Journey Into Mystery #639 *Spoilers*

[Post Monster]

Graphic Novels are just a format for comic books, not a genre like a superhero comics.

True.

This really feels like a non-superhero genre graphic novel while still keeping the superhero roots.

There. That's more accurate.

[Maidman]

Awesome map! I am glad I am buying this book! Cant wait for read it.

[Will.S]

im all about elsons art right now

I think Elson's a pretty good artist, his characters tend to look a bit beefier than I would like at times but his art along with the IFS colorist make for a really good pair.

That being said I REALLY miss Doug Braithwaite's art on the title, his art was just simply stunning.

[gothikaiju]

Man, looks like I missed adding this to my pull list by one crucial week-- I had just been buying off the shelf, but no copies were left by the weekend. Time to wait for the reorder...

But this issue sounds great, can't wait to read it-- love JiM AND Celtic mythology!

[Rosebunse]

I think Elson's a pretty good artist, his characters tend to look a bit beefier than I would like at times but his art along with the IFS colorist make for a really good pair.

That being said I REALLY miss Doug Braithwaite's art on the title, his art was just simply stunning.

I think Elson works as much as I miss Braithwaite. He just made this book something really special and epic. But Elson's grown on me too. He's gotten more used to the characters and is much more consistent and seems to have found a good compromise on how Loki should look.

Also, so, it's been confirmed that Ikol is Loki's "evil" side, meaning that Loki actually could be redeemed by the end of this. Or he could become evil again. Well, Gillen's definitely made this a little trickier. Also...I have this feeling that Leah's heading towards a fridge in the near future...

[satchmo the dragon]

I have mentioned before that, while I enjoy JiM, I didn't really see what all the fuss was about once I started to pick this title up after FI. It was very good, but not as great as everyone was saying. However, this issue blew me away. THIS is fantastic. I have always said I wanted to see Marvel give some focus to Otherworld and tie it all together. Looks like we might get that here (though I would still love to see a book that tells the 616 version of the Arthurian legend, from start to finish, incorporating as much of the stuff that has already touched upon it as they can). I cannot wait for the next issue... I want it NOW!

Fear Itself kind of ruined it because it had to tie directly with that mess. But after a while it has started to pick up again it just had to wash off the stink.

[Rosebunse]

Fear Itself kind of ruined it because it had to tie directly with that mess. But after a while it has started to pick up again it just had to wash off the stink.

I'll say it again: JIM made Fear Itself worth reading. Really, because of JIM, FI is still relevant, for some reason.

[Hindsight lad]

Yes, the actual King Arthur. He died, but he got better, as shown in the Marvel UK Black Knight story recently reprinted in the second Captain Britain HC collection. Some of the other court members are from Arthurian lore, others presumably are descendents or modern day recruits. Many of Arthur's Knights hosted Pendragon spirits, and in Knights of Pendragon vol.1 the Green Knight did a one off resurrection of all then-deceased past Pendragon hosts to fight the Red Lord's Bane army; any who survived the battle remained alive, so there's a good chance a fair few original Arthurian-era knights are up and about again. Most are mortal, though there are exceptions. And most are normal, albeit heroic, humans, but again, there are exceptions - the Proud Walkers for example (of which Herne is one). They are enemies of Necromon and Otherworld's Nethergods; I presume they get along okay with the Tuatha, given they are working together here. The Tuatha aren't into conquering other residents of Otherworld, so there's little reason for conflict between the groups. And yes, there are mortal humans in Otherworld. Always have been.

Also, it might be a significant difference if they are Pendragon's Court (e.g. King Arthur's) or a Pendragon Court (e.g. former Pendragons united under Arthur) - the former were 6th century knights, the latter come from all ages and many of them were superpowered, as the Green Knight endowed them thusly via the Pendragon spirits.

A few questions that might further muddy the water.

1) Didn't the Lady of the Lake say King Arthur was dead in Heroes for Hire #2? That was the most recent mention of Arthur I can remember in a Marvel comic.

2) Isn't Dafydd Apiowerth, from Doctor Strange #3, supposed to be the reincarnation of Arthur? Whatever became of him?

3) Walt Simonson's Thor revealed that there is a gateway to one of the elven realms (can't recall if it was Alfheim or Svartalfheim, but it was Maelekith's kingdom) was located in England; Cornwall I think. Does this part of the Asgardian Nine worlds intersect with Otherworld at all, or are they completely unrelated?

4) Are the Fomor still around, and if so, who's side are they on?

Hindsight lad

[Loki]

A few questions that might further muddy the water.

1) Didn't the Lady of the Lake say King Arthur was dead in Heroes for Hire #2? That was the most recent mention of Arthur I can remember in a Marvel comic.

