Tales of Midgard or the Warriors Three take a bite out of the Big Apple

[proteus_lives]

Greetings True Believers!

Walter Simonson's run of The Mighty Thor is just perfect. The Warriors Three are a big part of that perfection.

The Asgardians have just defeated Surtur and saved the Nine Realms. Time to head home? Odin's Stones, no! Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral hit the streets for some errands and Midgard fun!



They, in the words of Carl from ATHF, "Don't need instructions to know how to rock!"

Plus a scene from the cute flirtation that Beta Ray Bill and Sif had around that time.



Dr. Blake's staff have seen him in months and they get a visitor.





Later, the W3 take in the NY sights.





Their crawl continues and they run into a certain pack....







Oh, guys. Never stop being you.

Now a scene from Bill and Sif's wanderings. I know Thor and Sif have the whole immortal love thing going for them but Seta is almost too cute.






Plus I'm tracking down an old issue of Power Pack written by Louise Simonson that features the PP/W3 on an adventure! I will be posting that.

Comments

[schala_kid]

I <3 the Warriors 3, I remember when I got slightly upset that they weren't in Norse Mythology but now I just think that Stan and Jack are so awesome for coming up which such characters. Also Warriors 3 doing shenanigans in Midgard is always enjoyable to read.

Speaking of reading, I've been reading The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill and Bill/Sif just grew on me and rapidly became one of my favorite ships. Combined with Thor and Bill's epic broship and the three of them kicking ass together I think I just gained a new OT3 (I want fics!).

I'm such a newbie to Thor but with Mighty Avenger, Journey Into Mystery, and what proteus_lives posts I'm rapidly catching up and buying things!

[icon_uk]

A mighty run of awesomeness indeed! (Fandral quoting poets is one thing, but I'd never have pegged Volstagg for a Lewis Carrol fan, though I suppose he might have found it good bedtime story reading for his kids)

Nice cameo by the Power kids, though Jack's not blond, and frankly Hogun comes across as ever so slightly creepy rather than scary in that scene.

[brandiweed.livejournal.com]

I would've loved a story of Volstagg taking his family shopping.

God only knows if FAO Schwarz could handle the Lion of Asgard's pride...

[icon_uk]

Hilty's reaction to "The pink aisle" would be worth the price of the comic alone!

[bewareofgeek]

I hope you do find that Power Pack issue, as it (along with these scenes) lead into this Simonson loveliness:

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2047424.html?#cutid1

[proteus_lives]

Stan and Jack are indeed favored by the All-Father.

Include Jane Foster for an OT4! That way both Thor and Sif get their otherworldly lovers.

The Thorverse is good for all, now let us be off. Ho! To Asgard! To the Realm Eternal!

[proteus_lives]

I hope so too. I want to connect that bridge.

Since I have money for comics this week, I'm hopeful!

[tsunamiwombat]

Notice Fandral is looking right at the pretty blonde in scan 3 when he says he'd like to "study the locals"

[randyripoff]

During this run, Simonson really played up Volstagg as a family man, and it worked really, really well. I particularly loved his adoption of the mortal children...and of course, Hildy.

[randyripoff]

If you don't have it or can't find it, I'm sure I liberated it from a .25 bin a few years ago.

Here's a taste…

[bewareofgeek]

[dorksidefiker]

... I want that so bad it hurts.

[lieut_kettch]

I forgot about Sif and Bill. Poor Thor, how can you compete with a guy who's hung like a horse?

Re: Here's a taste…

[proteus_lives]

Nice! Thankee-sai!

[proteus_lives]

And here's your internet!

[silverzeo]

Seeing how casual everyone is with this whole thing, as all as the issue were Herc actual acts humble for kid, compared to issues of the last decade made think: Have we as a society have become too cynical, or is it the writers trying too hard make government look oppressive? Most of the heroes don't seem to have simple joys or fun as they use to, except for Spider-Man after that... you get the idea... I think that's why people like the comic relief characters like Deadpool and Valgstagg better, because they're having fun, they do what they do and such...

[schala_kid]

Oh of course! Janet needs loving too!

Oh and Don, So fucking having Don in there too (or is he the same person as Thor? Please help me on this I am so confused).

[proteus_lives]

Donald Blake is always played around with by the writers.

Originally Thor was banished by Odin to earth so he could learn humility and stop being such a dick. Odin but him in the mortal form he created called Donald Blake, a medical student with a limp.

Odin created the Blake persona to the opposite of Thor. Weak of body and compelled to help people.

In Thor's first appearance Blake founds a cane in a cave in Norway. Slams it into the ground and is transformed into the Mighty Thor!

They were originally two parts of the same person but since the last reboot Donald Blake and Thor are separate entities who when one is on earth, the other is in a void but the two can talk to each other.

The Blake part of him has been removed before but always come back. Thor needs that connection to humanity.

Less confused? Maybe I went off the rails.

[magus_69]

Who else thinks that the Warriors Three could shoulder their own film?

[bewareofgeek]

Volstagg and His Less-Amazing Friends?

Re: Here's a taste…

[bewareofgeek]

No problem.

[icon_uk]

Volstagg in the movie does a great job, but just isn't voluminous enough, though I'm not sure he could be without a lot of "Hagrid in the HP movies" effects, or just casting Brian Blessed, who is now around 75.

[pallas_athena]

Love, love, love this-- thanks for posting!

I have another "Warriors Three in NYC" story to post at some point. Just waiting to get my scanner working...

