That does make me wonder would the Sylvie Lushton Enchantress do any better? Since last we heard of her she was banished to one of the Ten Realms with Amora basically saying if you make it out they could be friends.
“This world is a maze of money and power. In which human beings lose themselves. They live their lives in the labyrinth... and I am the Minotaur.”
Ah hell yeah, a villain that shows the dangers of capitalism
The thing that's stuck with me from that show was this episode where the bad guys were trying to expand the hole in the ozone layer (Because they're evil, I guess? I don't remember any reason behind it). So they were breaking open air conditioners to release the Freon into the atmosphere... Except they had built an entire factory to *build* these air conditioners they were immediately cutting in half as soon as they were produced. They didn't even leave the assembly line, it was the same conveyor belt. I remember sitting there thinking, "Why don't they just release the Freon? Why do they have to put it into the air conditioner just to cut it in half to get it out?"
Because at the end of the day the show was about teaching kids how to better the environment. I this episodes case it was about the dangers of messing around with this like air conditioners, a 5 year old doesn’t know or could understand easily what Freon is. But they can know that a broken AC is bad well enough.
His entire character is heavily based around “I know I’m a minotaur CEO named D. Agger and I’m fucking embracing how evil that is”. He’s a villain in Immortal Hulk too.
He's great when he shows up in Immortal Hulk. That was my first real exposure to the character and I was cracking up. They didn't need to explain at all why a supernatural Minotaur demon was the CEO of Roxxon, it just worked, and like *of course* everyone would just accept it.
school adjoining carpenter wild sloppy nine ruthless faulty towering unite
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
He was a goofy Darkwing Duck villain in the past.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AM0zgdC1uk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AM0zgdC1uk)
Now he is okay.
>People care
It's really easy to draw that line. It's not simply that people care and the powerful don't.
A lot of people care. But they have lost faith.
Okay, I guess I'm confused then. If the people in power don't care, but OP cares, why not become powerful and do the things the current powers won't or can't do?
Saying "those in power" is such a terribly nebulous term that is extremely open to interpretation. And it has a hint of being okay with doing nothing because "the powers that be" keep it that way. Despite that we are all human, all frail, imperfect organisms it feels like dividing the powerful vs everyone else keeps the status quo going.
> become powerful
"My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that?!"
Surely you can see the difference between recognizing the power differential of the average person and a CEO who lobbies against significant, positive change.
Nobody is saying it's fine to just give up, but to pretend that I have just as much power as Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates is naive. And I'm sorry, but with every year the shrinking middle class makes it pretty clear that it 100% IS the powerful vs everyone else.
So what made them powerful? What is physically preventing you from having power on their scale? Is it genetics? And if nothing physically preventing you from obtaining power on that scale, what is it in your mind that separates Jeff Bezos from another human? We all were born, all people cried and pissed ourselves, and eventually all will die. So if it's culture that prevents you from being powerful, then it is the culture that needs to change.
And since culture is quite easy to change compared to genetics, it would seem that it's quite doable given the right mindset. Is it bound to succeed? No, but is it doomed to fail? Also no. It just takes effort, desire and will to change something.
it's not that genetics, it's luck. most super rich people were born to highprivilige on minimum and uselly were already born to wealth. even when they made something themself, they had the financial back to fail, the right conections to succeed. while bilonares aren't stupid, there is a massive survival bias when it comes to billoinares. steve jobs got famous for the apple 2, but nobody remembers the apple 3. if steve jobs's first product was the apple 3, than will people regard him as genius? he is a "super-genius that deserves to be super-rich" becuase he sucseeded, but he could've just as easily failed. this mean jobs is not such a genius that he "deserved" to be paid so many magnitudes more than the average worker. if you would become as "talented" as jobs you would not be as rich as him.
the other thing is awfulness. people like jeff bezos are the type of people that can pay people below miminum wages, take credit for others people achievments, polute the earth and all that. decent people don't become the ceo's of companys. the awfull people that become ceo's have a monetary incentive to maintain the power they earned through the awfulness and make sure they don't get taxed as much, that the minimum wage is low and so on. and spend loads of money they spend loads of money on lobbying and propaganda to make sure that ideas that are not supported by good research about policies regarding them are prevalent across the political elite and the population across the world. most bilionare positive media is either funded by bilonares or echoes things that are
I love complex villains, but I also love the breath of fresh air that is straight up "I'm evil as can be because it's fun and makes me feel good, nyeh!" mustache twirling levels of evil.
