The worst day in Avengers history finds it way to Asgard.
The God of Evil, Loki, stages one final assault on the realm of Asgard against his brother Thor. This time Loki is out for blood and taking no prisoners, as he now possesses his own hammer to counter Thor's hammer Mjolnir. Ragnarok is very near and the Asgardians are facing their darkest hour. Thor must assemble his people for one last attempt at survival against his power hungry brother. -summary
When Marvel began their dismantlement of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, destroying the team itself was apparently only the beginning. This storyline would make its way towards the "trinity" of the team, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, with this book being a direct crossover to Avengers: Disassembled.
This story would also make it to other titles such as the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Strange thing though, out of all these titles only Thor truly felt like it was part of the Disassembled storyline, since it falls directly in line with what Marvel was aiming for. The purpose of these stories were meant to provide new starts for the characters. In regards to Thor though, it was very necessary to clean up the mess that was created by Dan Jurgens. Written by Michael Avon Oeming, Thor: Disassembled contains the six part story Ragnarok collecting Thor issues 80-85, Iron Man contains Turf War and Singularity, written by John Jackson Miller and Mark Ricketts respectively collecting Iron Man issues 84-89, Captain America and the Falcon is written by Priest and collects Captain America and the Falcon issues 5-7, and Captain America written by Robert Kirkman collects issues 29-32.
I will get this part out there immediately, the Thor story is awesome; I mean it kicks-a** completely all around. This is by far among the best Thor stories ever written as it takes about 40 years worth of storytelling and turns it up on its head. It wraps up one major story element that took place in the Thor mythos Ragnarok. This is a legend amongst Asgardians that is suppose to be the end all battle, which occurs when certain events fall into place and no one is meant to survive; the story really does feel like that. It begins with Loki locating the Mold, which was originally used to forge the hammer Mjolnir. He strikes a deal with the flame demon Surtur for him to create multiple hammers. From here Thor and his kingdom are viciously attacked and the death toll rises.
The story has more than enough action to satisfy action-hounds in the beginning. Thor does go blow for blow with enemies taking on both Loki and Fenris, who is also the son of Loki. The war rages across Asgard and there are familiar faces galore. I always enjoyed the integration of Norse Mythology in the pages of Thor, and this particular story follows the events pretty close.
Later on, Thor embarks on a mystical journey of self-discovery, and along the way he learns the true meaning behind Ragnarok. The story is indeed epic and provides a suitable ending not only fitting for the God of Thunder but also his proud people. Andre DiVito and Laura Villari provide the artwork and colors, and although not on par with David Finch's artwork on Avengers: Disassembled, the illustrations are wonderful for a story of this magnitude. Some of the action panels feature no dialog, only one vicious blow after the other. The dialog is also very well done with entertaining exchanges between Thor and Loki.
Unfortunately, the other two stories cannot follow up on the Thor arc. The first Iron Man story Turf War doesn't feel like it belongs in this storyline at all, as it's set before the Avengers are attacked. Iron Man must deal with a super-powered robot that is suppose to go on a rampage should the US ever be overran. This story just doesn't really go anywhere, and the second story Singularity isn't much better; the second story follows Iron Man aka Tony Stark, as someone wearing his armor murders members of his company. This story was very hard for me to follow, and the hideous artwork by Tony Harris & Scott Kolins had a lot to do with it. I will say the story isn't bad because of the point being made on Stark needing regular people in life; the problem is how Ricketts told this story. The pacing wasn't really good to me and it sometimes felt wordy for nothing.
Captain America's stories aren't much better either. The first one with the Falcon was unnecessary filler. It follows Cap and Falcon as they protect a Super Soldier who they feel is going to be killed for no reason. The problem with this story is that it's completely unfinished. It's set before the attack on the Avengers, and it attempts to shed some light on the situation between Captain America and Scarlet Witch, but it's completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the overall Disassembled crossover.
The second story is set after the attack and I'm still unsure how this works as a Disassembled story for Captain America. He does mention his hope in the Avengers being able to bounce back, but that story is only vaguely referenced with no details at all. The cool part is that this story is at least pretty fun to read. Captain America's ex-girl Diamondback makes her return and together they end up in battle against the Serpent Society and even Hydra. There's also a big brawl between Cap and the Red Skull. The artwork features some vivid coloring with fine illustrations to go with it. The fight with the Red Skull is done well enough and I'm sure Captain America fans will get something out of it.
Now it must be mentioned, like Avengers: Disassembled, I don't believe this book can be considered a good place for new or casual fans to start; there must be some knowledge of these characters especially for the Thor story. I'm sure it can still be enjoyed though.
Overall, for serious fans, I recommend this book only for Thor. It's indeed essential to better understand the Thor stories that immediately follow. If you can find Thor: Disassembled for a reasonable price then pick it up. I have been reading Thor since the 80's, plus I read many back stories going back to the 60's and 70's, and I will say this is the best Thor arc since Walt Simonson's run; that's something you will hear from many fans, but I have to mention it too.
Iron Man and Captain America are not really essential and most of them are filler stories at best. If you plan on going back to the stories that kick started the modern Marvel U beginning with Avengers: Disassembled in regards to Iron Man and Cap, then I recommend Iron Man: Extremis and Captain America: Winter Soldier as much better stories. Pick up this book if it's the only one you can find for the Thor story.
Pros: Thor story alone is worth the price
Cons: Cap and Iron Man are barely average at best