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Episode 701 - Jurgies Into Mystery #12: The Reigning Begins
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Time for more Dan Jurgens Thor, and this time, Thor is taking a more active role as king of Midgard. Did he do anything wrong? The jury's out.
Covering Thor #51-56.
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Transcript
Introduction to War Rocket Ajax
00:00:00
Speaker
This show is recorded using Zencaster. If you are a podcaster, or you want to be a podcaster, and you want to be able to record remotely, you can do so using Zencaster. They also have hosting options. And you can let them know that we sent you. Follow the link in our show notes, or in the episode description, and sign up for an account on Zencaster now to start recording your own podcast.
00:00:53
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to War Rocket Ajax. This is the internet's most explosive comic book and pop culture podcast, and we are your hosts. My name is Chris Sims. With me, as always, is Matt Wilson. And Matt, my go-to comfort food is usually breakfast food. That's a good one. That's good. I think the food I'm best at making is breakfast food.
00:01:20
Speaker
Yeah, ah it's either breakfast food or like specific storefront Mexican restaurant food. Oh, that's also, we we did that when I came to visit you. Yes, because I was sad that you were leaving. Oh, that's sweet. And I was like, do you want to go get some storefront Mexican restaurant food? Which which we had to drive to get because I live in a neighborhood but with a lot of like, good Takarias, and I'm like, no, these are too good. Yeah, and when you asked, I was like, absolutely yes, and we
Chris's Comfort Food and Community Support
00:01:56
Speaker
did. ah My go-to comfort food is no surprise. Bojangles, if I'm feeling bad, I will immediately go get Bojangles. The first meal, I went to get at a fast food restaurant post Hurricane Helene.
00:02:18
Speaker
was Bojangles. The minute I got to Shelby, where there was an open Bojangles, I went there. Well, see, like there's a lot of overlap, because what I get at Bojangles is breakfast. Yeah, yeah. I got like the regular chicken, which I think I'm the last of a dying breed, because I go to Bojangles and I get the regular chicken.
00:02:43
Speaker
But I'll also get a Cajun Foy biscuit. i I ain't picky. but I do like i should hope not cage play biscuit is when I was living down there, Matt, one of the things kept me going. One of the most perfect food items that exists, but I will often get like a two piece meal and, and chow down on that as well at Bojangles. So that's, that's easily my, my comfort food.
00:03:14
Speaker
Speaking of comforts, speaking of things we're doing to salve our wounded hearts, we are diving back in this week to the Dan Jergens run on Thor. We are reading Thor numbers 51 to 56. If you would like to follow along, those are from the last half of 2002.
00:03:41
Speaker
And one of the issues is drawn by Dan Jurgens. So look forward to that. Chris, before we get to Jurgys, once again, we do have- You could also look forward to Tom Rainey. That's right. Tom Rainey's great. ah Joe Bennett. I don't know. Before we get to that, Chris, we do
Patreon Appreciation and Benefits
00:04:04
Speaker
have some business to take care of. The first bit of business is ah thanking our newest supporters over on Patreon.
00:04:10
Speaker
That's right, Matt. No, these are the people who have gone all the way down to 701 Gimik Street. And you know what's there. Yeah, what's there is your local organizers who you should get involved with right now. Yep. Agreed. And while you're doing that, if you can, you can also go to patreon dot.com slash war rocket Ajax and kick in as little as a dollar a month to help us keep doing the show.
00:04:40
Speaker
uh, help me out specifically as I am still without a day job. And most importantly, help us pay those gimmicks they keep sending in the mail called bills. That's right, Chris. Our newest supporter on Patreon is Jesse Martinez. Thank you, Jesse. Yes. Thank you very much, Jesse. If you would like to be like Jesse and as Chris said, help out the show, help out both Chris and myself who, you know, are going through it. We're all going through it.
00:05:08
Speaker
ah You can head over to patreon dot.com slash war rocket Ajax and kick in as little as one dollar a month as A patron you get every single episode of every single show that we do completely ad-free and you support those shows those shows include this show every week They include every story ever specials monthly that include comics catch-up, which we have decided What we're gonna do for November. So look forward to that. They support movie fighters a snack situation All of those shows are made possible um through your support on Patreon. And as a patron, in addition to ad-free episodes of all of those shows, you also get other cool stuff at various levels of the Patreon. You can get bonus content, which includes audio that we record that doesn't go up on the main feed. Sometimes it's special audio that will go out of our way to do. Sometimes it's outtakes that I'll cut out of the show and put on Patreon. Sometimes it's a whole episode
00:06:04
Speaker
that we lost part of and so I will put it up nearly in full on the Patreon and only patrons will ever get to hear it. That is the episode we recorded while I was sitting in my house in a hurricane. You can also get line stepping privileges for our segments which currently include Thursday Night Raw and Every Story Ever. You can also get physical rewards which include t-shirts, our annual t-shirt. You know you want one.
00:06:32
Speaker
You know you want the annual t-shirt. This year's is really good. This year's is really good. They're usually really good. This year's is really good. I have an idea for a potential shirt for next year. ah I mean, I think we've already decided that it might be ah gi a gimmick street good hat shirt next year.
00:06:55
Speaker
isn' ah But, you know, it could there there are other ah potential possibilities. ah So if any of that sounds like something you would be interested in, ah then head on over to patreon dot.com slash war rock and Ajax and help us out if you are unable to help us out monetarily right now.
00:07:11
Speaker
for any number of reasons that would be totally valid. You can help us out in other ways. You can leave us a five-star review on the podcasting app that you use, whatever that may be. Or you can just spread the word about the show, let folks know that there's a show about comics and pop culture that you are a fan of and that is helping to ease your troubled soul. ah That is War Rocket Ajax and that they should listen. And if they are so inclined,
00:07:41
Speaker
they could go to our Patreon and and kick in a little bit themselves. It's like a pyramid. It's exactly like a pyramid. And there's multiple levels to the ways you can support War Rocket Ajax.
Movie Recommendations and Reviews
00:07:59
Speaker
It's like the shape we all know of a Ponzi. ah Now that we have thanked our supporters, and we do thank them, it's time for some checks and recs. What do you say?
00:08:12
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:08:16
Speaker
Chris, what would you like to check in with this week? Wow, Matt, nothing's going on. No, there's the world is so normal. It's so normal. And it's exactly what we were expecting. Yep. To have happened. Uh huh. But you know, actually, I did something unusual this week. I did something I don't normally do. What might that have been?
00:08:41
Speaker
I watched three movies. Interesting. All of which would be, I would happily recommend, one of which has been a ah ah wreck before. But I don't watch a lot of movies. You and Benito watch a lot of movies. I play video games. Benito watches more movies than me. Benito watches so many movies that I'm like, how does he do it? Yeah. Benito Sereno, co-host of Apocryphal's and Friends to the End.
00:09:11
Speaker
Also, eica Erica watches a lot of movies. I get it, because Erica's doing art and has movies on in the background. Bonita goes to the movies a lot. That's true. yeah If I've got something on in the background, then generally speaking, it's probably going to be a TV show. Sure. ah Which for me lately has been Bones.
00:09:35
Speaker
I know you've been watching Bones. You sent us ah some screenshots of Bones. Been watching a lot of Bones lately ah because AC and I were trying to figure out what to watch because she was kind of tired of watching Voyager. ah because She has watched it all before and ah does not like to just to have Star Trek Voyager on the background. She's she's cool with with it when it's DS9 or next gen. ah But she was like, I am tired of Voyager.
00:10:04
Speaker
And we couldn't really find anything we wanted to watch until she saw Bones. And she was like, ah, yes, Bones. And I said, correct. When you don't want to watch anything, watch Bones. And then I unfortunately got invested in it. And so now I'm fucking nine years deep in Bones.
00:10:27
Speaker
And that's what I'm doing. ah But I watched three movies. I watched ah Ready or Not on Halloween. Excellent movie. ah A movie that I love and that I have recommended here on this very show before. And then ah you and Benito, I was i was texting you ah because I wanted to know what else was would be good specifically for me to watch on Halloween. And and you suggested Abigail from the same director, correct? Yeah. I watched that and loved it.
00:11:00
Speaker
i would I would even suggest that you not find out anything about it before you watch it. yeah Just because I think that would be more fun. Fucking Dan Stevens, man. He is so good in every movie that he's in. And is it weird shit that's great constantly? It is it is it is wild that he is English. Yeah.
00:11:26
Speaker
but given that film. Here's what I'll say. Just hit that 30 seconds forward button if you don't want to hear this smite a slight spoiler. ah You should have just said death trap house. And that would have been it. Fair. You know, that's what I like, baby. Death trap house. Anyway, I watched that. And then I watched another movie that we've talked about on the show ah that I think I believe was a recommendation of yours here on HX. I watched Rebel Ridge. Rebel Ridge is real good until maybe the last five minutes, but it's it's it's real good up to there. i i' am We might have to boco that just ah just to talk about ah our our feelings on how Rebel Ridge plays out. Yeah. But it does have probably my favorite line
00:12:23
Speaker
in Film of the Year. i know I know the one you're talking about, yeah. oh Should I spoil it for the listeners, Matt? It's up to you. It's not a main plot point. No, it's not not a plot point or anything. It's the line, I think he's on the Wikipedia page. It's great, yeah. It's it's such a funny detail.