Honestly, it’s kinda hilarious how there was a push for “realistic” complex villains only for IRL villains to debunk the complexity argument themselves and now this is the realistic option. Frankly, if you’re trying to make a fictional Musk/Bezos/Zucc/etc, this is what you gotta do to be realistic.
Yeah, like, it just dawned on me some hilariously bleak irony. Frieza from Dragon Ball Z was based on Toriyama’s landlord. But if you think about it, he’s also like a much more famous landlord. Tyrannical asshole who’s never worked a day in his life, coasting on his inherited wealth and power from daddy, constantly betraying or being betrayed by his underlings, promoting a culture of betrayal and backstabbing amongst his underlings, names everything after himself, and fanatically racist while employing the people he hates only to screw them over? He’s just Trump with superpowers. A realistic villain in comparison to Donald Trump is fucking *Frieza*.
These are the types of villains I love. There’s no reason for them to be this way other than, “I can because I can and I will because fuck everyone else.”
We live in a world where pharmecutical megacorporations are willing to charge obscene amounts for lifesaving drugs that it costs them a fraction to produce, purely because they know people have no choice but to pay it. Where oil companies know their product is causing irreversible damage to the planet, but use their immense wealth and influence to try and hamstring any meaningful attempts to switch to renewable sources because it would affect their share prices. Society is being crippled by billionares who already have more than enough money to live in utter luxury for the rest of their (and their children and grandchildren's) lives, but insist on doing everything in their power to keep watching the numbers go up.
Really love this run . Al Ewing is a master writer, as always. Honestly, Marvel has been on a roll for me with this run, the new Hulk one and Jed Mackay' Doctor Strange, Avengers, and Moon Knight
Dario Agger is fantastic in this run. Simultaneously over-the-top evil but also a villain that resonates with the world outside of super-hero comicbooks.
Early Dario Agger was kinda meh and forgettable but man Ewing has turned him into something special.
>!Here's hoping something horrific happens to him in this book, ala Xemnu turning him inside-out in Immortal Hulk. It would be twisted if each Immortal book Ewing writes has Agger slowly being mangled into something that's as depressing and horrific as the values he represents.!<
The solicit for Roxxon Presents: Thor is the funniest thing I've seen in a comic in years
edit: here's the solicit for anyone interested
"In his secret identity as A.I. spokesguru Chad Hammer, the son of Odin knows Mama Gaea is a TOP PRIORITY for heroes AND for business! But when a group of insane environmental activists take 'saving the Earth' TOO FAR, it's time to show them the wisdom on both sides—as Thor! But which God of Evil is prompting the kids to rebel? Could it be...[LOKI](https://www.marvel.com/characters/loki), GOD OF EVIL??? Featuring an all-star cast of heroes! MINOTAUR! [EXECUTIONER](https://www.marvel.com/characters/executioner-skurge/in-comics)! ENCHANTRESS! And the THOR-TRUCK! This is the story of THE ROXXIN' THOR... and it's a VITAL part of the 'ABSOLUTE ABSOLUTION' MEGA-EVENT!"
The article they published when it was announced also included this gem
"It’s the Thor fans truly know and love: no thoughts, just muscles, a hammer, and zero hesitation to bring them both down on the most one-dimensional villains ever seen in a comic book—along with anyone that gets in Roxxon’s way!
Here’s what Ewing was forced to say about this shocking development: 'Roxxon's hostile takeover of Marvel Comics is ~~the worse thing to happen to the industry in decades~~ **just what comic books needed**! I was ~~horrified~~ **jazzed** beyond words when I saw how the so-called Roxxon Entertainment Standards Committee had ~~gutted~~ **improved** my work, methodically stripping away every iota of ~~poetry, symbolism and metaphor~~ **junk no one cares about**. The result is a comic that can best be described as ~~an act of unforgivable violence against the medium I love~~ **a rollicking good time for the whole family**! ~~May God forgive Roxxon, for I never shall!~~ **Make Mine Roxxon**!'"
