SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud

Have you seen Thor: Ragnarok yet? In a word: Go!

The two previous Thor films were my least favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe entries — that is, aside from The Incredible Hulk, for which I give Marvel Studios a pass because they were still figuring things out at that point. (Also, Edward Norton.) But Thor: Ragnarok totally makes up for its two predecessors by abandoning their ponderous tone and going all-in on fun, humor, and visual bombast. I hope director Taika Waititi gets to make a few more Marvel movies, because he hammered this one out of the park.

My Ragnarok afterglow had me looking back at Thor’s representation in my comic art collection. One of the very first artworks I purchased — I think it’s the fourth or fifth longest-tenured piece in my entire collection — was this dazzling portrait by Geof Isherwood, later inked by Bob Almond.

Purely by coincidence, the very next piece I bought also featured Thor, this time alongside his Ragnarok costar, the Hulk. Dan Jurgens penciled this one, and again, I commissioned Bob Almond some time afterward to complete the piece in ink.

Thor has made, to date, two appearances in my Common Elements theme. In Common Elements #12, penciler Trevor Von Eeden and inker Joe Rubinstein pit the Odinson in a “Showdown!” against another hammer-wielder, Steel.

And in Common Elements #82, Thor meets his fellow demigod-turned-superhero Isis, under the creative auspices of the great Steve Rude.

The Valkyrie makes her cinematic debut in Thor: Ragnarok, portrayed with grit, grace, and swagger by actress Tessa Thompson. Here’s the comics version of Val with her trusty winged steed Aragorn (who also makes a brief cameo in Ragnarok via a flashback sequence) as envisioned by Geof Isherwood.

Just for good measure, one more Valkyrie image, this time by Phil Noto.

Again, if you haven’t seen Thor: Ragnarok already, I highly recommend it. Pro tip: It’s worth the extra few bucks to see it in IMAX 3D (or just regular 3D, if the IMAX option isn’t available in your neck of the woods), for the astounding visuals.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

This entry was posted on November 10, 2017 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Cinemania, Comic Art Friday, Hero of the Day, SwanStuff, That's Cool!. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.