Whosoever watches this review, if they be worthy... will see a comic about a Norse God battling aliens.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Journey Into Mystery #83
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75 comments:
I'm sure some people will be disappointed by the lack of Loki in that comic. I hope someday there's a first appearance of the villain you can talk about maybe in a Secret Origins month dedicated to classic supervillains.
Indeed, the timing of Thor: The Dark World really amped up anticipation of this one for me. I wasn't familiar with Thor, but my father is. He read a few Thor comics when he was growing up and is a fan of various ancient mythologies and whatnot.
And eager to see what'll come for Christmas and the end of the year retrospective. I heard you'll do something related to Doctor Who for one review if I'm not mistaken?
If I may also chime in my suggestions for Secret Origins for 2014? I suppose, now with Hank Pym and Thor introduced, The Avengers will be subject for next year? On the other hand though there's still Wasp. So perhaps:
Wasp
Aquaman
Martian Manhunter
The Avengers
On the other hand, you could always save the Avengers for Secret Origins 2015, so that you can do both The Avengers and Justice League of America in the same year...and come hot off the heels of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Wow, so this has even less to do with the mythological character, huh? Though, at least it actually takes place in Norway, instead of freaking New Mexico.
I really hope Lewis does a vlog on The Day of the Doctor sometime soon, because the one about The Name of the Doctor was great.
One interesting thing about Thor is that writers never seem to be able to agree on how he flies. Sometimes he throws his hammer and holds on to it (like in this comic), sometimes he creates winds that are strong enought to lift him, sometimes he just flies like any other superhero and sometimes he has flying carriage pulled by two goats (comics are weird).
Anyway, I personally love Thor. Besides Deadpool, he his my favorite Marvel hero. His stories are fun mix of fantasy and science fiction with fun characters and action scenes. For anyone who has even small interest towards Thor, I would recommend Walter Simmon's run. His run has everything I love about Thor: Larger than life stories, epic action scenes, likeable characters, memorable villains and of course healthy dose of superhero goofines.
Another Secret Origins Month closes and its last installment was a treat. Hopefully, we'll see the origin of the whimsical Wasp and the birth of the Avengers in next year's S.O.M.
As for your adjective title, its not easy coming up with one since many have already been covered (I.E. Incredible, Uncanny, Amazing, Fantastic, Invincible, Astonishing, Sensational, Spectacular, and so on). But here is a short list of ones I've come up with:
The Bombastic Linkara!
The Magnificent Linkara!
The Unflappable Linkara!
The Befuddled Linkara!
I'm sure someone else will come up with better ones.
Also, your upcoming Christmas episodes being far stranger than the Silver Age?! Surely, you jest, good sir.
Well done episode most of the jokes where good and unexpected.
It´s true that the english word Thursday doesn´t reflect Thor in it but in other north european languages there is. For example in German Thursday is called "Donnerstag" with "Donner" being the german word for thunder.
Decent origin, I guess
But it has nothing on THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0BxBsfzuJE
now THAT'S how ALL origin stories should be like!
I have a feeling the chapters business the old school comics went with as a relic of Golden Age publishing practices. Back then, all comics were anthology comics, with multiple separate stories included in each issue. Eventually of course this became less common in favor of just having each issue contain one story. I would imagine the chapters organization was a means to indicate the story's singular nature to readers who weren't used to the format.
Of course I have no way to confirm this, so it's just a theory.
I think if I recall correctly, the Hulk was initially not very successful, hence his title was canceled with issue #6 and he was moved to the Avengers (but then didn't stick around there for long either).
Well I was off, but hey there was some magic in there. Plus why not have magic vs science we need more of it. Also I like how Loki is pissed at you on the title card. Hahaha. The jealousy of siblings/family is great. Well in the realm of fiction and storytelling at least. -.-
Why does the environment of Earth somehow tend to give pretty much all alien visitors enhanced abilities and superpowers but none to the darn native inhabitants like us? Does it work in reverse? Would humans get superpowers if we were to visit Proxima Centauri or something? I'm confused... :/
Awww....I thought your comment on MAGIC last week meant we'd see Dr. Strange.