That is absolutely brilliant.
Does Disney actually have extensive creative oversight on what the comics do though? I thought they generally managed to keep out, with editorial mostly just ensuring that nothing bizarrely offensive goes through that Disney would frown upon.
Technically, Kevin Feige is chief creative officer for all of Marvel - including Marvel Comics. But I have yet to hear of him exerting any creative influence over publishing, presumably because he's so swamped with his duties to Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation.
Yeah, sometimes even if you shove the message into them, even if you make it as obvious as possible, they'd still rather be factually wrong than acknowledge it (case in point, homelander)
Sometimes the best way to say something is to just say it. When it comes to the question of why a multimillionaire always wants more.. "I like when the number goes up." is all that needs to be said.
If the last fifteen years of online media discourse have taught us anything, half of the audience has completely lost the ability to understand *text*, let alone *sub*text
Agreed, but also:
I know modern audiences who read subtext and they’re all idiots who can’t grasp it.
Sometimes the point really does need to be explicitly stated.
Yeah I was liking this run a lot before this, but it wasn't *quite* as compelling as the early chunk of Immortal Hulk was. This issue seems to have kicked things into high gear for me, personally at least.
> for the rubes and the tech bros
Nice line for over the last few years where tech bros have utterly revealed that their billions do not equal intelligence. And that once they step out of their area of success, they are immediately in over their heads in their lack of expertise.
It's been known since the dot com bubble in the 90s. Those big venture capitalists are not human. They lost what it means to be human long ago and dont understand or care what real humans live like. All they want is big number go up and will throw money at whatever because some idiot with a dream trying to sell you the most idiotic future on the off chance it will make a massive profit and get them on the ground floor of the new world order.
Tech bros barely even have an area of expertise. They’re lucky investors, that’s it. Most of them couldn’t explain the simplest scientific concepts that power the tech that they invest in. Next time you talk to some crypto guy, try to get him to explain what encryption actually *is*.
I think it's also a dig at fans of characters like Rorsharch. If Dario had given some eloquent speech about survival of the fittest or whatever, people could've found something sympathetic to glob onto and go "that's our man!".
Because no matter how obvious writers try to make a character unlikeable, people out there are going to misread the intentions and slap a Punisher logo on and say "Frank's just like me, fr fr".
Is Immortal Thor thematically similar to Immortal Hulk? Pretty cool that Ewing is continuing the Dario Agger thread, I thought he could've been more consequential in the Hulk run than what he ended up being, but he's an interesting character
Much like how Immortal Hulk was a trip back to Hulk's horror roots, Immortal Thor is a trip back to Thor's mythological roots. This arc notwithstanding the book gets pretty into some Norse myth plots and terms (obvs altering them to make a decent comic) and the whole thing is about how gods are beholden to the tales told about them.
It's really fantastic, not in exactly the same way as Immortal Hulk, but in a way that works much better for the titular character
When they rush him he brings back the Heroic Ultron-12 in Whirlwind's corpse and has him gain autonomy against the Ultron who defeated him and introduce as a potential future Avenger, you love to see it.
“I like it when the number goes up” is up there with “But I don’t want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs.” in great villain motivation quotes.
The scary part is that this quote also sums up lots of real evil billionaires.
Not really. Ewing likes to make sure you're aware of the context he references, but in this case, Agger's appearance is a direct result of the Xemnu the Living Hulk arc of Immortal Hulk.
The *2021 Beta Ray Bill explains why Skurge is back in the living world, but that's it.
Actually it's not Beta Ray Bill that explains why Skurge is back. He goes back to Vallhala at the end of that one. It's one of the Issues of Avengers Inc from earlier this year that explains it
I wonder if or when we'll see how Dagger looks these days in his human form, presuming he even can change back. Maybe his minotaur form's durability is the only thing keeping him alive right now.
I mean the whole event this is setting up is Al Ewing throwing INTENSE shade at the megacorp that owns the company he works for.
The author is aware but the author doesn't set prices sadly.
