I'm not to up to scratch on a lot of the older Thor stuff. So Balder always needed that boot in the ass to actually do crazy awesome shit like above? I'm saddened by this.
Balder showed up in Simonson's run as a washed-up fat pacifist who was once Asgard's greatest warrior.
Loki eventually tricks him into once more picking up the sword, and it is revealed that Balder, like in Norse myth, died and went to Hel. To return to the land of the living he was forced to confront everyone he had ever killed (which is basically a massive army) and kill them again.
So he eventually returned to his badass self, but it required Loki's manipulations and Thor and the Warriors Three's constant support and/or nagging.
Baldur wasn't a big whiny baby he was simply a pacifist, he was tired of war and death being the only thing in his immortal life and so gave them up. He was also, regardless of warrior or not, reknowned for being the noblest and most virtuous of the Asgardians.
Yes he needed a boot up the ass on occasion, but he was a cool, sympathetic character and a bit refreshing given that all the other Asgardians tended to be "fuck yeah fighting! woo!" I liked and still like Baldur, and on occasion he really does pull out some awesome stuff.
I've really missed out on some classic Thor damn it. I've only read the first two essential collections and intermittent singles throughout the years up until Disassembled and the latest volume.
Anyway, back to Odin. I'm hoping The Serpent turns out to be
to Odin as Loki is to Thor. A god of fear instead of lies, an adopted or bastard son of Bor, locked away by his brother for going to far at some point, locked away only to return and wreak havoc. His get-up even resembles Loki's outfit.
Fractions stories are clearly modeled after Simonsons. The lettering, the balance between ye olds English and modern language, the use of Balder and Tyr, the blend of Kirby superscience and magic and the ever present epic narration.
Hell, Fraction had the opportunity to tell any Thor story he wanted during Ages of Thunder and he wrote a love letter to Simonson and Skurge.
Oh no I agree completely. Odin being an asshole makes perfect sense and I am enjoying it but jesus, man.
Fraction's Thor, while good, hasn't had much of Thor being the pinnacle of a noble warrior that Thor is in it so it's nice to see him take a stand.
Personally I don't think Odin is acting like such a dick because he's upset over how Thor handled things...
That's certainly part of it I'm sure, but something Odin would get over. Odin made it clear he blames Loki for Asgard's mishaps and not Thor. Odin wasn't even pissed at Balder, who was a far worse king than Thor. No, I think Odin is more pissed at how Thor brought Loki back than how Thor ran things... but I don't think that's even the reasoning behind his outbursts.
His whole outburst at Thor isn't REALLY because he's pissed Thor has embraced the humans so much. Imo, that's just what he's saying because he doesn't want to admit the truth and because he's scared.
Odin can be a violent dick, and he's venting his anger on those around him, and trying to find ways to blame them. He's always been a very flawed character, which is one of the reasons I love the guy so much.
In the end you DO see glimpses of how much he truly respects Thor and how he really see's Thor as worthy.
Fractions stories are clearly modeled after Simonsons. The lettering, the balance between ye olds English and modern language, the use of Balder and Tyr, the blend of Kirby superscience and magic and the ever present epic narration.
Hell, Fraction had the opportunity to tell any Thor story he wanted during Ages of Thunder and he wrote a love letter to Simonson and Skurge.
Agreed, even though I felt the last few issues of Thor were weak (although I have not yet read the new Mighty thor or journey into mystery), I'll give Fraction props for making a homage of sorts to Simonson's more whacky/sci-fi Thor adventures. He has balls and respect for writers past to take Thor in such a wildly different direction than the more typical fantasy angle taken on Thor.
Wishpig on
WARNING: Picture below may cause spontaneous growth of facial hair and/or body hair.
Fear Itself issue titles courtesy of Matt Fraction's twitter
Issue 1: The Serpent
Issue 2: Bitzkrieg USA
Issue 3: The Hammer that Fell On ____ _____
Issue 4: World's On Fire
Issue 5: Brawl
Issue 6: Blood-Tied and Doomed
Issue 7: Thor's Day
Balder showed up in Simonson's run as a washed-up fat pacifist who was once Asgard's greatest warrior.
