"Thor is not a homo"

Nobody leaves this Comic Art Friday without singing the blues.

At first glance, Thor, the Norse god of thunder, seems a peculiar subject for a superhero comic book. That is, until one considers that the gods and demigods of ancient mythology really were the first superheroes. The labors of Hercules, the quest of Jason and the Argonauts, the magical voyage of Odysseus — all the nascent stuff of adventure fantasy that one finds in the pages of comics began with mythology.

Not so strange, then, that when Stan Lee went to Jack Kirby — or Jack went to Stan; you know they never could agree on who came up with what idea first — and said, "You know, we could do Thor," that the answer came back, "Yea, verily and forsooth."

Thus heroes are born.

Although I wasn't a huge fan of Marvel Comics' Mighty Thor in my comics-reading heyday, I always had a soft spot for the long-haired galoot with the winged helmet and flying hammer. I think I liked Thor because he didn't talk like a superhero. Instead of uttering the usual pompous blowhardisms (Superman) or self-referential wisecracks (Spider-Man) that constituted most superheroes' dialogue, Thor spoke with the unique flavor of a guy who had been marooned on a deserted island for twenty years with a King James Bible and The Complete Works of Shakespeare, and just sort of made up his own version of the King's English. The incongruity of a Norwegian semi-deity speaking in a bastardization of Elizabethan syntax mattered not to my preadolescent brain. (If the guy spoke English at all, instead of the more logical Old Norse, where on Earth would he pick up a version of it that made him sound like a cast extra from the Renaissance Faire?) Thor just sounded cool, with phrases like "I say thee nay!" streaming from his lips.

The other fascinating element about Thor was that he came complete with a whole host of supporting characters who were nearly as majestic and heroic as he was. Most superhero sidekicks were kids like Batman's Robin the Boy Wonder, or nerds like Superman's Jimmy Olsen, or bald-faced comic relief like the Spirit's Ebony White. Thor hung out with bad Asgardian mammajammas like Balder the Brave, and the Warriors Three — Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral. These guys kicked serious butt. Period. Even Thor's girlfriend, the Lady Sif, was no Lois Lane damsel-in-distress, at least not all the time. Sif could swing a sword when she had occasion, and swing it with aplomb.

Because he was never really Marvel's most popular hero — it's tough for kids to identify with a hammer-toting hippie in a Viking helmet — Thor got jerked around a lot. There was the whole business of his secret identity as Dr. Don Blake, the pathetic cripple (a false front at long last dumped entirely by Marvel writers), then a spate of time wherein Thor kept getting replaced by giant frogs and horse-faced space aliens and dorky Thunder God wannabes like Eric Masterson aka Thunderstrike, and finally the ignominy of losing his self-titled monthly comic.

I was thrilled, therefore, to read the first issue of the new miniseries Thor: Blood Oath, and see that Thor is back to being Thor. Writer Michael Avon Oeming doesn't quite have the knack for Thor's peculiar speech pattern than Stan Lee did — Oeming's Thunder God drops his accent more often than Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; Thor should never use contractions or modern slang — but he gets close enough, enough of the time. Artist Scott Kolins adds an appropriately vigorous rendering style. The first installment was great fun, and I look forward to reading the remainder of the series.

But I hear you shouting, "Nay, enough of this, mortal villain! We demand comic art, and we demand it anon!" And by Odin's beard, you shall have it.

Below, we feature a classically styled rendition of the Asgardian Avenger, created by longtime comics stalwart Bob McLeod.



And for a more stylized take on our thunder-making hero, here's a dramatic showdown between Thor and hammer-wielding wannabe Steel, drawn by the incredibly talented Trevor Von Eeden and embellished by veteran inker Josef Rubinstein.



Need I encumber these power-packed artworks with additional explanatory blather? I say thee nay!