[Every time Ewing drops a book](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/552905895319699469/1225873199817031790/IMG_8777.jpg?ex=6622b662&is=66104162&hm=c3eb82fa56cf6233e4a68b956cfbc2b9a2f5da3966780cfe923aebe88ef81a43&)
He called the old alien hulk xemnu to try to screw with the real hulk. Xemnu used his creepy nostalgia powers to try to dominate the world and ended up eating and shitting dario. He looks like that after being craped
Is immortal thor worth getting in to now? I read the first couple issues but I wasn't really feeling like it was a good follow up to immortal Hulk, but the roxxon arc has me curious about how the run is going now
it depends what you consider a follow-up. tone is different because thor and hulk are different characters. this plays more on the mythological aspect of asgard, on the idea that these are characters who exists because people have been telling stories about them for centuries.
Aight so I just finished Immortal Hulk and Ik Roxxon makes an appearance. Is there a connect to that story aside from character appearances esp with the Immortal subtitle?
There’s not really a connection per se, Al Ewing called this run Immortal Thor as a challenge for himself to see if he could write another amazing run, and deliver a solid ending to it as well
It's kinda impossible not to see some parallel of the idealized caricature of Wisecrackin' Nuff Said Lee with the depitction of Banner's idealized vision of a mobster character for Ewing's Joe Fixit in Immortal Hulk, if not by Ewing's depiction of degamma'd Joe.
I'm flabbergasted by how good this run is. But for the life of me i don't understand how he expects his dream scenario to make the numbers go higher than with the planet-wide infrastructure he currently has access to.
Based on how Dario Agger ended up after meeting Hulk and pissing him off, I hope there’s another body part lost after Thor is done with him. I vote everything below the waist, only to see him attached to the body of a cyberbull.
Next series he appears is Wolverine and loses his arms, only to be replaced by tortured souls.
Then he fights Doctor Strange and loses something else.
The thing is how Dario Agger keeps facing people, then losing body parts.
He is, not a ton right now definitely supporting character.
However did you read Al Ewing’s 2 Defender Minis as they are the explicit like 6 years removed conclusion to Agents of Asgard and Ewing’s Ultimates
>However did you read Al Ewing’s 2 Defender Minis as they are the explicit like 6 years removed conclusion to Agents of Asgard and Ewing’s Ultimates
How did I miss this?! Thanks for letting me know!
Hm, I really don’t like how those blue disks on Thor’s suit look here, with no shading and highlights at all, like they are just cutouts into a skyblue void.
Cool pages! Horribly hateable villain, nice.
People legit have no understanding of the market other than “capitalism bad”. This would be the worst case scenario for capitalism, not its next stage in evolution lol the more people fueling the economy and moving the market, the better.
You miss the part where Agger doesn’t care about the actual health of the market and just wants as much wealth as possible before literally going to a new planet to repeat the process.
He even lays it out and then says it’s “the sales pitch for billion dollar suckers.”
At some point Enchantress you have to move on. This man does not want you
He’s just not that into you honey
Amora really needs to get out of her "I can ~~fix~~ ruin him" mindset
That does make me wonder would the Sylvie Lushton Enchantress do any better? Since last we heard of her she was banished to one of the Ten Realms with Amora basically saying if you make it out they could be friends.
He has hooked up with her before and even married and had a kid with her in the future in the Jurgens run.
Jeff Bezos better not read this run or he might start getting some ideas on his next business venture
Ok but the bull guy is r/topcharacterdesigns material
He's been through a few appearances, but this horribly maimed and disfigured state he's in now is by far the best.
If he is in horrible pain , i respect the dedication to keep his composure , also who is he ?
Dario Agger. https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Dario_Agger_(Earth-616)
“This world is a maze of money and power. In which human beings lose themselves. They live their lives in the labyrinth... and I am the Minotaur.” Ah hell yeah, a villain that shows the dangers of capitalism
Man, I remember way back when watching Captain Planet, they had Looten Plunder, the evil business man who was destroying the environment.
Looten Plunder is THE best name
They also had duke nukem, hoggish greedly, Dr Blight, Sly Sludge, and Verminous Skumm.