Oh well, Thor's good too.
So, how many other people were first introduced to Thor in "Adventures in Babysitting"?
Inb4 the Loki's fangirls parade begins...
By Stan Lee's moustache, why is Siegfried of the Nibelungen Song never mentioned when you make references to mythology? The guy killed a dragon, with fire, mind you, proceeded to bathe in the dragon's blood and became invulnerable except for one spot on his back. And he was a formidable warrior even before that! D:
Oh my, I love the title card :) I really like the artwork in this comic, and once again- badass costume :) On the other hand, I'm really glad, that in the movies they didn't give Thor this winged helmet. It make him looks like Asterix's older brother :)
By the way, I wonder why they made heroes only from Scandinavian and Greece mitology? Why not irish or slavic? I suppose it is because of names. Try to explain American reader how to pronounce "Swietowit" or "Cúchulainn" (I suppose that irish language was born, when an ancient cat stepped onto God's keyboard). Still, Banshee from Irish legends is DC villain, so I have my hopes :)
All in all, nice review, Linkara!
Cheers!
PS. It's not poor literacy. It's just my poor English skills :P
Linkara Obtained SCP-063!
The World's Best TothBrush!
http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-063
Ooh, Thor. I actually have a trade paperback of Thor's earlier stories, including this one. ^_^
As you said, it's pretty enjoyable as a story, but as someone who grew up on the Danish "Valhalla" comics and got really interested in all kinds of mythology, I had a hard time getting through a lot of the research failures in the stories. Plus, a few got very uncomfortably racist. >_>
Speaking of the actual mythology mentioned: Thor would, to my knowledge, be the strongest As and possibly strongest of all gods in Norse mythology. Including just being able to wield Mjölnir (From what I know, the problem others had was quite literally that it was too heavy to even lift, especially with one hand) and routinely hunting giants and trolls in their homeland. Not entirely sure if that measures up to all the feats of other great folks of myth, so Blake might still want to specify a bit more often.
I can't find much on Odin's beard, though it certainly is among one of the prominent features of the Allfather of the Æsir. Could be a minced oath like goshdarn or zounds, but somebody more educated on Old Norse will probably correct me on that. ^_^'
The comic itself, ignoring the lack of mythological accuracy, is pretty hilariously goofy. First adventure of a person who transforms into a medieval thunder god? Fight rock space aliens bent on conquering Earth with alien technology of course! XD
Great review and great comic
The Stone Men from Saturn sound more like an experiment from MST3K.
I remember they retconned one of those aliens to be the same one that appeared in Planet Hulk.
Awesome review. Glad to see Thor's origins revealed. Definitely one of my favorite Marvel heroes. :)
The thing I enjoyed the most was Donald/Thor learning how to use his powers. We don't see superheroes practicing to see what they can and can't do often so it was nice.
I also liked the Planet Hulk movie flashbacks I got form the rock aliens. I should watch that movie again.
Wouldn't a Mason be a bigger threat then a Carpenter? After all they both use hammers.
... are you a Hiddlestoner, Linkara? Welcome to the club! :3
Dear, Lewis (Linkara) Lovehaug
This was a great episode as always. I would like to point out though that there is a hole in your repertoire that should be considered. I have noticed that you have not reviewed anything by Shotaro Ishinomori. While I understand that you have a rule against reviewing manga, that hasn't kept you from reviewing a Pokemon comic and several other manga at live shows and Long-box of the Damned. Really Shotaro Ishinomori does deserve a look at. After all, he holds the world record for most comic pages ever published. In fact, legend says Mr. Ishinomori once created 500 pages in a month. Naturally you couldn't do a whole manga, but you could do what you did with a few secret origins comics and countdown. I.E. just look through the major parts. You could do Masked Rider since you did do references to that franchise (The JLA pilot video had a clip from Kamen Rider X and your titlecard for the Barry Allen/Flash origin had Kamen Rider Kabuto. You could also look at Cyborg 009, Kikaider, Inazuman, or the Skullman one-shot. (Skullman is credited as being the first manga anti-hero since he killed inocent people to get to the man that killed his parents.) All of the mentioned titles are on comixology. I personally think you owe the work of such an important person in manga, "possibly even comic books overall," history deserves at least one episode.
