By the Bristling Beard of Odin! The Thor Thread - Part 1

[Panthro]

Thor- June Solicitations

MIGHTY THOR #15 & 16
MATT FRACTION (w) • PEPE LARRAZ (a)
CoverS by WALT SIMONSON

ISSUE #15
• The communal nightmare continues for the nine realms as the Mares run wild
• The Enchantress completes her latest masterpiece of madness and mayhem: the transformed Dr. Donald Blake!
• What if someone dreamed of a death metal god hungry for power and revenge?

ISSUE #16
• Transformed into…the DECONSECRATOR!
• Enchantress and her Keep unleashed upon a slumbering Asgardia!
• Besieged in dreams and in waking life! When will this nightmare ever end…?
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)


JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #639
Kieron Gillen (w) • RICHARD ELSON (a)
Cover by STEPHANIE HANS
ASM IN MOTION VARIANT ALSO AVAILIBLE

• The MANCHESTER GODS dread URBAN PANTHESISM arises in the north of Otherworld, the British Subconscious!
• Don’t look panicked. We just mean “Civil War”. A Civil War that Asgardia refuses to interfere in.
Publicly. Behind the scenes, Loki is a one-man intervention force.
• Also: Secret mission from Hela!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99


JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #640
KIERON GILLEN (w) • RICHARD ELSON (a)
Cover by STEPHANIE HANS

• Otherworld Aflame!
• Can the Knights of the Round Table, Merlyn, Arthur, and even Captain Britain himself resist the power of the infernal, industrial North!?!
• Meanwhile Loki’s mission deep inside the Manchester God itself discovers something that changes everything...
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99






THE MIGHTY THOR ANNUAL #1
J.M. DeMatteis (w) • Richard Elson (a)
Cover by Patrick Zircher
Variant Cover by ARTHUR ADAMS

• Thor caught in a war of eons between two cosmic entities!
• Can even Galactus and the Silver Surfer tip the balance?
• An eternal game for the fate of the universe enters its final match, with Oblivion himself ready to take the prize!
56 PGS./ ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

So Don Blake has bad taste in women now?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sounds like it. But at least someone's doing something with Blake. I honestly have no idea why JMS even brought him back at this point.

He'll make it up to her, they'll be bffs yet. Then she'll probably die as the catalyst for him becoming evil again.

I could see that.

 

[Splat]

Just read the preview the Mighty Thor that ships next week, Ulik does not look happy about Thor showing up lol.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Nope. I loved how Ulik went off on Heimdall last issue when Heimdall figured out he wasn't supposed to be there. Ulik's fun. Karnilla, too. Points to Fraction for choosing such great villains this time around, even if the story's quality has been uneven from issue to issue.

 

[Splat]

It looks like a different artist from the preview pages. And this has probably been my favorite Fraction arc since he came on.

 

[Gamma Burst]

It looks like a different artist from the preview pages. And this has probably been my favorite Fraction arc since he came on.

Yeah, Giuseppe Camuncoli (from Daken and some issues of Amazing Spider-Man) is doing this issue, it seems.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I love Camuncoli, although his Thor looks a little wonky to me. Maybe he was on a tight schedule.

 

[Gamma Burst]

I like him too, but I gotta agree with you.
In general, Italy has some amazing cb artists!

 

[Panthro]

Sounds like it. But at least someone's doing something with Blake. I honestly have no idea why JMS even brought him back at this point.

Plans that never came to fruition?

Something looks a little... off about Enchantress's face in that pic.

 

[Gamma Burst]

Nice art:

 

[Tao43]

Hmm...as much as I liked the recent story arc, Fraction still annoys me. Mainly due to continuity errors. Freyja referred to Thor as her son. Shouldn't that have been Frigga? He really, really, really needs an editor to keep him in line. Minor nitpic, but just bothered me.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That bugged me too. Frigga's actually being portrayed pretty well, too. It's not a big deal, but it's like constant nails on the chalkboard in the background every time I read "Freyja." It'd be like reading Simonson's run with Simonson calling Odin "Wode" all the time. Good stuff, but that one thing is just so off that it irritates me.