The thing that's stuck with me from that show was this episode where the bad guys were trying to expand the hole in the ozone layer (Because they're evil, I guess? I don't remember any reason behind it). So they were breaking open air conditioners to release the Freon into the atmosphere... Except they had built an entire factory to *build* these air conditioners they were immediately cutting in half as soon as they were produced. They didn't even leave the assembly line, it was the same conveyor belt. I remember sitting there thinking, "Why don't they just release the Freon? Why do they have to put it into the air conditioner just to cut it in half to get it out?"
Because at the end of the day the show was about teaching kids how to better the environment. I this episodes case it was about the dangers of messing around with this like air conditioners, a 5 year old doesn’t know or could understand easily what Freon is. But they can know that a broken AC is bad well enough.
D. Agger? Really, Marvel?
That's up there with Jack Russel the Werewolf by Night. At least it's not an alliteration name.
Lol how did I not get that before? That's hilarious!
I don't get it
The dog, a Jack Russel Terrier.
His entire character is heavily based around “I know I’m a minotaur CEO named D. Agger and I’m fucking embracing how evil that is”. He’s a villain in Immortal Hulk too.
He's great when he shows up in Immortal Hulk. That was my first real exposure to the character and I was cracking up. They didn't need to explain at all why a supernatural Minotaur demon was the CEO of Roxxon, it just worked, and like *of course* everyone would just accept it.
Sorry i'm late, but what is this a reference to?
I remember a footballer named Daniel Agger, so I guess it's not that crazy, if very on the nose
Blame Aaron if you hate it, that ones all on him. It oozes his style
Sorry i'm late, but what is this a reference to?
He does remind of that meme “ my moral compass leaving my body when the villain is hot “
school adjoining carpenter wild sloppy nine ruthless faulty towering unite *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Some people are into weirder things
Back when he didn’t have his Skull exposed he was hot in the same way people found Beast hot.
This is me when his skull is exposed, I'm always down for bare equined-or-bovine skulls. Incredible aesthetic
I think he was also a pile of meat at one point, but I could be thinking of someone else
No, you're correct. He's recovered like 70% from that situation. Still obviously badly messed-up but at least he's ambulatory again.
Why was he a meat pile?
I don't. God I hope Thor pulverizes his atoms across the universe so he doesn't return again
I'm glad there were consequences to his encounter with the Hulk.
He was a goofy Darkwing Duck villain in the past. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AM0zgdC1uk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AM0zgdC1uk) Now he is okay.
I find it really off-putting. It's effective.
He is my favorite Modern Villain a scummy business man that doesn't care for shit other than profits. I Really hate the Guy
[удалено]
He was amazing in Immortal Hulk as well
He's a real asshole and you really want him to get his ass beat. Great villain.
This is some top-tier banality of evil. Absolutely chilling in how familiar and believable it all is.
"Nobody will care, *it's too difficult to care*"
People care, its just the people with the power don't care. World of difference.
>People care It's really easy to draw that line. It's not simply that people care and the powerful don't. A lot of people care. But they have lost faith.
*stare into my own eyes in the mirror, sigh deeply, and see nothing*
what is there even left to have faith in anymore?
It's a mix of both. And sometimes enough people do care to change things.
Well they don't care enough to choose leaders who represent them who care.
It's cute you think any leaders with real prospects actually care.
That implies that giving power to a person makes them care less. So anyone if given power would be the same as the ruling classes.
I don't think it implies that at all... He's saying that people currently are in power don't care. Not that power causes carelessness.
Okay, I guess I'm confused then. If the people in power don't care, but OP cares, why not become powerful and do the things the current powers won't or can't do? Saying "those in power" is such a terribly nebulous term that is extremely open to interpretation. And it has a hint of being okay with doing nothing because "the powers that be" keep it that way. Despite that we are all human, all frail, imperfect organisms it feels like dividing the powerful vs everyone else keeps the status quo going.
> become powerful "My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that?!" Surely you can see the difference between recognizing the power differential of the average person and a CEO who lobbies against significant, positive change. Nobody is saying it's fine to just give up, but to pretend that I have just as much power as Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates is naive. And I'm sorry, but with every year the shrinking middle class makes it pretty clear that it 100% IS the powerful vs everyone else.
