Well, this is an interesting bit of news for the day.
It looks like, with the Thor movie right around the corner as well as the upcoming Fear Itself event, that Thor is going to get even MORE attention. The character will now have two ongoing titles. The first brand new title, The Mighty Thor, will feature the continuation of Matt Fraction’s current story “World Eaters” as Fraction moves to the new title along with artist Olivier Coipel for the first arc (with Pasqual Ferry coming back an arc later). Hot dog! What about Thor? Well, it looks like fan favorite Kieron Gillen is going to be taking over the title as it retitles to the original Thor ongoing title, Journey Into Mystery, which will focus on Thor’s cast such as Loki and friends. This is being done specifically to coincide with the upcoming Fear Itself story, because apparently the Thor involvement is so big it can’t be contained into one title (or so the press release will have you believe!).
Marvel is doing pretty much exactly what they did with Iron Man when the first Iron Man book came out – relaunching the title with Matt Fraction in an effort to make a more new reader friendly book. As Fraction states in the press release, “The first arc of THE MIGHTY THOR is [an] accessible ground floor storyline that veteran readers and neophyte movie fans alike can get into. With characters this great, there’s a reason they’ve lasted so long, why the myths still resonate, why [they] still thrill and move us. All you have to do is honor them and the rest is easy; terrifying, but easy.”
The new Thor story will feature Thor going up against Galactus (because who doesn’t love that kind of throw down?). “Galactus comes to eat Asgard because there’s something incredible that Thor has harvested out of the World Tree,” reveals Fraction in the press release, and you gotta admit – with the way the current Thor title is going, this is going to be pretty damn entertining.
But what of Journey Into Mystery with Kieron Gillen? Well, Gillen himself promises on Twitter that there will be more information on that later today. We’ll keep you updated as the day goes, but for now hit the jump for the press release from Marvel.com.
“Look up, think big, fight hard. These are god-scaled threats only gods are qualified to handle. This is beyond everything imaginable.”
So goes writer Matt Fraction’s mission statement for THE MIGHTY THOR, a new ongoing series starring Marvel’s Lord of Thunder kicking off this April. Following “The World Eaters,” Fraction and artist Pasqual Ferry’s introductory arc on THOR–which continues through March–the landscape for our favorite Asgardian has altered dramatically and can no longer be contained in a single chronicle.
“When the dust settles, not everyone goes home,” prefaces the writer of what’s still to come in “The World Eaters.” “The entire status quo of Asgard has changed. The whole citizenry of the World Tree [has] arrived on Earth for protection. Odin is back and angry about it. To say nothing of what happens to the World Tree itself.”
On that ominous note, we can disclose that Thor and his sometime lady love, the warrior woman Sif, will journey into the fractured nexus of nine worlds in the first arc of THE MIGHTY THOR. What they bring back will lure some truly monumental visitors who no sane resident of the Marvel Universe wants showing up on their doorstep. Need a hint? The story’s called “The Galactus Seed.”
“Galactus comes to eat Asgard because there’s something incredible that Thor has harvested out of the World Tree,” reveals Fraction. “Asgard vs Galactus! Thor vs The Silver Surfer! What’s not to be psyched about?”
One thing to be very psyched about: the return of artist Olivier Coipel, who helped re-launch THOR to great acclaim in 2007 and most recently graced the pages of SIEGE will bring this titanic struggle to life.
“Coipel so redefined [THOR] upon its initial re-launch only for, to my way of thinking, Pasqual to come and take it from him,” Fraction says. “So I think a big part of the freshness here is Coipel trying to take it back from Pasqual. This [story] has a definite science fiction bend to it that the book didn’t have when last Coipel drew it, so I for one can’t wait to see what he does.”
Continued belowOf course there’s also the matter of that blockbuster “Thor” movie hitting theaters May 6, an event Fraction, who launched the acclaimed INVINCIBLE IRON MAN in concert with the “Iron Man” film in 2008, plans to capitalize on.
“A wave of civilians will be moved to check the book out, so a clear, clean entry point is always welcome,” he notes. “The first arc of THE MIGHTY THOR is [an] accessible ground floor storyline that veteran readers and neophyte movie fans alike can get into. With characters this great, there’s a reason they’ve lasted so long, why the myths still resonate, why [they] still thrill and move us. All you have to do is honor them and the rest is easy; terrifying, but easy.”
Even as Fraction launches the Thunderer into epic action in THE MIGHTY THOR, he’ll also be spearheading the massive Fear Itself event, in which Asgard proves a key touchstone for a threat that looms over every Marvel hero. Meanwhile, writer Kieron Gillen will inherit the reins on THOR, which goes back to its original title of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY also beginning in April.
“We’ve got you covered and going 10 ways to Thorsday,” promises Fraction. “THE MIGHTY THOR is colossal cosmic comics. Fear Itself is the epic Thor in the Marvel Universe story to end all Thor in the Marvel Universe stories. And [JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY] covers everything that Fear Itself doesn’t, [putting] the focus on Loki and the Asgardians during the event.”
If Thor and Asgard can manage to survive the intrusion of Galactus and his loyal herald, what lies ahead for the Aesir and their greatest warrior?
“Pasqual [Ferry] comes back right after ‘The Galactus Seed’ and Fear Itself to tell the story of–well, those are so spoilery not even everyone at Marvel knows what’s up,” teases Fraction. “Anyway, when we get there, you’ll see why nobody else on Earth could draw the tale I’ve got cooking for Professor Ferry.”