Loki eventually tricks him into once more picking up the sword, and it is revealed that Balder, like in Norse myth, died and went to Hel. To return to the land of the living he was forced to confront everyone he had ever killed (which is basically a massive army) and kill them again.
So he eventually returned to his badass self, but it required Loki's manipulations and Thor and the Warriors Three's constant support and/or nagging.
You're missing the part where Loki killed Balder (this was about 40 or so issues prior to Simonson's run).
I said he died like he did in the mythology, Loki did it there too.
I am never wrong.
BlankZoe on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited May 2011
I'm reading the Lost Gods trade they put out that contained the Journey Into Mystery stories after Thor got pulled into Heroes Reborn, and it's pretty good despite the art ("Deodato Studios", really generic 90's art.
Volstagg became a human who hosted a popular cooking show! And this was before food shows were the "in thing"
I only remember this character from Marvel Team-Up, and the tournament bracket we had on the forums. Still, he's got a cool gimmick and costumes, and I loves me some C-listers. So, yay.
I only remember this character from Marvel Team-Up, and the tournament bracket we had on the forums. Still, he's got a cool gimmick and costumes, and I loves me some C-listers. So, yay.
Great art, too.
Noice! C-lister specials are good! He was in some "Marvel 2in1" issues with Code: Blue. It was fun seeing him interact with the likes of Spider-man cos he's basically a less psychotic Punisher. I always dug the costume too, has that batman beyond mask-mouth thing going and with all the ECG lines he just looked unique for a product of the 90's.
Ya know... except for his leg-pouches and shoulder pads...
Also, apparently The Worthy, or at least the first issue(which is Juggernaut by Parker and Shavley), is free!
It goes up tomorrow!
I thought the first issue of The Worthy was last week on 4/27 - I downloaded it, it was Sin and just like a 6 page so-so originish piece. Didn't expect much for free.
cardboard delusions on
0
Options
AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
The Worthy #2 - Juggernaut, 6 pages of inner monologue and nothing really to do with the event. Seems like the purpose is to just give some info for new readers. Free is free.
cardboard delusions on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited May 2011
I picked up #2, but that will probably be it for me. There's just not enough there for me to be interested in. And my reaction to Juggernaut was "well crap, there goes the Thunderbolts direction for 6 months." Immonen's art is beautiful, but Fraction again tries to put in some real world things with news blurbs that just feel forced.
Another thing that felt forced, to me at least, was how they made the swastikas on some nazi robot suits really stand out, as if to say "this is also a Captain America event and in case you didn't know he fights nazis." It just felt forced, even with Sin there, because using nazis for the upteenth time as a general redshirt baddie is something comics really to stop doing. You're not being topical which is what the book is trying to have as a subplot, and also with the frequency of nazi groups in the Marvel Universe it would feel ho-hum.
The pacing and the way the book is splitting off into other tie-ins with the ads in the back really ring back to Blackest Night. It's not necessarily bad in what it's trying to do, it just feels a bit rehashed in that sense and I don't feel like tagging along like with BN and its books (unless they put Falcon in a bullet to shoot at the Serpent while Power Pack charges him up as he goes along)
While this issue was a little dull due to the fact that we already know who the Worthy are, it sets the stage for some nice set pieces. I really don't understand how you find giant flying nazi mechs as a redshirt badguy. It is clear Sin is trying to stir up as much fear as she can and can you think of a more shocking symbol to have blow up Congress?
The tie-ins are unnecessary, so I don't understand your qualms with them. They even say "IF YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT ABSORBING MAN, BUY IRON MAN 2.0" Fraction has said that the main mini is self contained, which Blackest Night was most certainly not.
