With all of the comic book movies which have come out in recent years, more than ever comic book fans are labeled as "comic book fans". I get the impression that those who aren't familiar with comics not only lump all comic fans together, but they probably assume that all comic fans like all comic books. Well, this certainly isn't true. If you've wandered into a comic shop, then you know that there are all sorts of different comics, falling under various genres and coming from various companies. I know that when I worked in comics, I was pretty much superheroes only, and under that banner, I stuck with Marvel titles. Having said that, I still didn't like all Marvel titles. One in particular which I never cared for was Thor. However, that didn't stop me from checking out Thor: Tales of Asgard to see if it could sway me in any way.

Thor: Tales of Asgard is unique in the Thor realm as it takes place when Thor was a teenager. Set in the mythical city of Asgard (the home of the Norse gods), we meet Thor (voiced by Matt Wolf), an arrogant teenager who always triumphs in training battles. However, his attitude changes when he learns that the other fighters are letting him win because he is a prince. He approaches his father, Odin (voiced by Chris Britton), who tells Thor that this is true. Thor begs Odin to allow him to go on a quest to prove his might, but Odin forbids it. Determined to show that he's ready for manhood, Thor convinces his brother, Loki (voiced by Rick Gomez) that they should stowaway on the vessel of Fandral (voiced by Alistair Abell), Hogun (voiced by Paul Dobson), and Volstagg (voiced by Brent Chapman), as the three warriors go on their annual quest. Loki agrees and the two boys soon find themselves on an adventure which will take them through a bar brawl and then to a battle in a frozen land. However, Thor's foolish actions soon trigger an old grievance which could put Asgard at risk.

I mentioned above that I never liked Thor and the reason is simple -- in the comics, he was portrayed as "The God of Thunder" and he had the arrogance which came along with being a god. Thor was from a magical place and often acted as if he were superior to humans. As someone who was much more partial to the fallible, human characters like Spider-man and The X-men, Thor's attitude simply rubbed me the wrong way and I could only take him in small doses (such as when he had cameos).

Now, the Thor in Thor: Tales of Asgard is a different story. Yes, he's a cocky kid at the outset, but this changes once he learns that his fights have been rigged. He then becomes much more human and unsure. It's much easier to identify with the hurt young man who is out to prove himself. And when this goal proves detrimental to Asgard, Thor takes responsibilities for his actions and tries to set things right. This is Thor before he gets his familiar hammer and the character is certainly more appealing. Similarly, comic fans know Loki as Thor's greatest enemy. However, the young Loki that we see here is still shy and innocent. Still just learning magic, Loki lives in the shadow of Thor, but doesn't seemed bothered by this.

So, to someone who only has a passing relationship with Thor, these ideas not only seem fresh and new, but very inviting. They are put into a story which will be familiar to anyone who has even glanced at a fantasy novel or film. Warrior go on a quest, warriors run afoul of mythical creatures, warriors must ask semi-allies for help, etc. The ideas aren't necessarily "April fresh", but the characters are interesting and the movie moves along at a nice pace.

While this is an improvement over most any other Thor story, when taken as a whole, Thor: Tales of Asgard feels somewhat bland. The animation definitely has an anime slant to it and it doesn't try to replicate art seen in the Marvel comics. These leads to the question of, "What do the fans want?" Marvel and DC both have been releasing direct-to-video animated films of late, and they certain differ in focus and quality. The DC movies often take stories directly from the comics and present the characters in a familiar fashion. Conversely, the Marvel movies are typically original stories and the art is sometimes stylized, as we see in Thor: Tales of Asgard. While I'm not a big DC fan, I find that I enjoy their movies more, as they feel more like animated comic books, rather than an attempt to bring comics to the masses. Thor: Tales of Asgard introduces a Thor which I can tolerate, but it rarely rises above average.

Thor: Tales of Asgard has some issues with character size and scale on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Lionsgate. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing on grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look good, but that must be qualified, as they aren't necessarily muted, but they aren't as rich and bold as we've seen in other animated movies. The image is never too dark or bright. The clarity of the HD image does reveal that some of the drawings aren't highly detailed. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 5.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are well-done, as they illustrate sound coming from either the left or right of the screen -- often these are off-screen noises. The surround sound effects come into play during the action sequences and they do a good job of separating themselves from the front channels. The track provides a nice amount of subwoofer effects, especially when very large creatures are moving.

The Thor: Tales of Asgard Blu-ray Disc contains a few extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Supervising Producer Craig Kyle and Screenwriter Greg Johnson. This is followed by a second COMMENTARY from Supervising Director/Producer Gary Hartle, Director Sam Liu, and Character Designer Phil Bourassa. "Worthy: The Making of Thor: Tales of Asgard" (22 minutes) contains interviews with the creative team behind the movie who talk about their approach to the project, the origin of the story, character design and the look of the movie, the animation, and the music. It's interesting to note that they openly admit that Thor: Tales of Asgard was made to tie in with the Thor feature film. (There's no behind-the-scenes of the voice cast, which we usually get on things like this.) The final extra is an episode of the television show The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes which focuses on Thor and Loki.