Before Thor experiences Love and Thunder he'll have to deal with Lightning and Lament

Before Thor experiences Love and Thunder on July 8, he'll have to deal with Lightning and Lament in June.

Thor: Lightning and Lament is a new one-shot special publishing on June 29 that is almost certainly part of an effort to stock the shelves with new Thor titles for the release of Thor's fourth MCU installment just a week later.

And the similarity in titles doesn't sound like an accident either.

Thor: Lightning and Lament is written by longtime Marvel editor and writer Ralph Macchio and illustrated by artist Todd Nauck and is "brimming with an adventure worthy of the God of Thunder," serving as a perfect entry point to the Thor mythos.

Thor: Lighting and Lament cover (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

The publisher says it's time for Thor's 60th anniversary in 2022, but we kind of think the movie has something to do with it too.

Marvel adds that the unpredictable story is packed with "fresh insights" into not only Thor, but his brother Loki, his father Odin, and their "intense and dramatic family dynamic" as well.

In Lightning and Lament, Thor (rocking his old school duds, by the way) has abandoned Asgard in its hour of need, leaving the magical realm in the hands of Loki, with its rightful ruler, Odin also absent. Under assault by trolls, and with Sif near death due to a wound suffered in battle, Macchio and Nauck post the question can anyone save Asgard from annihilation?

Look for Marvel's full June 2022 solicitations later in March.

Yes, Thor turns 60 in 2022, and so does Love and Thunder co-star Jane Foster - who had her own time wielding Mjolnir. Find out all about how Jane Foster became Thor in Marvel Comics.

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.