"Thor: The Mighty Avenger" and The Crying Shame

This week, issue #6 of "Thor: The Mighty Avenger" came out and I've already read it. If you've read any of my older blog posts about this comic, then you should already know that I love this title. If you haven't, then I'll tell you now: I love this comic and this issue is no different than the five preceding it. With each and every issue of this book, Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee retell the origin of Thor in a way that is fresh, accessible, and (most of all) a pure joy to read. This is a comic that can read and find something they enjoy in it. Hell, it's pretty close to being my pick for "comic of the year". And yet it's a comic that isn't going to be around much longer.

Yes, unless you live under the internet's most impressive rock, you should know that "Thor: The Might Avenger" is ending as of issue #8. There's a multitude of reasons as to why this is sad, perhaps saddest of which is that Langridge has mentioned that the first full story arc of this comic would run until issue #12. That's right, not only is this comic dying, but it's dying before it can get it's first full story told.

Well I think it's a damn shame. It sucks that this comic is dying like this while lesser books continue to sell like hot cakes. Go into your local comic shop this week and count how many Deadpool books are on the shelves. Last time I checked, it was about 5. Now, I'm going to spoil something about each and every one of these books: they're all terrible. Not a single one is worth actually paying money for. And yet it continues to go on and "Thor: the Might Avenger" is cancelled. Do you want to know why? It's because these Deapool books sell. "Thor: the Mighty Avenger" on the other hand, isn't selling all that well. It's a sad truth about this industry, but it's a truth and it can't be ignored.

So what can we do? Honestly, going out and buying every copy from your local comic shop isn't going to help; they've already ordered and payed for those books. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy the issues of this series: it's a great book and your local comic shop could certainly use the business. But saving the series is going to take a bit more than buying the issues already out. No, what we have to do is buy the issues that haven't come out yet and the trade that's coming out in a few weeks. And not just buying them, but preordering them. Got to your local comic shop and let them know just how much you want this and do so in large numbers. The trade you can either get there, or you can save a few bucks and preorder it from Amazon.com, because they track the number of preorders they receive instantly.

Now, I'm not saying we're definitely saving this title: it's going to take effort from everyone and then some, but if we all go in and Marvel sees our money and hears our voices, than there's a good chance we could just save the day. We have the power, we just have to use it. We can save "Thor: The Mighty Avenger", but we have to do it now or all hope is lost. So when it comes down to it are we just going to watch this wonderful story slip away into the world of obscurity or will we raise our own hammers and utter those famous words "I Say Thee, Nay"?