00:12:48
Speaker
It's very good. ah So yeah, I had a nice little time. I watched ah Ready or Not in Abigail on ah on Halloween, and then I watched uh, uh, Rogue Ridge the next day and had a quite nice time. Good. Uh, Matt, what are you doing this week? Well, Chris, you know, I, I'm making my check, not necessarily about me, but about us and this show and the community we have because we all know what happened last week. ah it's I don't need to say what happened. We know. But what has become very clear ah since that occurred is that we're probably all going to be
00:13:43
Speaker
trying to find more that we can do and participate in and be as part of our community. And I know that I want to try to find some volunteer opportunities around where I live. um i've I've looked into some. It's ah at the moment a little overwhelming um to try to choose what that would be at this point, but I know I want to devote some of my time to doing things to create some good where I live, but also there's your local community, but there's also community that we've created here on more Rocket Ajax. And I just want everybody listening to this to know, if you are feeling really bad,
00:14:41
Speaker
And if you are listening to this show as a way to forget about this bad stuff, I'm sorry for taking a minute to talk about it. But I want to let you know that we've got you and you've got us. And we've got each other and we're part of this community. And we, if, if, if you're a person that needs help in any way and you're connected,
00:15:11
Speaker
I speak for myself by saying I will do what I can to help you and if you're part of our discord or if you're just part of the ah periphery of the War Rock and Ajax community and you need help somehow, um reach out, reach out to us, reach out to other people in the community. um so I know I'm speaking for them but I'm sure they would and we will do what we can. I just want to reassure people that that we're here for you. I'm looking for ways to help. but So if you if that's you, reach out, okay? And I fully agree with that. ah
00:16:01
Speaker
Even though the the way that you just said that does make my ah check of I watch some movies make me seem like a real asshole. No, I'm not doing that as a contrast to you. I i know you would do the same as what I'm saying. ah My check just happened to come second. But yeah i I'm being totally dead serious um that that we have we are here.
00:16:31
Speaker
We're not going anywhere. We're going to continue to do this show. We're going to continue to give you something to look forward to, to not have to think about everything else for a while and just listen to.
Community Support Message
00:16:44
Speaker
And also if you're thinking about not being around or, or anything that you need help for reach out and we will, we will help you and We want you all to just still be here, okay? Please? Yeah. we We are going to be here every week and we want that to be the same for you. That's the serious part over. um Time for some recommendations. Chris, what do you have to recommend? Matt, the Castlevania DLC for Vampire Survivors made me cry. Wow.
00:17:25
Speaker
I think it is important to note, after saying that, that this is a game that does not have a story. Yeah, i when you told me that, you told me that in a text. And my and my my question was, what was the part that made you cry? And your answer was not narrative, because there is no narrative. Yeah, there's, I mean,
00:17:51
Speaker
It's not narrative in the traditional sense. I will say that that what got me in ah Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania is storytelling. It is storytelling via game mechanics, and it is storytelling via like a a very small amount of ah dialogue that itself is mostly just like kind of a gag.
00:18:19
Speaker
but also like the visual storytelling and the use of the mechanics as storytelling. And there has never been a piece of downloadable content for a video game that is as aptly named as Ode to Castlevania because it is like A, the joke of it being uh, musical term, uh, musical term preposition noun, uh, is, is there of course, but also like vampire survivors itself was already an ode to Castlevania. But it is, it is next level in, in the Castlevania DLC. And it starts honestly with the trailer where
00:19:18
Speaker
all of the Castlevania characters who are going to appear were like in the the animation in the trailer alongside their equivalence from Vampire Survivors, like the their their great value stand-ins. The way that it all culminates. ah I do kinda wanna spoil it. So if you are, it's so weird to say this about Vampire Survivors, but if you don't want spoilers for it, then then skip ahead.
00:19:47
Speaker
It does the thing that always gets me, which is that it does the the world war three, the JLA world war three thing where everybody comes together ah to to fight against against something bad, which keep in mind that this happened last week. This happened on Halloween. Uh, when, when, when I experienced this in the, in the face of of overwhelming odds, and a a monstrous fate, and Yaldabaoth, the God of Apathy, and and everything else that... Megiddin the Anti-Sun, and everything else that always prompts this kind of moment. ah The game, the way that you have to unlock Richter is a prescribed path through various
00:20:43
Speaker
um the through the other characters. And it's not quite like in-universe chronological, but you do kind of have to start with Léon, Belmont, and that Léon Belmont, and then ah ah move on through everyone. So you are, by design, you get Richter last. And then you are, you know, you are told that one of the secrets is that you have to survive the final confrontation in Dracula's throne room as Richter.
00:21:16
Speaker
Interestingly, it's Richter and not Alucard, which I was surprised by, ah but but it's Richter, Beaumont. When you do, some stuff happens that is extremely good and extremely moving, but then at the end of it, all the Castlevania characters that you've previously played as come out and fight alongside you.
00:21:44
Speaker
which does not usually happen in Vampire Survivors, and then all the Vampire Survivors characters come out and fight alongside them. And that being the culmination of this thing that has since day one so obviously been inspired by and a tribute to Castlevania,
00:22:14
Speaker
and to then like take its place alongside it and have so much love involved to the point of lake figuring out literally 12 different new ways for whips to work. the The love in it is palpable and it got me... And then what happens after that got me even more. like It is a... it is a It's one of the best video game moments I've ever played, is is beating the Castlevania DLC for Vampire Survivors. ah In a gameplay sense, but also like a narrative sense. And as as listeners know, like this is a genre that I have come to love like because of this game, largely. But like it's it's my love for Castlevania
00:23:14
Speaker
reflected back at me through Luca Galante's love for Castlevania. It's really good. ah Well worth the the price of admission and um absolutely incredibly well done.
00:23:30
Speaker
in every way that it could be. If you haven't played Vampire Survivors at all, you should play it. It's good. But if you haven't gotten the Castlevania expansion yet, unquestionably, I think the best and most in-depth of all of the expansions to Vampire Survivors, just there's so much to it. ah But the emotional content of everything coming full circle is in there too, and is just Really. it As silly as it might sound, it's honestly incredibly inspiring. oh Matt, what would you like to recommend this week? Chris, my recommendation is a movie. Spooky season is over, but you recommended Vampire Survivors, so I think that this is similarly something somebody could watch, even though it's not Halloween anymore, it's Christmas.
Film Recommendations for Halloween
00:24:29
Speaker
This is a movie that is on shutter right now. It is a Korean film called Exuma, which is... the the word The title is a play on the word exume as in a grave. Because what happens in this movie is it is about Korean shamans who basically do feng shui but for graves.
00:24:59
Speaker
So they'll go look at a grave and say that it's pointing the wrong way or it's in a bad location or something about it is off and then they'll try to fix that. And they are asked by a family to go dig up a grave that is on top of a mountain. That makes like the main shaman in the movie. Feel real bad.
00:25:26
Speaker
And so they dig up this grave and work on a plan to like get it get the the the coffin out and get it cremated as quickly as possible. But things go wrong and then stuff escalates and escalates and escalates from there until it is ultimately about the ah Japanese occupation of Korea in the early 20th century.
00:25:56
Speaker
It is... like it's ah It's a pretty long movie. and It's maybe two and a half hours, but it's like structured almost like a season of a television show. It's not what I would call typical three-act movie structure. In fact, the movie is broken up into different chapters that have like title cards.
00:26:23
Speaker
And so it feels like episodes of a tv TV show and each episode really just escalates things more and more um into this like wild story um that ends up about being about Korean history. um And I don't know how much of the the actual shamanistic practice is accurate to Korean shamanistic practice, but it's fascinating and like really cool to witness these different rituals they do to you know purify a grave site or make sure that a coffin is protected or you know any of these other things that happens in the movie. it is um
00:27:18
Speaker
like It was on Benito's list of movies to watch this Halloween, and Benito said it was really good, so I figured it probably was, but then I watched it and I was like, that movie absolutely rules. um So if you're looking for something to watch that is is spooky and cool and also will give you a bit of a history lesson on ah Asian countries,
00:27:46
Speaker
their their relationships, Exuma is a good one. Really seems like something that'll cheer you right up. It's not as ah as depressing as that sounds, I guess. It's not really, like they don't really dig into the history of the Japanese occupation, but um the way it's handled is, is it's good. All right, Chris, ah those are our checks and recs, which means it's time for us to talk about some comics, what do you say?
00:28:16
Speaker
Let's do it.
Batman #154 Discussion
00:28:20
Speaker
Chris, we're going to talk about Absolute Superman number one, but I want to leave it to the end so we have ample time to talk about it. So first, let's talk about Batman number 154, which is by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine D. John Domenico, which has some character dynamics in it that I don't know I've ever seen before.
00:28:46
Speaker
Matt, I have a question for you. Sure. About this issue of comics. Do you remember Wednesday, September 12th, 2001? Yes, I do. Now, did were you also at the comic book store that day? Because I was. I don't think so. ah Okay, well, you may recall that the DC crossover, Our Worlds at War, was coming out. Uh-huh.