Also Linkara I've been watching your Cry for Justice reviews(sorry for reminding you of a bad comic)
Yeah I cried Bulls--t on how easily Green Lantern, Green arrow beat Bizarro, Mr. Freeze(sighs), and the other guy by themselves. That was just so wrong.
I actually have a good explanation for the wall thing. The panels don't do a good job showing it, but if he hit a hidden lever, the piece of wall that started moving doesn't have to be the piece that was right behind him. It could have been next to him or across the way. Hidden levers are usually next to rather than on the door.
It was a funny review anyway.
Actually Jack Kirby was way more involved in these things than you think, the Marvel method gave the artists a lot of control over stories. Many people speculate that it was Kirby who first came up with the idea of using Thor, as shown in this CBR column.
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/10/25/comic-book-legends-revealed-442/
Anonymous- The Stone Men were retconned into Planet Hulk. Hell, the movie has a flashback of them fighting Thor and Beta Ray Bill (who's a story for another day).
This is a surprisingly fun comic. Norse god (who the films retcon as a super advanced alien society) vs alien invaders. Oh, the Silver Age you so wacky.
Somebody already pointed this out 2 weeks ago but I believe it bears repeating.
Even though we all know you're not really a Marvel fan, I think its baffling that this is the first time you've ever done a comic with 616 (not ultimate) Thor in it. Same with Hulk, Iron Man and Pym, they've only shown up in their respective secret origins months.
I hope that in the future you do more comics with these characters, you've looked at more than enough Spider-Man comics, and even X-Men comics which is weird since you've said you didn't care about them.
Given the usual content of the show, how about "The Irritable Linkara"?
So sorry to see Origins Month end. There are so many other great Silver Age comics it can cover! Like Hawkman's origin, my god that one's the most ABSURD of all (those of you who have seen it know what I mean.) Oh well next year hopefully.
As for Thor's origin, I knew most of it but I still enjoyed bits like the Stone Men gaining strength from our atmosphere (Giggle!)
And now I'm wondering exactly why this year's Xmas shows will be weird. Looking forth to them, Linkara. ;)
Actually, Thursday really is named after Thor. The names of the days of the week come from the old english named of the gods (i.e. Wednesday comes from Wodan, Odin's name in southern territories)
The Hulk (the original series) was actually one of Marvels first failures. The original comic only lasted six issues, and the Hulk eventually made Tales to astonish his home for several years, before getting his own book (renumbered from the same book), and becoming more successful.
Take of that, what you will of course.
Okay, Before I saw Thor's movie, I've only seen Super Hero Squad Show and Earth's Mightiest Heroes Avengers cartoon,Planet Hulk to find out about Thor. Since than, I've become a fan of Thor. This review reminded me of seeing a Thor Cosplayer at a local comic con, that I went to that was really cool looking. Man, Thor has a cool origin story. If you think, the comicbooks for the Christmas season is weirder than the Silver Age comics than We're going to get some really weird comics.
Okay,Before I saw Thor's movie. I saw, Super Hero Squad Show and Earth's mightiest heroes: The Avengers and Planet Hulk to find out about Thor. Since,than I like Thor. In, fact my favorite cosplay that I saw at my local comiccon was the only Thor one. As for his origin, I liked it.Okay, I'm curious about the Christmas comics this year.
