It is n’t sluttish , in these jaded comic book times , for a superhero relaunch to make buff sit up and take observation . But Marvel ’s announcement last month that writerAl Ewing , alongside artistMartin Cóccolo , would be spearheading a fresh start for the publisher’sGod of Thunderas The Immortal Thor this August was that rarest of exclusion : a novel superhero series that feels like a genuine event .
Since arriving at Marvel in 2013 ( after making his bone on British titles include the venerable 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine ) , Ewing has steadily and imposingly built a repute as one of the most creatively robust and original writers in mainstream superhero fabrication . Like his most obvious forebears Jack Kirby and Grant Morrison , he differentiate in packing his serial with the maximal potential quantity of rapid - fervor and unexpected concept . But perhaps more than either of those influences , Ewing balances his all-inclusive strokes with character reference beats and worked up sensitivity . He is , at this stop in his life history , the whole package ( at least where the written word is concerned ) .
After turning out well - regarded streamlet on various Avengers title during the mid-2010s , Ewing had his breakout bit with 2018 ’s Immortal Hulk : a 50 - issue odyssey that was one part Cronenbergian body horror , one - part tour through Kabbalistic theological system , and exhaustively original in its reimagining of venerable Marvel continuity . That makes Immortal Thor ’s title both a hope of intriguing things to come in , and a daunting challenge to match the towering reputation of Ewing ’s magnum opus . io9 recently chatted with Ewing about what his book ’s August launching has in store , and learned why it ’s a challenge he seems fully inclined to fulfill .
Image: Alex Ross/Marvel Comics
Zach Rabiroff , io9 : You ’ve mentioned that while you are n’t much of a spiritual somebody , you have a broad - wander interest in religion and mythology . So what was your background in Norse mythology before ingest on this assignment ? Are there other mythology that you found yourself drawing from as you thought about your access to Thor ?
Al Ewing : I ’ve study a few of the tales , some the eddas , others with the flavor of folk - tales that have had the Norse Gods sprinkled into them where maybe earlier it was more of a Gaelic pantheon or whoever . There is one particular dasheen that grabbed me – one that I recognized from comics , because I ’ve seen it retold and repurposed a pot , by various people – and it ’s not one of the best - known ones : it ’s get more the flavor of a fairytale , where Thor ventures into another land where the rules are n’t the same as the ones he bonk . And that really dovetail with some of the other things I was thinking about .
io9 : What was your background in Thor comic come into this ? I ideate that as a British reader , you would have come at him from a different slant than most U.S. risible buyers .
Ewing : I first meet Thor in the pages of the U.K. Secret Wars offprint , so the first Thor I ever saw was from Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck . Shooter had a couple of interesting perspectives on Thor that stick around with me — in his hand , Thor had a form of otherworldly timbre to him . When a mammoth superstorm was battering the Hero in their HQ , Thor was outside enjoying it , and at one point he cave in Enchantress out of the heroes ’ jail so they could have a proper Asgardian - to - Asgardian conversation . Jim Shooter put a lot of maintenance into affair like that — I remember the ex - Men forthwith break-dance off into a third faction to emphasize that they were n’t like the other heroes , the Hulk ( with Bruce Banner ’s brain at the meter ) was grow more aggressive every issue … it was no real surprisal that Thor should come off as a niggling strange and even alien . And Mike Zeck did a nifty job of delineate this big , beefy guy in a way that felt dissimilar from any other heroes , too .
io9 : What are the old Thor story , and Thor creators , that stand out to you , personally , as highlights ?
Ewing : I was very lucky in that coming off Secret Wars , right when U.S. comics were starting to make their way into newsdealer over here , it was the middle of the [ legendary Thor author / creative person Walt ] Simonson epoch . So Thor comics at the time were really something particular . I think Simonson really grokked the illusion , [ and ] mythologic ingredient : everything had the cadence of myth , and drew from the Norse myths . Kirby did the same , but with a slightly different proportion of phantasy and scientific discipline fabrication — a much more crackling , tumid zip that tied in with the Marvel mythology he was establish in general . And of course , Kirby ’s Thor was the first apprisal of the line of descent of Galactus , so that has some special meaning for me .
by from that , there are trial I call for to go back and re - read , and one of them is the recent Matt Fraction run . I retrieve a particular succession instance by Pascual Ferry that involves Odin advance the wisdom of the World - Tree [ Thor # 621 from 2011]—reading that back for research really excise a chord . There was a real sense of it as communing with an unknowable force play .
io9 : Writers often find Thor a difficult character to approach in the circumstance of Marvel comics , because his unreachable immortal and tremendously godly great power put him on a different plane from your distinctive Marvel character : he ’s all the trouble Superman tends to give to writers , but multiplied exponentially , and with the added ramification of a supporting casting full of actual deities . So how do you grind a character like Thor enough to make him believable as part of the Marvel Universe ?
