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Episode 694 - Jurgies Into Mystery #10: Thor Takes the Throne image

Episode 694 - Jurgies Into Mystery #10: Thor Takes the Throne

War Rocket Ajax
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We're covering Thor (1998) #41-45 on the show this week, and things definitely take a turn as Thor becomes king of Asgard and Jake Olsen is basically swept under the rug.

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00:00:00
Speaker
This week's episode of War Rocket Ajax is brought to you by Big Bad Toy Store. It is their 25th anniversary, and you can let them know on your order that you want to support War Rocket Ajax and buy a bunch of very cool toys by going to tinyurl.com slash BBTSWRA and you can get all kinds of very, very cool ah toys and collectibles at Big Bad Toy Store.
00:00:31
Speaker
i just
00:00:55
Speaker
Hello everybody, and welcome to War Rocket Ajax. This is the internet's most explosive comic book and pop culture podcast. We are your hosts. My name is Chris Simms, and if I was involved in the heist, I'd be the face man, obviously. Matt!
00:01:13
Speaker
What would you be in a heist with me as always, as Matt Wilson, Matt, what would you be? What would your role be in a heist? The distraction. I would be the guy, I would be the guy who would be like walking through the big crowded area and and like drop a bunch of coins on the ground. So the guard would have to be annoyed and come over and like help me to distract, but you know, a guard at a particular time. So like some, some other,
00:01:43
Speaker
teammates could like glide past, could slide by. Okay, so in Ajax 11, I'm George Clooney, you're Matt Damon. I think I might be Carl Reiner.
00:02:03
Speaker
Ooh, interesting. I mean, I think just to not map us onto Danny Ocean and the gang, but to map us onto those those people, you are the Carl Reiner and I'm the Elliott Gould. Definitely, definitely. Yeah, a million percent. ah Matt, we have a great show for everybody this week.
00:02:23
Speaker
We do, it's Jurgys time and some big things are happening in the Dan Jurgis run on Thor that we will get to a little later in the show. Also, the Nuff said issue is in this bunch of Jurgys. Honestly, one of the better Nuff said issues. Yeah, it's it's it's good. we'll We'll get to it when we get to it. But before we get to that, Chris, ah we do have some business to take care of here at the top of show. The first bit of business is thanking our new supporters.
00:02:52
Speaker
on patreon that's right matt these are the people who've gone all the way down to 694 gimmick street i have a bit but you know what's there let's see there was a laser tag place i know what's there okay i know what's finally i'm just remembering what else was on gimmick street okay so there was well it was a combination laser tag trampoline park right next door there was a putt putt yes the putt putts across the street. Right. So so what's it 694? Well, very appropriately for this episode of Jurgys and ah coming out of a conversation I had with an incredible friend of the show, Kevin Maroney, it is of course the Odin Borson Memorial Ballpark, the home of our favorite minor league baseball team, the Gimmick Street Goodhats.
00:03:44
Speaker
so Or is the good hats their permanent name or is it one of those special names they get every once in a while? No, that that is actually their permanent name. They're the gimmick street good hats and their hats are just baseball caps, but they do have Their logo is the good hat. That's perfect. That's where they play. I of course, ah you know Summer is rapidly coming to a close. We still got a couple months of ah a baseball season side you and me we hit up Odin Borson Memorial ah ballpark every now and then to catch a game. yeah Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. ah When I'm not watching my beloved tourists, my beloved Asheville tourists, I'm watching the good hats to give extra good hats. If people are listeners of the entire, not just Cletus media, but also Cletus media and extended
00:04:39
Speaker
family of podcasts. The Extended Universe, yeah. The Extended Universe, which would include, for instance, The End and Apocalypse, then they will know that Benito, for gift-giving ah holidays, has ah decided to, I think from now on, only get me minor league baseball caps.
00:04:58
Speaker
It's a good gift. It's a good gift. It's a very good gift. But I was literally just thinking the other day, ah because I got a compliment on my Florence Yalls cap while I was out. And I really want a tourist's cap. So I'm going to need either you to get me one and send it, or I've got to come to ah to Asheville. I went to a tourist's game a few weeks ago and showed up with no hat.
00:05:27
Speaker
And it was hot and the sun was beaming down. And I was like, my the top of my head's going to get burned. So I bought a new tourist hat at the game. And I knew that last time we went on a road trip, you lost one. I lost a tourist hat at Gus's. And that was terrible. But I have two tourists hats now. And I would happily get you one. I think they have some some very good hat designs. So ah that is good to know. i hope I will stick that in my back pocket. But yes, the Giving Street good hats are playing are playing at the park. And here are our newest Patreon supporters, Chris. Yeah, they're going up against against their arch rivals. I don't recall the team name, but I know that they're managed by Bobby Bad Baseball.
00:06:19
Speaker
Justin Runia. Thank you, Justin. And Scott Springer. Thank you, Scott. If you would like to be like Justin and Scott and help us out here on the show, you can go to patreon dot.com slash war rocket a Jackson kick in as a little as a dollar a month to make sure that we do this show every week that we do every story ever specials monthly that we do comics catch up which we on every story ever which we have already recorded.
00:06:47
Speaker
a big surprise about comics catch up happens. So listen to that whole special movie fighters and snack situation. all All of those shows are made possible by your support on Patreon and as a patron, you get every single one of those shows completely ad free and you get to hear us do bits about things on gimmick street. Could there be anything more enjoyable than that, I think not. Yes, and it is a great way to support the show and, I mean, specifically help me out ah now that I no longer have a day job currently. This is my job now. it And as a patron, you get every single one of those shows I just discussed totally ad-free. If you just want
00:07:33
Speaker
us chatting and not the ads that we do ah because we do have a new sponsor and Chris, now that he is not doing his day job all the time, has actually worked to get us some sponsors.
00:07:47
Speaker
ah a job I've never been good at. So thank you, Chris. You get all of those shows I just talked about totally ad free in a Patreon feed. You can also get at various levels, ah bonus content, stuff we record, stuff we cut out of the show, ah stuff we write. ah Chris has written a few things specifically for the Patreon ah that's all there. He has a spreadsheet of stuff about survivors like games he has played.
00:08:17
Speaker
I've written a couple of things for the Patreon. There's a lot of bonus content out over there. um Most recently, something I cut out of last week's episode ah talking about Batman Cave Crusader. A spoiler for the season finale. If you want that bonus content, you can only get it on the Patreon. You can also get line stepping privileges for Every Story Ever and Thursday Night Raw, our two current listener submission segments.
00:08:44
Speaker
and ah physical rewards. I think everybody should have their t-shirt by now. Oh, I don't have mine. Well, your's yours is on the way. Maybe not everybody has their t-shirt just yet, but um they they are on the way for sure. I have a few t-shirts left. If you're at the t-shirt level and you never sent me your size or address, ah get in touch and we can make that happen. I think I have a few left of every size. So That is that if you were unable to support us monetarily, you can help us out in other ways. You can leave us a five star review on the podcasting app that you use.
00:09:20
Speaker
According to our Discord, there is a new place where you can leave us reviews. I forget what which podcatcher it is, but if your podcatcher does allow for reviews or ratings, either one, ah five stars would be very, very helpful. You can also spread the word about the show ah by doing some word of mouth, letting folks know ah that they should listen to this fun show that you like.
00:09:50
Speaker
And hey, maybe they will support our Patreon, even if you are unable to at the moment. And that would be very helpful as well. Chris, with that, it's time for some checks and recs. What do you say? Let's do it. What would you like to check in with this week, Chris? Matt, I'm going to have a linked check and rec. Okay. They are combined. Something happened.
00:10:21
Speaker
that i I don't know if it's ever happened, and or if it has, it certainly hasn't happened for a pretty long time. I got so mad at something that happened in a video game that I just quit without finishing it after putting 180 hours into the game. Incredible.
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And as you know, like, we've talked about this before, I am generally like a completist, I will, I sometimes have a problem doing stuff once, you know, the credits have rolled. But I will usually finish a game, especially one that I put a significant amount of time into. Same. I rarely don't finish a game. i am I have that kind of personality and I know you do too. Yes. Like at the very least I will. did i I like doing side quests and such, but at the very least I'll finish the main quest if the game gets irritating enough to make me want to quit. But this?
00:11:27
Speaker
Buddy, I talked a while back about how I was playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey, a game that I like. I really like Cassandra, the character ah that I was playing as. And then they pulled this bullshit on me.
00:11:47
Speaker
where I went to go do a DLC mission and found out that that without my input, they had decided that Cassandra was gonna go marry some Greg and have a baby.
00:12:04
Speaker
And this is this despite the fact that like it the game gives you very clear options ah on like when you can like say the romantic thing and and try and seduce someone or or start a fight or whatever, it's got little icons, it's got like a heart or what have you. oh um but When we got to the emotional moment of this story where Dub was gonna get on a boat and leave Greece forever, I basically picked the see a buddy option. Like there was a romance option that was like, no, stay. And then there was like, hey, smell you later. And that's the one I picked. And despite that,
00:12:44
Speaker
The game was still like, but what if you were actually in love with this guy and had a baby? Look, that's fine. Tell the story that you want to tell with the character you want to talk about. We know that Cassandra has descendants or whatever because it's Assassin's Creed and everybody got babies. You know how it works. DNA, nonsense. You get somebody's DNA and then you could go into the holodeck and live their life.