I really don't see the problem with a few real world things popping up. The only one that stood out to me was the autism namedrop, and that was only because it had nothing to do with the world blowing the hell up. They were word balloons, thats all. If there had been a whole page of Iron Man talking about how the middle east is in unrest and the oil spill or whatever, yeah, but these are seriously just "HERE IS A BAD THING HAPPENING".
BlankZoe on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
While this issue was a little dull due to the fact that we already know who the Worthy are, it sets the stage for some nice set pieces. I really don't understand how you find giant flying nazi mechs as a redshirt badguy. It is clear Sin is trying to stir up as much fear as she can and can you think of a more shocking symbol to have blow up Congress?
Like I said, nazis are done to death in both the Marvel and DC universes. They are an easy generic bad guy that saves the writer from coming up with something new or original. Another way to spread fear would be to have the Exo Squad (that's what they reminded me of) have Chinese or Russian flags on them to deliberately spread a fear that is much more realistic, which is what Marvel always says they want to make their books have.
The tie-ins are unnecessary, so I don't understand your qualms with them. They even say "IF YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT ABSORBING MAN, BUY IRON MAN 2.0" Fraction has said that the main mini is self contained, which Blackest Night was most certainly not.
Again, this reminds me of Blackest Night, where you could read just the main series but they highly suggest picking up GL and GLC for the rest of the story. That's exactly what it felt like have Absorbing Man not get his hammer yet (to be in Iron Man 2.0), or the Grey Gargoyle in Iron Man. You also had the opening scene really hint at Loki doing something that you want to pay attention to by picking up Journey into Mystery. A better way would be to do what they did with Atuma, just show them with the hammer for a panel so the reader realizes "ok, they are some of the others." It's just like what BN did with Martian Manhunter; they show dead J'onn in BN #1, then they want you to go to GL #44 to get that story.
I really don't see the problem with a few real world things popping up. The only one that stood out to me was the autism namedrop, and that was only because it had nothing to do with the world blowing the hell up. They were word balloons, thats all. If there had been a whole page of Iron Man talking about how the middle east is in unrest and the oil spill or whatever, yeah, but these are seriously just "HERE IS A BAD THING HAPPENING".
You might not have read some of Jeph Loeb's Superman works (I think he might have done this in some Ultimate work but I never read them), but he did this thing where he would cover panels with classic speeches that were supposed to sync up with what was going on, and it just felt cluttered and a "look at this it's relevant," and that's the vibe I got from the news feeds. For instance, that last page zoom out of Steve trying to assemble ......avengers? should have just been the art and Steve's word bubbles, nothing else. Let Immonen's sexy art tell the story.
It seems like The Worthy won't even be that important to the central storyline, since everything to do with them occurs on the periphery.
And really, Nazis + The God of Fear are enough of a foe for one storyline, especially when the god is a new character who still needs to have his backstory established.
I will mostly agree to disagree. The only point I won't budge on is the comparison to Blackest Night. BN and Green Lantern were the same story, if you didn't buy one you were getting half the story.
With Fear Itself, according to Marvel, the miniseries will tell a whole story. Tie-ins are just extras if the reader is interested, and not vital if the reader is not.
The Worthy seem like a device to allow the Marvel Universe as a whole be affected by the story. Sin and the Serpent can only be in two places at any given time. However, the Worthy are free to attack the X-Men or Future Foundation, etc.
BlankZoe on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited May 2011
That's fair Blank, like I said it's not a bad issue, it just feels like I've read it before and the structure is similar to the last big event in the industry.
It seems like The Worthy won't even be that important to the central storyline, since everything to do with them occurs on the periphery.
See, the flaw is that the serpent chose people who are for the most part Zangiefs. Big brawlers. To counter this you need fast/shoto characters to beat them. So Spider-Man would be a good choice, Iron Fist, X-23....
It is fairly apparent from the issue that some of the worthy seem to be retaining a bit more of their prior selves than others.
Hulk (unsurprisingly he becomes the Breaker of Worlds...), probably retained more since he is so used to having multiple personalities already.