Another awesome review. I want to report an issue I'm having the with site, though. Every so often (like this time), the commercials don't show up. Now, while I do have adblocker, I have it turned off for this site, since I know that it's a prime source of revenue for you. Is this something to do with your provider?
"Another awesome review. I want to report an issue I'm having the with site, though. Every so often (like this time), the commercials don't show up. Now, while I do have adblocker, I have it turned off for this site, since I know that it's a prime source of revenue for you. Is this something to do with your provider?"
Unlikely, since I don't host the videos and neither does BlogSpot - it's just the video is embedded. Chances are it's either not as disabled as you thought or it's just an occasional glitch where the ad is supposed to play but doesn't. I wouldn't worry too much about it. ^_^
wow, way to give Jack Kirby a big fuck you, guess Linkara's a Stan lee fallower not even three minutes in and you can see the fan boyism
read a jack kirby interview, he gives a better reason for the origin and why thor was made
Re "Thorsday", directing people to this Horrible Histories sketch seems appropriate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOXrCIo5k7k
The reason why Thor can lift Mjölnir in the mythology is due to his mystical gauntlets that make him stronger. Without those gauntlets, even Thor would have a hard time wielding his weapon. I love Norse Mythology and am highly versed in it; it is one of my favorite sources of literature. Odin's beard is not a real saying.
How about, the Magical Linkara.
"wow, way to give Jack Kirby a big fuck you, guess Linkara's a Stan lee fallower not even three minutes in and you can see the fan boyism
read a jack kirby interview, he gives a better reason for the origin and why thor was made"
Sooo I gave him a "fuck you" by talking about how fast and talented he was?
I went with the sources that I had for how Thor was created and people are already telling me how much more involved Thor was and it shall be noted for my next screw-up list. There really isn't any need to try insulting me simply for a mistake.
Verily good sir, this review doth tickle mine funnybone. I pray good reviewer of the printed tales of the cape and costume crowd that thine success ever flourish and wish thee the most excellent of winter seasons as thou shall apparently descend into the pits of madness.
And now I'm switching back to modern English because that took a while, when I saw this on the schedule I went to the Marvel comics app and downloaded it for free so if anybody wants to read the story and not pay for it, there you go.
I hope Mecha-Kirby didn't turn go evil and try and destroy humanity cause it would be a shame to lose talent like that just because he wanted to kill all humans.
The Mighty Thor....not to be confused to the Mediocre Thor.
Unless I'm wrong, didn't Neutro and U.S. Steel debut after Thor? If so I think that would give the cover permission to say that.
By Stan Lee's moustache! I think you've started something there!
Huh, now I really want to read an Evil Thor story.
Fun Thor fact: Thor also killed the goats who pulled his chariot whenever he was hungry and then brings them back to life with his hammer when he's ready to go.
It's stories like this that make me miss the Silver Age, everything gets soaked with crazy awesomeness!
Like I said, great review. I can't wait for next year's Secret Origins, next month's Christmas comics, or the next History of Power Rangers...actually between their 20th and Doctor Who's 50th its been a year for anniversaries.
Great review. I highly recommend the Simonson run for two reasons (besides the obvious fact that it's frickin' awesome): You get an answer to the stick question AND a proper t rune on the belt at some point.
To complete the two who already commented on "Thursday", originally, it was called "Thorsday", but it changed over time ;)
Great to see his origin.
Though I must say, I personally like the asgardian god who comes down to earth more then the idea of someone turning into Thor... I mean, Thor has it's own personality, it's not a figure without character in that way.
If he would also get Thor's characteristic traits, I probably would be easier to accept him "as" Thor ^^
...or if he could just lend his powers, but not his whole body.
About that cane comment from the ending, three words: Beta Ray Bill.