00:13:13
Speaker
It's nonsense. It's great. But like, then don't give me the option to not be in love with this guy if you're going to insist that I'm in love with him anyway. And look, folks, you know how I play video games. First of all, I always play as a lady when the option is given to me because that is more interesting and fun.
00:13:36
Speaker
Second of all, I make the same romantic choices that I, and ah as a cishet man, would make anyway. There's a reason that when I was sailing around Greece, I went to Lesbos first.
00:13:53
Speaker
So I felt personally insulted by this. And I just, I got so mad that I stopped. And now I'm so mad that I'm just complaining about it online, which, you know, which you do. but But yeah, that's, it was very annoying. Plus this dude, Matt, I don't know if you've played it ah Odyssey. This guy is the most basic, boring dude. It sucks.
00:14:25
Speaker
Calling him Sum Gregg is very, very evocative. Yeah. That is, of course, a reference to ah one of my other podcasts, Sailor Business. ah Anytime someone gets a mandatory, like, comphet love interest in a show,
00:14:45
Speaker
ah like this guy that shows up and immediately Sailor Mercury is in love with him. ah he We named those characters for that guy whose name in the dub was Greg. Perdicus, who shows up, and Gabrielle from Xena falls in love immediately and marries him. That guy's just Greg. Watch out for Gregs, everybody. Except for the Gregs who listen to this show, who are the good Gregs. No, no, no. Look, there's nothing wrong with the name. Greg. Yeah. Just like there's, you know, one of my closest friends is named Chat.
00:15:15
Speaker
And he knows.
00:15:20
Speaker
But but there certain names have been ruined. but Yeah. chairron Karen. Yeah. ah they're just They're just ruined. But the people that have them, it's no reflection on them. Look, if you're a Greg, that doesn't mean that you're a Greg.
00:15:41
Speaker
Right. It's just you have, that by unfortunate coincidence, that is what they chose to name this guy in the 90s Sailor Moon dub. Yeah. Keep supporting the show, Greggs of the World. Please, please. And I apologize. We need you, Greggs. We need all the Greggs.
00:16:00
Speaker
Honestly, I feel like the group actually be pulling a little bit more of their weight. So what's been going on with me before I get into that too hard, I want to say I forgot which podcatcher now allows ratings where people should go rate us. It's pocket casts. So if you use pocket casts to listen to the show, go leave us five stars there.
00:16:24
Speaker
What are the maximum number of stars is? Yeah. Besides that, ah mainly what I have been doing with my time and with my life is continuing to play Yakuza like a dragon. And I am at that part of the game where you're right at the end and the game, if you try to go to the last mission, the game is like, are you sure you want to do this? And I'm stalling as much as possible.
00:16:52
Speaker
But I think I'm kind of out of things to do that aren't just like kind of tedious. But I don't especially appreciate, one thing I don't especially appreciate about that game is like there are like collection missions and fight certain types of enemies missions that you can do as like bonus side quests, but it doesn't give all of them to you at once.
00:17:21
Speaker
isn't It gets some of them to you that you then have to complete and then it gives you more. And then you have to complete those. And I find that tedious. And so I think I've given up on finishing those. I don't think I'm going to do any more of those. I do have some weapon upgrades still to do, but they require so much money that I've kind of reached the point where I think I'm done doing that too.
00:17:51
Speaker
So now it's just like, okay, I guess I'll go finish the story. I'll Cody Rhodes this game. Gotta Cody it. Gotta Cody Rhodes it, bud. Codarius Rodarius. I have to do it. And yeah, so I'm almost done with Yakuza Like a Dragon. It is a very enjoyable game. I do think there are at least two or three characters who appear
00:18:20
Speaker
that I was supposed to be really excited to see. And he was like, I don't know who that is. ah um know you were some You were supposed to be very excited. there There were two that I knew who they were. Obviously, Kiryu. Kiryu, yeah. I was like, OK, I know who that is. And in this game, he has no name. Yeah, he's the man who erased his name. He's the man who erased his name. And then ah the eye patch guy. I knew who that was. Majima. Majima.
00:18:49
Speaker
But like, I know there were several other characters that I was supposed to be like, oh shit, they're in the game? And I did not have that reaction because I didn't know who they were. Yeah.
00:19:05
Speaker
But the way they're presented definitely made me think that was the idea. So that's it. I'm almost done with that game. And it has been fun. It is free on PlayStation Plus, so if you haven't played it, it's worth playing. Yeah, and Matt, if you liked it, I have great news for you. There are like up 10 other games. There are like eight, I think. Yeah. But they don't play like Dragon Quest. Well, there's one other one that plays like like uh infinite wealth is the sequel so that's that that's like pretty new right uh yeah yeah it'll be there eventually i might play infinite wealth yeah uh but i yeah if it doesn't have dragon quest mechanics i don't think i want to play it i mean they are very fun action games yeah i i think i got intimidated by all the changing fighting styles like i can see that
00:20:02
Speaker
I think it was too much too fast in Yakuza 0 or whichever one I tried to play. Anyway, time for some recommendations. What do you have to recommend, Chris? I dropped out of Assassin's Creed Odyssey because it got so dang mad at it. So my recommendation this week is the other game that I've been playing, Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
00:20:24
Speaker
Because they were both on sale at the same time back when I still had a job. And look, I liked the game. So I wanted to jump in. um Hopefully, Aevor will not suffer the same fate as poor Cassandra. I've been enjoying it. As you know, and as the members of my Dungeons and Dragons group know, I am a ah ah very big ah fan and buff of both Greek mythology and Norse mythology.
00:20:56
Speaker
ah particularly with regards to Marvel Comics. And so getting into that little bit of it, I'm i'm really hoping that there's as much Norse mythology stuff in Assassin's Creed Valhalla as there is Greek mythology stuff in Odyssey, in case that wasn't clear, takes place during the Peloponnesian Wars in the 4th century BCE. I think AC played through the the whole thing like on PlayStation, but i'm I'm playing it on deck and having a pretty good time. I will say. Have you played it, Matt? I have not played an Assassin's Creed game since. I forget the last one I played, but it's been it has been a while. Yeah. ah Well, in this one, the first like special move that you get is um
00:21:50
Speaker
running at the nearest person as fast as you can, hitting them with a spear and then doing the Steve Austin punches. Like a Thezpress? You hit them with the spear and take them down and then you get the mounted punches. ah Like when Austin does a Thezpress. Wild. Yeah, it's great. Uh, I, you know, I guess if, if Valhalla had as much Norse mythology as Odyssey had Greek mythology, I think it would just be God of War. Now that I'm thinking of it. But yeah, I look forward to wandering around an entirely new set of historical islands, ah finding treasures. ah Matt, what would you like to recommend to the people?
00:22:41
Speaker
Well, Chris, I saw a movie, the the the biggest movie of the year over the weekend. That's right. Everybody knows which movie I'm going to say right now. Inside Out 2. That's right. The highest grossing movie of the year. It's good.
00:23:02
Speaker
Uh, I don't have a ton to say about it. It's basically just the first movie, but she's a teenager now. So there are some new emotions, uh, that come with having a teen being a teenager. Uh, and, uh, it's a movie entirely about how anxiety can help you until it stops helping you. Wow. So that, so you paid money to go have therapy.
00:23:31
Speaker
pretty much was my therapist.
00:23:36
Speaker
Interesting. Can you bill your insurance company for the cost of your movie ticket? That's a great question. I don't know. But the one of the new emotions is anxiety and she essentially takes over. What I like about it, it's much like the first movie where sadness it's It's not like sadness is just told like, hey, get out of here. you know um sad The the the kind of end of the movie is that like sadness is a core piece of who a person is and you have to have it. It's part of life. it's
00:24:20
Speaker
you have to take the bad with the good. That is that is what being alive is, right? In Inside Out 2, there's a very similar but kind of different resolution um with anxiety. And um it's all about hockey camp. Like everything that's happening outside of the mind is ah is hockey camp. So it's like pretty pretty ah low stakes in an enjoyable way.
00:24:49
Speaker
Uh, but I, I, you know, I think Pixar movies have kind of gotten, uh, not a bad rap of late, but, but they haven't had the sort of cultural cache that they once did. Nobody saw elemental and it's kind of disappointing that they have to go to like a big sequel like this to, to get the audience back. But, um, this sequel was.
00:25:17
Speaker
largely well done. It has some very good gags. there's There's a great moment where Ron Funches does a quick cameo voice. And the voice casting is largely very good. There are a couple of recastings in the movie, ah but but largely largely good. I had a fun time ah going to therapy for the runtime of a film.
00:25:47
Speaker
That's good. Yeah. Now you just need to go back and see that same movie every week for the next four years. All right, Chris, those are our checks and recs. It's time to talk about some comics.
00:26:01
Speaker
One of the Texas Choice winners for this week is Giant Size Thor number one, which is is in the in the great tradition of giant size Marvel issues.
00:26:17
Speaker
is a main story that's the length of a normal comic and then reprints. Yes. The new story is sort of kind of a continuation of what's going on in Immortal Thor. It is ah by Al Ewing, written by Al Ewing, with art by Brian Level.
00:26:39
Speaker
who I sat next to at a con once. Yeah, the the concept of the story is is truly wild. A planet has been invaded, a planet of like relatively peaceful green people ah with stock eyes on stalks.
00:27:04
Speaker
are being invaded by a belligerent group of blue aliens um who have a giant Thor, a giant sized Thor. A literal giant sized Thor. That is called giant sized Thor. That they are attacking this enemy planet with. And as we discover, the giant sized Thor is being powered by Thor.
