The Mighty Valkyries issue 1 featured Reviews 

“The Mighty Valkyries” #1

By | April 23rd, 2021
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Life and death are peculiar things in the Marvel universe, but somewhere between the two, we have the Valkyries escorting the souls of the dead. Or we did, until they got wiped out in the “War of the Realms.” Then Jane Foster became Valkyrie, and brought back one more during “The King in Black.” So it’s time for the Valkyries to ride again – let’s see how it goes.

Written by Jason Aaron and Torunn Grønbekk
Illustrated by Mattia De Iulis and Erica D’Urso
Colored by Mattia De Iulis and Marcio Menyz
Lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino

JANE FOSTER GETS A FRESH START – AND ALLIES BOTH NEW AND OLD! Jane Foster believed she was the only Valkyrie left – but the fight against Knull, the King in Black, proved her wrong. Now the Valkyries must redefine their roles in a changing world – and Asgard’s not going to make it easy. When Loki comes to Jane with rumors of a beast stalking the souls of Midgard, she leaps into action – but she’s not the only one after the strange wolf’s hide. She’ll need backup…but her ancient coworker has other priorities. Years ago, the warrior made a promise to a woman she loved. And now, it’s time to follow through. Get the real story behind the Marvel Universe’s newest star – and don’t miss the start of an all-new epic adventure from powerhouses Jason Aaron, Torunn Grønbekk and Mattia de Iulis!

Look, it’s no secret that I’ve had nothing but praise for Jason Aaron’s work. I’ve been a fan of pretty much everything I’ve read of his, from “Wolverine and the X-Men” to his current work on “The Avengers.” But perhaps his biggest impact is his epic work on “Thor,” which spanned the god’s history and expanded his universe significantly, not to mention what it did for Jane Foster’s role in the Marvel universe.

So it only stands to reason that “The Mighty Valkyries” will continue that epic streak, and yes, it does. But before that, we have to talk about what really blew me away this issue: Mattia De Iulis’s artwork.

Right from the start, the artwork shows off Mattia’s skills, showing a strange scene of triplets being pulled through the cosmos, stars in their eyes. That sets the tone nicely, but every scene that comes after continues to impress, whether it’s two characters talking in a hospital or Jane in battle against a giant wolf.

Mattia’s style strikes a wonderful balance between photorealism and expressive comic book designs. The amount of depth, detail, and shading that goes into each scene is astounding and brings every character to life. On the close-up scenes, we can see individual strands of hair in a character’s eyebrows and the wrinkles under their eyes with such natural detail that it’s like looking at a photograph.

This is helped by the fact that Mattia does the color work for his part of the comic. This allows him to use the shading to provide lighting effects and little physical details without needing to draw attention to them with the line work, adding to the lifelike style.

The artwork is at its best when we really get to see the characters. It captures Loki’s cocky grin, the individual scales on Jane’s Valkyrie armor, and the veins of her muscles as she struggles against her foe.

No matter how you look at it, the artwork is incredible.

Now with that established, we can look at the story as well. This issue is split into two parts: one focusing on Jane Foster, the other on the mysterious Valkyrie that was rescued from a corrupted Celestial during “The King in Black.” Each one builds on their own story elements that will slowly lead them together.

On one side, we have the “Jane Story,” written by Jason Aaron and Torunn Grønbekk. This one features Jane Foster dealing with the mystical side of Marvel, guest-starring Loki and a wolf foe drawn from Norse mythology. The inclusion of gleipnir, the chains that bound Fenrir in the original myths, is a very nice touch as well. It’s always nice when the comics connected to Thor’s mythos properly draw from the mythology they’re inspired by.

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The story paces itself nicely, letting us take our time to get drawn in. It opens and closes with a focus on these mysterious godling triplets, setting up an overarching mystery that draws readers to the next chapter. In-between that, we get a nice balance between Jane’s life as Jane Foster and her duty as Valkyrie. They blend and connect nicely, starting with Jane listening to an old woman’s life story (metaphorically helping ferry her off) and using a conversation between her and Doctor Strange (who is, of course, still a licensed doctor) to get her involved in the plot. We’re also given some nice dialogue and banter, establishing the characters’ voices and letting us get to know them both in and out of their super heroics.

“The Mighty Valkyries” takes its time setting up where Jane is in her life and building to the next scene, yet it never feels like it drags on. Rather, it’s a proper, methodical buildup to the action and the next stage of the story’s mystery.

Then we get the “New Valkyrie Story,” written by Torunn Grønbekk and illustrated by Erica D’Urso, with color work by Marcio Menyz. This is a shorter story, at exactly ten pages, but it creates a good parallel to Jane’s story. While Jane’s side is more focused on the mythological end of Marvel, the new Valkyrie’s story is set in the cosmic end of the comics.

This takes us to a new world, further off in the galaxy, complete with its own troubles. Valkyrie’s narrations helps us learn about this world, complete with vivid scenery drawn by Erica D’Urso that gives us a good understanding of what kind of planet we’re on.

Using the space setting for the New Valkyrie story is a fine choice, given that this valkyrie is based on Tessa Thompson’s character from Thor: Ragnarok, itself more of a shift from the mythological to the cosmic. The Oracle character that it introduces is also wonderfully written, as the narration tells us of what he wishes he could say and what he knows will come to past. It immediately makes us sympathize with him, especially since we’ve seen how he’s treated as a service to be purchased during Valkyrie’s lead-up to him.

Now, while Erica D’Urso’s artwork may not be as lifelike as Mattia’s, it is still a good fit for this story. The art style is more traditionally “comic book,” utilizing flatter depth and large design details to emphasize the characters and the world. This works particularly well for the cosmic story, which features an array of unique aliens and environments.

Erica’s illustrations bring these distinct beings to life, whether they’re in the foreground or background. We get a good array of the mostly-humanoid and the more distinct, particularly the Oracle himself. Much credit is also owed to the various styles the characters wear – there’s some high fashion on display, complete with plentiful “retro sci-fi” pointy sleeves.

Marcio Menyz’s color work helps bring this planet, its inhabitants, and the story to life, with a wide array of colors for the characters’ skin and clothes, as well as the pink and orange tones of the city. It creates a vibrant scene, yet still capturing the feeling of a dying world fighting against its own decay.

While it is a shorter story, it is equally important to the overall plot of “The Mighty Valkyries,” as we wait for events to bring the characters together. All in all, the two tales combine nicely into an engaging new comic which will continue to expand the story of Jane Foster and the Valkyries.

Final Verdict: 8.6 – A strong start to a new Valkyrie story, bringing top-tier talent together for both the story and artwork. A worthy continuation of the ongoing mythological epic.


Robbie Pleasant

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