Thor Experts: Best/Mandatory Thor Stories

I'm trying to work out a blog/essay post about Thor but I am not especially well-read when it comes to this character pre-"The Siege" and "The Mighty Thor." Could anyone suggest some "must read" stories/arcs to better understand/appreciate the character?

Thanks in advance.

What do you mean by pre 'the Mighty Thor?' Pre Fraction or earlier? Because the mighty Thor was the name of the title after it was adapted from Journey into Mystery in the late 60's. Simonson's run is considered the defining run, Jurgens' is also good. Oeming did the RKT storyline. Roy Thomas did the Eternals Saga which I am reading now but that is hard to get a hold of. J Michael Stracszynski did a run after Oeming which brought the character back from the void. Aaron's God of Thunder run is also pretty cool.

I would say the Eternals Saga, the Beta Ray Bill story by Walter Simonson which is contained in Walter Simonson's Thor Vol 1., Dan Jurgen's King Thor story (The Lord of Asgard, Gods on Earth, Spiral, The Reigning and Gods and Men), the RKT and Ragnarok story by Oeming, JMS' Thor story that began in 2007, and Jason Aaron's first two arcs (the god butcher and Godbomb) but Aaron's stories are after Seige and The Mighty Thor by Matt Fraction.

@lvenger:

@spambot: Good point. I guess I have read the arc where Thor gets the Odin Force and eventually recreates Asgard on earth. Slightly pre-"The Siege."

@spambot@jayc1324 Thank you both for suggestions.

I have read Jason Aaron's Thor run. He is easily my least favorite writer in comics today. In a world where Jonathan Hickman exists there is no reason to employ Jason Aaron as a writer. Granted, I am a little biased after he took a big, steaming *** all over Hulk following Pak's epic story arcs. I will definitely check out some of those others.

I would also recommend looking into buying some of Lee and Kirby trades in addition to what's already been mentioned. They make up the foundation for the epic and cosmic scale of Thor comics and storytelling for years and years after they left the title. Though not as elegant or serious as some of the other choices, there are classic stories and iconic characters thanks to Kirby's vision and design of Asgard even though it wasn't what he wanted to do. Plus, they should be in a large collected edition still available for purchase.

This is just perfect.

Agreed all IMO are must reads for Thor fans. I think the JMS run is a great place to start if you're looking at the introduction to the character and it is an easier read in that you do not need to know much of Thor's background while following it.

@fresh_prince: Absolutely. Also to me Thor: Ragnarok was the defining story, alongside Thor: Godbomb. The two story showed us a different side of Thor we haven't seen in the past.