00:27:29
Speaker
who has been kidnapped and attached inside this this ah ship to power it with the all power. Yes, I was very excited about this initially, ah because it is heavily referencing and even the first page is a recreation of a scene from Thor number 83, which which by the way, the footnote calls Thor 1999 that is incorrect it's Thor 98. Yes, yes. But ah that is the for a minute, I thought it was going to be a Jurgys tie in.
00:28:08
Speaker
But that is actually the story after Dan Jurgens leaves, Mike Eming comes on and does a really, a story that we might end up covering just because it's really good at the end of the jerkies. Yeah, it's it's it's not a jerky.
00:28:26
Speaker
But it is a continuation of the Dan Jurgen's Thor story, for sure. Yes, and it's it's also like really good. yeah It is far and away the best thing to come out of Avengers Disassembled. Agreed, yeah. ah yeah ah But yes, it is a it is a continuation of a story from probably like right at 20 years ago. Yeah. Thor imagining ah this moment where he has to like gouge his own eyes out.
00:28:57
Speaker
ah and him being stuck in that moment ah so he can power this ship that looks like him. But the piece peaceful aliens call in Hercules to help out, and that helps Thor snap out of it, and ah and he turns the giant-sized Thor against ah the war-making aliens by the end of the story. Yes. It's ah it's a very fun Like it's kind of exactly what you want from an annual, right? or Or a giant size. I guess we just had the Thor annual, but like, it's a very fun story that adds a little bit of context and a little bit of tone to ah what's happening in the book, but it's very self-contained. It's a Thor and Hercules team up. ah And then the story that gets reprinted is a story that I think is probably better served being here.
00:29:54
Speaker
than where it was when it was originally published, which is a Bob Harris and Jackson Geiss story, ah Bush Geiss, or Geese, or Geesh? I don't know. I've always said Geiss, but i don't I don't know. I think it's Geiss, but I've heard that it rhymes with Keish, and I'm not sure if that's true. ah But ah that story was originally published as a fill-in during the Simonson run.
00:30:24
Speaker
between like very like big issues. like This one might have run between Thor beating the destroyer and then Thor hitting the Midgard servant so hard that he breaks every bone in his own body. It's much better served down here, but it's the one where ah Hercules is telling a bunch of kids ah the story of how he fought Thor.
00:30:50
Speaker
and so you get the story that Hercules is obviously just making up about how he kicked Thor's ass. It's very fun. Yeah. Not so fun, at least by your estimation, Chris. I have not read this comic, and I will not. ah But you read the new Ginny Sparks number one. I sure did, Matt. I have a disease.
00:31:19
Speaker
And that disease is that every now and then I see a comic and I'm like, this is going to be bad. Can't wait. And you cannot stop yourself. Yeah. And I cannot under any circumstances stop myself. This is the Jenny Sparks book that is by Tom King. Jeff Spokes letters by Clayton Cowles. And here's, here's what I'll say at the start. And this is the first thing that I i asked you when I was talking about it.
00:31:45
Speaker
Is there anything that better represents the worst habits of Detective Comics Comics as a company than putting out in 2024 a new number one starring the spirit of the 20th century who dies at the end of 1999?
00:32:08
Speaker
Yeah. Now, is it set in the 20th century? No, it's set in 2024, Matt. I think Batman is in this. And he literally says, Jenny Sparks is 124 years old. I, there was some, I forget, I forget now, but there was one, some thing where she came back to life. Right. because Cause, cause Jenny Quantum never got over.
00:32:35
Speaker
so I mean, then just make Jenny Quantum into Jenny Sparks because she'd she'd be 24 now. She'd be 24 now, yeah. I'll say this, man, like, this comic sucks. Again, as is often a theme with a lot of ah Tom King books that we don't like. The art's great. Art's beautiful. ah Looks really good. The writing is like you told chat GPT to write a Warren in Ellis comic.
00:33:10
Speaker
there is a ah There's a bit where someone is like, hey, are you a superhero? And Jenny Sparks says, I'm not a superhero. I'm the series of asterisks who keeps them in line.
00:33:30
Speaker
Which, first of all, I gotta say, look, I get it. I get that, you know, when you write the Vertigo characters, the Wild Storm characters in a DC comic, you kind of want to remind everybody, like, oh, these are characters who kind of aren't native to this, this universe and its conventions. So you have like John Constantine, like Cusses or whatever. When you're doing that throughout the book, it really loses a lot of impact to have the Dingbats show up. Yeah.
00:33:59
Speaker
ah Or is as ah Chad Bowers used to call them, the Zagnotes. Which I thought was a good name for when you just put punctuation symbols in place of a cuss word. But like, there's that, and there's a bunch of lines like that. There's another one where, ah where Jenny Sparce goes, has three separate word balloons in one panel and goes, you know, I met God once. He was a real dingbat, so I killed him.
00:34:26
Speaker
Isn't this a black label book? It is a black label book, man. Can't they say cusses in black label books? I don't know. Superman's in it. Maybe. like Also, the villain or the problem is Captain Adam, which made me send you a text message that said every time Tom King writes a comic, Watchmen gets a little worse. Yeah.
00:34:51
Speaker
ah Captain Adam walking around and he's turning into various versions of Captain of Nathaniel Adam from the past. So you see him in like his soldier uniform or like, you know, whatever. But like sometimes he's just naked. Because you know, because watchmen. And because it's a it's a black label book, but it's it's that thing where it's always like conveniently. Something is conveniently in the way of his dead thing. For some reason, they won't show you Captain Adams dick. I don't know.
00:35:22
Speaker
but Jenny Sparks will talk about it, ah but also not, like like whatever she says about it has Zagnaughts and Dingbats in place. I feel like it's Tom King writing a parody of War in Ellis, but not with the intent of being funny. Like if it was funny, I would be like, this is a dead-on pastiche. Like if this was Doom Force,
00:35:52
Speaker
But it's not. Jenny Sparks only speaks in cliches that are, fittingly enough, 24 years out of date, in terms of, like, thinking characters are cool when they say that stuff. And Captain Adam is just Dr. Manhattan.
00:36:10
Speaker
and there And there's a bit where, like, I don't even want to get into, like, the flashbacks. There's, like, a bit where Jenny Sparks dies, and, like, there's a panel of just flashbacks, and one of them's like, Jenny's at the Titanic, and her parents are telling her they're gonna get on the- it's the biggest ship in the world. And then, like, there's a panel where she's at Auschwitz. And it's like, woof. Bud. Man, oh man. I don't think even Warren Ellis would have done that. I mean, I think he would.
00:36:42
Speaker
I think he absolutely would have. Maybe. One more thing. Clayton Coles is a great letterer. A fantastic letterer. I have loved his lettering in a ton of books, his design sense, great stuff. There's a part in this where someone is writing on a whiteboard, like a professor in a class is writing on a whiteboard. We see her write it. So it's not like a projection or a screen or a PowerPoint presentation or anything.
00:37:12
Speaker
and her writing is Comic Sans. It sure is. And it's like, I gotta know if that's on purpose. It's the most distracting thing in the comic, including Jenny Sparks having to bolderize her own dialogue all the time. Yeah.
00:37:35
Speaker
I think it's like just barely not Comic Sans, but it's so close to Comic Sans it might as well be. Get another example of Tom King working with absolutely blow you away incredible artists on a story that probably should, like, would be ah that artist would be so much better off working on something else. Yeah. Yeah. Also, Jenny Sparks has a tank top with a boob window.
00:38:06
Speaker
Mm-hmm, which is a is a choice I have one before we get off of this I have one question for our listeners because I said Jenny Jenny quantum never got over Which is which is the truth like that's why this Jenny comic just Jenny sparks comic exists and not a Jenny quantum comic because Jenny quantum just she's forgotten, right? Yeah, would the spirit of the 21st century be because quantum is also not quite right right So I was thinking like, Jenny Cobalt, and we were joking around earlier today about like, Jenny social media or whatever. Yeah. Well, my first thought was Jenny internet. Yeah. Which made me just go, Oh, Jenny Nicholson. Which I think you, uh, you said gin turnet, which is great. Gin turnet. Yeah. did treat one But serious question, legit question. Who would be the Jenny sparks of the 21st century?
00:39:07
Speaker
given that we're only a quarter into it. So but it's probably something we don't even know about yet, but- I mean, they know about electricity in the 20th century, Matt, by 1924. In the very early 20th century, that's true. ah My awful joke was gin-urative AI, which, please don't make it that. I i think Benito joked, Ginny k Crypto.
00:39:37
Speaker
But there's got to be something that's better than all of those things. I don't know. I think Jenny Nicholson is a... Jenny Nicholson is a very funny idea. Just make a DC and Black label book called Jenny For Our YouTube Video.
00:39:55
Speaker
ah One last book we're going to talk about is Wolverine ra Revenge by Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo. Uh, this is a extremely out of continuity Wolverine comic. Oh yeah, I mean it's it's super out of continuity. Like Captain America dies in it. Captain America dies. Deadpool is one of the villains. As is Colossus. Even though it it's it's clearly implied that Colossus is being mind controlled.
00:40:36
Speaker
Because the actual villain, like the main villain of the whole thing is Mastermind. Yes. And the idea is that Asteroid M collided with Earth and basically destroyed the entire Western Hemisphere. but Magneto dies. The Asteroid M hits, I think they say, like Quebec or Quebec. Yeah, in Canada, yeah.
