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Post by Batflunkie on Sept 4, 2024 16:52:21 GMT -5
Thor #136
January 1967
"To Become an Immortal!"
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Just give her what she thinks she wants! She needs to be goddess to marry Thor. And that's what she got! But it was a bit too much for her and she rejected the offer. So Odin GOT JANE FOSTER and he GOT HER GOOD!
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Excellent review. This story--Jane as Icarus--must have been shocking! But it's further proof that back then Marvel didn't shy away from changing the status quo for their series (or at least for some of them). A quite heartbreaking but inevitable turn of events IMO, and a brilliant story. I feel like Jane's arc ended rather beautifully with how she was still a timid, frail human inside even after being rendered a powerful immortal by Odin. Personally I prefer Sif as Thor's love interest, but Jane isn't without her charms |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 4, 2024 18:25:54 GMT -5
The one relatively disappointing development for me was the way Sif was written: after a promising beginning that seemed to be setting her up to be a formidable warrior in her own right they never quite followed up with this idea as strongly as one would have hoped. Yes, she was a warrior, but all too often she ended up playing the damsel in distress role, which wasn't as much of an improvement on Jane Foster as it should have been. I’ve been thinking along the same lines. Around 2011 to 2013, they brought back the Journey into Mystery legacy numbering and Sif had a series in that around the 640s to the 650s. I liked that a lot! I’m sure it’s in one of my boxes, but I haven’t read it since it first came out |
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Post by Yasotay on Sept 4, 2024 23:45:34 GMT -5
I think Jane died from cancer at one point, a few years back. I guess constant exposure to mystical lightning, evolution-inducing radiation and various cosmic rays isn't good for your long term health. Also, Odin always seemed to teeter back and forth in his representations between being the wise, noble all-father and a bit of a tool.
Given the Jewish background of both Kirby and Lee, I've often wondered if Marvel's Odin was influenced as much by the Jehovah of the Old Testament as by Norse mythology.
They could have also been channeling their kvetching Jewish mothers through him.
"What do you mean you're thinking of marrying a non-Asgardian? I'll never be able to show my face in (Norse) temple again! Go ahead and break my heart, Thor. You're going to drive me into an early funeral pyre!"
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Post by Yasotay on Sept 4, 2024 23:55:28 GMT -5
I think Jane died from cancer at one point, a few years back. I guess constant exposure to mystical lightning, evolution-inducing radiation and various cosmic rays isn't good for your long term health. Also, Odin always seemed to teeter back and forth in his representations between being the wise, noble all-father and a bit of a tool. Odin is one of those 60's era Marvel characters that seemed to get upset at the drop of a hat. I know that it was supposed to add to the drama that made the book great, but IDK. You'd think that a centuries old immortal being wouldn't be that easily anger prone, especially when he was trying to teach Thor humility I think they continued to depict him in inconsistent and confusing ways, throughout his existence in Marvel. I just mentioned Roy Thomas's run on Thor in the thread for the CCF podcast episode devoted to Thomas and, as much as I liked what he did writing Thor, his portrayal of Odin was bizarre. Odin won't let Thor stop the Celestials from destroying earth and Thor thinks Odin has betrayed the planet. But of course Odin has a plan to fight the Celestials. Yet he can't just say to Thor, "Don't worry, I've got a plan." Instead he has to ban him from Asgard and then almost kill Thor, which we learn he was responsible for doing at least two times in the past. Odin has some parenting issues. |
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Post by Yasotay on Sept 5, 2024 0:00:05 GMT -5
I feel like Jane's arc ended rather beautifully with how she was still a timid, frail human inside even after being rendered a powerful immortal by Odin. Personally I prefer Sif as Thor's love interest, but Jane isn't without her charms Didn't they make Jane into a replacement Thor a few years ago, which meant she was suddenly the only person on earth worthy enough to wield mjolnir? Further proof that the people writing today's comics are totally unfamiliar with what happened before they took over. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 5, 2024 6:49:22 GMT -5
I think Jane died from cancer at one point, a few years back. I guess constant exposure to mystical lightning, evolution-inducing radiation and various cosmic rays isn't good for your long term health. Also, Odin always seemed to teeter back and forth in his representations between being the wise, noble all-father and a bit of a tool. Did she finally die? When she was Thor for a while she HAD cancer, and the story was transforming into Thor made it worse, but I assumed they would fix it eventually. |
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Post by Yasotay on Sept 7, 2024 1:29:05 GMT -5