Meanwhile Juggernaut seemed to be almost completely controlled by his Worthy.
And it looks like 3's big cliffhanger will probably be Thing getting his hammer since the blocked out words from the previously announced title are Yancy Street. If it werent for the fact we already KNOW he is getting one, it would probably be the big surprise they mentioned.
It is fairly apparent from the issue that some of the worthy seem to be retaining a bit more of their prior selves than others.
Hulk (unsurprisingly he becomes the Breaker of Worlds...), probably retained more since he is so used to having multiple personalities already.
Meanwhile Juggernaut seemed to be almost completely controlled by his Worthy.
And it looks like 3's big cliffhanger will probably be Thing getting his hammer since the blocked out words from the previously announced title are Yancy Street. If it werent for the fact we already KNOW he is getting one, it would probably be the big surprise they mentioned.
It may have to do with how much the hosts motivations mesh with their posessing gods.
Like Titania seemed to be working with her God, given her god-thing is the "Breaker of Men" and Titania was always a strong feminist character, so it makes sense that she wouldn't be wholey supressed. Juggernaut I think is so used to being a supplicant for a higher power (Cyttorak) and has in recent years suffered massive power loss, that he just gave in when Kuurth took over. Although I haven't read his issue of The Worthy... And Hulk just managed to warn Betty, barely, then started tearing up the joint. Hulk Style.
Also noted is that there are 9 Worlds and, including Mjolnir, 9 Hammers. Don't know if that means something... but if there is gonna be a 9th Worthy, I'm thinking they take Mjolnir from Odin. Now if Blanks terrible prediction comes true it'd better be
Bucky is not only worthy of being Cap but also worthy of the power of Thor, he manages to cast off whatever God is posessing him at the time and use the power of Thor to save everything before it kills him. If he must die, it'd better be fucking cool damn it.
and you have no idea how much I would love that, but
if that is Bucky's funeral in Cap 1, which seems likely as the attendees are Cap, Sharon, Nick, Dum Dum and a WWII Vet, there would be a fuckton of superheroes there to pay respects.
As much as I hate to say it, Bucky's gotta turn heel.
BlankZoe on
0
Options
Garlic Breadi'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm aRegistered User, Disagreeableregular
edited May 2011
I read #2 and I don't remember pretty much any of it. I think it's impossible for my brain to be interested in Thor
and you have no idea how much I would love that, but
if that is Bucky's funeral in Cap 1, which seems likely as the attendees are Cap, Sharon, Nick, Dum Dum and a WWII Vet, there would be a fuckton of superheroes there to pay respects.
As much as I hate to say it, Bucky's gotta turn heel.
Oh he turns and gets murdery as fuck! It'll just one of those last moment things. So the whole world sees him do bad things, hence the future hate, then just before he's meant to butcher Steve... or something, he breaks free of the mind-funk and...
then something awesome happens... Look, I havent figured it all out yet, but basically, shut up and stop showing me my fav characters dying!
and you have no idea how much I would love that, but
if that is Bucky's funeral in Cap 1, which seems likely as the attendees are Cap, Sharon, Nick, Dum Dum and a WWII Vet, there would be a fuckton of superheroes there to pay respects.
As much as I hate to say it, Bucky's gotta turn heel.
Oh he turns and gets murdery as fuck! It'll just one of those last moment things. So the whole world sees him do bad things, hence the future hate, then just before he's meant to butcher Steve... or something, he breaks free of the mind-funk and...
then something awesome happens... Look, I havent figured it all out yet, but basically, shut up and stop showing me my fav characters dying!
Wait have they really addressed...
Why the next avengers (all the kiddy versions who killed Kang) hate bucky so much? I haven't been following the avengers line since that issue, but I really want to know the reasoning behind that.
Wishpig on
WARNING: Picture below may cause spontaneous growth of facial hair and/or body hair.