00:41:02
Speaker
Uh, and then the resultant electromagnetic pulse fries like every electronic device in the Western Hemisphere. Yeah. Which Wolverine was unaware of because he was on vacation in the Savage Land. Yes. Like making dinosaurs fight each other. That's what Wolverine does on vacation.
00:41:21
Speaker
Well, he is riding on a Triceratops that a T-Rex then eats, and then he fights the T-Rex, so... Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Nick Fury comes and finds him... I don't think Wolverine's out here doing dogfights in the Savage Land. That's true. But Nick Fury comes and finds him, and a team that includes Captain America and Bucky is sent to this facility that's one of the only places left in the western hemisphere that's like active and has power of any kind and they they try to infiltrate it and this this place is run by mastermind whose team includes saber tooth dead pool omega red fuck yeah and colossus
00:42:17
Speaker
Which is wild. I think it's implied that this place is in Russia, but it's a headquarters for the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. I thought they said, I think Nick Fury says this place is like one of the only places left in the Western Hemisphere that like still is active, but I forget. I forget what the- Maybe I just saw Colossus and Omega Red in the same panel and made assumptions.
00:42:44
Speaker
Oh, no, it's Tunguska Station. Oh, that's right. Yeah. It is. Okay. But they still have power. And I think it's also implied that whatever power they have is like, it's, it's probably some kind of mutant. ah Because they're gonna go get someone and basically plug them into the power grid. But yeah, ah I think before we read this, ah Benito actually texted us and said, like, the mutant death factor is back.
00:43:13
Speaker
And yeah, he is with his high pony. So Captain in America does not die. Captain America exploded, dude. yeah i I forgot about that. He and Bucky both get exploded. Yeah. Cap and Winter Soldier get blown up with bombs that are implanted in their bodies. In their chests, but they are allowed to leave before that. And so I, in my memory, it was like, Oh, they run away. They leave.
00:43:40
Speaker
But then they get blown up, yeah. um And Wolverine also gets blown up, but he gets better. i do like that ah I don't know if this is a Hickman choice or a Greg Capullo choice, ah but Deadpool's little detonator is like a little Roku remote with three buttons, and the buttons are a blue button with a white star, a ah gray button with a a black star, and a yellow button with three claws on it. yeah So he knows which pop is which. Yeah. It's, ah it's very funny. Yeah. Uh, Gregopullo owns dude, like Gregopullo rules.
00:44:20
Speaker
He's so good, and this is this is just so like, who gives a fuck? it it it It's almost like a Maxp title without F-bombs in it, you know? It reminded me a lot of, not in terms of like what happens in the story, but kind of in tone and in action, like Old Man Logan. Like, oh, here's a wild out of continuity, kind of post-apocalyptic Wolverine story. Yeah. And it looks great.
00:44:47
Speaker
And it's not just Capullo, but Tim Townsend, who does the inks, and FCO Placencia, who is the colorist, that you will know from Capullo's work on Batman and stuff like Zero Year and ah Last Night. Great. Kicks ass. Kicks ass, yeah. Yeah. Speaking of kicking ass, it's Jerky's time. Time for the Jerky's, baby.
00:45:12
Speaker
I'll be 100% honest with you folks. When I went looking for sponsors for War Rocket Ajax, I literally went to things that I already like and contacted people to see if they would be interested in sponsoring the show because I'm always happier to lend our audience to something that I already like. And Big Bad Toy Store is absolutely that.
00:45:35
Speaker
I am once again an action figure guy. I have my high-end Japanese action figures for Dragon Ball. I've got my Stone Cold Steve Austin SH Figuarts sitting up by my desk. I've got ah my Osageo Jimbo by NECA. BigBadToyStore.com.
00:45:52
Speaker
is a great place to get all of the coolest action figures, all of the coolest collectibles. I love just going there and looking to see what they have. But there's something going on right now that I think is of special interest to our listeners because it's of special interest to me. They are having an event called the Big Bad Batman battle.
00:46:14
Speaker
where they are taking the iconic looks of the Caped Crusader from over the years and pitting them against each other in action figure form. in a partnership with McFarland Toys to see who comes out on top. If you're listening to this, you have an opinion on what the best Batman costume is. Go to Big Bad Toy Store, check out the Big Bad Batman battle, vote for the nightfall look because that is Batman's real clothes. Maybe buy yourself the bat manga ah Batman figure that looks amazing and is based on the artwork of Jiro Kawada. It's so cool. It is up for pre-order at Big Bad Toy Store right now.
00:46:53
Speaker
Two last things before we finish up the ad. All shipping at Big Bad Toy Store is flat rate shipping for $4 in the US. They have a thing called the Pile of Loot system because they know you're not going to just buy one toy. Chris, can attest, you're not going to just buy one toy. I couldn't even stop with just one Goku.
00:47:17
Speaker
So what you can do is put everything you want to buy in, instead of just buying it right then, you can go to your checkout and then select to add something to your pile of loot. And then when you have enough things to say, okay, I want to order all of that now, you have 90 days.
00:47:37
Speaker
to build up your pile of loot and then say, okay, I want to order all of that now. And then you just have to pay for shipping one time. That's brilliant. Great for, for pre-orders as well. Yeah. I've never heard of anybody else having anything like that. They have a huge inventory and you can buy both collector grade items. So if you want stuff in box, collector grade, you can select a collector grade option. There's also if you don't care about that and you just want to pop your toy out of the box, put it on your shelf, display it, you can do the standard grade.
00:48:13
Speaker
and just go for that. That's all you need. ah So they have both of those options. Go to Big Bad Toy Store. You can use our link to let them know that we sent you tinyurl.com slash BBTSWRA,
00:48:29
Speaker
BBTSWRA in all caps, tinyurl.com slash BBTSWRA. That'll take you there. We'll also put the link in the show notes and in our episode description. We can't even begin to scratch the surface of all the stuff that they have, but it is stuff that we like and you will like. They've been ah great to us, so if you want to support the show and you want to support us by getting yourself some cool stuff, then go to Big Bad Toy Store with that link.
00:49:05
Speaker
Thor number 41. has a rad cover. It is maybe the best cover of the run and one of the best Thor covers of all time. It is Thor on like a cliffside with Asgard in the background. I mean, let's be honest, it's Thor on a custom van side. That's true. He's holding up Mjolnir. Lightning is striking it.
00:49:30
Speaker
And behind him are the faces of Odin and Loki in the Warriors 3 and Sif and Baldur in the clouds. And it is it is such a custom van side. You are not kidding. it is It's exactly that.
00:49:48
Speaker
Yeah, it is it is by Glenn Orbeck, who you may know from ah lots of work on paperback novel covers. like he He is a very recognizable ah fantasy artist that you have absolutely seen his work, even if you don't know you've seen it. It kicks ass. I love this cover so much. It's it's painted and looks painted and is so good. ah The Hard Case Crime novels he did a bunch of covers for.
00:50:18
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Inside the art is by Stuart Ebonin, once again. So the interior art also looks great. This issue is part one of three of the story, Taking Charge. And the opening page is just a bunch of panels of different shocked faces of lots of different characters, because ah then we go to a two page spread of where we left off last issue,
00:50:48
Speaker
with Odin's wagon, chariot, whatever you want to call it. I guess they call it a chariot on page. Crashed. Tooth gnasher and tooth grinder are skeletons. They're gone. And also Odin, he has he he isn't skeletonized, but he is his his body is on the ground among the rubble. And we see Thor running to him, throwing away debris,
00:51:18
Speaker
hovering over him. And what starts here is an argument between Balder and Thor over whether Odin is dead. Balder is like, Thor, he's dead. Let it go. And Thor is like, no, absolutely not. I will not believe it. I'm unclear on whether the ah Marvel Comics versions of Toothgrinder and Toothnasher have their mythological counterparts abilities, which ah if you don't know Thor can eat them like because they're goats and then They will like reconstitute so Overnight like he puts their bones together and then when he wakes up in the morning He's this two goats are back weird relationship to have with your pets it' That is true. um I don't think I could bring myself under any circumstances to eat biscuit ah They don't come back here
00:52:18
Speaker
But they they do come back, you know, eventually. I mean, you know, like they come back because it's comics, of course. Of course, yeah. ah So it gets to the point where Thor is so convinced that Odin is not really dead. He tells Tereen the designate, hey, you have to use your healing powers to save Odin, which she tries to do and then immediately passes out so hard that Baldur thinks she is also dead. yeah it's ah It's a rough day at the office for ah for the the good people of Asgard. She has expended so much of her energy fighting Surtur, which is what happened in the previous issue, that she's already like low on energy when she tries to do this healing.
00:53:08
Speaker
and Again, she passes out so much, so hard that everybody else is like, she's dead. And it's only later that Hercules is like, no, no, no, she's alive. She's alive. So she must've like not been breathing or whatever, but ah nonetheless, Baldur starts covering Odin with a sheet. Thor thorn leaves for a minute, goes to Asgard.
00:53:37
Speaker
gets the healers, brings them back, yells at Baldur some more, tries to get the healers to help Odin, and it's just it's it just doesn't work. Odin is just gone. But we do find out that Tereen, in exerting herself so much, has lost her designate powers. She's just a god now.
00:54:04
Speaker
Yeah, she's still got her Thor girl powers. So presumably she's like, if, if not as powerful as Thor, like close, yeah you know, Sif or Balder powerful, but I don't, I'll be honest with you. We've read every issue of this run up to this point.