00:29:11
Speaker
ah at the time and had just wrapped up and Buddy, wouldn't you know it, Imperiacs? He had caused a lot of trouble. Sure. ah Invading the earth as he did. Surely you all remember Imperiacs, right? He's like Galactus, but he fought Superman. That's his deal. So what's notable about this is that the issue of Superman that came out on Wednesday, September 12th,
00:29:37
Speaker
Opened with a shot of Superman looking down at Metropolis like flying above Metropolis looking down at destruction Caused by imperiax and the events of the our worlds at war crossover ah Which included like egg a like Lex Corp tower? like smoking a as though it had been hit by something, ah which on that particular day was eerie. like that I remember like standing at the counter the counterit Heroes and Dragons, and looking at that, I think i think maybe even Chad Bowers, my former co-writer, might have been like behind the counter showing it to me because I was just a customer at that point. because you know That would have had to have been written and drawn.
00:30:26
Speaker
It's prior to its release. yeah <unk> It's not like ah you know Joe Kelly. <unk>ve I've said a lot of perhaps unkind things about Joe Kelly, but I don't think he was involved in 9-11.
00:30:40
Speaker
i would I would not suggest that. you heard it Anyway, in this issue of Batman that came out this week, there's a part where Batman and Leslie Tompkins, Batman says, I'm used to dealing with the usual monsters, the nihilists, the money hungry, but he was wrapped in a flag and wanted to help. And ah Leslie Tompkins says, wrapping yourself in both of those things can excuse a lot of horrible behavior.
00:31:04
Speaker
And I was transported in my mind back to Columbia, South Carolina on Wednesday, September 12th, 2001. Yeah. Yeah. ah but Bruce was talking about Commander Star, by the way. Yes. Or was he? Or was he? Yeah. This issue is fascinating. It has a new leader of the Court of Owls.
00:31:31
Speaker
It has ah Batman beating up a bunch of cops, which rules. Love to see it. It has. um So, so Gordon is not the commissioner anymore because no gor Gordon hasn't been commissioner in a, in a minute. Well, he Vandal Savage has now been ah appointed commissioner. That happened a little while back, but he and Batman are still working together.
00:31:56
Speaker
And this issue ends with Batman and Gordon in conflict in a way i'm I really don't think I've ever seen before. Like there have been stories before where Gordon has had to be like, Batman, I'm going to have to arrest you. The mayor's telling me I have to do it. But this is one where it's like, Gordon might've fucked up. And so Batman has to be like,
00:32:26
Speaker
Jim, what the fuck did you do? And Gordon's like pointing a gun at him. And Batman is incredulous about that. It's really something. Wait, ah hang hang on a second. that the When does that, Matt, I'm sorry, when does that happen in this? That happens near the end of the issue. This is 154. You might be talking about 153.
00:32:51
Speaker
Oh, I am talking about 153. I have not read 154. So that was shocking. That's what your loot got to look forward to. Okay. So shit with Batman and Gordon are in conflict in a way, as yet unseen. Listen, taking like six weeks off the show and then everything else has really thrown me for a loop. Look man, I get it.
00:33:18
Speaker
um But yeah, there's also a new head of the Court of Owls. It's wild. What Chip has been doing in Batman, like, if you thought you couldn't do anything new with a character um after nearly 90 years, Chip is proving otherwise. Okay. Now on to the main course of Absolute Superman.
Absolute Superman Review
00:33:44
Speaker
Talk about the right comic at the right time.
00:33:49
Speaker
Because Absolute Superman, okay, three books in the Absolute line, right? Absolute Batman takes Batman and makes him not rich. Brilliant, right? Yeah, it turns out all that money was always keeping him from getting jacked. It makes Alfred like a mercenary and it makes Batman not rich, which I think is really smart. Wonder Woman,
00:34:18
Speaker
makes Wonder Woman, have like she she isn't raised on Paradise Island or Themyscira. She's raised all by herself, by Cersei, on an island called Hell.
00:34:38
Speaker
Damn, that sounds good, actually. That's the one I have not yet read, but I am planning on it. You gotta read Absolute Wonder Woman. And she comes back, she leaves Hell Island to go defend a world that is overrun by monsters. Like literal monsters. ah and That sounds dope. It rules. Absolute Wonder Woman absolutely rules. So Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman both ruled.
00:35:06
Speaker
I think Absolute Superman is the best of the three because it does what Absolute Batman did, but even better. This is by, by the way, it's by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. And instead of Jor-El being like a high ranking scientist on Krypton, he's a low ranking technician.
00:35:36
Speaker
And the S crest is the sign of being part of like the lowest social class of Krypton. Yeah, it's it's it's the working class. but It is the symbol of the working class, yeah. The labor guild, as it's called in this. So Superman, so we get a little bit of the origin stuff here, a little bit about Jor-El going into a mine and seeing that that Krypton is doomed to be destroyed.
00:36:06
Speaker
But we also get Superman in the present fucking defending mind workers from a corporation that has peacemakers that are straight up peacemaker who like keep them underfoot. Who would have thought that peacemaker would ever be relevant, let alone one of the more relevant characters?
00:36:34
Speaker
of 2024. Yeah. Like this Superman who is fully the defender of the subjugated worker where he's going into diamond mines and just mining the diamonds for them so they can make their money.
00:36:56
Speaker
more It's good stuff. wow I do like that this is the depiction of Krypton here. i I'm very interested in how Krypton and like the Waynes are depicted right up to the point where they are no longer in the story, right? Because as i've i've I have famously said before, I do not care about Jor-El. Because Jor-El puts the baby in the rocket and that is the last thing he needs to do. He does not need to be seen after that.
00:37:30
Speaker
But I think prior to putting that baby in the rocket, you can get some decent like narrative out of him, ah as long as it's not to excess. And I feel the same way about the Waynes. Thomas and Martha are there to get shot. I honestly do not care about them beyond that. I do think recasting Thomas and Martha Wayne as a teacher and a social worker is a really is an interesting move. like and like It is a very 2024 move. yeah Even if you were going to not ditch Batman being rich, like I think you know it's it's very analogous to what they already are, which is a doctor and a philanthropist like in the main DC universe. But I think you know the shifting that to teacher and and social worker is interesting. I feel like the process of
00:38:30
Speaker
the Superman origin story and the way it changes over time is kind of can continues what we saw from Byrne, who of course was tragically lost at sea in 1993.
00:38:47
Speaker
yeah ah But prior to that, he was like kind of the first one to be like, well, what if Krypton was bad actually? And so you get the, you know,
00:38:59
Speaker
Man of Steel, Superman, where ah Krypton is bad, actually. like it's ah the The thing there was that it was like sterile and loveless and emotionless. And when Lara sees you know the guy working on a farm with no shirt on, she almost passes out. And I feel like that's ah like that was an interesting way to take it as opposed to the Silver Age Krypton, which was very like idyllic and you know the idyllic Flash Gordon future.
00:39:29
Speaker
taking Krypton and making it even worse in a different way. Yeah, have have very set social casts. Very set social casts. And then also, like, there had to have been a time where it rang hollow that there was an impending disaster on Krypton that nobody bothered to prevent.
00:39:57
Speaker
And that happens, you know, that happens in every telling of Superman's origin going back to 1938. Like nobody listens to Jor-El, so he has to build that rocket and put that baby in it. Recasting it as a social divide thing is, i i I know it's going to be good, but I'm very curious to know how it reads when it's not 2024. It's always going to be good because it's good, but I wonder like it, it seems very of its time parentheses, non derogatory. It's interesting that you bring up burn because what this issue had me thinking about RIBT, RIBT, what this issue had me thinking about constantly was not that but the Morrison run on action comics where
00:40:53
Speaker
like at the start of the new 52 where there was a real effort made to make that Superman the one who wore the t-shirt into like a hero of the people, right? Like a hero of the subjugated and of of the little guy. Yeah, taking taking him back to to the roots, the 1938 roots. Yeah. The problem with that was that that Superman had to become the Superman that was appearing in the regular Superman book and Justice League. And those two things couldn't
00:41:32
Speaker
couldn't mesh, really. yeah Because the Superman who was in Justice League was an asshole. Yes, as was everyone in Justice League. Yeah. This doesn't have that constraint. And so I think he can much more fully embrace the idea of a Superman who is like a full out working class hero. And I'm so excited to see that. I think it's really, it was either Mark Wade or Kerbuzik, I think, who was like, it is past time that Superman, like like Smallville has outlived its usefulness. Superman should not take the position that like rural is inherently more moral
00:42:24
Speaker
than the city and that it, it like Superman should grow up in a city and, and the Kents should live in a city. And to see a Superman who is in the apparent absence of the Kents, uh, itself, but have Jor-El and Lara be the farmers is also like very interesting to me.
00:42:53
Speaker
Yeah, this depiction of Krypton is also fascinating. i One, it's beautiful. The way Rafa Sandoval draws the landscapes of Krypton, it looks very alien, but also like like a real planet might look, you know? I i love that it's still like, you know, golden and silver age, Flash Gordon, rocket ships Krypton with the Jewel Mountains and everything.
00:43:21
Speaker
but that place also has a economic dystopia. Yeah. So it's like, everybody's like, Oh, yeah, these, ah these sun jewels, or whatever. Like, it's it's very, it's quite interesting. and And it's yes, an economic dystopia where people have to farmers have to pay machines to come rain on their farm, right? Yeah. Which is fantastic. And The big question mark in this book for me is Lois Lane, who was only just introduced, who is not a reporter, but a soldier. and I'm wondering where that's gonna gonna go. It does feel like a a tricky one.
