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Posted on May 09, 2004 - 02:44 AM by Admin |
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Our resident Comic book version of the May Queen, Katrina French, is back with another edition of The X Chromosome! This time around, Trina takes a trip through time to talk about the latest futuristic issue of Thor! Plus, Trina goes all "witchy woman" on us with a review of the final issue of Thessaly, Witch For Hire!
Thor #78 (Marvel)
"Gods and Men" Part 4
The latest storyline in Thor has been pretty entertaining. It's set in the future with Thor ruling over Earth. While his intentions are good, the people are getting frustrated by his governing and constant interference. And his son is stepping forward in opposition to Thor's power. An age old conflict, but taken to a new level by Dan Jurgens. He writes gods like few other writers can.
In this issue, Thor and the gods of New Asgard (formally New York) must face a new threat. Desak, the killer of the gods, has been sent to New Asgard to assassinate Thor. Although Thor possesses the great power of the Odinforce, it is not enough to take down Desak who has been sent by the spirit of the jewel itself.
Loki, in charge of security, unleashes the Destroyer who seems to be the only thing that can defeat Desak. Loki explains to Thor that he needed the right life force to put inside the armor of the Destroyer to make it effective, and as Desak figures out that the Destroyer would not kill him, we see that the right life force is that of Tarene who is changing into the Designate, Spirit of the Jewel. And, perhaps the most shocking thing is that Desak was actually Tarene's creation!
I cannot wait to see what is in store for the Norse gods next. They have a mighty foe to battle, perhaps two, and it doesn't look like it's going to be easy. Jurgens has set us up for a major turning point in the story of Thor, I believe.
Scot Eaton's pencils have been great for Thor. He very convincingly captures the strength and power that is possessed by that of the gods, but also shows us Thor's vulnerability when it comes to the mortals and how much he wishes to protect them.
A new creative team will be coming to Thor in June, and it couldn't be a better pair. Michael Avon Oeming of Powers is going to tackle the Thunder God with Andrea DiVito's pencils complimenting his story. I just know it's going to be awesome. As Brian Michael Bendis states: "Oeming is a mythology savant. He was born to write Thor." We'll see how true this is next month!
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The Sandman Presents: Thessaly Witch for Hire #4 (DC/Vertigo)
"The Last Full Measure or What Are All These Dead Guys Doing in My Living Room?"
Bill Willingham is one of the most creative writers in comics today. I thoroughly enjoy Fables and was so glad to hear that he was going to do a short miniseries featuring Thessaly of The Sandman fame. I couldn't have been more satisfied with the the outcome. Thessaly Witch for Hire has been full of interesting fantasy characters and it was a great read for its short run.
In this last issue of Thessaly, the witch finds herself "tidying up some personal affairs" which includes releasing some monsters from her custody that she had captured long ago. She returns to her cabin, where Fetch,a ghost of a man, eagerly awaits for her to set him free from his prison inside a mirror. When she does so, the two must work together to defeat the beast which will wipe out the earth.
Thessaly recites what is going on in the world right then as the beast circles close: people are dying and chaos is insuing. She then gives Fetch a drink and he proceeds to spit up piles of dead people, people that Thessaly has killed throughout her long life. Thessaly seeks out the man who sent the beast on her trail and her witch powers shine through once more as she takes revenge by making bugs eat through the man from his insides. Meanwhile, Fetch the ghost had realized that when the statement "no one and nothing can kill the creature" was referring to him, he took it upon himself to do away with the flaming monster and Thessaly comes home to a cabin full of zombies.
The style of the art in Thessaly is unique and Shawn McManus has quite a knack for drawing all the weird and wonderful creatures that inhabit the world in which Thessaly lives. His style is almost cartoony with just the right touch of realism. It's almost like watching an animated movie. I also love Tara McPherson's covers. They lend so much to the dreamy quality that Willingham infuses in his story. Each one looks as if it could be an illustration for a fairy tale.
And so, Thessaly Witch for Hire has come to an end, but I for one would love to see future Thessaly stories and can't wait to see what's in store for McManus next.
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Katrina French is a senior at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, where she's majoring in Media Arts and Animation. Originally from upstate New York, she hated the cold and so decided to move down to sunny Florida. She likes to draw, read, and watch cartoons. Her favorite comic book character is Spider-Man. Now serving as Comic Book Consultant for The Comic Fanatic.Com, her latest mission in life is to show the world that girls dig comic books, too!
Feel free to send any comments to Katrina at Trina@thecomicfanatic.com or visit the More Reviews Forum at The Fan Man's Forum. Also, feel free to check out Katrina's incredible artwork at her Trina's Elfwood Gallery!
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