Thor Odinson Appreciation 2018

[GreenScar1990]

Fascinating cover, with all the various weapons in the whirl.

Interesting... I may check it out. If only because Cain Marko/The Juggernaut will be a possible antagonist. On a different note, regarding Jane Foster and her demise:

Could it be that she'll offer Mangog the Mother Storm within Mjolnir to satisfy/appease and/or sate his hunger for vengeance against the Gods of Asgard?

This would certainly be a multiple sacrifice if you consider that:

1) She would be sacrificing her life
2) She would be sacrificing the Mother Storm
3) She would be sacrificing the weapon Mjolnir
4) She would be sacrificing her Thor form.

Just a thought.

[a moment closer]

Fascinating cover, with all the various weapons in the whirl.

First thought was, "Thor Corps?"

[Wall-Crawler]

I'll copy/paste something a friend of mine said in Comic Vine.

"At this point marvel probably just lost their notion of how to appeal to the fans of their characters"...

THOR #1, written by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Del Mundo, sees the start of a new mission for the God of Thunder. The artifacts of Asgard have been scattered across the Earth, and to reclaim them, Thor will have to face some ugly truths…Like the production cost of hundreds of new hammers! And he’ll need every last one of them if he’s going to stop the unstoppable when none other than the Juggernaut joins the fray.

"No Thor fan (that obviously has to know the basics about the character) could be happy with this marvel synopsis/description, now there still is all the Infinity War hype that is a guarantee that these characters are not forgotten, but in the long term all the current butchering will be noticed... Then good luck bringing pre Secret Wars established readers back..."

Jason Aaron really needs to get as far away as possible from anything Thor-related.

[JKtheMac]

I'll copy/paste something a friend of mine said in Comic Vine.

"At this point marvel probably just lost their notion of how to appeal to the fans of their characters"...

THOR #1, written by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Del Mundo, sees the start of a new mission for the God of Thunder. The artifacts of Asgard have been scattered across the Earth, and to reclaim them, Thor will have to face some ugly truths…Like the production cost of hundreds of new hammers! And he’ll need every last one of them if he’s going to stop the unstoppable when none other than the Juggernaut joins the fray.

"No Thor fan (that obviously has to know the basics about the character) could be happy with this marvel synopsis/description, now there still is all the Infinity War hype that is a guarantee that these characters are not forgotten, but in the long term all the current butchering will be noticed... Then good luck bringing pre Secret Wars established readers back..."

Jason Aaron really needs to get as far away as possible from anything Thor-related.

And the problem with criticism like this is it doesn’t just say the writing isn’t to their taste or even explain why in a reasoned manner.

Instead it makes the assumption that all “real Thor fans” think exactly the same as them, and heavily implies that anyone that does like Aaron isn’t a “real Thor fan”. Not only is that blinkered, it is dismissive and borderline offensive to anyone that considers themselves a Thor fan who does like the book. And there have to be quite a few because the sales are really good. Perhaps some of the most successful Thor comics ever if you compare sales relative to their contemporary market.

I can see how this happens. A narrowly defined, like-minded group of Thor fans all agree and don’t ever get challenged as they form their opinions. They are entitled to their opinions, but why try and frame those opinions to exclude others?

If the entire readership of Aaron’s books are all new fans (and I am not by any stretch a new fan) then this book has brought in more new readers than any book since Watchman.

If, as is far more likely, the readers are a mixture of older fans and new fans then the theory about “Real Thor Fans” is false.

[JKtheMac]

Interesting... I may check it out. If only because Cain Marko/The Juggernaut will be a possible antagonist. On a different note, regarding Jane Foster and her demise:

Could it be that she'll offer Mangog the Mother Storm within Mjolnir to satisfy/appease and/or sate his hunger for vengeance against the Gods of Asgard?

