Marvel is making a small change to one of their characters. When I say small, I mean huge and when I say one of their characters, I mean one of their main faces. That’s right, Thor is now a chick. The announcement was first made, this morning, on The View. Bold choice of medium for making such a large announcement. I’m not knocking The View, but is that really where Marvel wanted to drop news like this? I’m sure at-home parents were thrilled about Thor’s news, in addition to the latest diet tips and crazes that probably aired this morning.
I’m all for gender, race and sexual equality, but we’re not going to talk about that because the internet is full of strong opinions. Instead, let’s hear what editor Wil Moss had to say about the big change:
“The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute—she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!” If ever there was a time to point out that the issue of diversity in comics has hit the mainstream, this is it.
In the last few years, there have been quite a few efforts to make comics not quite so monolithically white/male/straight/gender-normative/etc. In 2012, Green Lantern Alan Scott came out as gay. In 2011, it was announced that mixed-race teenager Miles Morales would be putting on the Spider-Man suit. Batwoman Kate Kane came out of the closet and took on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) got a transgender roommate. The new Ms. Marvel is a Muslim teenager. And each time a change like this was announced, it made a blip on the radar, but it mostly circulated on newswires and blogs. Sure, Chris Hayes may herald the news of Batgirl’s transgender friend on MSNBC, but that happened after the fact. This time, message is being announced on The View, and Marvel itself is claiming that Thor “aims to speak directly to an audience that long was not the target for superhero comic books in America: women and girls.”
The [new] series will re-launch, ending the current series written by Jason Aaron and artist Esad Ribic and the reigns, on artistry, will be handed over to Russell Dauterman. However, what will become of our current Thor? Well, he’s trading in his hammer for Jarnbjorn, an axe capable of slaying gods, an axe he used when he was a young, rebellious Thor.
Cosplayer: Toni Darling