I think Jane died from cancer at one point, a few years back. I guess constant exposure to mystical lightning, evolution-inducing radiation and various cosmic rays isn't good for your long term health. Also, Odin always seemed to teeter back and forth in his representations between being the wise, noble all-father and a bit of a tool. Did she finally die? When she was Thor for a while she HAD cancer, and the story was transforming into Thor made it worse, but I assumed they would fix it eventually. I never read any of those, just glanced at a trade paperback in the library. According to what I see online, she did die but, it being comics, she was quickly brought back to life by the original Thor. |
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Post by kirby101 on Sept 7, 2024 2:22:13 GMT -5
How Pythonesque. "I got better"
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Post by Yasotay on Sept 8, 2024 2:02:30 GMT -5
How Pythonesque. "I got better" Or like The Princess Bride, maybe she was only "mostly dead." |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 9, 2024 17:50:01 GMT -5
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 10, 2024 5:56:33 GMT -5
"It was one f*** time!" had me laughing out loud. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 10, 2024 6:53:13 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay, I've been fighting off a a few Ragnaroks...  Commentary:Sorry, the only saving grace of this book was the spectacular artwork depicting Asgard. It seemed like her story arc started in the second Thor issue was wrapped up very quickly. Yes, she had been in contact with other worldly beings before but I don't remember her ever showing courage. Papa Odin knew all along that she didn't have the bravery for this type of lifestyle. After she is sent to earth, Odin shows some reality altering abilities in placing her in the west coast with a job waiting for her. No resumes? No Interviews? It's another Silver age device that the reader shouldn't examine too closely. Sif saving Thor was also just jammed into the story in order to replace Jane as a love interest. I thought it was a fail. I understand that these stories were simple and lacked any real world emotional realism, but it's a bridge too far to expect Thor to lose the love of his life and forget her for Sif in 30 minutes. I'm thinking that if this story were written today, the Sif attraction would build slowly over time as Thor fought depression for a while. Maybe I'm being too harsh for comics that were mostly done in one and disposable , but this subplot that lasted about 4 years was resolved in 16 pages. The get JANE FOSTER game has concluded , but will it be replaced by GET SiF ? Tales of Asgard commentary
Thor uses his hammer and defeats Fafnir. I expected more fight in this installment. This issue was a disappointment for me on the level of the first 20 JIM stories.  Letter page |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 10, 2024 8:49:13 GMT -5
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Post by Yasotay on Sept 11, 2024 0:53:21 GMT -5
"It was one f*** time!" had me laughing out loud. Ditto. While I never cared for that story line, I have to say Hank Pym wife beating jokes never get old. |
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Post by berkley on Sept 11, 2024 1:49:27 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay, I've been fighting off a a few Ragnaroks... Commentary:Sorry, the only saving grace of this book was the spectacular artwork depicting Asgard. It seemed like her story arc started in the second Thor issue was wrapped up very quickly. Yes, she had been in contact with other worldly beings before but I don't remember her ever showing courage. Papa Odin knew all along that she didn't have the bravery for this type of lifestyle. After she is sent to earth, Odin shows some reality altering abilities in placing her in the west coast with a job waiting for her. No resumes? No Interviews? It's another Silver age device that the reader shouldn't examine too closely. Sif saving Thor was also just jammed into the story in order to replace Jane as a love interest. I thought it was a fail. I understand that these stories were simple and lacked any real world emotional realism, but it's a bridge too far to expect Thor to lose the love of his life and forget her for Sif in 30 minutes. I'm thinking that if this story were written today, the Sif attraction would build slowly over time as Thor fought depression for a while. Maybe I'm being too harsh for comics that were mostly done in one and disposable , but this subplot that lasted about 4 years was resolved in 16 pages. The get JANE FOSTER game has concluded , but will it be replaced by GET SiF ? Tales of Asgard commentary
Thor uses his hammer and defeats Fafnir. I expected more fight in this installment. This issue was a disappointment for me on the level of the first 20 JIM stories.
Wait a second - aren't you the guy who started off the There I Said It thread with a post about how much you disliked Lois Lane? And now you're disliking the story in which Thor gets rid of his Lois Lane analogue and takes another step away from being Marvel's Superman?
Just kidding, your points and objections are totally valid. But I think some at least are answerable: for example, if we grant that Odin knew in advance that Jane Foster would fail, wasn't this a good way of showing her - without doing any physical harm - how unhappy she would be in Asgard, i.e. in Thor's world? A kind of shock treatment, perhaps, but just conceivably the most merciful way to save her from herself.
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