Posts
Loki eventually tricks him into once more picking up the sword, and it is revealed that Balder, like in Norse myth, died and went to Hel. To return to the land of the living he was forced to confront everyone he had ever killed (which is basically a massive army) and kill them again.
So he eventually returned to his badass self, but it required Loki's manipulations and Thor and the Warriors Three's constant support and/or nagging.
Baldur wasn't a big whiny baby he was simply a pacifist, he was tired of war and death being the only thing in his immortal life and so gave them up. He was also, regardless of warrior or not, reknowned for being the noblest and most virtuous of the Asgardians.
Yes he needed a boot up the ass on occasion, but he was a cool, sympathetic character and a bit refreshing given that all the other Asgardians tended to be "fuck yeah fighting! woo!" I liked and still like Baldur, and on occasion he really does pull out some awesome stuff.
Anyway, back to Odin. I'm hoping The Serpent turns out to be
Hell, Fraction had the opportunity to tell any Thor story he wanted during Ages of Thunder and he wrote a love letter to Simonson and Skurge.
Personally I don't think Odin is acting like such a dick because he's upset over how Thor handled things...
His whole outburst at Thor isn't REALLY because he's pissed Thor has embraced the humans so much. Imo, that's just what he's saying because he doesn't want to admit the truth and because he's scared.
Odin can be a violent dick, and he's venting his anger on those around him, and trying to find ways to blame them. He's always been a very flawed character, which is one of the reasons I love the guy so much.
In the end you DO see glimpses of how much he truly respects Thor and how he really see's Thor as worthy.
this is all just theory of course!
Agreed, even though I felt the last few issues of Thor were weak (although I have not yet read the new Mighty thor or journey into mystery), I'll give Fraction props for making a homage of sorts to Simonson's more whacky/sci-fi Thor adventures. He has balls and respect for writers past to take Thor in such a wildly different direction than the more typical fantasy angle taken on Thor.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Like literally it feels like a Frankenstein monster of both runs, but in a good way.
sooo.... my dream come true??? AWESOME!
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Issue 1: The Serpent
Issue 2: Bitzkrieg USA
Issue 3: The Hammer that Fell On ____ _____
Issue 4: World's On Fire
Issue 5: Brawl
Issue 6: Blood-Tied and Doomed
Issue 7: Thor's Day
You're missing the part where Loki killed Balder (this was about 40 or so issues prior to Simonson's run).
I am never wrong.
Volstagg became a human who hosted a popular cooking show! And this was before food shows were the "in thing"
You left out the Karnilla + Baldur connection for Baldur's return to awesomeness (during Simonson's run).
You know nothing /SongOfIceAndFire
(Phone doesn't recognize filthy German words)
I only remember this character from Marvel Team-Up, and the tournament bracket we had on the forums. Still, he's got a cool gimmick and costumes, and I loves me some C-listers. So, yay.
Great art, too.
Tumblr Twitter
It goes up tomorrow!
Noice! C-lister specials are good! He was in some "Marvel 2in1" issues with Code: Blue. It was fun seeing him interact with the likes of Spider-man cos he's basically a less psychotic Punisher. I always dug the costume too, has that batman beyond mask-mouth thing going and with all the ECG lines he just looked unique for a product of the 90's.
Ya know... except for his leg-pouches and shoulder pads...
Edit: And is that Fiery McRacist (whatever his name was...) from the Bastards of Evil in that promo art?
Those knee pads look a whole lot like knee-pouches.
I thought the first issue of The Worthy was last week on 4/27 - I downloaded it, it was Sin and just like a 6 page so-so originish piece. Didn't expect much for free.
Another thing that felt forced, to me at least, was how they made the swastikas on some nazi robot suits really stand out, as if to say "this is also a Captain America event and in case you didn't know he fights nazis." It just felt forced, even with Sin there, because using nazis for the upteenth time as a general redshirt baddie is something comics really to stop doing. You're not being topical which is what the book is trying to have as a subplot, and also with the frequency of nazi groups in the Marvel Universe it would feel ho-hum.