Anyway, that pic is nice, but taking the mail off Thor's arms just makes the fact that he's wearing mail pants look even weirder. Should've switched back to the classic blue pants if the artist wanted bare arms.

 

[Panthro]

That bugged me too. Frigga's actually being portrayed pretty well, too. It's not a big deal, but it's like constant nails on the chalkboard in the background every time I read "Freyja." It'd be like reading Simonson's run with Simonson calling Odin "Wode" all the time. Good stuff, but that one thing is just so off that it irritates me.

Anyway, that pic is nice, but taking the mail off Thor's arms just makes the fact that he's wearing mail pants look even weirder. Should've switched back to the classic blue pants if the artist wanted bare arms.

Agreed, the metal pants don't look right without the metal sleeves.

 

[Gamma Burst]

I hadn'tt noticed the absence of the metal sleeves.

 

[Gamma Burst]

Mighty Thor #12.1 preview. Looking really good:

 

[Splat]

Agreed, those pages look great. And a cover by Coipel is always welcome.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Glad we're seeing some stuff on the other major Asgardians. And it's always fun to see Thor and the others' younger days. I really wish Son of Asgard had managed to make it to ongoing status. I'd love a series with Thor and Loki kicking ass together.

 

[Panthro]

Mighty Thor #12.1 preview. Looking really good:

Good stuff.

 

[herakles]

I like the penciles and ink.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

So the issue turned out to be a little awkward, as with all of Fraction's Thor work, because he's not very well versed on anything involving Thor's past. Frigga is consistently referred to as "Freyja" again, which still bugs me. But it was still fairly good. The main emphasis seemed to be on Thor and Loki's relationship as perceived by Volstagg and Sif, who make for interesting lenses on that familiar subject. Sif barely contains her disdain for Loki during her segments and Volstagg spends a lot of time boasting about how perfect he used to be. He doesn't even call Loki by name, just "the brother." So Fraction's clearly looking to explore Thor and Loki's relationship, which is a subject I'm always interested in. I'm a bit apprehensive as well because Fraction's been pretty hit-or-miss on Thor so far, but hopefully he'll do all right.

 

[catgirl18]

So the issue turned out to be a little awkward, as with all of Fraction's Thor work, because he's not very well versed on anything involving Thor's past. Frigga is consistently referred to as "Freyja" again, which still bugs me. But it was still fairly good. The main emphasis seemed to be on Thor and Loki's relationship as perceived by Volstagg and Sif, who make for interesting lenses on that familiar subject. Sif barely contains her disdain for Loki during her segments and Volstagg spends a lot of time boasting about how perfect he used to be. He doesn't even call Loki by name, just "the brother." So Fraction's clearly looking to explore Thor and Loki's relationship, which is a subject I'm always interested in. I'm a bit apprehensive as well because Fraction's been pretty hit-or-miss on Thor so far, but hopefully he'll do all right.

Really Fractions sif is a *****,god she is jealous of a child.
she is crazy jealous and ODIN IS ASS poor Sigyn-He has her tongue cut out-
Odin is intense Hopkins Odin is an upstanding swell guy compared to him.
Sif, she’s very suspicious of Kid Loki and she has a theory about him, which BTW is so wrong especially when you consider JiM.
All Loki and Thor fans should pick it up (because most of the stories are centered on those two).

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sif's not jealous, she's just never trusted Loki. That's emerged as a theme in just about all of the portrayals of Thor and the gang's youth. Thor loved Loki and Loki loved Thor, Balder was largely indifferent to Loki, but Sif always knew there was something off about Loki and never trusted him, despite Thor's obvious love for Loki and Sif's obvious love for Thor. Sure enough, she was right. Loki grew increasingly jealous of the fact that everyone loved Thor more than him, which slowly eroded whatever overt love he had for Thor and replaced it with a burning hatred of him and all the people he cared about. Sif could just see that coming earlier than everyone else. Thor himself never saw it coming, even when he ended up actively fighting Loki at every turn. He also viewed Loki's turn to evil as his own fault, at least in part. The hope of recapturing that boyhood camaraderie with his brother is one of Thor's fondest wishes, which is why he's embraced Kid Loki to an extent no one else has; he sees this as a second chance to finally do things right and show Loki the love he needs to grow up into a good man this time.