00:54:29
Speaker
I don't really get the designate. As it has been explained up to this point, the designate is a being of unmatched power who will save the universe at some point. So that is why she's been constantly told like, oh, you shouldn't be on earth doing superhero stuff. You should be resting up for your job later.
00:54:54
Speaker
And so I guess that's what is is essentially paying off here, where it's like, oh, she did too much. And now so she can't do be the designate anymore or the designate. And so like, she's just got to be Thor girl, but like until she like saves the world, she can kind of just hang out. Yeah, before she leads the universe to it to its rebirth or something I again I like the designate is I think by design very ill-defined yeah it seems like she has like a finite amount of power and she used too much of it like it's a it's a great amount of power but it's finite and if she uses too much of it she can't get it back
00:55:47
Speaker
But it's it is not explained. like ah It's like a sourdough starter. It's like a sourdough starter. The designate is exactly like a sourdough starter. I mean, that that makes as much sense as anything else we have been told. That's true. Thor goes back to Asgard. He takes Odin's ring and ah tosses it into into the fires.
00:56:12
Speaker
Just like Dokken. Just like Dokken. That lets everybody throughout the universe know that Odin is dead. Like, that's the message. that Yeah. To everybody that Odin is dead. And we see ah people across the universe finding out Hela, Mephisto. Dr. Strange. Ulik. Well, well, Ulik's king, because Ulik's not actually the king of the trolls. Dr. Strange, the living tribunal, who, according to the narration, does not give a shit.
00:56:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Which I thought was very funny. Yeah. Uh, and then I feel like this is a reveal that has been built up for several issues now that, uh, the guy who has been in disguise that we don't know who he is, but he's been familiar has been scourge. Uh, but this is just like, Oh, Hey, it's scourge. Yeah. And, uh, according to scourge,
00:57:10
Speaker
Uh, cause even the Enchantress is surprised to see him. Uh, she's like, you, you died in, into the valley of death in the wall timings and run. And scourge says no. Uh, but hello wants Thor and said that, uh, if I kill Thor, I can come back to life. So, okay. All right. That's fair enough. Yeah. Also, as this is going on,
00:57:38
Speaker
Oh, you know who's back? Dessac, or Dessac. The God Killer. Dore the God Butcher 1.0? That's right. Dessac? He's ferrying his his forces. because he knows ah He also knows that Odin is dead. There's a big memorial service for Odin. Frigga and ah Thor give a speech together. Loki shows up.
00:58:08
Speaker
and everybody is like, what the fuck, what are you doing here, Loki? And Loki's like, he's my dad too, let me do this. Which is honestly pretty rude. Like I get it, like Loki's a bad guy, but like, Loki having to be like, that's my dad. Yeah. And Thor's the only one who's like, he's right, that is his dad. That's his dad.
00:58:34
Speaker
that's his dad let him let him come on in that's his dad so they let Loki come on in and then everybody's like okay Thor now you're the king now you take over and you rule and Thor's like no I don't deserve it and he says the throne will stay empty Thor number 42 has a cover by Tom Rainey another good cover uh, where Thor and Jake Olson are on top of a building, like looking out off the side. Yeah. I will tell you, uh, something's about to happen in this run. That is maybe the wildest thing that happens in this run, but let us continue. This issue starts with, this is taking charge part two of three, Baldur and the warriors three are in a bar somewhere in Asgard and
00:59:22
Speaker
Thor is over in the corner, like drunk off his ass, falling off the chair. A great splash page by Stuart Eminen. Yeah, no, Stuart Eminen does an amazing job ah in these issues. Like, this splash page of Thor drunk and depressed is really, honestly phenomenal. Yeah.
00:59:43
Speaker
It's it gets everything across in just the image. ah It's and like his body language the ways like teetering off the chair. It's so good. Yeah, and it's not just that he's like sad and drunk. He's also mad. yeah And it's that like,
01:00:01
Speaker
It's that like grieving anger. He really does a great, like like you said, the body language is fantastic. It's that sad, mad thing that you get sometimes, especially when you're drunk. but Yeah. Thor tells them to leave. He wants to be left alone. Baldur's like, you're the prince. You have to take over. We need a king. And Thor's like, do it yourself. That's when ah Volstagg steps in and says, like look,
01:00:30
Speaker
My daughter's getting married today. And Odin was going to perform the ceremony. He was going to be the efficient, but he's not here. So you have to do it. Please, please do it. And Thor is like, maybe Odin's alive. I'm going to go find him. And he just creates a portal with Mjolnir and leaves.
01:00:57
Speaker
it's It's really, it's anger, denial, and bargaining happening ah one right after the other. It's every stage of grief they at the same time, yes. ah Meanwhile, in New York City, Jake Olsen is helping some people at a site of a disaster, of a fire. His boss is like, I gotta find out why this Jake Olsen is never at work. And ah Christine,
01:01:24
Speaker
is defending him. The fire, apparently somebody is still inside in the middle of the fire. So Jake Olsen runs in to try to save them. Some debris falls on him immediately. And mean yeah you've seen, you've seen people run into burning buildings in comics before, you know how it works. Yes. And he slams his fist on the ground to try to turn into Thor and it does not work. So we leave Jake Olsen pinned to the ground under flaming debris.
01:01:53
Speaker
Yeah. And Jake Olsen did know this was going to happen. Like, he knows that he can't turn into Thor anymore. Yeah. but But he's like, but it's all I got. It's all I can do. And I gotta help people. That's true. Meanwhile, in Yulek's realm, what which realm is that? Oh, it's Nornheim. It's Nornheim. Nornheim. There you go.
01:02:20
Speaker
Meanwhile in Nornheim, there's a big troll fight going on. Everybody's cheering for Pluck. Pluck's over. Pluck is over. Pluck, Pluck is a draw. ah Thor. Scoring gold. Scoring gold never drew a dime. Never. Thor shows up at interferes in the middle of this match, which makes everybody mad. He gets big heat. And Yulik is like, what are you doing here?
01:02:50
Speaker
It looks like this is overbooked nonsense. He's like, um, leave or I will kill you. And Thor goes, I wish a motherfucker would. yeah Yeah. Thor starts a fight because he's drunk, mad, sad. And, uh, they start fighting. Uh, he, he, he whips you like ass. He beats the shit out of a lick. Yeah.
01:03:19
Speaker
Oolik says as guardian dog, I'll put your skull atop my ax as a trophy. And Thor just smashes the ax and goes, what acts? It rules. e It rules. It's mean. Also it does rule, but it's, it's damn. You know how we've seen the, uh, the exclamation, you'll extench several times in this run up to now when Thor appears.
01:03:49
Speaker
another troll goes, you look so greatness, which I think that's good. I didn't catch that. That's good. Yeah. Uh, but then Thor talks about how he smells bad and, uh, and beats his ass. Jaradur, the actual king of the trolls. Gary odor. Is it Gary odor? I think it's probably Garrett or, but I kept going in my head. I called him Gary odor. Makes sense. In the same way I called the Witcher Jerry Riviera.
01:04:21
Speaker
He comes out and he's like, Hey, Thor, what do you want? And I know that your dad's there and you're upset, but like, what do you want? And Thor's like, I want to talk to Oracle because this is where Oracle is. So let me talk to Oracle. And Garrett door is like, okay, fine. Because your dad died. I will let you do this.
01:04:43
Speaker
So Thor gets one question for Oracle. Even though Oracle has been used so much in this run up to this point, Oracle has been like the go-to for everything. Now he's like, oh, you only get one question. I mean, I think that is Gary Oder being like, Thor's being an asshole. Yeah. so Hey, Thor?
01:05:12
Speaker
If you're going to be, a I'm going to excuse you being a dick because I know your dad just died, but you're only going to get one question. Yeah. Cause you came in here and did beat up, I think my son. So Thor asks Oracle, Hey, is Odin alive somewhere? Cause we thought he's dead, but he was dead before and he wasn't. So like, is he alive somewhere? And Oracle's like, no, he's dead. He's, he's fully dead.
01:05:42
Speaker
not coming back not not a hoax not a dream not an imaginary story this one's real and then oracle's like oh by the way um a mortal you are close to is about to die on on earth on midgard and so thor's like okay i i gotta to go then after thor leaves oracle's like oh he's getting the odin force bad shit's about to happen Yeah, and that is explained like why he was able to handle like his ass so easily. Yeah. Is that he is already coming into the Odin power. ah So Thor goes to New York and saves Jake Olson and the other guy who was in the fire. And then they go up to a rooftop. Oh, and and Christine sees this and she's like, what the fuck? Thor and Jake Olson, but they go up to a rooftop.
01:06:38
Speaker
and talk, and Thor is basically like, oh yeah, we can't ever, we're separated now. Odin's dead. We can't ever be, that whole thing where I turned into you, that thing that Jurgen's tried to get over at the start of this run, that's over.
01:06:57
Speaker
the jake olson Thor is Jake Olsen's stuff is finally over. For real, for real. For real, for real. Although, That means we're never going to get to see the explanation of Thor gaslighting Jake Olsen's mom into thinking she had a niece she didn't know about. A niece named Tereen. Yeah. Thor explains that he's got to spend all his time in Asgard now, and he's leaving Earth to Thor girl. Yeah, because he's the king of Asgard, so he's going to have too much to do. He's like Ringo Starr.
