One Week Later: Why it's okay that Thor will be a Woman.

Flashing Back to Tuesday July 15, 1:26 am:

“Finally! I have a strong enough connection to actually post this week’s blog!  I really hope nothing comes up at the last second like the past few weeks. Oh well, it’s going up anyways. There couldn’t be anything major and noteworthy I need to write on within the next 36 hours, could there?

THE “NEXT” MORNING….

“Okay, what’s the news today…..”

“.......son of a [BLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE----]”

Okay, lets do this.

It’s been a week since we got the announcement that Marvel’s Thor, one of their big three and Norse god of Thunder, is going to be a woman. I was excited! I’m a huge Marvel fan and really can’t wait to see what the writers plan to do with the character. But of course, we also had the backlash you would expect. The comments thread of even major news sources became pools of bile. But now that the initial reactions have had time to settle, what does it all actually mean that the character is going to be a woman? Will she ever really be Thor?

To help answer this, here’s my top 3 reasons why Female Thor can exist, and probably should.

1. Marvel Thor isn’t the actual Thor from Norse myth, just inspired by him. Gender doesn't have to be "accurate" to the lore.

Yeah, lets just get this part out of the way right now. Anyone who claims that the Thor of the comic books has always been an accurate representation of Norse mythology doesn’t know a thing about Norse myth. Norse mythology is full of blood, murder, weird sexual politics, more murder, and all the things that comic books weren’t able to get away with until the era that was the 1990s. And even then, not very likely. The comic began running in 1962, and there is no possible way that the writers could make it an accurate retelling of Norse mythology. And why we’re still on the subject of Norse myth…

Subpoint 1: The Gods are well documented shape changers.

If you don't read Texts From Superheroes's work, you should. It's hilarious.

Thor is a Norse God. They tend to transform into whatever they really want. Mostly to bone. Is it really a surprise that the God of Thunder could also at one point in time been a Goddess? Gender and species gets a lot more fluid when you can literally take on any form. However all that pales in comparison to another key fact about the comic version.

2. There have been a LOT of Thors.

The current comic book Thor’s name isn’t still Donald Blake, is it? Yeah, I didn’t think so. The hammer has changed hands multiple times, and each of those people have become Thor when there wasn’t already a worthy champion to claim the hammer. When Donald Blake was gone, Thor became Eric Masterson. After that, Jake Olson was our favorite thunder god. Currently, Thor is the actual Thor because of a combination of Loki and the Silver Surfer. It's complicated. But the honor of becoming Thor hasn’t always been reserved for humans. Korbonite Beta Ray Bill was Thor, and this guy is definitely not human.

Hell, he isn't even the average Korbonite either, so double special points.

And who can forget the time that the power of Mjolnir, one of the most powerful weapons in the universe found it’s true potential in the hands of A FROG.

3 Issues in the main continuity, with 55 other stories featuring him. That's 58 issues Marvel has published with this character. Just let that sink in.

His name was Throg. This is a thing that happened. It wasn’t a joke, but a real, honest to Odin Thor. And that’s not counting all the times that the hammer was wielded by other people while there was a dedicated Thor around. Storm, Captain America, Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, and even the Awesome Android have used it. And that’s not counting cannon uses in other comic book companies, like Conan the Barbarian. Even DC characters have used the thing, and not just the obvious Superman. Wonder Woman has used Mjolnir just fine. Each of them was worthy. 

So why can’t a woman be the one truly worthy of the role? Surely it's not as far of a stretch to imagine yourself in a woman's shoes than in a frog's...sticky pads? I'm going with sticky pads. Can you honestly relate more to a frog than another human being? A woman can be just as heroic as a man, and just as capable of wielding a magic hammer. I don't think the hammer really takes your biology into account anyways before deciding, "You'll do, armor up and hit evil in the face!" And on that note....

Seriously, go check them out after this. Their Robin is one of the best things I've read.

Subpoint 2:  In the beginning, Thor as a god wasn’t worthy to wield Mjolnir.

Yeah, that’s right. You know it from the origin, and you know it from the new movies. You might even know it from the straight-to-VHS Hulk movie from the 80s if you were a fan back in the day. 

It was a simpler time...and just as 80's comics as you could get.

Thor was kind of an ass from the very beginning. The Thor of today had to prove he was worthy, and that he had enough humanity to use his power wisely. And if he has it, he can also lose it like anyone else. It’s what makes him a hero we love, and one of the reasons to be so invested in his story. You wouldn't read a story where nothing changes and the characters don’t grow. Sometimes those changes hurt, but that’s not bad storytelling. It’s art imitating life.

3. The Thor right now isn’t disappearing.

They’re not straight-out replacing the character. They’re just letting a new character take the reigns, but Thor as you know him or will know him soon will still be there. He’s still the Thor we all know, he just isn’t worthy to wield his hammer like we’re used to. He’s got an ax instead, and one that is tied back to a time when he didn’t have the hammer in the first place. He still has stories to tell, and they will be told.

But now it’s time for someone else to be able to tell their story.They have said that it’s a character who has been in Thor’s life, now taking on the hammer and the powers it brings. He even saved her life at one point. But now it's her turn to save others and fight the good fight. It’s not impossible to relate to a character just because they have a different set of chromosomes than you. Trust me, it’s really not as difficult as you think.

The audience of comics, which seemed to be stagnant for a long time, has changed dramatically in the last few years. At least for those willing to say they are fans of comic books. The movies probably had a big part of making comic book heroes mainstream, but it hasn’t stopped there. It's really affecting the younger audience as well.

I never really got to say I was a fan of superheros growing up, unless you count Sailor Moon. It might have been more accurate to say I was a fan of supervillians because I loved the strong females in the Batman universe, but even then if I admitted I liked them I would be made fun of. It was something that was “just for boys” and "wasn't something that a girl should like, and looking at who the most popular heroes were it was hard to deny that.

But I see so many good role models for girls in comics now. My favorite team, the Runaways, is full of different kinds of girls that outnumber the guys. I love Birds of Prey. I see myself in Oracle and Batwoman, Shadow Cat and Molly Hayes. These are strong, real women, and amazing examples of what can draw a girl to comic books. They make me proud to say I read them. I am Batgirl. I am Kamala Khan. They make me feel like I’m welcome in a medium I love.

This is what someone who knows 3 different Lantern Core oaths by heart looks like.

So now Marvel wants to make Thor a Woman.  I say, lets trust the creators. They’ve thought long and hard about making this choice, and it’s obvious from the press releases. Lets see what they do with it.

And anything will be less confusing than Throg.

58 ISSUES Marvel? Really?

Seriously, she better get more issues than Throg. Just saying.