengeance for all Ten Realms!

After a period of intense sacrifice that took his eye as well as the last piece of Mjolnir, Thor knew to call on King Thor and Young Thor to finish Malekith. They were joined by Jane Foster who had been transformed once again by the War Thor Hammer. They all fought valiantly—and even received some unexpected help from Loki—but the tides finally shifted when a new Mjolnir shot out of the sun for Thor to wield! After the victory, Odin passed on the title of All-Father to his son!  

In addition to WAR OF THE REALMS, THOR, and AVENGERS, Aaron also wrote the Daredevil-centric "God Without Fear" tale that spanned the WAR SCROLLS three-issue limited series as well as the conclusion piece in WAR OF THE REALMS OMEGA. In that same issue he worked with Al Ewing to transform Jane Foster into Valkyrie, wielder of Undrjarn, the All-Weapon, created from the old War Thor hammer!  

FARE WELL

Aaron shuttered THOR with issue #15-16 in the wake of the War, but did a lot of work in those issues before closing up shop! Loki took over the throne of the Frost Giants after killing his father Laufey. Down in Hel, the new queens Hela and Karnilla arranged a unique punishment for Malekith; the evil architect of the war was chained and forced to watch his younger self get torn to shreds by mad dogs. In reality, though, the boy he once was was allowed to frolic peacefully in a meadow!  

Meanwhile, Thor spoke to Mjolnir and wondered what exactly it was now that much of the Storm God had been released. The biggest surprise of all, though, came when Odin embraced all three Thors from throughout time and said he was proud of them. In the final issue, Thor helped out on Earth while a post-war party raged on Asgard.

BEYOND!

Jason Aaron's run on THOR ended with #16 in 2019, but that wasn't quite the end of his involvement in Asgardian affairs. He's co-written every issue of VALKYRIE: JANE FOSTER (2019) (first with Ewing and then Torunn Gronbekk). He also continues to fight the good fight in AVENGERS.

Aaron put a true end to his series with the four-part KING THOR (2019) limited series. Without giving too much away, he crafted an epic story that not only dealt with his own run on the character—going all the way back to the "Godbomb" arc—but also digging into the never-ending love Thor has for his very complicated brother Loki. 

King Thor versus King Loki of the future!
KING THOR (2019) #1

Endings are always difficult, but after so many years with the Odinson, Aaron brought the thunder to this finale! 

Read the entire run on Marvel Unlimited today! Now here's the full rundown of collected editions...

The Complete Collection

  • Thor By Jason Aaron The Complete Collection Volume 1 (Thor: God of Thunder #1-18) 
  • Thor By Jason Aaron The Complete Collection Volume 2 (Thor: God of Thunder #19-25, Thor (2014) #1-8, Thor Annual #1 and Thors #1-4) 

Thor: God Of Thunder (2012-2015) 

  • Thor: God Of Thunder Volume 1: The God Butcher (#1-5) 
  • Thor: God Of Thunder Volume 2: Godbomb (#6-11) 
  • Thor: God Of Thunder Volume 3: The Accursed (#12-18) 
  • Thor: God Of Thunder Volume 4: The Last Days of Midgard (#19-25) 
  • Thor: God of Thunder Volume 1 (#1-11) 
  • Thor: God Of Thunder Volume 2 (#12-25) 

Original Sin (2014) 

  • Original Sin #0-8 (2014) 
  • Original Sin: Thor & Loki - The Tenth Realm (Original Sin #5.1-5.5 2014) 

Thor (2014-2015) 

  • Thor #1-8, Annual #1 (2014-2105) 
  • Thor Volume 1: The Goddess Of Thunder (#1-5) 
  • Thor Volume 2: Who Holds The Hammer (#6-8, Annual #1) 
  • Thor By Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman Volume 1 (Thor #1-8, Annual #1) 

Secret Wars (2015-2016) 

  • Thors: Secret Wars Battleworld (Thors #1-4 2015-2016) 

The Mighty Thor (2016-2018) 

  • The Mighty Thor Volume 1: Thunder In Her Veins (#1-5) 
  • The Mighty Thor Volume 2: Lords Of Midgard (#6-12) 
  • The Mighty Thor Volume 3: The Asgard/Shi-Ar War (#13-19) 
  • Unworthy Thor TPB (#1-5) 
  • The Mighty Thor Volume 4: The War Thor (#20-23, Generations: Unworthy Thor And Mighty Thor #1) 
  • The Mighty Thor Volume 5: The Death Of The Mighty Thor (#700-706, Mighty Thor At The Gates Of Valhalla #1) 
  • Thor By Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman Volume 2 (Mighty Thor #1-12) 
  • Thor By Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman Volume 3 (Mighty Thor #13-23, #700-706, Generations: Unworthy Thor & Mighty Thor and Mighty Thor At The Gates Of Valhalla) 

Thor (2018-2019) 

  • Thor Vol. 1: God Of Thunder Reborn (#1-6) 
  • Thor Vol 2: Road To War Of The Realms (#7-11) 
  • Thor Vol 3: War's End (#12-16)

War of the Realms 

  • War of the Realms (2019) 

Beyond!  

  • King Thor (2019-2020) 
  • Valkyrie: Jane Foster Volume 1: The Sacred And The Profane (#1-5) 
  • Valkyrie: Jane Foster Volume 2: At The End Of All Things (#6-10) 
  • Avengers #1-ongoing (2018-present) 
  • Avengers Volume 1: The Final Host (#1-6) 
  • Avengers Volume 2: World Tour (#7-12) 
  • Avengers Volume 3: War of the Vampires (#13-17) 
  • Avengers Volume 4: War of the Realms (#18-21, FCBD Story) 
  • Avengers Volume 5: Challenge of the Ghost Riders (#22-25, All-New Ghost Rider #1) 
  • Avengers Volume 6: Star Brand Reborn (#26-30) 
  • Avengers Volume 7: Age of Khonshu (#31-37) 

Hit your local comic shop for all of these mighty mags and more! 

Jason Aaron's Thor
Jason Aaron's Thor
Behold! The entire reading chronology of Jason Aaron’s epic tenure on Thor, curated for your reading pleasure! Dive in with these dazzling Tales from Asgard, and conclude with the War of the Realms event, on sale now!
Explore

Related

Nine Marvel Comics to Read on VeVe's New Digital Comics Platform

Comics

Nine Marvel Comics to Read on VeVe's New Digital Comics Platform

'Ultimate Spider-Man' #1, 'Avengers' #1, and 'Immortal Thor' #1 are just a few of our favorite comics that are now available on VeVe Comics.

'Marvel: What If… Loki Was Worthy?: A Loki and Valkyrie Story' cover

Culture & Lifestyle

'Marvel: What If… Loki Was Worthy?' Exclusive Excerpt Reveals Thor's Secret Child

In an exclusive excerpt from Madeleine Roux's 'Marvel: What If… Loki Was Worthy?: A Loki and Valkyrie Story,' Odin and Frigga learn that Thor fathered a child before he died.

Our Complete Comics Guide to 'X-Men: The Animated Series’ S3 on Disney+

Comics

Our Complete Comics Guide to 'X-Men: The Animated Series’ S3 on Disney+

Head to Marvel Unlimited to binge the comics behind the cartoon.

BLACK WIDOW & HAWKEYE #1 cover by Stephen Segovia

Comics

March 13's New Marvel Comics: The Full List

Celebrate Hawkeye and Black Widow's 60th anniversary, meet the new Ghost Rider, and more in this week's comics!