Yes. That was down to the writer not knowing he'd been resurrected already. The trouble is two-fold - first, it isn't uncommon for writers to unknowingly contradict stories they are unaware of, causing contradictions to arise (Mandrill got resurrected because of this, for example, because a writer used him without realising that he'd died in his last appearance). And with the UK stories being unavailable to most in the US for so long, you can't really blame the writer for not knowing about Arthur's resurrection. The second part of the problem is that characters like King Arthur, Merlin and Jack the Ripper, famous individuals of myth, legend and history (who have entered into myth to some extent in cases like the last), get used and reused by a lot of writers, usually without an awareness of what other writers have established about them, which can lead to massive contradictions arising. That's one of the reasons for handbooks - they go through all the appearances such characters have had and try to make them gell so the whole makes sense and is summarised, available when future writers want to use said characters.

As for what the Lady said, it's a quandry. Apart from anything else, the person who she was talking to when she claimed Arthur was dead was the Black Knight, who was present at Arthur's resurrection and then fought alongside him, literally back to back. So even if Niamh was unaware of Arthur's revival (seems unlikely), Dane wasn't. You can put the dialogue down to a number of possibilities: outright error or Niamh meaning that Arthur was dead on Earth (but not Otherworld).

2) Isn't Dafydd Apiowerth, from Doctor Strange #3, supposed to be the reincarnation of Arthur? Whatever became of him?

Arthur's descendent and spiritual heir, rather than reincarnation. And he's alive and well last we saw of him. But he's on Earth, not Otherworld.

3) Walt Simonson's Thor revealed that there is a gateway to one of the elven realms (can't recall if it was Alfheim or Svartalfheim, but it was Maelekith's kingdom) was located in England; Cornwall I think. Does this part of the Asgardian Nine worlds intersect with Otherworld at all, or are they completely unrelated?

That would be Svartalfheim - Svart for black. But it wasn't a gateway to Svartalfheim in England. As Malekith's latest handbook entry explains: "In ancient times, Malekith was one of the Erl Kings of Svartalfheim’s dark elves who clashed with both the Asgardian gods and Camelot’s King Arthur (an associate of Britain’s elves and faeries), stole children from their cots to raise as elfin servants, and led the Wild Hunt that chased down mortals for sport. At some point, Malekith’s elves established a base in the ancient faerie realm beneath Britain’s Cotswalds, perhaps exploiting the animosity between the Asgardians and the Tuatha de Danaan (Celtic gods), who viewed the British Isles as their domain, to keep themselves out of Asgardian reach."

Otherworld's elves are very different from the Norse Realms' variety. That said, there are points where you can pass from Otherworld to Asgard and vice versa, mostly closed up but openable to those who know how, as we saw in the Thor stories that introduced the Tuatha. And there seems to be some evidence that, while the elves are not related, some trolls and giants of each realm may have emigrated and / or crossbred with those of the other realm.

4) Are the Fomor still around, and if so, who's side are they on?

Yes, still around, and hard to say. I'd imagine their first reaction would be to think it great that these new industrial gods are causing problems for the Tuatha and other kingdoms the Fomor consider foes. However, if and when realisation hits that the new gods are also going to be threats to the Fomorian kingdoms, things might change. War makes for strange bedfellows - just ask Churchill and Stalin.

[Mr. Holmes]

I'm catching up with this series and had questions about this issue. What exactly is the "Otherworld?" At first I thought it was a Celtic pantheon, when the All-Mother is discussing the plea, but later it made more sense to think of it as a realm of medieval/renaissance English mythology, like King Oberon from Midnight Summer Dream.

So then how does Camelot and King Arthur fit into all this? I thought they were historical figures, not mythic beings. What about Captain Britain?

[Jason456701]

I'm catching up with this series and had questions about this issue. What exactly is the "Otherworld?" At first I thought it was a Celtic pantheon, when the All-Mother is discussing the plea, but later it made more sense to think of it as a realm of medieval/renaissance English mythology, like King Oberon from Midnight Summer Dream.

So then how does Camelot and King Arthur fit into all this? I thought they were historical figures, not mythic beings. What about Captain Britain?

From what I can gather it is a dimension/realm that is supposedly a representation of the British subconscious which is why all thous historical figures and mythic beings appear. Though I only got that from reading JIM so hopefully someone more informed will come and give a better explanation cause I also get so confused by what it is exactly.

[Mr. Holmes]

Yeah actually I should have just read the next issue before asking; it gives a better idea. This is wonderful stuff. It's a really great spin on Sandman/American Gods as to how mythological functions in the real world.

[strathcona]

Yeah actually I should have just read the next issue before asking; it gives a better idea. This is wonderful stuff. It's a really great spin on Sandman/American Gods as to how mythological functions in the real world.

Here's a little reading you can do to find out more on Otherworld. Love this part of Marvel and how it's been getting more focus lately. I wish there was a book that concentrated more on it.

[Mr. Holmes]

Awesome thank you.