[janegray]

Odin but him in the mortal form he created called Donald Blake, a medical student with a limp. Odin created the Blake persona to the opposite of Thor. Weak of body and compelled to help people.

So basically Odin brainwashed his own son, erasing his memories and personality and replacing them with new fake ones?

...Are we actually supposed to believe that Thor is the dick here?

[goblinthebamf]

accepting a lay-off notice and severance pay would be much easier if Fandral gave it.

[proteus_lives]

"Are we actually supposed to believe that Thor is the dick here?"

Yep, he was truly a dick and not living up to the title Odinson. He needed this exile.

[janegray]

Exile is one thing, mind rape is something else entirely.

Seriously, dude. If Odin had de-powered Thor and kicked him out of Asgard, that would have been a tough but necessary lesson. But erasing somebody's memories and personality and replacing them with fake ones is just not okay.

[bruinsfan]

"Milady, my intent is not so much to gift you with a pink slip as to persuade you to divest yourself of the one you are currently wearing."

[proteus_lives]

"Seriously, dude. If Odin had de-powered Thor and kicked him out of Asgard, that would have been a tough but necessary lesson."

Yeah, but how often has that lesson worked with Loki? Being immortal means you have a ton of chances to correct your fuck-ups but it also means that you have chance to make the same mistakes over and over.

Odin did the creative sentencing thing but it wasn't just for Thor. Odin needed him to become the hero that the Nine Realms (especially Midgard) would need down the line.

[janegray]

As far as I know (and you do know more about Thor canon than I do, so correct me if I'm wrong), Loki's punishments are generally less "exile" and more "torture." Being made to live among mortals may teach humility, but being chained to a rock while acid drips over your face is much more likely to make you even more hateful. Also, I can't remember a single instance where Loki was de-powered.

Furthermore, considering that one popular interpretation of Loki's character is that he became a bastard because Odin treated him like crap (for example, the issue where Loki sees a crying Balder and feels regretful and considers a Heel Face Turn, but then Odin goes all "Thor, my only son!" and Loki gets pissed and keeps plotting), I'd say that Odin mind-fucking Thor wasn't just evil, but downright dangerous, as it could have easily pissed off Thor enough to make him pull a Face Heel Turn (especially because at the time Thor wasn't nearly as nice and forgiving as he is now).

If Raistlin Majere has taught me anything, it's that treating promising youths like crap to shape them into "the heroes that the world needs" has got pretty even chances of backfiring horribly.

[starwolf_oakley]

Odin and other Asgardians can be dicks, but they understand that the Earth has to be protected. Which is why their behavior in FEAR ITSELF is a bit confusing so far.

To what degree Don Blake is "his own man," is based on Kevin Kincaide (the template Odin used, a doctor that Jane Foster eventually married), or just Thor with a better grasp of Modern English varies from age to age. Supposedly in CIVIL WAR, Clone!Thor was going to be the actual Thor with Don Blake's mind. Don!Thor would be Pro-Reg, as doctors need licenses to practice medicine.

Still, a flashback story could reveal that Odin *did* take a huge risk in brainwashing his son, but took "precautions" so Thor wouldn't go all Warrior's Madness once he found out the truth.

[starwolf_oakley]

Perhaps tastes of comic readers just changed. Instead of seeing the characters taking time to enjoy their lives, the readers either want to see them punch villains or suffer perpetual self-loathing. Spider-Man has such a guilt complex that Voldemort (PAD) wrote a story where Mary Jane suspected that guilt made Peter Parker suicidal.

[proteus_lives]

I have a hard time blaming the Asgardians for torturing Loki. He's been bound "depowered", exiled and killed.

And Loki assured that he would always be hateful toward Odin and the Asgardians with his time travel schemes. Loki's great tragedy is that he does it to himself. Odin has his share of the responsibility but Loki burned his own bridges.

Thor and Odin have a complex relationship. The deep love and loyalty is there but there is also a sense of competition and power. Thor didn't desire power and authority like Loki did but merely expected it because of his power and position. He wasn't evil but he was spoiled and unsure of his path. In way Odin headed off a face heel turn with his actions.

Odin mated with Gaea so Thor would be of Midgard and Asgard. This was destiny but it's also caused it's share of problems and solutions. The good side is that Thor didn't rage against Odin for his exile because he came to realize that Earth and it's people were his home too. The downside is that while Odin cares about Midgard and the humans in a distant, abstract way, Thor loves them as he does Asgard. This will always be a source of conflict between father and son. It's part of Fear Itself today.

"it's that treating promising youths like crap to shape them into "the heroes that the world needs" has got pretty even chances of backfiring horribly"

Very true but sometimes it's what is needed. I think Thor was one of those cases.

[proteus_lives]

I think Odin is cocerned only with defeating the Serpent in order to defend the Nine Worlds. Odin is too distant from Earth to think of them in same way Thor does.

"Supposedly in CIVIL WAR, Clone!Thor was going to be the actual Thor with Don Blake's mind. Don!Thor would be Pro-Reg, as doctors need licenses to practice medicine."

That would have been way more interesting.

[lascoden]

...how do those glasses stay on?

[recognitions]

Odin's a dick in general. He has good moments, but he's a god and a king, and he's used to getting his own way and not being told what to do, which leads to him having boundary issues, to say the least. He was pretty much depicted the same way in the old Norse myths.

[recognitions]

I spot a Tempest quote and a George C. Scott movie title drop. (Reasonably sure this was before the advent of Linnell and Flansburgh.)