Thor is now a Goddess

[Drip]

Marvel Comics makes Thor a thunder goddess

Thor is now a Goddess of Thunder.

Marvel Comics announced Tuesday that the hammer-wielding Norse superhero will be a woman in upcoming comic book issues. Marvel was thin on details explaining the switch, but said in a press release that "no longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer."

The new Thor was debuted on "The View" where artwork was revealed showcasing a buxom blonde clad a caped costume and brandishing the trademark hammer.

Series writer Jason Aaron says in a statement that "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. ... This is THE Thor."

The Marvel universe has historically been male-dominated, but that may be changing. Marvel Studios is developing a stand-alone film for Black Widow, the character played by Scarlett Johansson.

 

[LongTimeListener]

 

[outofplace]

There have been temporary switches like this before. If I remember correctly, Loki was a woman for a while.

Either way, it is idiotic. Replace the character with a woman? No problem. But stuff like this is just silly.

 

[Batman]

Ever since "Adventures in Babysitting" came out, we thought Thor was a homo. Turns out he was actually transgender.

 

[Starman]

Marvel Comics makes Thor a thunder goddess

Thor is now a Goddess of Thunder.

Marvel Comics announced Tuesday that the hammer-wielding Norse superhero will be a woman in upcoming comic book issues. Marvel was thin on details explaining the switch, but said in a press release that "no longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer."

The new Thor was debuted on "The View" where artwork was revealed showcasing a buxom blonde clad a caped costume and brandishing the trademark hammer.

Series writer Jason Aaron says in a statement that "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. ... This is THE Thor."

Another stupid-ass stunt which will eventually be retconned out, like "Death of Superman."

 

[RickStain]

would

 

[fossywriter8]

I guess Wonder Man isn't that far off.

 

[outofplace]

Marvel Comics makes Thor a thunder goddess

Thor is now a Goddess of Thunder.

Marvel Comics announced Tuesday that the hammer-wielding Norse superhero will be a woman in upcoming comic book issues. Marvel was thin on details explaining the switch, but said in a press release that "no longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer."

The new Thor was debuted on "The View" where artwork was revealed showcasing a buxom blonde clad a caped costume and brandishing the trademark hammer.

Series writer Jason Aaron says in a statement that "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. ... This is THE Thor."

Another stupid-ass stunt which will eventually be retconned out, like "Death of Superman."

"Death of Superman" was relatively new ground at the time. The problem is that it was too successful, leading both Marvel and DC to go crazy with killing off major characters and bringing them back.

 

[Football_Bat]

I guess Wonder Man isn't that far off.

Negative-6

 

[Starman]

Marvel Comics makes Thor a thunder goddess

Thor is now a Goddess of Thunder.

Marvel Comics announced Tuesday that the hammer-wielding Norse superhero will be a woman in upcoming comic book issues. Marvel was thin on details explaining the switch, but said in a press release that "no longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer."

The new Thor was debuted on "The View" where artwork was revealed showcasing a buxom blonde clad a caped costume and brandishing the trademark hammer.

Series writer Jason Aaron says in a statement that "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. ... This is THE Thor."

Another stupid-ass stunt which will eventually be retconned out, like "Death of Superman."

"Death of Superman" was relatively new ground at the time. The problem is that it was too successful, leading both Marvel and DC to go crazy with killing off major characters and bringing them back.

"Successful?" It essentially completely tanked the print comics industry.

Bazillions of people ran out to buy the "special collector's editions," then two weeks later when Superman came bouncing perkily out of the grave, they realized they'd been had like the complete suckers they were, then they threw the "collector's editions" in the bottom of a box in the basement, and swore to never buy a comic book again.

And most never have. And the sales figures prove it.

And you can buy those "collector's editions" for 50 cents apiece on eBay. Bazillions of 'em.

 

[outofplace]

Marvel Comics makes Thor a thunder goddess

Thor is now a Goddess of Thunder.

Marvel Comics announced Tuesday that the hammer-wielding Norse superhero will be a woman in upcoming comic book issues. Marvel was thin on details explaining the switch, but said in a press release that "no longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer."

The new Thor was debuted on "The View" where artwork was revealed showcasing a buxom blonde clad a caped costume and brandishing the trademark hammer.

Series writer Jason Aaron says in a statement that "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. ... This is THE Thor."

Another stupid-ass stunt which will eventually be retconned out, like "Death of Superman."

"Death of Superman" was relatively new ground at the time. The problem is that it was too successful, leading both Marvel and DC to go crazy with killing off major characters and bringing them back.

"Successful?" It essentially completely tanked the print comics industry.

Bazillions of people ran out to buy the "special collector's editions," then two weeks later when Superman came bouncing perkily out of the grave, they realized they'd been had like the complete suckers they were, then they threw the "collector's editions" in the bottom of a box in the basement, and swore to never buy a comic book again.

And most never have. And the sales figures prove it.

And you can buy those "collector's editions" for 50 cents apiece on eBay. Bazillions of 'em.

That bit in bold is what I was talking about. Not quality, but sales. "Death of Superman" sold and sold very well. Also, it wasn't two weeks later. He was out of the books a lot longer than that, though I don't remember exactly how long it went on.