This was a fun episode and weirdly this was extremely entertaining on your part and Kirby's. From what I saw in later Thor comics, Donald Blake gets really mopey, particularly once Jane Foster shows up...and whoo boy is she something not seen in the movies (and without the cuteness of Darcy tagging along) Considering that, I like the simplicity of the comic: a problem emerges and Blake figures things out without really knowing the truth of it all...which as you said, is another day. And loves a lot of the gags with the hammer as well, as well as the bit with Blake vs. the immovable rock.
So the Stone Men from Saturn...think they'll be a Probopass evolution for another gen?
This review was really, really funny. I enjoyed it a lot. (Just an aside, I like the new Secret Origins opening, probably because I love the Avengers theme too at least being part of it).
Liked the Tom Hiddleston comment.
So, Christmas is going to be weirder than the silver age?
Sweet.
@dragons_dusk
The Bespectacled Linkara!
The Android-Punching Linkara!
Pretty fun origin story. I do like that Blake is actually smart as well as being relatable-he's an ordinary schlub that stumbles upon an artifact of great power and uses it for good.
For those asking how the Rock Men from Saturn are so much stronger on Earth, well, the answer is obvious.
The Roji-Panty Complex.
kudos for mentioning Thor's smackdown of Tony Stark. It is one of my favourite moments from Straczynski's run. Completely justified and awesome.
Interesting review--as you said, I'm only really familiar with the MCU Thor (and to an extent his Ultimate version), so the Donald Blake stuff was something new. Looking things up, turns out he really was Thor all along, just in some new body Odin made for him. By comic standards, not that weird I guess.
Chuckled a bit at the writing on Thor's Hammer. Almost looked like it had 'Acme' written on it.
I also second you could do groups for next years' Secret Origins--I think you already did X-Men, correct me if I'm wrong? Otherwise, villains are also a good idea.
Looking forward to your Christmas episodes (Christmas already, god, how time flies these days...)
It's weird how the only classic origin which also features that title's main villain is X-Men. Maybe it's because they were created after most of the other characters and Lee and Kirby had enough time to figure out how to create a dynamic villain on the first try.
I am deeply concerned that you were unwilling to address the use of gender specific language on the hammer. Implying that only a man could ever be worthy of being a hero. I was ready to let this go, I'm willing to let the occasional "universal he" slip because too few english-language writers use gender neutral pronouns until your stinger. "For A Good Time Call Freya?" Really?! That's just low and you didn't have to take a cheap shot that demeans the object of a real people's worship for your immature joke. Check your priv.
"I am deeply concerned that you were unwilling to address the use of gender specific language on the hammer. Implying that only a man could ever be worthy of being a hero. I was ready to let this go, I'm willing to let the occasional "universal he" slip because too few english-language writers use gender neutral pronouns until your stinger. "For A Good Time Call Freya?" Really?! That's just low and you didn't have to take a cheap shot that demeans the object of a real people's worship for your immature joke. Check your priv."
Okay, I know you're just trolling, but you do realize that Freya is the Goddess of War, love, sexuality, beauty, gold, and death, right?
Sooo yes, my joke is accurate.
Awww, no mention of the time Thor got turned into a frog?
How about: "The Not-Quite Canadian" Linkara?
Being a goddess of sexuality does not imply that she has to be relegated to a goddess of male objectification, which is exactly what you do by referencing her as ala truck-stop bathroom solicitation.
I'm not a sex-positive feminist. I'll grant you that. But neither am I a troll. I believe that it is more important to divorce our ideas of sexual objectification from humor and levity. Making these jokes reinforces to the audience that it is okay to interpret these solicitations as acceptable displays, or worse, to make light of individuals in dangerous circumstances.
Now, you may wish to contend that the joke was intended to reflect Freya's multifaceted persona and it's comparative incongruity to modern audiences. I'll concede that a certain amount of humor can be taken from mythology, although I would advise caution for religions that have active worshiper, such as Norse Paganism. But the crux of this joke then is still the juxtaposition of expectations. The audience expects the "good time" to be sexual gratification, when it is instead something else. But the set up still reinforces the stereotype and you didn't need to present this in the manner of solicitous graffiti.
