Thor Appreciation

[CyberHubbs]

It probably would have looked boring had Thor just moved the kid aside. A punch shows that they mean business.

[spark627]

ANybody have any opinions on the Ultimate Thor mini? Worth reading? I want to read more Thor (and especially Loki) and it seems like an interesting version. I have never read the Ultimates though, is it necessary to read that first?

[plushbug]

ANybody have any opinions on the Ultimate Thor mini? Worth reading? I want to read more Thor (and especially Loki) and it seems like an interesting version. I have never read the Ultimates though, is it necessary to read that first?

I enjoyed that one. At his best, Ultimate Thor is smart, articulate, sassy, a highly inconvenient character as far as any conventional authority is concerned, and I'd like to have seen more of him. Would say what we have of him through to Ultimates 2 (Gods & Monsters, and Grand Theft America trades) was interesting enough to re-read, and have been reasonably enjoying his latest appearances in the current Ultimates--running in "the jury is still out" mode, as regards how I see that, overall--but between his earlier Ultimate U presence and this latest series, loosely say everything that culminates in the "Thor Reborn" story, there's also a fair pile of nonsense I wouldn't call worth the money.

[Yaggi_Rck]

I asked Mr. Alonso for Jane's future, and he said 'Even though we won't be seeing much of her in the near future, she'll always going to be an important part of his Earthly experience'. What's 'Earthly experience' supposed to mean?

[superchick]

I replied in the other thread. I said

Bless you for trying Yaggi-Rck. Its baffling isn't it? It seems she's been Kincaided again, this time with whatever his name is. I guess this rules her out of the big anniversary story, its not like she's in her 50th year or was there from the start right? Oh. Same old same old. Just like when Jane was the lead in the movie and Marvel didn't even give her a variant cover as part of that 'Thor goes to Hollywood' initiative. I don't get why Marvel treats her so badly. Even the critical and cult success of The Mighty Avenger couldn't get them to put some effort in. Could he have given a more blank answer? Its up there with 'The Pope is Catholic' and 'Bears defecate in the woods'. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we won't see Jane until next year at the earliest beyond a cameo. Which raises an interesting question. Why set up that whole thing in The World Eaters if we have to wait years for it to go anywhere? I'm betting they have dropped it. Also, what is the point of using her as Donald's reason for selling himself out to Enchantess if that wasn't going to be addressed?

Also, its not 'She'll always be an important part of Thor's life' its 'his earthly experience'. How depersonalized can you get? Simonson had Thor say once 'Jane was my life', I guess she's now nothing more than a footnote in his life. She's the college holiday fling you'll 'always remember'. The demotion is complete, from the love of Thor's life to nothing.

Shame on you Marvel, Shame on you

[Yaggi_Rck]

What truly kill's me is that one of the things I loved about Straczyinski's run was that he basically had Jane and Don starting to act like two adults, and the drama of their situation at the time was perfect! But since then, no one wants to deal with Jane.. so yes, for a long time, Jane'll be lost

[superchick]

What truly kill's me is that one of the things I loved about Straczyinski's run was that he basically had Jane and Don starting to act like two adults, and the drama of their situation at the time was perfect! But since then, no one wants to deal with Jane.. so yes, for a long time, Jane'll be lost

I wouldn't say JMS dealt with it very well. His Thor only focused on Sif and the furthest Donald ever got was saying 'There are a lot of things that have been left unsaid for too long' and nothing ever got said. What he was good at was showing a relationship where all the sweet innocence has been lost and left someone who has been hurt, betrayed and abandoned completely. Again, the crazy difference JMS insisted on making between Donald and Thor ruined it. It made no sense because back when Jane was dating him/them, they were the same guy so where does the buck fall? It was Donald who sat in the front row with Sif and watched blankly as an amnesiac Jane married Keith Kincaid. The fake boundary just raises questions. It has never, ever been Thor/Sif, Donald/Jane, its just a divide that never existed. He dated Jane, Jane got ditched by Odin and he took Thor's memories, He then sent him off to Sif. Donald dated Sif, Thor dated Jane. It seems to me a desperate attempt to satisfy all parties that just leads to confusion and creepiness.

The thing with writers is that they consider Jane optional in a way they don't any other character in the supporting cast. She is a supporting character not allowed to be a supporting character. Yet, what is so odd is that they want to push Jane in other media, in the movies and in animation, they are really giving her no foundation for her popularity to grow. Marvel needs to realise they can't just keep her to the side. If they are going to use her, use her. Enough with the contrived instant relationships to get rid of her a 'threat'. Enough with the half done stories that go nowhere. She's better than that and in the end no one will agree with that unless they give her time and show it. Yes, she is underdeveloped, her back story is anaemic, and Marvel don't seem to care. All people ask is one arc where we learn who the hell this person is and where finally Thor's failure toward her is brought up.