00:44:02
Speaker
ah Because I love Lois Lane. Yeah. And I feel like Lois as a reporter is a very specific and It's a very specific element of the Superman mythos that I think has... Lois being a reporter is more important than Clark being a reporter. I would agree. To me. Yeah. So this is a whole different version of Lois. The the other big change, and I'm interested to see how it plays out, you brought up the fact that that it's Jor-El and Lara who are the farmers. Well, also, Kal-El's not a baby. No.
00:44:43
Speaker
He's a kid, so a lot of the the ingrained morality he got from the Kents in regular continuity, he's getting from Jor-El and Lara here. So, I loved it. I've... No, I really, really liked it. like i yeah the The thing that is keeping me, I'm not 100% on the lowest, but I also like, I have... Like, I mean, it's Jason Aaron who I cannot recall the last time that a Jason Aaron comic let me down. Yeah. Uh, yeah, man, I, has never, has there been a time where we needed a full on hero of the working class Superman than right now. Uh, all right. That's it. sir I do like that. Um, Krypton does just have dogs. Krypton just fully has dogs. Yeah.
00:45:38
Speaker
And hey, let let me tell you this about Jason Aaron. That dog better make it in the rocket ship. I bet that dog's gonna be crypto.
Thor #51 Cover and Story Discussion
00:45:48
Speaker
ah No, that dog's absolutely crypto. What I'm saying is that dog better make it in the fucking rocket ship. Right. All right, Chris, that's our comics review segment. It's time now to talk about some danger in store.
00:46:09
Speaker
The Mighty Thor Lord of Asgard number 51 has a really cool Tom Rainey cover in which there's like this designy Spider-Man eye and half of his mask. Like, like on the so old Marvel logos, like on the, you know, when you would get the the comics that didn't have the barcode, so a little design on on the on them instead.
00:46:39
Speaker
And it was always Spider-Man's mask. That's what it reminds me of. And then in his eye is Thor holding up Mjolnir. Yeah, it is it is wild and to kick this thing off with an a Thor issue.
00:46:55
Speaker
that is fully from Spider-Man's perspective. It's true. Spider-Man is the main character of this issue of Thor. In a way that like I think is actually pretty fun, Peter does come off as a little bit dumb in it. Everyone who's not from Asgard comes off as a little bit dumb in this issue. Yeah, yeah. um But hey Matt, do you have your ah umbrella with you? Oh, ah my umbrella Ella Ella. Yeah.
00:47:25
Speaker
I know it's in the other room. I could go get it. I mean, you probably should. Because it looks like it's about to start the reigning. That's right. ah So but you said Spider-Man is the main character to this issue. I thought you were going to say Spider-Man is the main character of the Marvel Universe, which is correct. That's I mean, that's also true. And he is. I didn't notice until I was looking at this cover just now that The thing that makes it seem so design like like graphic designy is that the webs are white and not black. ah It's a really cool cover. It's great. Yeah. Anyway, so yes, we start with a basically a full page splash of Spider-Man who is hanging off the edge of something or on the side of something. And I just want to point out that he they're going out of their way to not use brand names.
00:48:20
Speaker
because he talks about ah dangerous things you could do. And one of those things is standing down willed from the Hulk after a trip to Burrito Bell. The New York Times tech guild is currently on strike. Yeah. And ah we don't we don't cross picket lines. We don't run War Rocket Ajax. Sure don't.
00:48:39
Speaker
So, i'll the puzzle boys, Yumi and Benito, have not been playing our usual connections, crossword, wordle, and strands every morning. Yeah. ah Which, which look, ah we don't, we don't cross pick lines here on War Rock the Ajax. Would have been nice to have a little crossword puzzle to take, it to to occupy my mind.
00:49:07
Speaker
but But hey, I'm with him. Anyway, point being, I wrote you and Benito two sets of connectionses. You did. They were very fun to play. Two connections puzzles, yeah. And ah the the one I was trying to think of for a potential third one is I was going to use comics specific fake brand names for things. well But i could I couldn't think of any that would that would have any potential of being anything but exactly what they were. ah Yeah. Like we all know, uh, Sodor Kola and was, was one that I was going to, I was going to use because that wouldn't, I felt like I could maybe work in big belly burger. kelly burger Yeah. um ah Curtains is the DC universe in the nineties equivalent of windows. That's right. The operating system by the way. Uh, so Spider-Man is hanging off on the side of a,
00:50:08
Speaker
Stealth Bomber. If you want to see that this comic was made in 2002, look at the plane he is hanging off the side of. A Stealth Bomber. A plane that I've never been able to decide if it's ugly or not. I think it's ugly. I think i but i do think it's ugly.
00:50:33
Speaker
it's It's not... not aesthetically pleasing. No. You know what I always thought they looked like? You know... triangles? Well, yes. But you know, like, when people would, like, really origami up really fancy paper airplanes? Mm-hmm. It looks like one of those. Yeah. Yeah, it really does. Yeah. It kind of looks like a batarang. A little bit, yeah. Which I don't. I don't...
00:51:00
Speaker
Hey, they look like a worse version of the Batplane. Yeah, yeah. ah So anyway, those those stealth bombers are on their way to Asgard, which we saw last issue is now floating above New York City.
Asgard's Impact on Earth
00:51:17
Speaker
And ah of course, as always, we get a page where Heimdall is watching this happen.
00:51:25
Speaker
His ears can hear blades of grass growing. That's right. And um he shoots that fucking self bomber right out of the sky with an arrow. That kicks ass, honestly. And so Spider-Man goes falling off of that, ah makes a parachute for himself out of webs and falls through the roof of a building, of a bar in Asgard. And all the people that are in there drinking, all the Asgardians,
00:51:54
Speaker
are like, who the fuck is this guy? Some kind of bug? And they immediately start attacking him and throwing weapons at him in the streets. I do like that they, they do go like some sort of large colorful bug. But like, that's not actually what Spider-Man looks like. No, I guess it's the eyes. But aside from that,
00:52:20
Speaker
Aside from that, Spider-Man does not look like a bug. Spider-Man just looks like a guy in a red and blue suit. Yeah. It's like, like we've talked about this before, like that's kind of the, the, the dico genius of it all is that, is that he doesn't look like a spider. Yeah. Meanwhile, at the UN, everybody's getting upset. They're like, what the fuck is Asgard doing here?
00:52:51
Speaker
It's, they're going to kill us. This is dangerous. It's so post 9-11. It's so like, everything is a threat. You know, world leaders ready to start war at the drop of a hat. And, uh, T off, he comes bursting through the window and he's like, Hey, where's the, where's your leader?
00:53:19
Speaker
and they hand off the secretary general to him. They actually just, but they say, oh, the secretary general, was it evacuated the second Asgard showed up in the skies for New York. yeah And if he's like, cool, I'll just take you then. So it's just some guy. it's so europe I think he's got to be the American ambassador. He's got to be the the American ambassador to the UN. Also, we see the Chinese ambassador to the UN n make a phone call.
00:53:49
Speaker
where he's like, if Beijing is to be saved, we must act now, no matter the cost. So. Yeah, yeah he's like, look, New York's fucked. Yeah. There's no coming back from this one. And so we can't let the same thing happen to Beijing is basically what he says, which is wild because like, I mean, it's wild for many reasons, but also like, this is the Marvel universe. Like,
00:54:14
Speaker
In continuity, right, in Marvel's sliding and scale continuity, it was maybe like two years ago that literal Roman Catholic hell ah happened in New York City. That's true. And like people didn't even stop going to work. Daredevil was fighting a fucking vacuum cleaner and people were just on the subway. That's true. But this is post 9-11, this is a post 9-11 comic so it's all different.
00:54:40
Speaker
I mean, I think at, well, I guess at this point in time, well, this is number 51. So ultra unlimited has happened. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So Spider-Man still getting chased around. they're They're going to cut off his head. I like that you said spiderman Spider Spider-Man is still being chased around. They're going to cut off his head. he's He realizes after probably too long that where he is is Asgard. Yeah. I had to stop and think. I was like,
00:55:10
Speaker
Has he never been? And I guess maybe he hasn't? I don't know. eight i I can't think of an example of when he had been to Asgard in the past, but... I honestly cannot think of many Thor and Spider-Man team-ups. Yeah. Surely there was an issue of Marvel team-up. that But that was not just on Earth. Spider-Man didn't go to Asgard, but who knows? Yeah, but I mean like... Yeah, okay, sure.
00:55:40
Speaker
So he's like, I'm going to go talk to Odin, because he doesn't know that Odin is dead. Meanwhile, Thjalfi and Baldr bring this ambassador to Thor. And ah Thor, looking,
00:55:59
Speaker
imposing, is like, yeah, ah yeah, ah so this is Asgard. We haven't interfered in the lives of mortals for a long time.
00:56:11
Speaker
But that was a mistake. And they've become corrupt and immoral. So ah we're gonna do things for you. We're gonna like make the world better. Because but my dad died and I'm in charge now. And so I'm gonna tell you what's the right way to do things. So so like, I've brought rain to places that need rain.
00:56:35
Speaker
And I'm going to fix global warming, which there's a typo in the issue where it says global warning instead of warming, which is ah adorable. I like that you said that Thor is just looking intimidating. um He is. I like that Tom Rennie has chosen to draw him in like armor pants, but it's that like armor that only exists in comics.