This would certainly be a multiple sacrifice if you consider that:

1) She would be sacrificing her life
2) She would be sacrificing the Mother Storm
3) She would be sacrificing the weapon Mjolnir
4) She would be sacrificing her Thor form.

Just a thought.

I don’t think you are a million miles from the truth. As in my ‘non-prediction’ above somewhere, I do think Mother of Storms will end up fighting Mangog, and I do suspect it will result in both being taken out of the story.

[JKtheMac]

All this talk of weapons scattered over Earth makes me think

Spoilers for the current issue, the rest is speculation based on that and the solicitation.
spoilers:

Maybe I was right in guessing that Asgardia is not just plummeting in towards the sun, but may be on a collision course with Earth. When Jane overhears Roz calling for The Avengers she may have picked up on this being a world emergency not just a cosmic one. We also have Freyja musing about the weapons on Asgardia. Maybe Asgardia is actually destroyed by Thor to stop it colliding and that is how she dies. Parts of Asgardia plummet to Earth including the vault which explodes in the atmosphere scattering the weapons everywhere. The idea of satellites falling to earth, both in issue 1 and during the run, could have been foreshadowing this potential catastrophe at the climax. If Mjölnir gets shattered maybe that also get spread over Earth. Maybe this will actually be a secret that Thor intends to keep hidden while he also looks for intact weapons.

end of spoilers

[Frontier]

Yay for fetch quests .

[brettc1]

I can see how this happens. A narrowly defined, like-minded group of Thor fans all agree and don’t ever get challenged as they form their opinions. They are entitled to their opinions, but why try and frame those opinions to exclude others?

Why indeed?

[Asgaard]

And the problem with criticism like this is it doesn’t just say the writing isn’t to their taste or even explain why in a reasoned manner.

Instead it makes the assumption that all “real Thor fans” think exactly the same as them, and heavily implies that anyone that does like Aaron isn’t a “real Thor fan”. Not only is that blinkered, it is dismissive and borderline offensive to anyone that considers themselves a Thor fan who does like the book. And there have to be quite a few because the sales are really good. Perhaps some of the most successful Thor comics ever if you compare sales relative to their contemporary market.

I can see how this happens. A narrowly defined, like-minded group of Thor fans all agree and don’t ever get challenged as they form their opinions. They are entitled to their opinions, but why try and frame those opinions to exclude others?

If the entire readership of Aaron’s books are all new fans (and I am not by any stretch a new fan) then this book has brought in more new readers than any book since Watchman.

If, as is far more likely, the readers are a mixture of older fans and new fans then the theory about “Real Thor Fans” is false.

Since 2014 that i see that exact words and lines used to try to shut down negative opinions on female Thor. You only missed the misogyny part. So if there is anything here really defined (more like copy/paste) its the content of your post.

Plus i don't like the hammersidekick or god of the hammers concept/notion and i highly doubt that fans which Thor is one of their absolute favorite comic book characters like it, so that synopsis is not good at all to bring Thor fans that are not on board with the current take.

And please don't lose time with the we don't know how that story will play, because even if that is not what will happen on panel, to appeal to the fans that currently are not on board that was a terrible choice of words just like the ones you used (once again) to try discredit opinions that oppose to yours.

[pugbuddy]

I'll copy/paste something a friend of mine said in Comic Vine.

"At this point marvel probably just lost their notion of how to appeal to the fans of their characters"...

THOR #1, written by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Del Mundo, sees the start of a new mission for the God of Thunder. The artifacts of Asgard have been scattered across the Earth, and to reclaim them, Thor will have to face some ugly truths…Like the production cost of hundreds of new hammers! And he’ll need every last one of them if he’s going to stop the unstoppable when none other than the Juggernaut joins the fray.

"No Thor fan (that obviously has to know the basics about the character) could be happy with this marvel synopsis/description, now there still is all the Infinity War hype that is a guarantee that these characters are not forgotten, but in the long term all the current butchering will be noticed... Then good luck bringing pre Secret Wars established readers back..."