The pacing and the way the book is splitting off into other tie-ins with the ads in the back really ring back to Blackest Night. It's not necessarily bad in what it's trying to do, it just feels a bit rehashed in that sense and I don't feel like tagging along like with BN and its books (unless they put Falcon in a bullet to shoot at the Serpent while Power Pack charges him up as he goes along)
While this issue was a little dull due to the fact that we already know who the Worthy are, it sets the stage for some nice set pieces. I really don't understand how you find giant flying nazi mechs as a redshirt badguy. It is clear Sin is trying to stir up as much fear as she can and can you think of a more shocking symbol to have blow up Congress?
The tie-ins are unnecessary, so I don't understand your qualms with them. They even say "IF YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT ABSORBING MAN, BUY IRON MAN 2.0" Fraction has said that the main mini is self contained, which Blackest Night was most certainly not.
I really don't see the problem with a few real world things popping up. The only one that stood out to me was the autism namedrop, and that was only because it had nothing to do with the world blowing the hell up. They were word balloons, thats all. If there had been a whole page of Iron Man talking about how the middle east is in unrest and the oil spill or whatever, yeah, but these are seriously just "HERE IS A BAD THING HAPPENING".
Like I said, nazis are done to death in both the Marvel and DC universes. They are an easy generic bad guy that saves the writer from coming up with something new or original. Another way to spread fear would be to have the Exo Squad (that's what they reminded me of) have Chinese or Russian flags on them to deliberately spread a fear that is much more realistic, which is what Marvel always says they want to make their books have.
Again, this reminds me of Blackest Night, where you could read just the main series but they highly suggest picking up GL and GLC for the rest of the story. That's exactly what it felt like have Absorbing Man not get his hammer yet (to be in Iron Man 2.0), or the Grey Gargoyle in Iron Man. You also had the opening scene really hint at Loki doing something that you want to pay attention to by picking up Journey into Mystery. A better way would be to do what they did with Atuma, just show them with the hammer for a panel so the reader realizes "ok, they are some of the others." It's just like what BN did with Martian Manhunter; they show dead J'onn in BN #1, then they want you to go to GL #44 to get that story.
You might not have read some of Jeph Loeb's Superman works (I think he might have done this in some Ultimate work but I never read them), but he did this thing where he would cover panels with classic speeches that were supposed to sync up with what was going on, and it just felt cluttered and a "look at this it's relevant," and that's the vibe I got from the news feeds. For instance, that last page zoom out of Steve trying to assemble ......avengers? should have just been the art and Steve's word bubbles, nothing else. Let Immonen's sexy art tell the story.
And really, Nazis + The God of Fear are enough of a foe for one storyline, especially when the god is a new character who still needs to have his backstory established.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
With Fear Itself, according to Marvel, the miniseries will tell a whole story. Tie-ins are just extras if the reader is interested, and not vital if the reader is not.
See, the flaw is that the serpent chose people who are for the most part Zangiefs. Big brawlers. To counter this you need fast/shoto characters to beat them. So Spider-Man would be a good choice, Iron Fist, X-23....
Meanwhile Juggernaut seemed to be almost completely controlled by his Worthy.
And it looks like 3's big cliffhanger will probably be Thing getting his hammer since the blocked out words from the previously announced title are Yancy Street. If it werent for the fact we already KNOW he is getting one, it would probably be the big surprise they mentioned.
It may have to do with how much the hosts motivations mesh with their posessing gods.
Also noted is that there are 9 Worlds and, including Mjolnir, 9 Hammers. Don't know if that means something... but if there is gonna be a 9th Worthy, I'm thinking they take Mjolnir from Odin. Now if Blanks terrible prediction comes true it'd better be
I fucking love Bucky
like, I like Bucky more than I like Steve
and you have no idea how much I would love that, but
As much as I hate to say it, Bucky's gotta turn heel.
Wait have they really addressed...
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com