00:57:00
Speaker
It's like the destroyer or Colossus's arms. Right. Where it's just like lines, like shiny lines ah ah of metal wrapped around your legs. And then he's got like big old Pauldrons and a big old cape with a big old golden clasp. But he's got like his fucking world championship belt on. And then also just like a surfer tank. hu Like he didn't put on the the upper part of the armor. He literally just like went to wings or eagles down at Myrtle Beach. I really like that that he's got that thing that clasps his cape together. That's kind of his own face in the middle. Yeah. Spider-Man is watching all this happen. He overhears this and he's like, okay, sure, but like, you can't tell us how to live. Like you can't come here and and tell us, you know, to take over people's lives.
00:57:58
Speaker
And Thor's like, this is what I've always been doing. This is just like when I save people from crime, it's just it's just bigger. And Spider-Man's like, I don't know. And ah Thor hits him with the, i got the responsibility is mine because I got the power line. And Spider-Man's like, you gotta use your power wisely. Thor's like, I will. I do wanna stress.
00:58:27
Speaker
Thor, at this point, has not done anything wrong, and is an Avenger who has saved the world multiple times. I would contend that he has done one thing wrong, and that is not explain his not explain anything.
00:58:50
Speaker
I mean, you say that, but like, he did just get here. Right, but we know no we know from to the UN, we know from this run, that Asgard, at least Odin had the power to send a message to all of New York City. Uh-huh. So like, you think Thor might be like, hey, New York City, I just want you to know I'm here where we're we're here to help, we're going to try to make your lives better. Instead, they just show up and then don't explain anything and then kidnap, intend to kidnap the head of the UN. Like a little communication is all I'm asking for here. I don't know that. Okay. Sure. Anyway, China ah fired some nukes at Asgard.
00:59:51
Speaker
And so Heimdall calls for an evacuation and Thor has to like use the Odin power to contain two nuclear blasts in a sphere. And then send those nuclear that new those nuclear blasts somewhere. To another dimension! Using Mjolnir's power to transport things to another dimension. Which rules? Yeah. It's pretty it's pretty cool.
01:00:20
Speaker
Uh, then Thor is like, listen, Spider-Man, we're here to do good. You gotta to go. So he is said Spider-Man, uh, and then Spider-Man and, uh, this ambassador, this UN ambassador are back at the UN. n And, uh, it's Spider-Man's like, okay, well, all right.
01:00:41
Speaker
And Thor, Thor makes the point of like, look, we just got here. I went to tell the UN what we were doing. I, you know, I sent a guy to the UN to so that we could, we could tell everybody what we're doing. Cause I am the king. Like I, I'm not just Thor. I'm also the king of this country. Yeah. Uh, and then the, like within 10 minutes,
01:01:08
Speaker
the mortals of this world tried to nuke me. yeah So it seems to me like maybe you could use some guidance. And and that's what Spider-Man's like, damn. Dave, you got me. You got me there, Bob. You got me there. ah Thor number 52 has a cover that, on first glance,
01:01:37
Speaker
looks like it might be good the more you look at it the more surreal it is yeah the arm is weird the arm is weird the lightning is so like weirdly placed it's a painting of thor it's little the lightning's little it's the lightning is little the way he's standing is strange i it it's It looks fine at first, and then the more you look at it, the more surreal and bad it is. Do we know who did this cover? It's signed, but i can't I can't read the signature, and on the Marvel database, it does not say who the cover artist is, so I don't know. It looks like it's kind of good, and then it's not and then it's bad. Both arms are bad, actually. like The whole thing is kind of not good. ah But the interior art,
01:02:34
Speaker
is by our boy himself, Danny J. ah This is his first crack at the art in this run, I think. I do i do think it's been, I think it's been a while at least, yeah. Yeah. um After drawing his entire Superman run, basically, ah he he is now on art duties, this issue. And we start with Balder,
01:03:04
Speaker
walking around in in Thor's castle, ah having thoughts, unsure of Thor's decisions of late. Because that's that's the that's the conflict here, right? Thor's making decisions, getting more involved in Midgard, and Baldur's not sure about it. He's still carrying out Thor's orders, but he doesn't know if this is the right way to do things.
01:03:35
Speaker
He walks by Teoffee and he's like, hey, Teoffee, you're a pretty new character. And I don't know if I trust so you. what does it say your first appearance was? What's 1-0 for you in Wizard? Yeah. It was not that many issues ago. He's like, can you can you tell me like what's going on with Thor? like Can you tell me where Thor is? And Teoffee's like,
01:04:04
Speaker
It's a secret, don't worry about it. And Baldur's like, why does he trust you more than me? i They're Vikings. You know, yeah they're Vikings. I get that. But Baldur's like, hey, TLV.
01:04:19
Speaker
Where's Thor? And Teofu goes, oh, hey, Thor didn't want me to tell anybody where he went. So I am, as I am loyal to Thor, I i can't tell you. And Baldur's like, cool, if you're fucking with me, I'm gonna cut you in half. Yep. Which is, which is pretty like, like, look, he's He's the greatest warrior of all Asgard. That's, that's,
01:04:45
Speaker
I mean, it's badass, for sure. But it's also pretty big. It's a bold move. it's it's it's it's an extreme reaction. It seems unwarranted. This issue is called realization and we so get a few pages of Thor just kind of walking around in a snowy landscape. And I think this Dan Jurgens art is real good. No, it is. It's Jurgens is good. it's ah It's a very similar outfit to the one we saw Thor in last issue. But now he's got like a big horn helmet and his cape is made of fur.
01:05:24
Speaker
He's had a different championship belt in every one of these issues. It's true. Um, so what we learned, we get a flashback here to like, you know, ancient Midgard and this group of Vikings, speaking of Vikings has been basically just going into villages and murdering people and doing a lot of bad stuff. You know,
01:05:53
Speaker
Viking stuff. Yeah. But they keep praying to Thor and Thor shows up and he's like, Hey guys, you're doing a great job. Boy, you're sure, you're sure honoring me. And, um, one of the few survivors from this village that they've pillaged, um, is like, they're not doing good. They're just going into villages and killing people. And you're like, Hey man, is this what you're about?
01:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, like they just... Is this what you're into, Thor? They just slaughter women and children with no regard. Yeah, it's not like they're they're in battle, like defending someone. They're just going around murdering people. Right, like there's no honor in what they're doing. And Thor's like... i was like a word And what? Well, at first Thor's like, I don't believe you, but I'll go look anyway. And as soon as he starts to leave to go check on what they've done, they kill her.
01:06:52
Speaker
for like speaking out. And that's when Thor's like, oh, okay. I- Whoa, whoa, whoa. Actually fuck these guys. And then he goes and checks on the village and sees like, yep, they just they just killed people. And he brings the woman's body back to the village and there's a kid there who, you know, that was her kid.
01:07:20
Speaker
And Odin also shows up here in like, like hey, Odin, yeah like this was fucked up. Like, like, can you turn back time or do something about this? And Odin shows up and he's like, yeah, I mean, I could. Odin's like humans. They're fucked up. Yeah, man. Humans. they'll They'll let you down, bud.
01:07:46
Speaker
Also, he is wearing the best, like, Kirby-esque outfit. Like, it it whips ass the the costume that Odin is wearing here. his he's He's got a big ol' helmet. And when I say a big ol' helmet, you're like, yes, of course, I know what you're talking about. No, this one's wide. Yeah. Odin decides that the one thing he can do is make this kid whose mom died essentially a resident of Asgard. And so this is the O of Tjolfi. This is Tjolfi's origin story. So this kid is Tjolfi, which I have a lot of questions because this means that Tjolfi has lived in Asgard like
01:08:36
Speaker
but o Odin says, find him in Asgardian home, and one day when he ah matures, take him into the fold, treat him as thou wouldst thy closest friend. So this is also us learning, like, okay, Theophi's legit, he's Thor's boy. Unless these Vikings, unless this was a historical reenactment or Renaissance fair gone horribly wrong, this shit happened a thousand years ago. Uh-huh.
01:09:06
Speaker
So how does, how come Balder doesn't know who this is? That's a great question. Like, Thor has been keeping Teofi hidden away for a thousand years until he reached, you know, what looks like his twenties.
01:09:21
Speaker
Yeah, like, did it take Teofee a thousand years to become 20? Because he's like, he's not like a baby. He's like 12. He's a child, yeah. Yeah. It's, I don't know, but this is meant to explain certainly why Thor cares so much about Teofee and makes him such a confidant. Part of the inner Thorkel. Yeah, right there in the inner Thorkel. Baldr still doesn't understand this. He's just like, he just asks Thor like, Hey, yeah how do you know we can trust Thjalfi? And Thor's like, Well, because none of this is told to Baldr. No, none of this is told to Baldr. And Thor just tells him, Oh, I've known him for a long time. Don't worry about it.
01:10:15
Speaker
so Again, wild. Because Baldur should be like, oh word, you've known him for a long time. Like since the beginning of time, like how long we've known each other. right Like after your dad made the universe out of brains and blood of Ymir the frost giant. And then like, you know, we were around.
01:10:40
Speaker
Thor number 53 has our boy Pericus on the cover, smashing through the rainbow bridge. Buddy, I'm going to tell you, Pericus is not my boy.