01:07:38
Speaker
He simply has too much to do. Peace and love, peace and love. Don't send any more fan mail. Don't send any more fan mail to Thor. He's just going to throw it in the bin. Peace and love, peace and love. No more fan mail. He's warning you with peace and love. The team up of the villains begins. I mean,
01:08:02
Speaker
Is it a team up? Cause I, I assumed Disac was showing up to kill these guys. Yeah, that's true. So we see the dark gods for the first time since the first arc of the book. Yeah. And they're like, Oh fuck, Disac is coming. So we see check for Disac attack. Yeah. Um, then Thor officiates the wedding of, uh, of Volstagg's daughter and says he will in fact be the king.
01:08:31
Speaker
he but He will finally, he he had rejected the call, but now he must, he must do his duty. Uh, my headcanon for this, by the way, we know it is, it is canon that Volsak has like 26 kids. ah And so my headcanon is that he's like,
01:08:54
Speaker
Hey, she's getting married, right? Like our oldest, she's getting married soon. Can we just bump that up to this day and that'll that'll convince Thor to come and be the king? Yeah, yeah. Not in like ah not in like ah ah a an exceptionally manipulative way, like not an evil way, but he's like, yeah, she's getting married. Let's just bump that up and tell Thor it was today. He's drunk, he doesn't know. We gotta do something. And like, what's the harm in it, you know?
01:09:23
Speaker
And I also, also in my headcanon, Thor is still drunk for this entire wedding. Officiating the wedding. Yeah. Makes sense. Makes sense. Thor number 43 has another Tom Rainey cover ah where Thor is just glowing with power while he's surrounded by some dudes.
01:09:51
Speaker
Like there's light coming out of the middle of his chest. Tom Rainey, who was soon to become the, the artists of the rest of this run. Yeah. I, you know, I, I kind of dig Tom Rainey's work on this. I do too. He's got like a little bit of that. Like God's going to sound so rude, but like he's like a goodie in Churchill. Wow. Or like, you know, for the artist of this issue, Joe Bennett, he's like a good Joe Bennett. Yeah.
01:10:21
Speaker
Yeah, I look I know that's a little bit mean I mean I don't have anything to like I can't qualify that I i know that's a little bit mean it is what it is that that's what it is ah So this this issue is drawn by Joe Bennett who? like I think Joe Bennett's art is is good, but like but Boy, did he ruin any? yeah possibility of following up on Immortal Hulk with more good work. he This Joe Bennett in this issue is a weird mix of his eventual Immortal Hulk style. which is Which was quite good. Which was quite good. And his earlier style, which is like this almost like too clean Ian Churchill-ish or almost like
01:11:16
Speaker
Liefeld-ish. Like everybody looks kind of like a porcelain doll. Yeah. It's such a weird mix of those two styles. And like, you can distinctly tell which style he's doing from page to page. It's ah it's It's like two different guys drew this issue. it's It's strange. Joe Bennett is figuring it out here, it seems like, but we we start this issue like we have some other ah stories in this run with some stuff about a regular guy, a regular guy in New York City, Dale Krogstad,
01:12:00
Speaker
who is visiting New York for the first time, because he is from a little town in the middle of nowhere, Settlers Peak, Tennessee. He also has cancer that's killing him. So he's moved to New York for some excitement. And he walks out in the middle of the street because he's an idiot, and almost gets killed by a taxi. Because he doesn't know what stoplights are. Because he comes from a town without stoplights? Yeah.
01:12:29
Speaker
So he just walks into traffic in New York City. And folks, let me tell you, you've never been in New York City. The traffic there is not hard to notice.
01:12:42
Speaker
So he's about to get hit by this taxi who was honking at him to get out of the way, which he does not hear. And so Thor Girl has to come down and smash the ever loving shit out of this taxi.
01:12:57
Speaker
and make the driver come through the windshield. To which the driver rightfully is like, hey, what the fuck? Well, the driver is luckily okay enough to be like, what the fuck? Yeah, after he goes face first through the windshield. And almost smashes his face into the back of another car.
01:13:17
Speaker
he's lucky He's so lucky that he's but he doesn't his face isn't cut off from the glass of a windshield. Thor girl's first act after Thor tells her that she is now responsible for the protection of Midgard is to fuck things up pretty bad. Yeah. Thor girl's is like, oh, well, I'm sorry I had to destroy your cab, but I needed that force to save your brother. And the cab driver's like, he's not my fucking brother.
01:13:46
Speaker
Uh, which is pretty funny. His cab is completely totaled. Uh, but she explains to Dale that her name is Thor Girl. And Dale is like, is that like, I mean, that's a weird name. That's like my sister being named Dale Girl. He's right. Cause I was having this exact thought as I was reading this issue, like right before I got to this page, I was like,
01:14:13
Speaker
It is so weird for her to be named Thorgirl because that is like that is like if Maddie Franklin was Spider-Man Girl. Yeah. Yeah. But Thor is also his name. Yeah. So it's it's it's almost like Maddie Franklin being named Peter Girl.
01:14:37
Speaker
It's, it's, it's, it is weird. She says she considered other names like Hamaret, Asgard, Lass, and Thoretta.
01:14:47
Speaker
Those are all bad names. Those are all terrible. I do love it when a superhero is like, yeah, here's some bad names I could have gone with. Hamaret is almost bad enough to be good. Or Hamaret. Hamaret. Hamaret. There's a bit more conversation between her and Dale.
01:15:07
Speaker
And Thorgirl takes off to leave, but she is knocked out of the sky by Scourge, who is like, I don't give a fuck about you, Thorgirl. I'm here to see Thor take me to him. And Thorgirl's like, he's not here. He's an Asgard. ah And also, Scourge, what are you doing? I thought you were good. I thought you were a good guy.
01:15:36
Speaker
you sacrificed yourself, uh, heroically. So like, what are you doing? And scourge is like, I don't give a fuck what you think. I don't give a fuck what anybody thinks. Uh, I, you're going to take me to Thor and I'm going to kill you. So, uh, this version of scourge, some real, real incel energy.
01:16:02
Speaker
ah so No kidding like I like I tried being a nice guy But now I'm good. I want to get laid Yes ah So then we cut back to Asgard where Thor is sitting on the throne Loki is in there with him a Completely different heart style from the same artist on this page Where Thor looks like a Macy's Day balloon I feel like this looks more like Immortal Hulk. I feel like the other stuff looked more like Immortal Hulk, but... i mean At least in the faces. like thor does like When he stands up, he does look inflated. Yeah, yeah. Is that is this fetish art? Great question. I cannot answer that. But Thor's like, I'm worried about having the Odin power. ah it it means It means Odin is actually definitely dead.
01:17:00
Speaker
And, like, I don't know if I can handle the power of it all. And then Tiofi comes running in and is like, Tareen's in trouble. She's about to be killed by Scourge. Then we cut to Hel, where Hela and Valla are having a conversation. I love Valla, because Valla exists for other people to shut up. And to be somebody that, ah that Hela can give exposition to. Yeah. Cause Volo's like, Hey, um, this whole thing with Scourge, that's a bad idea and it's not gonna go well. And Hela's like, shut the fuck up, Volo. And also Hela's like, this is my only chance to get Thor. I've been trying to get Thor forever and he's about to have the Odin power. So I have to, I have to get him now. Meanwhile, Jake Olsen is coming home to his apartment and the Enchantress is there.
01:17:56
Speaker
or Christine is there, and she reveals herself to be the Enchantress and she's like, I know you're Thor, so let's make out. i I thought that this was like a weird trap and that she had self bondage, but I think Scourge has actually tied her up yeah ah before he left and ah she turns into Christine and then when he unties her, she's like, all right, it it's me, it's the Enchantress, let's make out.
01:18:26
Speaker
Yeah, you're Thor, right? Even though you won't turn back into Thor? And he it even though you won't turn back into the Thor, and also I did see you and Thor together very recently, but I also have heard that Jake Olsen has a twin brother that his mother doesn't know about. Who's a drug dealer. Who's a drug dealer and who recently escaped prison. So, ah ah Scourge is still beating up Thorgirl. Dale Krogstad gets involved in the fight.
01:18:53
Speaker
And he's like, I don't give a fuck. <unk> I'll beat you up. I have cancer. You don't scare me. Like he gets thrown into a car. Uh, and that makes Thor girl just like shocked. And just as scourge is about to like land the killing blow on Thorgirl. Thor is there. He stops Scourge. He grabs his axe on the backswing from behind him, which is pretty badass. And then hits it with it. And then you see that ah when we see ah Thor full body, he's got Mjolnir tucked into his belt like he normally does, but he also has Odin's scepter, ah because he's king now, tucked into his belt. And so it's kind of doing like a DX crotch shot on him.
01:19:40
Speaker
And his belt is just sticking way out. Yeah. It's pretty funny. ah So Thor,
01:19:52
Speaker
ah me after immediately whipping Scourge's ass, takes Scourge to Hel, back to Hel, and is like, this isn't really Scourge, and uses the Odin power on him to reveal that he's just like another one of Hela's ciphers.
01:20:08
Speaker
so so So Scourge was the guy he was pretending to be, then he was Scourge, then he was one of Hella Cipher's. yeah He was somebody he wasn't twice. Everyone in this book is someone else. I have said it before, that has been the wildest thing about this run, is that literally every character is a different dude.
01:20:37
Speaker
But also, there is no way this was Dan Jurgens' original plan for Scourge. No, I suspect that maybe someone was finally like, Jake Olsen's not getting over. Yeah, I feel like Dan Jurgens just had to come up with a new pitch around here. And he was like, okay, what if I do a story about Thor becoming the king of Asgard?
