20 times Thor was the best Marvel superhero

Thor (Image via Marvel)

7. When he succumbed to 1990s costuming

Even Thor couldn’t escape the strangeness of 1990s comic books. Besides all of the over the top stories that came to resemble a histrionic, muscular soap opera, he also found himself wearing some unfortunate costumes.

Now, a reboot or redesign done well is perfectly fine. There’s no reason to read the same character going through the same stories over and over, you know. Yet, it often seemed as if the creative decisions made during the 1990s comics era were there only for surface value.

Need an example? Then let’s turn to Thor during the period when he was dealing with the “Godpack”, yet another superhero team. This particular group appeared during 1994, when both Marvel and DC, along with other comics companies, were experiencing dramatically reduced sales.

In response to poor numbers, both companies resorted to some truly awful gimmicks. New and insensible characters were introduced, heroes became entangled in romantic intrigue after intrigue, and everyone seemed to be dealing with cosmic threats, time travel, and the end of the world every week. Of course, everyone changed their costume.

Putting Thor in a mini shirt and giving him a metal codpiece was just part of this series of flashy changes. However, the new look, with its odd cuts and inexplicable chain, didn’t do much to advance the story or deepen Thor’s character. In fact, during his Godpack days, Thor was more often wandering around shirtless than he was seen wearing this odd assemblage of leftover costuming material. Can you blame him?

I’ve tried to be understanding in this situation. After all, we’ve all made some odd decisions when it comes to our wardrobes, at some time or another. And it’s not as if Thor was the only superhero affected by the need for unjustified reboots and strange costume designs.