01:10:52
Speaker
ah This is a Tom Brady cover. It looks good. It's a it's a good cover. Pericus has never looked cooler than this. This issue starts with, ah the it's this issue is called 100 days. It starts with evidence of there being a cult now praying up to Asgard from Central Park. um Also, new lettering this issue. Yeah, mixed case lettering. We have started into mixed case lettering. And the Asgardians dialogue is no longer different from everybody else's. Yeah, I actually like reading this, I went and looked at the letterer.
01:11:37
Speaker
And I, cause I don't like it. It's a Richard Starkings and comic crafts side. Uh, that's, that's who the letters are this issue. And yeah from now on side on who works for comic craft. Yeah. Uh, then in the desert of New Mexico, some military people meet up with, uh, with Zarko, Zarko, the tomorrow man.
01:12:06
Speaker
This is your boy, Zarko the Tomorrow Man. This is your boy. And Zarko's like- Target the Tomorrow Man's a real Matt Wilson type. Unbelievable that he would say this in my presence. ah Anyway, he's like, Zarko tells these military people that Thor is a real big threat and And you got to do something about him. And now that he's stationed as guard over New York, it's starting. and And that these military calls them amateurs. Especially for that nuclear attack. That was clumsy. Once again, we see that Heimdall sees everything. Here's the growth of a blade of grass.
01:12:55
Speaker
And Pericus just comes through a portal and wrecks him. ah This is a Joe Bennett issue, but that that page of Pericus wrecking Heimdall is pretty good. ah Heimdall is with Adva, who I don't remember from the Dark Gods series story before, but I think she was there. She's in there. Yeah. Yeah.
01:13:22
Speaker
um but her height really Because I think we've talked about her before and how I really like her design. Yeah. Because she looks like a character from Nintendo's arms. She does. But her her deal um is that she can teleport things. They're here and they're wrecking shit. And they're going to try to conquer Asgard.
01:13:43
Speaker
ah yeah Meanwhile, Thor is meeting with Thjalfi and Baldr and they're talking about how they're they're providing food to Ethiopia and trying to do other things for Earth. And Baldr's like, should we be doing all this? And Thor's like, should we be giving food to the starving Thor?
01:14:05
Speaker
ah And Thor's gives his reasons. And then we see that Thor girl and some other Asgardians are in the rainforest, stopping the destruction of the rainforest. And the workers are like, well, if you, if you stop us from doing this, we can't eat. We, we have to work. And so Thor girl gives them a big sack of gold and they're like, wow, great. And then they get attacked by military people.
01:14:42
Speaker
trying to uphold the world order. Yeah. And they fully murdered some Asgardians. They sure do. And Thorgirl's like, hey, fuck you guys. She sure is. Thorgirl, who we know is destined to lead us into a utopia. Not anymore. Not anymore. Well, not anymore. She's no longer the designate Tereen. That's right.
01:15:10
Speaker
ah paris comes a Paracuss comes rolling into Thor's throne room and says that he's Thor's executioner. And Thor helpfully lets us know that this is Paracuss of the Dark Gods.
01:15:25
Speaker
ah And beats up Thor for a little while. He like stomps on his face. And I like that he hits him with his spear and specifically turns his armor into a crop top ye thor that I was really hoping would be Thor's costume from now on. That would be a good look, wouldn't it? ah So Adva makes Mjolnir teleport away. Like she teleports it away. And so Thor has to continue fighting Pericus in his crop top with other weapons. So he picks up
01:16:06
Speaker
ah The Blood Axe. And in the most DC Comics thing that may have ever happened ah in in Marvel Comics, Thor cuts Pericus's right arm off. Clutch. Clutch is the sound effect.
01:16:30
Speaker
Yeah. And this is, by the way, it it's not just an axe. It's the blood axe. It's the blood axe. Yeah. And so it's, it's, it's having a corrupting effect on Thor. So he, he tosses it away and melts it down to its metal. And, uh, and then picks up Pericus, his weapon and his, his spear. And he's like, I'm going to kill Pericus with this if you don't bring my, uh, my hammer back. So add advert gives him his hammer back.
01:17:00
Speaker
And he's like, all right Pericus, I whipped your ass, who sent you here? And Pericus is like, Zarko did. And then in an instant, Thor is on Zarko's ass. Yeah. Like all these government guys that ah are trying to fuck with Thor. Like, first of all, Zarko gets out ah his phone, which is a crazy future phone.
01:17:27
Speaker
Which, yeah. It doesn't look like a smartphone. It looks like a universal remote. It looks like a univ- It looks like a remote for Roku TV. Yeah. Uh, and the, the, uh, government lady goes, never seen a phone like that. In case you forgot that Zarko, the Tomorrow Man, was from the future. Is from the future, yeah. And Thor is like, I got your ass, Zarko. You're mine now. I'm gonna put you in jail. Asgard jail.
01:18:01
Speaker
Yep.
01:18:04
Speaker
Thor number 54 has a cover in which Thor is like holding his arms up as if to display his power and cultists are ah like underneath him, like praying up to him.
Thor's Ethical Dilemmas and UN Controversy
01:18:23
Speaker
And his his face is totally darkened.
01:18:27
Speaker
Like, the Thor in this these issues is way less abusive of his power than he appears to be on this cover. Yeah, yeah. He still has done nothing wrong.
01:18:46
Speaker
the we mean We talked about this before the show. I don't think Thor does anything wrong in the issues that we have read. Thor is right and he should say it.
01:18:58
Speaker
I think everything, all of his intentions are good. The argument that is presented to him by Spider-Man and Baldur is that humans should be allowed to make their own decisions, which... Yeah, but but I don't think they should. Well, there's pretty ample evidence in real life that that is true. That they shouldn't. And also in the comic. Yeah.
01:19:25
Speaker
this This isn't just an interesting bit of synchronicity to the real world. Also, in the comic, he he's fine. like like like Thor's counter-argument to that is, like if someone tried to kill someone in the street right next to me, I would stop them. If someone's doing that anywhere else, and I can get there, why can't I stop that? Here's here's what I would say, though.
01:19:57
Speaker
because this issue brings back the radio host Chucky Diamond, right? Thor knows Chucky Diamond. He saved him that one time. Chucky Diamond even brings it up this issue. Sure. Why doesn't Thor go on Chucky Diamond's radio show or some other form of mass media or do that thing where he can appear in the sky and give everybody a message and say, hey,
01:20:26
Speaker
I'm Thor. You know who I am. I haven't been as hands on on earth as I maybe should have been. I want to help you all. What do you need? Right and like. Make it their choice and then give people what they need, what they say they need. Like then it would be fine. You know, I mean that, but that kind of is what he's doing.
01:20:56
Speaker
But he never asked. He's just telling people what they need. No. As we will see in this issue, he's showing up and giving them what they need that they have asked for. They just haven't asked him directly.
01:21:16
Speaker
And everybody's fucking mad about it. All right. So this issue opens with Chucky Diamond on the radio. We see a guy in his apartment, like going out and looking at Asgard over New York city. And then we see like more of what's going on in New York. Like there's a bus, a city bus ah driving around and the driver looks like kind of angry.
01:21:47
Speaker
and we see one of his passengers get out and go into like ah like a Catholic hospital that we will discover is for terminally ill children. And in that hospital, um this this woman... she She's a nun, but she's like a modern nun. She doesn't wear like a habit. She doesn't wear a habit, yeah. Her name is Sister Mary. um She approaches a mom... Really? how many How long did it take you to think of that one, Dan?
01:22:18
Speaker
she approaches a um who's taking care with sister mary She approaches a mom whose son is dying and she's like, but to what good are prayers?
01:22:30
Speaker
All I've had in my life is pain. My mom died of breast cancer when I was nine. My husband died just two months after Donnie, my son was born. And now my, my child is dying. Like what good is God? What good is but she says there is no God. All I've known is pain and death. Then, um, there is a.
01:22:55
Speaker
sequence about a woman named Roxy, who works for the World Vigilance Organization, which is like a refugee help organization. It helps to re relocate and house refugees. And there is a refugee from Kalanya, the fictional African nation of Kalanya, who is there. And we find all out all about a ah but essentially a genocide that's happening in Kalanya. And a dictator who who's doing a genocide and putting people in prison and torturing them. Yeah. um So this this charity that she runs, um they can't pay the rent. And the this one refugee who works there, whose name is, what is it? Tombow?
01:23:48
Speaker
it Yeah, it's it's T apostrophe A-M-B-O, which it is not anything else, but it's close to something. it's i I would have picked a different name. Yeah. ah Anyway, he's like, I'll work without pay to help pay for the rent. And Roxy's like, no, no, you got to be paid so you can live. Also, I'm an atheist.
01:24:19
Speaker
But I'll pray right now for some help. If they'll just help me, I'll believe like nobody else. Which which I should point out Matt is literally asking for help. That's true. She she does say, ah if God gives me money to keep the doors open and gets your brother and everyone else out of prison, I will believe like no one else. Okay, yes. She asks. She does ask. That's right.
01:24:47
Speaker
on that bus with the kind of angry looking bus driver. Uh, some fucking assholes get on with guns and start robbing people on the bus. So, um, Balder and Hogan destroy the bus. They destroy the bus and, um, Hogan, uh, severs this dude's arm. And you might be saying, hang on. I'm familiar with the character Hogan the Grim, one of Thor's three buddies, the warrior's three.
