Thors #4 - "Excessive Thunder"

[laughing_tree]

"This is not just a detour from the story I'm telling. This is an integral part of it." -- Jason Aaron

Comments

[captainbellman]

...why is the inscription upside-down? Is...is the hammer meant to be wielded underarm?

Besides, I thought Ult. Thor had his hammer engineered by scientists amongst a cache of weaponry.

Hurm...you know, at times I wonder if Stan The Man only went with his weird retooling of Norse mythology because Marvel for some reason couldn't get the rights to publish a comic about King Arthur.

[icon_uk]

The magic of the inscription spell presumably shows the writing in whichever direction someone is looking at it, so it can be read without the casual observer needing to stand on their head.

And these are all Secret Wars Thors, it's possible that's not "our" Ult. Thor, so his God Doom endowed hammer could easily be different from what we might otherwise expect.

[captainbellman]

So it's like a magical smartphone that's perpetually stuck on portrait orientation. I could see that.

[icon_uk]

And now I am envisaging the Asgardian equivalent of "Angry Birds".... and it is GLORIOUS!

[fiddlingfrog.livejournal.com]

Foul Avians!

[icon_uk]

Nice!

I was thinking "Wroth Ravens" with Hugin and Munin as the primary ammo! :)

[erikred]

The dilemma of the player who wants gold stars:

O'er Mithgarth Hugin | and Munin both
Each day set forth to fly;
For Hugin I fear | lest he come not home,
But for Munin my care is more.

[q99]

Hm, that orientation is the normal rest-state of the hammer. Handle-down would mean it could be read when wielded, but *not* when placed head-down.

[captainbellman]

I don't know, I think there'd be more comedy-drama potential in having it handle-down; i.e., the person who eventually wields it doesn't even mean to gain its power, they're just curious what it says.

[nyadnar17]

I am dying laughing at that.

[q99]

While definitely funny, I think picking up a hammer is a seriously enough event to not normally go that way.

Hm, it'd be entertaining if there was a row of hammers, all written this way.... except for the *one* written the other way, who's Thor has that origin ^^

[icon_uk]

Well, consider Arthur only pulled the Sword from the Stone because he'd forgotten his brothers sword for a tourney and didn't want to have to walk all the way back to their inn to fetch it when there was this nice one no one seemed to be using.

[captainbellman]

Given that it's been posited that the "Sword in the Stone" situation was inspired by a ritual in which the druids would lay the ceremonial sword on the stone for their chosen king to pick up, ala being crowned...I can't help but imagine a young-and-kinda-dim Celtic boy picking up a sword he'd found lying around, hours before the ceremony. Cue angry muttering amongst the druids about destiny and dumb luck and a small boy feeling very pleased with himself.

[icon_uk]

If it was hours before the ceremony the young Celtic kid had better hope that irate druids don't suddenly start tinking about the possibilities inherent in a little human sacrifice and stick to the more likely clip round the ear and being told to sod off because the stars were not yet in the right alignment to identify the true king... before Merlin comes along and points out that a small, appelalingly cute, and not terribly bright kid might be more easily manipulated than one of those knights who might have a mind of their own.

[dragontail]

The scientific origin of Ultimate Thor was an illusion/reality warp cast by Ultimate Loki as part of his masterplan in Ultimates 2. The end of that series, and subsequent miniseries, confirmed that Ultimate Thor was as Asgardian as 616 Thor.

[captainbellman]

You'd think, but I recall the "Ultimate Thor" miniseries that came after ending with him instructing scientists on how to make his hammer-axe. That also involved a lot of Asgardian magicery-pokery, too.

[dragontail]

*winces as brain turns inwards on itself*

Now that I didn't know. Thanks for the info but, at the same time, arrgh. This is why I walked away from the Ultimate books. Nothing wrong with change but there comes a point of intolerance and inconsistency, ya know?

[thehood]

But this is Battleworld and as per Battleworld history, he got his original Ultimate hammer back.

[thehood]

Not that it matters since this is Battleworld Ultimate Thor, how he got the hammer is different from regular Ultimate Thor.

[lonewolf23k]

Well...

...Looks we might have a way for the Odinson to become Thor again AND keep JaneThor at the same time.

[captainbellman]

It was kinda foreshadowed with him having an axe.

[jmacq1]

So...new Thunderstrike incoming?

[obsidianwolf]

There is already a new Thunderstrike running around or there was before secret wars.

probably the hammer will end up being used by Odinson or Jane depening on whcih of them is using the classic hammer when that plot thread gets picked up.

[locuatico]

"Okay who wants the Hammer from the Assholevengers?"
"Not me"

[astrakhan42]

This was one of my favorite Secret Wars tie-ins. There were moments when I thought it was cliched... until I remembered that it was supposed to be that way. This is a rote police drama wherein every character happens to be an incarnation of Thor. It was like reading Top 10 all over again.

[icon_uk]

One of my favourite lines from Top 10;



"We're Police Officers! Nobody move in a mysterious way!"

[captainbellman]

"The 'Throwing Things' Game! It worketh for me!"

[malitia]

I... liked this series very much. The writer convinced me that he can write a Loki without resorting to clichéd villainy *cough*A-Force*cough* so I look forward to the Mighty Thor a bit more optimistically now.

[thehood]

You have to remember that A-Force Loki is a different character from 616 Loki. Since she was an AU Loki, there was nothing wrong with her being a villain, especially since she's a Loki.

[malitia]

Actually I tried to view A-Force Loki as a new character based on the old template, then the comic went incredibly cliché* but totally nonsensical** with her.

Could have worked, if anybody cared enough to think up a decent motive and actually set it up. Or you know, embrace the clichéness so it wont feel like "they wasted a perfectly good plot"***. :/

* Loki betrayed someone? You don't say... WHAT A TWIST! etc.
** First it stripped her from general Loki motivations but failed to give her new ones. What it did establish (She loves her adopted children, she is the Mistress of Secrets etc.) actually went against the Loki clichés the comic chose to use in the end.
*** And then I would have dropped it after the first issue, but at least it wouldn't have left this bitter taste in my mouth. Yes, I'm saying I read it for the potential they wasted in the form of A-Force Loki. And as far as I can tell I wasn't the only one. (A-Force is not a good book.)

In short: Not the villain part was my problem in the "clichéd-villainy".