01:20:59
Speaker
Well, he has set up the reigning. He has set up the reigning for a long time now for ah for a well for a little while at least. so yeah So who's to say, but it does feel like the scourge thing is like really swept under the rug quickly. He's tying up loose ends here is what it feels like. Cause he's doing it. He's doing it with the Enchantress. He's doing it with the scourge story. He's been setting up, he's taken Jake Olson off the stage.
01:21:26
Speaker
Yeah. Even more than the, the, the Scourge stuff, the Enchantress stuff just comes to an abrupt end. Yeah. Um, so, uh, Thor also, he reveals Scourge to be an imposter. Then he's like, okay, now I'm going to heal Dale Krogstad, which he does. And it's like, oh good. He's, he's back to health after getting thrown into a car.
01:21:53
Speaker
And Thor girls like, well, he's still gonna die from his cancer, right? And Thor's like, no, no, no, I healed that too. Which does create a conundrum. Yes, so Thor can now cure cancer. If he can do that. Uh-huh. Why is he not doing it for everyone? Yeah, if Odin could do that. Why did he not do it? And in fact, when Jane Foster got cancer,
01:22:23
Speaker
That's true. Why didn't Thor just be like, yo, can I get some of that Odin power from a girl? This opens such a can of worms. Yeah, man.
01:22:38
Speaker
Like, okay. If the idea is that only some people deserve to be cured of their cancer, which is ethically dubious from the get-go. Uh-huh.
01:22:52
Speaker
But Dale Krogstad showed his bravery by jumping into the fight with Scourge, right? Well, check out c out ah Big Pharma Wilson over here.
01:23:04
Speaker
At least Jane Foster also falls into that category. Yeah. Like... It's... i I feel like maybe that's not a power Thor should have, or if Thor does have that power, then...
01:23:22
Speaker
then it's just like, it's gotta be like a weird thing in the Marvel universe where nobody has cancer anymore, except Deadpool. It is as casual as that time that Thor was like, not okay, I'm a god, but also Jesus is cool. yeah Like, it is as wild as that. It really is. ah So Thor and Toreen leave to go to Odin's funeral and Hel is just like, we're fucked.
01:23:51
Speaker
Thor's got all the Odin power now, the raining is gonna happen, we're fucked. ah Meanwhile, um as you said, and I guess I forgot that this happened, Dzak is trying to kill the Dark Gods. Like, he is here, he is attacking them. Yeah, the Dark Gods have been demoted to gladiator status. No kidding. Like, they are here to put over Dzak.
01:24:16
Speaker
for sure. this is This is just like when Goldberg squashed Glacier. It's exactly like that. um But they leave. Before Disak can kill them, they leave. And ah then Disak is confronted by Zarko.
01:24:34
Speaker
immortal from the future to come. Thomas Zarko, the Tomorrow Man! That's the Tomorrow Man. I know you love him. I do love the Tomorrow Man. Uh, he says, uh, oh, don't worry about these dark gods. You got to kill Thor. So that's setting up whatever's going to happen with Disac, uh, soon. Uh, Thor number 44. Nuff said, with another good cover. Yeah, this is, it's not Glenn Orbeck again. Uh,
01:25:03
Speaker
But it is Ariel Olivetti. It is another painted cover. Yeah. Yes. And it's a really, really good one with like very similarly to that Stuart Eminem panel. It's Thor, uh, sad and grieving and sitting on a throne. It's like very Conan the King inspired. It's very Conan the King inspired. Yeah. but I love the way he's got his hammer. Like he's got Mjolnir like sitting on his on his knee, and he's got his hand resting on it, but ah the the head of it is up, yeah so his hand's on the on the head of the hammer. I i like that. That's a cool way to ah to hold it. And he's got his hat on his lap. <unk> It's fun. ah ah And Baldur and Sif are on either side of him, and then
01:25:52
Speaker
warriors are like cheering him ah below the throne. it's It's a great visual. It's a good cover. yeah So if if you don't know what Nuff said was, it was an event that took place at this time ah around the year 2000, maybe 2001.
01:26:11
Speaker
ah This is this is after 2001 because it's got the the 9-11 Memorial sticker on the cover ah This is February of 2002 Okay, so enough said happened in 2002. It was every book in the Line at the time every Marvel book. Yeah, every Marvel book had an issue that month with no dialogue Yeah inspired I think it was mentioned somewhere, but not officially. It was inspired by GI Joe 21. They wanted to do like an entire month of GI Joe 21s, some of which were like pretty good. The ah Morrison, quietly new X-Men one was
01:26:55
Speaker
interesting because it was Gene and Emma going into ah Professor X's brain to find out who Cassandra Nova was. And so there's a lot of like speaking in symbols, which is kind of cheating, but still pretty good. There was an Avengers issue that was part of the Kang Dynasty. That was great. As part of enough said, Captain America number 50 was enough said. Yeah, there was there were some good ones. There were some good enough said issues. Yeah, there were also some that were bad.
01:27:27
Speaker
yes they were just kind of bad yeah This is honestly one of the best. Easily, I think. Yes. So it starts with Thor ah walking through the halls of Asgard with Odin like hanging over him. like Obviously, like that's intended to be the memory of Odin hanging over him. This is Stuart Eminen again, by the way. Yeah. and it's it's really like We've already praised Eminen's body language and the acting that he does with the characters. but like it's I don't know if this same script even would have worked with ah with a lesser artist, but Eminen
01:28:15
Speaker
crushes it. He really does. So Thor walks into a room with a big Odin statue, looks at it for a minute, sees a quiver on the wall and a bow and thinks back to memories with Loki when they were kids or when they were like teens. I love that when we see Thor as a kid, and this is like consistent going back to like Kirby days, he's just wearing like a kid version of his costume. As is Loki, yeah. As is Loki, which is so funny. Like that makes every Thor costume change not make sense. Cause those are always been his clothes. Those have been his clothes since he was a boy. Yeah. Uh, so there's, there's a few memories with Loki. Um, but the main one involves, uh, Loki making Thor accidentally kill a stag.
01:29:11
Speaker
and ah Thor is crying about it and ah walks into a big chamber where Odin is, and Odin like comes over and hugs him and comforts him. Yeah, instead of punishing him for taking the bow, he comforts Thor in a a a very kind of uncharacteristic moment of Odin being a good dad. Compassion, yeah. Yeah. Then Baldr walks into the room where Thor is looking at Odin's statue. Baldr has a memory of being captured by trolls and tortured. And as he's being attacked by trolls, a sword is thrown next to him. He picks up the sword and he fights off the trolls. And this is great because you don't actually see Odin, you just see his shadow.
01:30:03
Speaker
Yeah. Of having thrown the sword to Balder. And we know it's it's Odin because because the shadows wearing a hat. Shadows wearing a good hat, yeah. Shadows wearing a good hat. And I also like, again, I really love this because it's, Odin didn't rescue him. He gave him a tool to rescue himself. Well, I think it shows that Odin knows all his people really really well, right? Like, Baldur would have been disgraced by being saved. So we gave Baldur the tool he needs to save himself. Yeah, I think that's a really, that's that's a really cool, smart thing to, you know, to A, come up with and B, like convey in a wordless story. Like, yeah very cool. ah Sif walks in and sits with the Thor in the room with the statue.
01:30:57
Speaker
And she has a memory of not being allowed into a bar. ah Wearing her best outfit. Yes. I love that costume. Like she's pushed down outside of a bar because she's not allowed to go in. So Odin comes up and invites her in and walks in with her. Yeah. And everybody like and everybody in the bar like these dudes who wouldn't let her come in to what appears to be an Asgardian strip club like there are there are women and a pole in part of it yeah it also has Christmas lights it's kind of a ah weird place yeah oh like everybody has to like stop what they're doing and kneel because the king of Asgard walked in
01:31:40
Speaker
Yeah. It's fun. ah So after having these memories, Thor and Baldur and Sif all leave the room with the Odin statue. Loki materializes in that room, also looks up at the statue and has a memory of like Odin giving him tough love. Like taking away the coin that he's flipping. Yeah. ah the The coin that he used to trick uh, Thor into stealing the bow. Yeah, yeah. Uh, and he like punches the statue. He's having, you know, a conflicted time. Um, and then we see a sequence of Odin's funeral. The Viking ship is set off from Asgard. We see Thor in his good hat. There's a splash page of Thor in his good hat and his new- He has to take off his regular hat and put on a good hat.
01:32:38
Speaker
Yes. um And also in his new outfit, which is his king outfit, yeah which is similar to his normal outfit, but has a bigger belt. It's got a bigger belt. It's got ah the shirt is the scale male and it's got the the white parts. The white circles are like armor bits that have chains. It's one of the rare instances of making a superhero costume more elaborate.
01:33:03
Speaker
in a way that I also think looks extremely fucking cool. it It has more gold accents as well. um yeah it's i mean it's all just like there too It's also got fur on the collar. yeah And the boots are like the boots aren't wraps like they are, they're the same shape, but they're like solid boots with, like they still have bands around them to evoke the wraps. It's kind of like, you go into the settings and you turn the Kirby slider up just a little bit, even though Kirby designed the other costume.