01:25:16
Speaker
He doesn't use a sword. Doesn't he use a mace? With like, a big iron ball covered in blunt protrusions? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Hogan fully smashed that dude's arm off. The the sound effect is SCASH.
01:25:41
Speaker
And I like that the bus driver goes, oh my god!
01:25:46
Speaker
that's the second dash dash my g dash dash exclamation point that's the second arm removal in as many issues yeah no look i think maybe thor could have a talk with hogan about that and feel like hey man baby don't smash people's arms but you don't hit someone so hard with a blunt object that it severs their arm that's pretty fucking intense yeah But Balder did threaten to cut a dude in half if he was fucking with him. That's true. ah Back at the Children's Hospital. And honestly, that's not Thor's fault. That's Hogan's fault. Back at the Children's ah children's Hospital, Sif and Nephethesk, the healer. ah Sif and ah Victor Buono as King Tut. Rock up.
01:26:44
Speaker
are healing all the the terminally ill children, even though that one mom, her son is dead. So I think he's he's he's done, but there's healing all the other sick children. he dies He has died, ah but just before Sif and Nepathisc show up with their potions and elixirs. Yeah. Which, again,
01:27:09
Speaker
Thor had access to nephathus and nephathus potions and elixirs that are incredible magic god medicine and is sharing them with the world. what What a real asshole. Matt, what a real piece of shit he is, huh? Fuck him, I guess. I never said any of that. Thor has continued to do nothing wrong. He is 100% right in all he does. It is interesting that they're just doing stuff in New York City.
01:27:38
Speaker
but Well, we we do they're not though. We do see that he's doing more than just New York City because he goes to the the charity that we saw earlier and he's like, hey, I brought you a bunch of refugees from Kalanya, but I also um got rid of the general that was subjugating the country. Here here' are some people to take care of. but I'll deal with your rent and you won't have to worry about it.
01:28:06
Speaker
Yeah, ah Thor says, Roxanne says, I can't believe that General Donda let you walk in and take his prisoners. And Thor says, look, it's my policy to recognize the governing body of any sovereign land. However, Donda was unquestionably a tyrant and thug who took power by force of arms, not a true ruler, but a subjugator. And she goes, you overthrew his government. And he goes, as I would a common street thug, Donda has caused more misery than any thousand criminals combined.
01:28:37
Speaker
And she goes, and you get to decide all that? You also agree, though. Here's the thing, though. I see what she's, well, that wouldn't be my question, the question she asked. My question would be, okay, what government did you put in his place? Because otherwise, that's just what the CIA does.
01:29:03
Speaker
Yes. Look. Overcast, government, and then leave power vacuums. Well, what we, what, probably Nior is there? Or, or Frey? Maybe Frey, Freyr could be there? Yeah, sure. Garm? Garm's bad, I guess. You gotta let people- Garm's also a dog, but yeah yeah I'll take a dog over most human governments. You gotta to let people be self-governing, though. Sure. Sure.
01:29:33
Speaker
Forseti can show up and administer an election. He's the god of justice, Matt. He's ontologically just. That's true. But we don't we don't know any of that. All we know is that Thor got rid of that dictator and left a power vacuum and brought those people to New York when now they should be able to live in their country, right? Yeah, but ah but he specifically brought this guy's family. That's true, yeah. Who they were trying to get out into New York And like again, i I feel like Thor should be like, yeah, that guy sucked, right? I'm just saying, it seems like there's some loose ends here. But nonetheless, the end result is that there is a church of Asgard that is gaining popularity in New York because of all the stuff that Thor and the other Asgardians are doing to help people. I don't want people to think that i IRL support
01:30:29
Speaker
ah ah the destabilization of foreign governments by the CIA, but I do support a Thor doing it. Uh, Thor number 55 has a cover where it's like a ghostly, apparitional Thor holding earth in his hands. He got the whole world in his hands, man. Pretty good. Pretty good cover. It's a really good cover, actually. I really like this one.
01:31:01
Speaker
Uh, this issue starts with Zarko, the tomorrow man in prison, talking about how, talking about how he has no, uh, communication way to communicate with the outside world or learn about what's going on. Um, but he knows that Thor is seizing control of earth. Um, this issue is titled reason. We're back to Tom Rainey art, so it looks great.
01:31:27
Speaker
ah And we have ah Hogan, Fandral, and Balder um fighting second make this one yeah i guess not um fighting a bunch of soldiers in some desert terrain. Definitely.
01:31:47
Speaker
fictional Middle East type of deal. This is meant to make you think of Afghanistan, I think. or Yeah. this is the The Iraq war would not be until the following year, but Afghanistan had already started by this point. So they're they're out here you know fighting the bad Middle Eastern men, which That's so not so maybe the worst like two pages of the run so far because these guys are like full stereotypes. Yeah. like Like the guy in charge literally says, we will gladly be martyrs for the cause. The cause is not identified. No. ah Meanwhile, absorbing man and Titania
01:32:34
Speaker
are sitting around in their hovel where they still live. Even though that building they were living in before collapsed. So this is a different building. And Absorbing Ren is reading about Thor appearing before the UN. ah Loki, who does not have a hat on, and I really don't like it. Loki always looks weird, but he doesn't have a hat on, doesn't he? Yeah, he looks weird. He doesn't have a hat on. Because he's just got like hair. Yeah.
01:33:00
Speaker
ah Anyway, he's he's out here talking to Enchantress about how his goals and Thor's goals are the same now. Yeah, he's like, man, this is awesome Thor's taken over the world. And he says, that's what I wanted to do. He wishes to care for the mortals, which makes him the shepherd and them not but sheep. Yeah, and like,
01:33:26
Speaker
i do Like, again, I have seen nothing that makes me disagree with Thor. And this is like having an asshole show up and go, I think he's right though. But this is a lot like when Apocalypse was living on Krakoa. That's true. Yeah, this is kind of what I wanted the whole time. I'm cool now. Except for Loki is like, yeah, he's gonna take over the world. But then like, I'll get to roll over part of it.
01:33:56
Speaker
or he's gonna be in charge of Asgard and he'll probably make me in charge of Earth. And I'm reading this like, looky, there ain't no fucking way that's gonna happen, dog. So we then we see Thor at the UN. And thor Thor's got yet another version of his championship belt that looks great here. He's also got like his hair and braids and it looks it looks dope. I think Thor looks great. It's a cool looking Thor, yeah. um But he is like wearing slacks.
01:34:27
Speaker
So I think this is where Thor comes off best in his remarks to the UN, where like all these UN ambassadors are like, what are you doing? You're, you're making our people suffer. You, you destroyed our, like the Kalanian ambassador is like, you destroyed my country. And Thor's like, I'd opposed a dictator. And the people who were suffering unjustly are not suffering anymore.
01:34:57
Speaker
And so like, I, the people like what I do. It's you, people in power that don't like what I do. Uh, yeah, I, ah I am helping people and that is a threat to your established order. Yeah. So you don't like it. Yeah. That's, that's your problem with what I'm doing. I destroyed chemical weapons manufacturing and that messed up things for you being rich, but it helped people.
01:35:28
Speaker
Yeah, he goes he goes, there's a guy who goes, you halted construction of power plants. And he goes, those were like, really destructive. And your methods are short sighted. I shall provide you with power that will be less harmful to the environment. So he is like, he's not just destroying a bad thing and leaving a power vacuum. He's destroying a bad thing and replacing it with something better. In the same way that like all the people who were cutting down the Amazon rainforest, like Thor Girl gave them money that they would earn. Didn't do whatever they were going to do with all that wood, but whatever. you know like yeah We can figure that out. And he also goes, yeah, I've also planted, given all your farmers enchanted seeds and rained on your ah your region so that they would grow, like everything's fine and actually better.
01:36:20
Speaker
Now, the only line that is a little suspect is where he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I made some countries unstable, but that's a necessary transition. ah All right. Hold up, buddy.
01:36:34
Speaker
You can't just say that's a necessary transition. You gotta be like, you gotta like install governments in these countries or like let these people vote on who their government's going to be because otherwise that's probably what full stack is doing. Maybe.
01:36:50
Speaker
Bullstags, that's why he's not with Fandral and Hogan and Baldur. He's doing all the other stuff.
Support and Criticism for Thor
01:36:58
Speaker
Anyway, Absorbing Man shows up in his jail pants and no shirt. it's Look, that is unfortunately his supervillain costume. That's true. and That is unfortunately the Absorbing Man's real clothes. And he's like, I'm here to help Thor. I think he's doing great things. And so I'm going to be his new right hand man.
01:37:20
Speaker
he He takes a knee and pledges himself to Thor. Yeah. Um, then another character shows up to say what Thor is doing is wrong. And that's Jake Olson. Yeah. good Kind of sucks. And he tries to get Baldur's ear about that. And we know that Baldur has doubts. So he's like outwardly saying he still trusts Thor, but all kind of listening to what Jake is saying. And then we close on tomorrow, man. He's still in his prison in Asgard.
01:37:54
Speaker
Thor, number 56. Okay, this is the one where I am the most on Thor's side. Like you would think at this point, like it would be like Squadron Supreme, and we would be witnessing the like slow slide into into like corruption or like despotism or taking away freedom or despotism. Nope. Nope, that has not happened.
