I do not participate in comics as much as my compatriots, but from time to time I have picked up the funnies, and have enjoyed myself. The Walt Simonson run of The Mighty Thor was one I followed in my youth, and I loved it. Walt was a fan of Norse Myth, and tied that into the comic as much as he could. Because of this we saw a lot of time spent in Asgard, and got to see the drama of the gods.
One of the great characters to come out of this series was a cyborg alien that was designed to look like a skinned horse. His name is Beta Ray Bill. He wanted the power Thor to fight for his people. After winning a contest set up by the all father against Thor – he was granted rights to mjolnir. Being the gentleman that he is – Bill refused the prize. To reward him for his victory and astute character Odin himself forged Bill his own uru hammer – storm breaker. The mighty Thor 339 is the tale of the hammer’s construction and it is one of the most exciting comics I have ever read.
Simonson’s run on Thor was one of my favorite series of comics when I was a kid. Thew best thing about his writing is it still holds up when you read it as an adult.
Although I don’t own many of the issues, I found a trade of Walt Simonson’s run on Thor at the library when I was younger. Beta Ray Bill kicks ass and Simonson has always been one of my favourite artists. If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend his run on the early X-Factor.