01:33:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's also I mean, just evocative of him being the king now. Yeah, no, it's it's a very good. It's a very cool look. ah Thor ah creates a fireball and sets the ship on fire. And it it floats out. And we that's Odin's funeral and it is a really good enough said issue. One of the best ah Probably one of the best enough said issues also one of the best issues of this run and what I kind of forgot about like I remember Thor fucking up Thanos, you know but I had kind of forgotten that this was in here and like for all of the kind of weird dialogue and Cherry's friend showing up and some of the other stuff that's going on everything with Tareen like
01:34:27
Speaker
This issue is like genuinely really, really good comics. ah Part of it is just because it goes back to basics, right? It's a, but it's an issue about Odin and his relationship with Thor, Balder, Sif, and Loki. Yeah. And it's all Thor stuff and no Jake Olsen stuff. Yeah. Well, Jake Olsen is always a plus. Jake Olsen is pretty much gone now. I think we might see him a couple more times, but it's,
01:34:58
Speaker
There's so much less Jake Olsen in the run from here on. Yeah. We also, ah we are saying goodbye to ah the logo, sort of. We get a slightly different logo in the next issue. Yes. Thor number 45, the mighty Thor, Lord of Asgard. He's official as Lord of Asgard and he's on the cover. at Tom Rainey does this cover.
01:35:21
Speaker
um He's in his new costume, but in a different hat. Yes, ah which is the slightly more elaborate version of his regular hat. I like that Thor, over the course of the Nuff said issue, did grow a full beard. He sure did. Which I have to assume is Odin Power at work. Yeah, the Odin Power forced him to grow a new beard, a full beard, is is the implication. Yeah.
01:35:46
Speaker
ah so ah We're back to dialogue with this issue. We start with Baldur on a ship with some other guys. ah there They're being tossed by the storm and they're having a conversation about how they don't know if Thor is is right to be the new king. Oh, they're also being attacked by a sea creature. um Yeah. So but as they're fighting the sea creature, they're like, I don't know if Thor can be
01:36:18
Speaker
Effective as a new king and there's an old guy on the boat whose name is Gorg's dog Gorg's dog with With four G's two G's at the start two G's at the start not the end. Yeah Gorg's dog Gorg's dog is like we have to trust Thor I believe in him and I know He will be our king and I trust him. He sent us on this mission to get the chest of strength. And here's how I know that Thor is good. Thor is good. A few days after he took on the mantle of Lord, ah we went on a mission to to go fight trolls and, you know, we we we were able to defeat them, but he showed fairness and compassion to his enemy. And so I know that he's good.
01:37:11
Speaker
Yeah. And, uh, just, there's no footnote, but just so readers know, this issue does take place after Thor, uh, won the AEW continental championship. He is where, like, this is a, Tom Rainey draws this whole issue. This Thor costume in this flashback is a slightly different take on the Stuart M&N one where he doesn't have the four circles on it anymore. He still got the chain mail.
01:37:42
Speaker
he's He's got a different hat and he's got a big wrestling title belt. Yeah. Yeah. This is, this is total justice Thor. Like for sure. Cause his hat has horns and wings and he's got a, like his belt is a full ass title belt. It is a gold gigantic title belt. Yeah. Uh, so they beat the sea monster. They arrive on an Island.
01:38:11
Speaker
and And they continue to talk about like, essentially to debate whether Thor is going to be a good king or not. And another one of the guys is like, so Thor took us on this mission, where ah he took us to the Path of Shattered Dreams, which is in the domain of the Enchanters. Oh, yeah. yeah And he he was like, Shadow Dreams.
01:38:37
Speaker
Y'all better learn about the Path of the Shattered Dreams. Y'all are in the Land of the Enchantress. Seeing the Path of the Shattered Dreams, it's there. Essentially, there's a cliffside that nobody knows what is off of the edge of the cliff. And some people say that leaping off of it sends you to paradise, and some say there's nothing there. It's just an abyss. So Thor sends the Raven Munin out into the abyss to see if it if it disappears or if they can still sense it. And Thor still can sense it when it goes out there. So he's like, okay guys, time to jump off of this cliff. So several dudes do that. This guy who's telling the story is like, oh no, they disappeared, they all died. But Thor's like, no, they didn't. I can tell that they're still down there. Someday we'll hear back from them and and we maybe we can go to the paradise that they're in.
01:39:37
Speaker
Yeah, and future generations of Asgardians will be able to live in this wonderful new land. like Asgard is expanding into a... ah like He's thinking about the future of Asgard. Yeah.
01:39:51
Speaker
So back to the mission to get the chest of, what is it? The chest of strength or whatever it's called? Chest of strength. Yeah. it is under a It is in a lake of blood. So Baldur has to jump in and swim to the bottom to get it. A bunch of hands made out of rocks come out of the ah the floor of this lake, this pool.
01:40:16
Speaker
and grab him, but then Thor shows up back in his costume from the end of Last Issue, but with a different hat, and frees Balder from their grasp, pulls Balder out of the Lake of Blood with the chest of strength. Balder's like, oh shit, I almost died. ah Thanks for saving me, Thor. And Thor's like, hey, don't worry about it. Oh, the dude who told the second story, Ymirsk, or Ymirsk,
01:40:45
Speaker
It's like, ah that is a dude with no vowels in his name. ah He goes, ah what are you gonna use the chest for? And Thor goes, oh, it's not for me. It's for somebody else. I know a guy who's looking for it. And then he leaves. And Baldur's like, man, I don't know. i don't know if were I don't know if Thor's gonna be a good king. Yeah, Baldur, Thor's closest friend,
01:41:15
Speaker
is like, I don't know, Thor kind of sucks ass actually. I don't think he has the intelligence, humility, or wisdom to serve his monarch. He does not follow my three eyes.
01:41:30
Speaker
And all the guys are like unbelievable that Baldur would say that. That's his boy. That's his boy and he's saying this? And he said that? And then obviously Baldur reveals himself to actually be Loki.
01:41:46
Speaker
he's he's He's sown doubt in Thor's reign. What happens next is that we get a scene that I think might be so bad that it does loop back around into being kind of awesome.
01:42:07
Speaker
ah which is that we find out that Thor got the chest for Zeus, who was is visiting ah and wanted to give Thor some advice. And he's like, no, no, no, it's not for me. I told you to go get it for you because what's in there is Odin's legacy. And we'll give you, you know, that that's the chest of strength that contains Odin's legacy. And would do you know what's in there? You know what's in there?
01:42:37
Speaker
mirror a mirror ah mayor a mirror and Thor looks into it and goes a mirror what manner of strength might this offer and Zeus has to tell him but look look in it which is the dumbest Thor has been Until, uh, Al Ewing wrote the story where he was cursed to be a movie character. To be a dumb guy, yeah. Uh, so Thor looks in the mirror and it's like, oh, it's me, but I look kind of different. And Zeus explains that this mirror shows not your actual appearance, but your inner soul. And he goes, don't worry, you're equal
01:43:27
Speaker
you're up to the task of taking you over for your dad. But just be sure, look in this mirror sometimes and see what your inner soul looks like. And then Thor goes and sits on his throne and he's like, man, I miss earth.
01:43:42
Speaker
Uh, and then what Thor hasn't noticed about his reflection is that there's some evil filigree on the helmet and spikes. And he looks mad. He's like, ah, Oh man, the raining.
01:43:56
Speaker
It's coming. The writing is coming. And that is where we're gonna wrap up. We will come back to Thor number 46, which kicks off a new ah numbered story arc. And I gotta say,
01:44:12
Speaker
That's a good run of issues. so Those five issues are very solid. Yeah. There's like some goofy stuff in there. And like, I wasn't a fan of Dale Torborg or whatever. is name Dale Torborg was the kiss demon and WCW. So I know that wasn't his name. Dale Kromstad. Dale Kromstad wasn't a fan of him, but like even with Scourge,
01:44:41
Speaker
like the Scourge plot and the Enchantress plot kind of like coming to a crashing end. The death of Odin and like the issue where Thor like refuses to believe it and then the issue where he's going through all the stages of grief in order is really, really fun. Yeah. The enough said issue is incredible. The enough said issue is a hidden gem. It's Excellent. Yeah. I would say go out of your way to check out that enough set issue. Yeah. Um, the, the next story arc is a five part arc called by fire born. So that's what we'll be doing next time. Thanks for listening, everybody. Uh, we hope you enjoyed us, our discussion of these issues of Thor. Um, if you would like to email us, you can do that at our email address, which is war rocket podcast at gmail dot.com.
01:45:37
Speaker
We're on Blue Sky at warrocketajax.bsky dot.social. We're on Tumblr at warrocketpodcast dot.tumblr dot.com. You can join our Discord and become part of that community, ask us questions there. at You have to ask us for an invitation to join the Discord, but so just ask us one for one and we'll get you one if you're nice about it.
01:46:01
Speaker
Our website is warrockinajax.com, and as every episode of the show we've ever done, War Rocket Wiki is the fan run repository of all the information you could need about this podcast, War Rocket Ajax. If you want to find me and my stuff, we go to mattdwilson.net to find links to my comics, my books, my other podcasts, and my social medias. Chris, where can people find you? Everybody can find my stuff by going to the-isb.com. That is my website. It has links to all the stuff.
01:46:31
Speaker
that I do, other podcasts, and ah a column you can read that hopefully has proper paragraph spacing now. If it doesn't, let me know. I'm trying. But mostly if find me here on War Rocketty Jacks and at Patreon dot.com slash War Rocketty Jacks.
01:46:53
Speaker
Bye everybody. Bye everybody. Until next time, don't forget Black Lives Matter. Trans rights are human rights. As are abortion rights. Drag is not a crime. Cops aren't your friends. But we love you. We love you.