01:38:25
Speaker
ah The cover of this one has the the the character that we will see in this issue who never gets a name Never gets a name. It is in fact referred to as unnamed at one point um He's got his hands on Thor's head and Thor's like weird and wrinkly But there's like energy coming out of Thor's head this issue is called resistance and this character is like recording a video and honestly like pretty forward-thinking considering that this is this is what like 2003 so this is like three years before YouTube even launched that's true ah he's he's recording video he's a mutant and we will find out that his mutant power is to advance the age of things and people he's also
01:39:21
Speaker
very christian yeah he's he's a he's an extremist he's got a tattoo on his right shoulder that is a cross and then under it is inri uh so it's not just a aesthetic cross you know that way you know it's a christian cross yeah yes uh and he's like thor's a fake god who's claiming to be a god And I'm going to use my power to to take him down take him down a peg. Then we see what Thor is doing right now. He is using he is using as guard hilarious he's using it as guardian technology to create self-sustaining power sources for cities in Ohio.
01:40:13
Speaker
Yes, I actually sent this to my sister ah who lives in ah Cincinnati ah with finally some good news. ah The panel where Thor says, thy nuclear plant has been taken offline in favor of this new jewel, enchanted with the magic of Asgard and the power of Thor. Cincinnati need not worry about power for at least a decade to come. And then he sends Tiofi to Cleveland to do it there.
01:40:43
Speaker
No, well he sent, no, he sends Thjalfi to give a piece of the enchanted jewel to Tony Stark so that he can go to Cleveland. Oh, right. Thore can go to Cleveland and open the second one. Right. Okay. Which again, what, what a real despot, Matt. Nobody asked for clean energy. Look, I'm all for clean energy. We do get a panel of some plant workers being like, what are we supposed to do for work? And their example is Polish Asgardian boots.
01:41:14
Speaker
Yeah, man. ah yeah Sorry you were working at the nuclear plant that is now replaced with clean burning energy. I don't know, man. like That seems like capitalism's problem, not Thor's. Go work at your dream job at a bowling alley. Yeah. Go found a barbershop quartet or become an astronaut.
01:41:37
Speaker
ah So, back in at Asgard, um Baldr starts expressing some of his concerns, where he's like, hey, should we be giving humans Asgardian magic? And Thor's like, well, otherwise they would just, be it would just be sitting around doing nothing. Yeah. Isn't this the literal problem that stupid people have with Batman?
01:42:09
Speaker
That's a great point. ah And he's like, just don't worry about it, Boulder. We're doing good for people. If I was Thor, I'd be like, hey, Reeve Richards, I just gave Cincinnati clean energy. What are you doing? Anything? Anything, bud? Because you're human, right? Like if you did it, to be you'd be fine, right? So um this unnamed mutant who can make things old shows up at this former nuclear plant.
01:42:40
Speaker
and makes the tower that Thor enchanted with Asgardian magic really old. And so it smashes to rubble. I do like this because ah it is hilarious to have Thor be like, there, enchanted with Asgardian magic, you won't you won't need another power source for 10 years.
01:43:10
Speaker
And it's like, okay, that's great, but like, aren't you like, like 6 billion years old? Like, he used to hang out on Earth a thousand years ago. I feel like 10 years is not a very long time for Asgardian stuff to last, Thor. not for you But it has to have a time limit for the rest of the story to work. Yeah. um So, Absorbing Man who is just here, hanging out in a suit. Absorbing Man who is now in a suit, yeah and is like, yeah, I'm like Thor's PR guy now.
01:43:43
Speaker
He, uh, is like, he asked this character, do you some kind of kook? This place was supposed to make people's lives better. And then he starts fighting this guy. Well, first no, he just grabs the guy and brings him to Asgard. Yeah. Uh, cause, uh, the guy, uh, absorbing man turns into metal and then the guy tries to headbutt him because the guy is dumb. Yeah. Oh, right. It knocks him out. Yeah.
01:44:12
Speaker
um So he brings him to Asgard, Thor is like, why'd you do that? Yeah, Thor's like, hey, man, what the fuck? And the guy goes, ah because I only because I believe in the one true God. And Thor's like, okay, well, I've never asked people to worship me. And I've never said he'd be the only God. He also says, remember 30 issues ago where I said it was fine, we're we're like,
01:44:40
Speaker
um that there was a higher power but but before me and it was the real Christian God and that I have no problem with Jesus. Yeah, like I i haven't like, like, yeah, I am like, look, I am Thor. I am quite literally the God of Thunder. But also, like, if you want to worship a different God, like, I'm totally fine with that. I'm not trying to replace or take it away from anybody.
01:45:05
Speaker
And the guy's like, yeah, I think you are. And Thor's like, I'm literally just trying to help. And I see people in trouble and I'm trying to, to, to help out. And the guy goes, right. We're like pets to you, man. You don't care what we think. And I gotta say, I, I, I bet Matt, you've met Biscuit. I have listeners. You've heard Biscuit on this very show.
01:45:35
Speaker
Biscuit's life is great. Biscuit gets so many treats. She does not exist under capitalism. She doesn't, she doesn't watch the news. She has no idea what's going on. She just knows that there were like people walking on the sidewalk and she does not like that. I'm just saying worse things to be than a pet.
01:46:01
Speaker
In another convenience for this story, Thor just lets this guy go. Yeah, which is like, again, you would expect, you would expect at this point in the narrative for Thor to be like, okay, well, you're a danger to the things that I'm doing. You're clearly a religious extremist. You're so mad at my very existence that you put people's lives in danger and took Cleveland offline.
01:46:30
Speaker
No, that was cincinnati because that was Cincinnati. Yeah. Yeah. Like you took Cincinnati offline, but, and look, things are already pretty rough there. It's Cincinnati. So like, I'm going to have to put you in the Asgardian dungeon with Zarko, the tomorrow man. But he doesn't force like, look, I'm trying to help people don't do that again and let him go. Yeah.
01:46:57
Speaker
He like tries to explain that he is there to help and does not punish this guy at all. He tries to reason with him. So what this guy does is steal a truck, an empty truck, and try to drive it into Cleveland Electric. Which, by the way, by the way, he goes to Cleveland Electric and he's like, yeah, man, I'm here to stock the vending machines. Uh, so people still work there.
01:47:28
Speaker
That's true. Yeah, so that guy was just complaining about nothing. Anyway, ah he like ages up an Asgardian soldier to a skeleton, and and then um blows up that plant too. And there's a Daily Bugle headline that says, Resistance, David Slays Goliath, Thor's Power Facilities Destroyed. I don't think that would be the headline.
01:47:57
Speaker
I don't think that would be the headline either. I joined us on one that day. I think the headline would be Cincinnati and Cleveland massive blackouts. Massive blackout due to terrorist attack? Yeah. In 2003?
01:48:15
Speaker
Yeah. How, like, Jonah, Jonah, you wild for that one. Jonah, that might be the worst one you've ever done. So, uh, Thor goes and finds this guy. Hey, Robbie, I'll sleep at the wheel, bud. Thor goes and finds this guy thanks to Heimdall and, uh, and uses his own power against him to age him to death. No, Thor doesn't do that. The guy uses it, does it to himself.
01:48:47
Speaker
He jumps at Thor, grabs him, and then is him using like like he does it to himself in order to commit suicide but capture it on film. Oh, that's right. Because Thor is like, what the fuck happened?
01:49:04
Speaker
Yeah. but The power he used to age others to decay them, he appears to have turned it back upon himself. Someone will blame me for this. I cannot help but wonder if this nameless mortal in his death has set into motion events, which will affect all of that. which is yet I wonder if this story will continue in the next exciting issue of Thor. Even though that there's no to be continued, it just says end. And that is where we will end.
01:49:28
Speaker
Uh, this episode literally nothing wrong.
Contact Information and Support Messages
01:49:34
Speaker
If you want to get in touch with us and let us know whether you think Thor has done anything wrong. Uh, now that the reigning has begun, uh, you can email us at war rocket podcast at gmail dot.com. That is where you can send every story ever lists or, uh, let us know if you want to sponsor the show or get in touch for any other reason.
01:49:55
Speaker
You can also contact us on Tumblr. We're on Tumblr at warrocketpodcast dot.tumblr dot.com. You can leave us listener questions there. We're on Blue Sky at warrocketajax.bsky.social. And you can join our Discord if you would like to do that. um You have to have an invitation to join our Discord, but if you ask us nicely in any of the places I just mentioned for an invitation, ah you can get one. Or you can go on our Patreon and ask for an invitation.
01:50:24
Speaker
Our website is warrocketajax.com. It has every episode of the show we've ever done. And you can go listen to all of those episodes there. warrocketwiki.com is the fan run place to get all the information you can ever want or need about this show, War Rocket Ajax. If you want to find me and my stuff, 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?
01:50:49
Speaker
People can find me by going to the-isp.com. That is my website. It has exactly one thing you can read on it right now, but there are links to other things, including full issues of comics that you can get ah for free. So go check that out.
01:51:05
Speaker
Hey, everybody. I know it's been a rough week and there might be more rough weeks to come, but I just want to say again, we got you. We're here for you.
01:51:18
Speaker
Don't forget it. We'll be here next week. You should be here next week too. Yeah. Until then, we won't forget, and you won'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.