I would last point out that you do not offer a defense for the book's charge that only a male-identified individual can ever be "worthy." Which, really, is the greater fight here, and I suspect the one that less high-minded feminists can support. I do understand that the thousand-year-project won't be complete over night. I would like to hear your case for NOT rebutting this claim.
And, before you call me troll again, I won't offer further rebut here unless invited to do so. I am a watcher (and an ad watcher), and a customer (because like you, I believe Anrcho-Capitalism to be the true equalizer.) I seek only to keep you honest to the truest principles you espouse.
@ 5:33 – the Norse rune for the letter ‘T’ is a shallow arrow pointing up and is the likely predecessor to our modern “T” since superhero comics were at that point in time primarily being written for kids it would follow that instead of the truer Norse symbol, which might confuse youngsters, they used the capital T in the name Thor instead.
Although if that is the case had they done any research at all the name thor would actually be spelled with only three characters. “thorn”, “Os”, and “nyd” so his symbol should be the thorn rune. Which by the way in Norse runes it is symbolic of the god Thor.
@ 06:57 – Wait… Linkara… did you JUST realize that Thor is an alien? XD
@ 07:56 – buahahahahaha. And pebbles gets thrown in a lake. (If you know the joke its not bad English!)
@ 18:26 – O… M…G… perfect use of that clip. Thor is full of L.A.M.P.s
@ 21:47 – You kinda have to be worthy of the stick is my interpretation. Because any schlubb can pick up the stick but it won’t become anything more than the stick (even by accident) unless you’re worthy of it.
also, I don't have ad-blocker and have had the same issue as wrabbit. sometimes the commerical in the middle just doesn't come.
:(
Oh and one more thing
The Epic Linkara
Wow, grass and fighting type... seriously, Linkara, what's with all of the water type hate? You often claim to be pro-equality, then you leave them out. Steel type I'll let pass since you're obviously an OGen1 trainer, and we weren't aware of certain types that already existed during that time.
Also, though Freya was a goddess of all of those things, and probably more, her core concept was a sort of (pardon the bastardization of the term) feminine virility, which translated to the strength, beauty, fertility, and sexuality - she was the sort of role model that all men would strive to find in their partner, and all women would strive to become - the death and war sort of things came as most victories were dedicated to her. What's odd, is she has a near identical spear counterpart in her brother Freyr, the male god of all of those things. Ancient Norse Mythology: the birthplace of Equal Opportunity.
I know the perfect term that should come before you name due to the fact you are a big fan of a certain 2o year kids show about teenagers with attitude, how about the Morphinominal Linkara?:)
Btw the battle between and the rock creatures has been done in Planet Hulk with Thor and Beta Ray Bill
"Being a goddess of sexuality does not imply that she has to be relegated to a goddess of male objectification, which is exactly what you do by referencing her as ala truck-stop bathroom solicitation.
I'm not a sex-positive feminist. I'll grant you that. But neither am I a troll. I believe that it is more important to divorce our ideas of sexual objectification from humor and levity. Making these jokes reinforces to the audience that it is okay to interpret these solicitations as acceptable displays, or worse, to make light of individuals in dangerous circumstances."
Well, this is where we have to agree to disagree since I AM a sex-positive feminist and feel that the problems in modern media are often a result of objectification and reduction to mere sexual object that sexual agency should still come into account and be reflected in the personal choice of a woman if she feels to express herself thusly.
"Now, you may wish to contend that the joke was intended to reflect Freya's multifaceted persona and it's comparative incongruity to modern audiences. I'll concede that a certain amount of humor can be taken from mythology, although I would advise caution for religions that have active worshiper, such as Norse Paganism. But the crux of this joke then is still the juxtaposition of expectations. The audience expects the "good time" to be sexual gratification, when it is instead something else."