Other death stories sold as well, even though more and more readers came to realize they were temporary. The death of Captain America was an example. Captain American books haven't always been successful, but that run with the death of Steve Rodgers and Bucky Barnes temporarily taking on the role was successful financially and earned a good bit of critical praise.

Is the gimmick badly overdone these days? No doubt about it. That is one reason Marvel's Ultimate line has any fans at all despite storytelling that has been uneven, at best, for years. For the most part, dead is dead in that line. (Peter Parker "returned" recently, but it's pretty damn unlikely that it is really him.)

 

[bigpern23]

This is remarkably well played.

"Successful?" It essentially completely tanked the print comics industry.

Bazillions of people ran out to buy the "special collector's editions," then two weeks later when Superman came bouncing perkily out of the grave, they realized they'd been had like the complete suckers they were, then they threw the "collector's editions" in the bottom of a box in the basement, and swore to never buy a comic book again.

And most never have. And the sales figures prove it.

And you can buy those "collector's editions" for 50 cents apiece on eBay. Bazillions of 'em.

Never really thought of it this way, but I have to admit that the end of my comic book collecting roughly coincided with this event. Part of that was largely that I was getting older and turned more toward film, but in hindsight, knowing that the books I had been collecting weren't ever going to be worth a damn turned me off. There were other places to find compelling stories. Comic books had previously separated themselves by holding potential future value.

 

[RickStain]

There might be a *tiny* of a correlation/causation overassumption going on there.

Because print media of all kinds hit the death spiral at that same time.

 

[outofplace]

There might be a *tiny* of a correlation/causation overassumption going on there.

Because print media of all kinds hit the death spiral at that same time.

Agreed. And the "Death of....." stories have only become more common even as the comic book industry rebounded somewhat. Not that I see any causation there. Some of it was newer readers picking up the books. Some could just be the ever shortening attention spans of Americans. A comic book is a heck of a lot easier to read than a book.

Of course, the success of so many movies based on comics has been a big boost.

 

[Morris816]

Trying to ret-con a character that has been around for years is guaranteed to fail. What, is this the response to DC deciding to turn Superman into a jerk because Boy Scouts don't sell comics any more?

On the other hand, I do like the idea of a Black Widow movie, given how awesome Scarlett Johansson has portrayed her. I'm still waiting for Marvel Studios to roll out a Hulk film featuring Mark Ruffalo, though.

 

[Batman]

There might be a *tiny* of a correlation/causation overassumption going on there.

Because print media of all kinds hit the death spiral at that same time.

Agreed. And the "Death of....." stories have only become more common even as the comic book industry rebounded somewhat. Not that I see any causation there. Some of it was newer readers picking up the books. Some could just be the ever shortening attention spans of Americans. A comic book is a heck of a lot easier to read than a book.

Of course, the success of so many movies based on comics has been a big boost.

Another big reason comics went into a tailspin wasn't just the "death of" gimmicks, it was gimmicks in general.
You had hologram covers. Foil covers. Multiple covers. Constant reboots, miniseries and No. 1 issues every couple of years -- Venom had nearly 100 issues of his own comic in the 1990s without having an ongoing series.
Mega-crossovers that started with similar titles (12-part X-Men crossovers spread across four books, for example), then eventually came to include dozens of books across the entire universe and never seemed to end. DC is especially guilty of this. All they do is go from one giant crossover to the next.
During one of the DC crossovers a couple of years ago, my comic shop was pulling most of the "Blackest Night" books for me. Somehow I ended up reading a "Justice League Detroit" comic in which I could vaguely identify exactly two of the characters. It was like an alcoholic hitting rock bottom.

Add in spiraling prices -- 20 years ago a single issue was an affordable $1.25 or $1.50, now I think it's $2.95 for most books -- and it just became way too much to keep up with.
I pulled the ripcord about two years ago. I was reading six or seven books a month and somehow all of them came to a stopping point around the same time because of impending crossovers and reboots. My local comic shop went out of business around the same time. It was the perfect time to get out of the hobby, and I haven't looked back. Don't miss it a bit, and I probably haven't missed anything new and fresh, either.

 

[outofplace]

Trying to ret-con a character that has been around for years is guaranteed to fail. What, is this the response to DC deciding to turn Superman into a jerk because Boy Scouts don't sell comics any more?

On the other hand, I do like the idea of a Black Widow movie, given how awesome Scarlett Johansson has portrayed her. I'm still waiting for Marvel Studios to roll out a Hulk film featuring Mark Ruffalo, though.

I've heard one rumor about the next Avengers movie that would set up a Hulk movie very nicely, though everything I've read on the subject makes it seem like they would rather just keep him as part of Avengers movies rather than the protagonist in his own.

 

[Drip]

I'm a comic purist. I don't like Thor with a bra and a hammer. I don't think this idea will fare well.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Interesting timing since the movie franchise has been successful, at least from a financial standpoint.

 

[Batman]

Trying to ret-con a character that has been around for years is guaranteed to fail. What, is this the response to DC deciding to turn Superman into a jerk because Boy Scouts don't sell comics any more?

Superman has always been a jerk.

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