Ewing : There are a few stories in Thor ’s very early daylight when he ’s act as a Superman analogue , and there ’s one panel in picky where the intact world is radioing for Thor to cease a projectile or something , that ’s exceedingly Silver Age Superman . With Marvel , the natural thing is to ground a hero by giving him problem , and we ’re definitely doing tha — god - size of it problems , by nature , especially since he ’s now the King of Asgard . But one thing we wo n’t do this metre is show him get doubts and fears about his worthiness for the role of the Thunder God and the All - Father : the last twain of runs address those issues very well and over a tenacious flow , so I think those tale have been famously assure already . Instead , the main style we undercoat Thor is by getting inside his drumhead , in a style we have n’t for a while . You ’ll see how we do that when the time comes , but it does feel like a long - lost secret recipe for a fully relatable Thor . One weird thaumaturgy , as they say .
io9 : From the first , there has always been a foxy rest in Thor stories between the earthbound world and its underpin cast of alter ego Donald Blake and co. , and the large - than - life sentence eddas - by - elbow room - of - Kirby of the Asgard casting and setting . How have you been trying to take the air the tightrope ? Do you discover yourself favour one half of the balance over the other ?
Ewing : decent from the showtime , we establish Thor as having one pes in Asgard and one in Midgard . I believe you’re able to have a Thor run that ’s only one or entirely the other , and that ’d be a great Thor rill , but whoever was following you would have to swing that pendulum back . We ’re going to be going back and off between the two . If there ’s a secret sauce to that , I consider it ’s that in both places , he ’s approachable : in Asgard , he ’s the ruler , but he ’s also been one of the gang since modest times . The Warriors Four , and Sif , and Loki wo n’t treat him any differently — he ’s still Thor . And on Earth , he might be a literal god , but he ’s also a superhero , and one of the friendlier ace . So you ’ve got the same balance in both worlds between Thor ’s power and his personality .
io9 : Come to remark it , what about Donald Blake ? Writers have had a startlingly wide range of takes on the character reference over the class — from his initial introduction as a kind of ersatz Billy Batson , to the early retcon that he was but a false persona meant to humble an self-important god , to his seemingly - concluding forsaking under Walt Simonson , to his surprise reintroduction ( this time in tangible - flesh form ) under J. Michael Straczynski . How authoritative is Blake to your excogitation of Thor ?
Ewing : Donald Blake bear on to have adventure under Matt Fraction and most recently in the Donny Cates lead , so he ’s another element we have dealt with very recently — in fact , I help oneself out with his electric discharge , following Donny ’s program line to leave him in a certain place and augment a sure style . So he ’s sort of simmer on the stove at the moment . I have a position in the larger story where I think he ’ll come in very handy if he ’s still available , but at the same time , I want to make issue # 1 a brisk start for this run . So he ’s go to stay buried in his tomb for the prison term being .
io9 : Immortal Thor is a pretty portentous title for the serial publication – not only because it provoke your previous run on Immortal Hulk , but because it calls up memories of the role that immortality and resurrection have played in both Norse mythology and previous Thor storey . As far back as the first Kirby / Lee Ragnarok storyline , and surely during its more late recapitulation by Oeming and Di Vito , Thor narration have explicitly been built around the notion that the life of the Asgardians moves in cycles of death and metempsychosis . Can you spill about how this fits into your own schema of Marvel life and dying : the Green Door , Kirbons , the One Above All , and all the rest ?
Ewing : We ’re definitely buy the farm to advert on those things — the “ Immortal ” adjective was entail as a challenge to myself to do better , but it ’s also a means to communicate to the lector that this is a book that ’s going to touch on those report , and hopefully do so in a raw room . Thor ’s immortality is a major part of the story I have planned out , and we ’re going to be consider with his relationship to forces much gravid than himself . At the same time , I ’m hoping this will stand on its own , so we might be coming at things in a different direction that ’s base on the eddas as much as on more scriptural elements .
io9 : I suppose that raise another interesting point : what on earth does Thor ’s identity as a god mean to the religious “ truth ” of the Marvel Universe ? Is he really a god in the same sense that the One Above All is a divinity ? What does it imply for faith if a god can , and frequently does , die ?
Ewing : I sort out myself as an agnostic rather than an atheist — I’m not of any particular faith , but I do n’t see the need to fill up myself off to the numinous either . A lot of these exploration in my workplace are attempts to see some understanding , but at the same time , what resonates strongly with me is that canonic unknowability of God . I do n’t believe that journey towards savvy , whether that ’s understanding of higher forces or of ourselves , is one that can end . If I have any faith at all , it ’s faith that that journey to higher understanding still has import , even though we all kick the bucket with the journey unfinished .
So where does Thor suit into that worldview ? Well , Thor is a god in the Marvel sense that he ’s a bountiful probably - an - extraterrestrial being with certain connatural powers , who ’s been around for 1000 of years and is the Same Guy From Some Myths . Is he God in the same means the One Above All is ? Clearly not . They ’re both fictional , but one is a metaphor for the creative force , a signifier for that unknowable higher force that may or may not exist , a mouthpiece for discussion about such strength — and the other is a big probably - an - unknown . They ’re obviously on dissimilar level .