[Yaggi_Rck]

I wouldn't say JMS dealt with it very well. His Thor only focused on Sif and the furthest Donald ever got was saying 'There are a lot of things that have been left unsaid for too long' and nothing ever got said. What he was good at was showing a relationship where all the sweet innocence has been lost and left someone who has been hurt, betrayed and abandoned completely. Again, the crazy difference JMS insisted on making between Donald and Thor ruined it. It made no sense because back when Jane was dating him/them, they were the same guy so where does the buck fall? It was Donald who sat in the front row with Sif and watched blankly as an amnesiac Jane married Keith Kincaid. The fake boundary just raises questions. It has never, ever been Thor/Sif, Donald/Jane, its just a divide that never existed. He dated Jane, Jane got ditched by Odin and he took Thor's memories, He then sent him off to Sif. Donald dated Sif, Thor dated Jane. It seems to me a desperate attempt to satisfy all parties that just leads to confusion and creepiness.

The thing with writers is that they consider Jane optional in a way they don't any other character in the supporting cast. She is a supporting character not allowed to be a supporting character. Yet, what is so odd is that they want to push Jane in other media, in the movies and in animation, they are really giving her no foundation for her popularity to grow. Marvel needs to realise they can't just keep her to the side. If they are going to use her, use her. Enough with the contrived instant relationships to get rid of her a 'threat'. Enough with the half done stories that go nowhere. She's better than that and in the end no one will agree with that unless they give her time and show it. Yes, she is underdeveloped, her back story is anaemic, and Marvel don't seem to care. All people ask is one arc where we learn who the hell this person is and where finally Thor's failure toward her is brought up.

What I meant was that Strac was at least willing to see the potential of Jane's role and try to develop some sort of dynamic.
I couldn't agree more with you, she is underdeveloped as hell, we basically don't know that much about her past and STILL she feels like a great and important character to the series! Why Marvel would rather have her disappear in the comics and still make her relevant in other media makes no sense whatsoever..

[superchick]

What I meant was that Strac was at least willing to see the potential of Jane's role and try to develop some sort of dynamic.
I couldn't agree more with you, she is underdeveloped as hell, we basically don't know that much about her past and STILL she feels like a great and important character to the series! Why Marvel would rather have her disappear in the comics and still make her relevant in other media makes no sense whatsoever..

JMS grasped her personality. Where previously she would be the nice, able and dedicated professional which is great but she didn't have the fire silver age Jane had. When JMS had her slap him, I knew she was back. Its a step beyond the passive aggressive sarcasm and that seems right. He comes back and doesn't even see fit to tell her he's alive until he wants info on the whereabouts of his new girlfriend. Charming.

Basic questions about Jane:

How/when did she and Donald meet?
How did she become a nurse if she was in med school?
Does she have any living family?
Why did she become a Doctor?
How did she end up working for Donald?

There are more continuity specific ones as well but those of the key ones.

[sweetdumbass]

I need your opinion, Thor fans.

Is Thor weak ?

Is Thor a coward ?

[dbcb314]

Thor gets beat up again.... stunning. Not a great time to be a thor fan

[Zoks]

Thor gets beat up again.... stunning. Not a great time to be a thor fan

That's not true. He got beaten twice in this issue. First by Namor. So he switched targets, got beat again, and then Namor came back to beat him some more.

[superchick]

The mind of a god is no place for a mortal? Oh please! I remember when we were told seeing Asgard alone would be too much for a mortal. That was soon dropped. Godly arrogance works again.

Unless Thor's head was filled with Thor continuity holes, then I'd believe it. I'm on the precipice of madness right now.

[Nomads1]

I need your opinion, Thor fans.

Is Thor weak ?

Is Thor a coward ?

Blame crummy writers, not the character. There are at least half a dozen ways Thor could have easily beaten both characters (energy absoption, vortex opening, being one of the strongest and toughest beings around, etc...), not to mention the rest of the X-Men strike team, however, for Marvel current "architects", "great writers that they are", Thor's entire arsenal limits to swinging his big ass hammer, and being an arrogant douche, while doing it.
You want more exemples of crummy writing? Wolverine beats Gladiator's son with a nerve pinch. I repeat: FREAKIN' WOLVERINE BEATS FREAKIN' GLADIATOR'S SON WITH A FREAKIN' NERVE PINCH! Of course, why shouldn't he? It's his book after all.
But, hey, if you want to buy into that crap, more power to you. I'm finding myslef more and more limited to reading reprints collections in TPB.

Peace

[graffiX]

Thor should just turn around and run when he sees ANYTHING Phoenix-related coming.

Cyclops blasted him in AvX #6 after mocking his "weather" powers, and then in this new issue of WaTXM, Namor insults him and then follows that up with a beat down. Not to mention Rachel got a few good licks in.

Maybe the Phoenix came to earth simply to take Thor out to the woodshed?