Thor Odinson, God of Thunder Appreciation 2019

[GodThor]

Thor #340 Feb 1984
Thor and Beta Ray Bill fight side-by-side in "Though Hel Should Bar the Way!"
Thor, Sif and Bill save the latters people from alien demons;

Odin gives Bill a civilian identity when he strikes his hammer on the ground.


Script and art by Walter Simonson

Aaron should take notes.

glad that Bill is back in GotG.

[GodThor]

yo guys, I know how Odin will return to greatness!!!

it will be epic asf, the most legendary return EVER

[Sunny]

yo guys, I know how Odin will return to greatness!!!

it will be epic asf, the most legendary return EVER

ahh we could hope. Freyja looks bad ass!!!

[Daedra]

Were is that picture from? sorry but it looks so stupid.....what use could odin an freya have for a gatling gun and rifles?

[GodThor]

Were is that picture from? sorry but it looks so stupid.....what use could odin an freya have for a gatling gun and rifles?

Loki: Agent of Asgard.

I don't remember and I don't want to know.

but imagine Odin returning like that

[From The Shadows]

Jurgen's run in the first two years is a pretty good book that's carried by Romita Jr. Then when he leaves it's just kinda meh even though it has a G like Adam Kubert. But then it gets way more ambitious and starts pulling its weight on the writing side in the last three years, but the resolution is so wack that it practically makes the whole thing a waste of time. It's a really weird era. One one hand, you can understand why it's not that popular and so little of it sticks. But on the other, it's so weird that one of the longest runs on a flagship character might as well have vanished into the void.

Yeah, I think Jurgens is a good writer but his run didn't thrill me as much as I hoped it would, certainly not the worst, though. The John Romita Jr. art was the definite plus side.

On the subject of the films I personally felt them underwhelming. The armor/costumes looked really plasticy. I felt Sif was way too skinny. She is supposed to be a goddess. I remember some old stories where the Asgard women would be seen almost towering over the normal humans while the actress looked smaller than some human heroes. The X-Men had just come out in theaters and I was watching the LotRs films and I was thinking it was a matter of time before more Marvel movies were made so naturally I thought of Thor while watching it. I thought to myself, I would love armor similar to this and the general feel. It just did not feel like the world of gods. I also didn't "feel" Hemsworths Thor. He should have been perfect but he just seemed to have fallen flat. Admittedly, I only saw the first one and when I saw the preview for the third I was happy they would bring in humor because I loved Walt Simonson's more humorous scenes in his run but we got more humor that was over the top. I thought we'd get more subtle humor with Grandmaster. I was thinking more Batman and Robin by Joel Schumacer rather than Thor when I saw it. Last but not least I felt it needed to be a half hour longer, a story with this epic scale and this many characters needs a lot more time. Cate Blanchett, however, was brilliant casting. She has the charisma and acting chops to pull it off and the transition from Galadriel to Hela was a natural thing. I would see it just for her. I do still plan on seeing the others, eventually.

Also... no Balder? WTAF???

[Snoop Dogg]

Were is that picture from? sorry but it looks so stupid.....what use could odin an freya have for a gatling gun and rifles?

agent of asgard was godlike

[JKtheMac]

But, equally nonsensical is the claim that change is inherently good, and that I've also heard on these boards a couple of times (actually, each time someone wants to make up a strong argument). It is neither good nor bad, but simply inevitable. Much of what transpires in fictional worlds nowadays, especially those of American origin, is a reaction to a certain change in the American political life, and those same "proponents of change" do not view that particular change as good at all.

In products of art (and entertainment), it's always of greater importance how something is done than what is done. So, I, personally, can accept any change - literally - if my suspension of disbelief isn't shattered by subpar execution. The problem with the narratives of the Big Two is that they are marketed as something continuous, connected, related, etc, but in fact - or in logical sense - they aren't, really. So, it's only natural that we have conflicts between old fans and new fans.

The only part of this I disagree with is ‘old fans and new’. The reality from my experience here is conflict between old fans and other old fans. Some accepting the inevitable change and some just wanting everything to stay the same. This inherent conservatism in tastes that some people express is perhaps more prevalent in older fans but it is still a minority in my opinion. Grumpy fans cluster together naturally. It is human nature to gravitate to those who validate your world view. Internet forums are not where younger fans hang out. Some do but the demographic is skewed in places like this.

People like me, who are older and have come back to comics purely because the current era feels more inclusive and less stifled by the weight of accumulated canon, than anything from the previous three decades, will naturally have more in common with newer fans. We are here for the same reason, the sheer fun of it all. Sometimes I think fandom causes us to forget how to have fun.

But the most telling thing is how people who are positive and accepting of change are challenged forcefully, both directly and indirectly. Not everyone wants to argue. Younger fans are less likely to stand and argue if the person arguing with them has been reading a property for decades. That has to be intimidating.

For people like myself, who have read almost everything, and also embrace change, the rhetorical strategy used by disgruntled fans is immediately apparent. I watch as older fans cherry pick from the past, twist the nature of older stories to support their thesis, downplay the huge variety in the canon, or ignore established parts of canon that are still in play just because they don’t like it (or just haven’t read it recently and have forgotten).

In general long term disgruntled fans tend to cheat in arguments. Pretend that the whole of canon was somehow perfect and simple, and only the new thing is somehow invalid. Some of this may be unconscious bias. Comics have been conservative in their output for so long it is perhaps inevitable that it feels like how things should be for some. For me and it seems the current writers and editors, this inherent conservatism is everything that is wrong with comics.

[juan678]

Hela by Sejic (nebezial)

[kilderkin]

ahh we could hope. Freyja looks bad ass!!!

She does😎

Odin looks like he's lost his artifacts🤔

[GodThor]

She does��

Odin looks like he's lost his artifacts��

Odin comes with machine gun against fodder Elves

[kilderkin]

Odin comes with machine gun against fodder Elves

Well it should make quick work of it

[GodThor]

Well it should make quick work of it

yeah LoL

I wonder how will Odin be rekt in WotR.

[juan678]

[JKtheMac]

Just noticed there are some great bargains to be had on a wide variety of Thor trades on ComiXology until tomorrow.