That said : the fact that Thor is any form of god confer a level of the unknowable upon him . There are affair Thor can do that ca n’t be fully excuse , that work on a magical and metaphorical point . So in that room , yes , he ’s a god . And he ’s a god you’re able to tell superhero story about , because you’re able to say exactly the same thing about Superman .
io9 : What form of tone are you hoping to strike in this trial ? If Immortal Hulk was the hero as divine revulsion , and your Avengers was the hero as frolic activity serial , what ’s the overture you ’re taking to Immortal Thor ?
Ewing : If Hulk was inspired horror , Thor is elysian fantasy — a mythological Scripture about God walking the earth , looking at hopefully interesting questions , but playing much more towards big epic elements than those big repugnance beats . We ’re lucky to have Martin Cóccolo on artwork chores : he ’s done an amazing job getting those epic myth - sized moments across , and Matt Wilson on coloration is really heightening the large work he ’s doing . And , of form , we have Alex Ross on top , and he also did some wondrous purpose study for us on a couple of characters who are going to be clear big entrance in that first return , as well as offering a reimagining of the classic design for Thor himself .
io9 : What ’s been surprising you the most as you ’ve started spell this character and his form ? Has Thor , as a personality , been as you carry him to be , or have you launch things vary in execution compared to what you anticipated ?
Ewing : I was n’t expecting to find it so easy to compose Thor — he ’s not a character I ’ve compose beyond guest office , or as part of a much larger team in a much declamatory result — but it is very gentle to fall away into his mode of lecture . It ’s almost too gratifying : you could get lose in the poesy of Thor ’s representative . But so far , when it amount to the inscription conscription , I ’ve been able-bodied to cut my original ramblings down to size without give his all-important whole step .
io9 : Are there member of the supporting cast who ( expectedly or unexpectedly ) you ’ve find yourself particularly enjoy ? For that thing , will you be relying heavily on past eccentric who have surrounded Thor , or introducing new ones of your own purpose ?
Ewing : We ’re introducing a unexampled scoundrel in # 1 , as well as a twosome of other bad guys not see in a long time — one not seen since the Roy Thomas eld — and I ’ve convey plans for supporting characters new and honest-to-god , too . To bring up one in special : I ’m indite Loki again , and I ’m enjoying make them a little irregular , in means that are completely new to the graphic symbol but should hopefully fit perfectly with where they ’ve been and who they ’ve become . Loki ’s the God of Stories now , Skald of the Realms , and fall into that role might have made them more dangerous than ever — after all , a storyteller ’s first commitment is to the tale . What does that mean for Thor ? You ’ll see .
io9 : You ’ve develop a act of a reputation as a continuity guy — someone who ’s a sure bridge player at acknowledging and often recontextualizing stories that have add up before , and using them to build out your own runs . Thor , for his part , has been through quite a gaga readiness of transformations over the retiring ten . Do you intend to use that in the story you ’re assure , or are you seek to start as fresh as you may ?
Ewing : It ’s a little bit of all potential worlds . We start with Thor as King of Asgard , so that ’s a tale we ’re very much carry on . I ’ve got no desire to take that level of growth away from Thor : stimulate him be the All - Father is a cock-a-hoop part of the record and how the level plays out . There are elements we ’re take up a step back on , others we ’re push forrard , all in table service of lay down a start that feel fresh and raw while still find like Thor — it ’s an issue # 1 , so the idea is to plant our feet , introduce ourselves , and then fall out swing when the toll skirt . Laying out a conversant hand of cards before revealing the poster that ’s been up our arm the whole meter .
io9 : It ’s been say that the most abiding superheroes can be boil down to a simple , enduring original that account for their success . What do you see as Thor ’s ? What makes him unique and powerful in a way that readers can connect to ?
Ewing : The God Who Could Be You ? I think Thor is the most successful example so far of the “ Hercules In New York ” pilot , the mythologic figure who has to balance the New world and the world of myth , with one foot in both . If Hulk is where humankind connect with the freak inside , Thor — earlier a man with a immortal inside them — is where humanness connects with myth . Thor is our template to a world of admiration , and in turn we get to see our own world made grand through his eye . In that way , he ’s very much Hulk ’s polar routine , which is what makes this a subsequence of sort .
io9 : Last interrogation . Let ’s say reviewer wanted to do some advance reading ( either of comic or prose ) that would help give them a grounding in the story you ’re about to assure . What syllabus would you advocate ?
Ewing : The Eddas are available on Project Gutenberg and worth a agile flavor through — you might find a few conversant taradiddle there . As for Loki , my Agent of Asgard series and Defenders Beyond are relevant recent appearances , as is the series Dan Watters is doing just before we start . And in terms of Thor himself : well , there ’s a bridge over sequence in the upcoming Thor Annual that will ease proofreader into our run , but we do mean # 1 of the main Holy Writ to be a fully refreshful starting signal that readers can pick up and like a shot dive into . Although if you did want to go to Marvel inexhaustible and read Jason Aaron ’s epic streamlet , and what Donny Cates and Torunn Gronbekk have done since , I certainly would n’t stop you . They ’re good comics .
The Immortal Thor # 1 will be expel in August from Marvel Comics .
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