No, you got the joke pretty well in terms of its incongruity of modern expectations, but then again I'm not sure how much of an active worshipping base Norse Paganism actually enjoys in relation to these deities, nor do I think that I am being particularly offensive in the idea that a Goddess of Sexuality would, well, engage in sex.
"But the set up still reinforces the stereotype and you didn't need to present this in the manner of solicitous graffiti."
And I disagree on that and that it is merely a play on words based on the deity in question.
"I would last point out that you do not offer a defense for the book's charge that only a male-identified individual can ever be "worthy." Which, really, is the greater fight here, and I suspect the one that less high-minded feminists can support. I do understand that the thousand-year-project won't be complete over night. I would like to hear your case for NOT rebutting this claim."
Because it was written in 1962 and "he" was still operating as the standard default for both genders. A weak defense, perhaps, but that's because I don't feel the need to fight a battle or get annoyed about the choice of language used in a comic from the 1960s that probably didn't even postulate the idea of anyone BUT a male possessing the power of Thor considering the transformation is into the male deity. It's a MODERN concept that equality should be exercised and, while people may feel free to correct me on this, I'm pretty sure that these days it now reads "Whosoever holds this hammer, if THEY be worthy."
"And, before you call me troll again, I won't offer further rebut here unless invited to do so. I am a watcher (and an ad watcher), and a customer (because like you, I believe Anrcho-Capitalism to be the true equalizer.) I seek only to keep you honest to the truest principles you espouse."
My reasons for calling you a troll are because the principles YOU have been espousing reflect a rather radical form of feminism that seems to want to nitpick every single little thing, as if every battle NEEDS to be fought over the tiniest of infractions or use of language when not intended to actually be a matter of a battle over gender issues. In essence, your past comments seem to care more about a single tree on fire when an entire forest is burning down.
"Wow, grass and fighting type... seriously, Linkara, what's with all of the water type hate? You often claim to be pro-equality, then you leave them out. Steel type I'll let pass since you're obviously an OGen1 trainer, and we weren't aware of certain types that already existed during that time."
While I'm fairly certain you're joking about this, you are the second person to ask why I didn't mention water and that's because I wanted to keep the joke quick and simple and only mention two types, thus I picked grass and fighting at random.
Ah, so Thor wasn't always a god but someone who transformed into a god. That's actually a pretty interesting take on the character but wouldn't Thor's own personality clash with the person that he's technically possessing?
With that in mind, did Marvel have that kind of origin for most of their god-themed heroes? Well this curious mind will have to search out that information.
By the way, Mr. Lovhaug, are you ever planning on doing a secret origin review on a character who started out as a villain but the debuted as a hero later?
The writer of this comic should see someone about his addiction to exclamation points.
It always amuses me when mythological beings are described as noble when they really, really weren't. Thor in particular enslaved some guy's kids just because the guy accidentally crippled Thor's magic goat. NOBLE!
Can't wait for your Christmas episodes!
@N:
Linkara ripped apart the majority of your arguments for the flimsy tripe that they were, but I just want to address this bit:
"I'll concede that a certain amount of humor can be taken from mythology, although I would advise caution for religions that have active worshiper"
After Jesus rose from the dead, he and the disciples went on a fishing trip to the Keys. While there, Jesus decided that he was going to walk on water once again. Peter tried to discourage him, but Jesus insisted. He stepped off the side of the boat, and sank like a stone. Peter dove in and pulled him back on the boat.
"I don't understand," Jesus said. "It worked last time."
"Yes, Lord, but last time you didn't have holes in your feet."
OR:
An Irish man went into Confession. "Father, I've committed adultery."
The priest asked, "Was it Mrs. O'Leary?"
"No Father."
"Was it Mrs. O'Grady?"
"No Father"
"It must have been Mrs. Jones."
"No, Father."
The priest gives the man three Hail Marys as penance. On the way out, the man runs into a friend.