As for Odin, well, let's just say this isn't the first time Marvel's Odin has been a massive jerk. I don't really mind Fraction's portrayal of him because of that. Odin's got his nice moments, and he has been portrayed in the past as a gentler king and father, but there's about an equal amount of material from past comics portraying him as a harsh taskmaster, a cold manipulator, and a downright cruel, unloving father too. Either portrayal works for him, to be honest. Fraction's clearly chosen the latter.

 

[catgirl18]

Sif's not jealous, she's just never trusted Loki. That's emerged as a theme in just about all of the portrayals of Thor and the gang's youth. Thor loved Loki and Loki loved Thor, Balder was largely indifferent to Loki, but Sif always knew there was something off about Loki and never trusted him, despite Thor's obvious love for Loki and Sif's obvious love for Thor. Sure enough, she was right. Loki grew increasingly jealous of the fact that everyone loved Thor more than him, which slowly eroded whatever overt love he had for Thor and replaced it with a burning hatred of him and all the people he cared about. Sif could just see that coming earlier than everyone else. Thor himself never saw it coming, even when he ended up actively fighting Loki at every turn. He also viewed Loki's turn to evil as his own fault, at least in part. The hope of recapturing that boyhood camaraderie with his brother is one of Thor's fondest wishes, which is why he's embraced Kid Loki to an extent no one else has; he sees this as a second chance to finally do things right and show Loki the love he needs to grow up into a good man this time.

As for Odin, well, let's just say this isn't the first time Marvel's Odin has been a massive jerk. I don't really mind Fraction's portrayal of him because of that. Odin's got his nice moments, and he has been portrayed in the past as a gentler king and father, but there's about an equal amount of material from past comics portraying him as a harsh taskmaster, a cold manipulator, and a downright cruel, unloving father too. Either portrayal works for him, to be honest. Fraction's clearly chosen the latter.

Fraction's odin is a ass

it seems Fraction retconned some stuff. Like Freyja and Frigga are officially the same person, also he totally changed the old Loki and Thor dynamic, and by that I mean it’s not just Loki being angry and jealous of Thor 24/7 and looking for ways to kill him, in this story Loki kind of reciprocates the love (at one point he refuses to abandon Thor in battle and in another story he lies to Thor about something so Thor doesn’t get angry at Odin).

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Loki's always reciprocated Thor's love to some extent. That's been around since long before Fraction. That's part of why their rivalry is one of the best in comicdom. Loki, at his core, is just a confused, spiteful child. He oscillates wildly between desiring Thor and Odin's approval, wanting to see them dead, and everything in-between. You should check out the Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers hardcover, if you haven't already. It's basically a Shakespearean tragedy centered on Loki, but the best part for fans of Thor's whole stable of characters is that Loki gives his thoughts on all of the other major characters in it. When it comes to Thor, he admits (only to himself, and grudgingly at that) that he hates Thor most of all, paradoxically, because Thor loved him best. Thor showed him kindness and genuine affection even while Loki himself slid deeper and deeper into jealousy, but ultimately he pushed Thor too far and Thor was forced to fight back against Loki. This page pretty much sums it up better than I can:

 

[catgirl18]

Yes, I Read It. It's the reason why I'm not a Sif fan



In the Loki blood brothers mini-series, there’s a flashback where we see a young Loki being taunted and called Lackey-son by sif and other children. In that verse he’d just seen his father get killed right in front of him and then he got kidnapped to another planet by the people responsible (his mother is still alive!).
So here we have a traumatized child, in hostile surroundings, being taunted with his dead dad.