Jason Aaron really needs to get as far away as possible from anything Thor-related.

While I won't speculate about all Thor fans, this looks about as ridiculous as it can get. I'm personally no fan at all of Mjolnir being so easily replicated (although the blurb doesn't state that the hammers being made are the same) in any manner. I was very hesitant of BRB getting a hammer but at least that had a worthwhile point and was handled well by Simonson. This concept as it's being presented looks, as I said, pretty ridiculous.

[pugbuddy]

But there is a wider story going on about the legitimacy and worthiness of Thor as a Goddess, and the story of Freyja and Odin's dispute is reflective and resonant of this.

When it comes right down to it these are gods that if they want to have any claims to being legitimate perhaps need to start by reflecting society. In an age of equality notions of patrilineal monarchy have been questioned. In the UK for example the idea of a woman inheriting the throne before her younger brother became a hot issue over the last few years, as a younger generation began to question this.

So the way this reflects Jane's story, is in the challenge to the notion that Thor should be male, just as Odin seems to think he can just walk back onto the throne with no issues because he is the patrilineal monarch of Asgard.

Freya has been imploring Odin to see reason. She clearly believes she can temper him. Indeed in the Norse Edda's the most obvious role of the female characters is as a petitioner to her husband to do the right thing (sometimes the violent thing). I think Freyja would be more than happy to share the throne with him. Allowing more than one perspective. She is also very keen that the throne shouldn't be authoritarian hence her setting up a congress.

The whole "Democracy is the BEST!" idea is ridiculous in the face of gods. They have no need to be legitimated by "reflecting society". This is, perhaps, the weakest element of Aaron's writing (IMHO). His need to submit the gods to humanity in every way possible has been beyond stupid throughout his run. Just my thoughts.

[Wall-Crawler]

The whole "Democracy is the BEST!" idea is ridiculous in the face of gods. They have no need to be legitimated by "reflecting society". This is, perhaps, the weakest element of Aaron's writing (IMHO). His need to submit the gods to humanity in every way possible has been beyond stupid throughout his run. Just my thoughts.

Finally someone with common sense.

[WavyNoobSauce]

Well if we take canon as a whole, it would seem you don’t automatically get this power. That may suggest Odin didn’t either, despite telling a story where he did. The way Thor gained it was through self sacrifice. Balder didn’t perform these rites or gain the knowledge by other means either. By this strict definition neither did Freyja but we don’t know an awful lot about her backstory or even much about the Vanir.

This is false. Thor did nothing to gain the Odinforce. Odin dies in Thor vol 2 #40 and 2 issues later it's implied Thor was getting stronger from it, and straight up confirmed he had it in issue #43. Nothing he did between those issues had anything to do with self sacrifice or rites.

[JKtheMac]

This is false. Thor did nothing to gain the Odinforce. Odin dies in Thor vol 2 #40 and 2 issues later it's implied Thor was getting stronger from it, and straight up confirmed he had it in issue #43. Nothing he did between those issues had anything to do with self sacrifice or rites.

False? Do you somehow think comics are a binary? There is an entire story about how Thor gains the ability to wield the Odin-Force with multiple steps and mystical elements but that doesn’t count because reasons. Comics develop over time, none more than Thor comics which have been left a mess of continuity, the current writer can easily assert that the Odin-Force needs the wielder to be legitimate without directly contradicting canon. Indeed it is supported by some of it.

If my theory proves true I am sure some will cry foul and say Aaron is retconning everything. But they have been making such assertions for a couple of years now. I doubt the editors see it like this.

[JKtheMac]

The whole "Democracy is the BEST!" idea is ridiculous in the face of gods. They have no need to be legitimated by "reflecting society". This is, perhaps, the weakest element of Aaron's writing (IMHO). His need to submit the gods to humanity in every way possible has been beyond stupid throughout his run. Just my thoughts.

Not sure I would describe what we are seeing as Democracy.