"Did you get absolution?"
"No, but I got three good leads."
And so forth. By the by, I'm a practicing Catholic. :P
By Stan Lee's mustache! sounds like a wonderful new swear to proclaim.
There's nothing sinful about good humor. Some people might -dislike- it, but it's not -wrong.-
Actually a few jokes came to me as I watched...
"Can't get away from the lumbering, slow thing!" -MST3K; the Phantom Planet-
If he's complaining about running out of air -now,- he'd better cancel his trip to Airlandia.
Weirder than the silver age? It can be weirder than a variation of Kryptonite that turns Superman into a gorilla? A ray-gun that makes you gain weight? An alien death plant that looks like a piece of crystal, and causes things to freeze? I won't call garbage on that statement, Linkara, because I know you have a knack for discovering recent, crazy comic books, but I will say that I have -got- to see this. I can't wait.
@N: I spoke to an actual practicing Norse Pagan, who said that since the point was sex positivity, there is nothing offensive about it to followers of Freya.
And then she added that it is not the place of social justice warriors to speak for a goddess unless you happen to be one of her priests/priestesses.
A Few TidBits.
No one really answered the gravity question. The original source of Superman's powers was that he came from a world with stronger gravity. This was actually JOHN CARTER OF MARS' origin in reverse. So, based on Sci-Fi logic, a human going to another world with even less gravity than ours, would have
super-powers on Planet Wow!
And yes, if somebody found "The Stick", then they would see it transformed into Mjolnir--BUT ONLY IF THEY WERE WORTHY! To somebody like The Kingpin, it would probably remain a stick. Someone just recently did a great mini-series at Marvel where Thor was running Asgard while Odin was away; he did such a lousy job, he LOST the ability to pick up Mjolnir because by Odin's in-junction, Thor was no longer "worthy". It might have been called THOR:ASGARD but I can't remember.
The whole business about finding a magic stick that turned into Mjolnir and Blake into Thor was reminiscent of Jack Kirby and Stan's original version of Spider-Man one that was influenced by both Captain Marvel and more importantly, The Fly--the main reason why that version of Spidey was scrapped. This DEFINITELY points to Kirby's involvement in the plot.
Finally, it was later revealed that Thor was the real personality and Donald Blake was the phony.
They touched on this in the first THOR movie but in order to punish Thor for his arrogance, Odin stripped him of his immortality and left him stranded on Earth.
He implanted the desire to study medicine into the human Thor so that he would have sympathy for those weaker than himself. Hmmm, perhaps this would be great for SECRET ORIGINS MONTH: RETCON EDITION!
-LEADER DESSLOK-
Great episode for this. It's actually surprisingly good.
Can't wait for the Xmas reviews . . . and of course next year's Secret Origins Month. I want to see Robin, Dr. Strange, and of course The Avengers!
@N.
I think more important than the word choice on the hammer is that comic writers have shown women as being able to wield it. Wonder Woman in the Marvel Vs DC war, and Rogue in one particular What If come to mind.
Curses, Linkara! ...one more for the Missed Opportunities pile, then:
"They'll never be able to get pass this cardboard cutout of a boulder!/"It's no use, it's made of solid cardboard!"
Am I the only one who thinks the Stone Men look a lot like the Thing? (Of the Fantastic Four, of course. Not John Carpenter's. Or the Addams's.)
Interesting that they chose a dragon hologram to fight the modern jets, when it was recently revealed on Agents Of SHIELD that the Dragonslayer was Asgardian.
I've read a story that they didn't know the name of Mjolnir at the time - they even said it was named 'Uru', but when they found out the hammer had a name, they decided that uru was the metal it was made from.
btw:
Monday - the Moon
Tuesday - Twyr (I think; Celtic war god)
Wednesday - Odin
Thursday - Thor
Friday - Freya
Saturday - Saturn
Sunday - I don't know.
~ Mik
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