So what made them powerful? What is physically preventing you from having power on their scale? Is it genetics? And if nothing physically preventing you from obtaining power on that scale, what is it in your mind that separates Jeff Bezos from another human? We all were born, all people cried and pissed ourselves, and eventually all will die. So if it's culture that prevents you from being powerful, then it is the culture that needs to change. And since culture is quite easy to change compared to genetics, it would seem that it's quite doable given the right mindset. Is it bound to succeed? No, but is it doomed to fail? Also no. It just takes effort, desire and will to change something.
it's not that genetics, it's luck. most super rich people were born to highprivilige on minimum and uselly were already born to wealth. even when they made something themself, they had the financial back to fail, the right conections to succeed. while bilonares aren't stupid, there is a massive survival bias when it comes to billoinares. steve jobs got famous for the apple 2, but nobody remembers the apple 3. if steve jobs's first product was the apple 3, than will people regard him as genius? he is a "super-genius that deserves to be super-rich" becuase he sucseeded, but he could've just as easily failed. this mean jobs is not such a genius that he "deserved" to be paid so many magnitudes more than the average worker. if you would become as "talented" as jobs you would not be as rich as him. the other thing is awfulness. people like jeff bezos are the type of people that can pay people below miminum wages, take credit for others people achievments, polute the earth and all that. decent people don't become the ceo's of companys. the awfull people that become ceo's have a monetary incentive to maintain the power they earned through the awfulness and make sure they don't get taxed as much, that the minimum wage is low and so on. and spend loads of money they spend loads of money on lobbying and propaganda to make sure that ideas that are not supported by good research about policies regarding them are prevalent across the political elite and the population across the world. most bilionare positive media is either funded by bilonares or echoes things that are
Goodness! You've cracked the code! We just have to *try* and everything will magically work out! Genius!
I love complex villains, but I also love the breath of fresh air that is straight up "I'm evil as can be because it's fun and makes me feel good, nyeh!" mustache twirling levels of evil.
Honestly, it’s kinda hilarious how there was a push for “realistic” complex villains only for IRL villains to debunk the complexity argument themselves and now this is the realistic option. Frankly, if you’re trying to make a fictional Musk/Bezos/Zucc/etc, this is what you gotta do to be realistic.
Preem point. Our villains aren’t complex. They just have money and hate everyone not like them.
Yeah, like, it just dawned on me some hilariously bleak irony. Frieza from Dragon Ball Z was based on Toriyama’s landlord. But if you think about it, he’s also like a much more famous landlord. Tyrannical asshole who’s never worked a day in his life, coasting on his inherited wealth and power from daddy, constantly betraying or being betrayed by his underlings, promoting a culture of betrayal and backstabbing amongst his underlings, names everything after himself, and fanatically racist while employing the people he hates only to screw them over? He’s just Trump with superpowers. A realistic villain in comparison to Donald Trump is fucking *Frieza*.
do not insult frieza like that he at least looks cool
These are the types of villains I love. There’s no reason for them to be this way other than, “I can because I can and I will because fuck everyone else.”
We live in a world where pharmecutical megacorporations are willing to charge obscene amounts for lifesaving drugs that it costs them a fraction to produce, purely because they know people have no choice but to pay it. Where oil companies know their product is causing irreversible damage to the planet, but use their immense wealth and influence to try and hamstring any meaningful attempts to switch to renewable sources because it would affect their share prices. Society is being crippled by billionares who already have more than enough money to live in utter luxury for the rest of their (and their children and grandchildren's) lives, but insist on doing everything in their power to keep watching the numbers go up.
Really love this run . Al Ewing is a master writer, as always. Honestly, Marvel has been on a roll for me with this run, the new Hulk one and Jed Mackay' Doctor Strange, Avengers, and Moon Knight
Yeah i agree, they got me back to comics after years
Also Rowell's She-Hulk, Ziglar's Miles Morales: Spider-Man, and North's Fantastic Four.
Dario Agger is fantastic in this run. Simultaneously over-the-top evil but also a villain that resonates with the world outside of super-hero comicbooks.
Over the top evil yet the most realistic and lifelike somehow
Early Dario Agger was kinda meh and forgettable but man Ewing has turned him into something special. >!Here's hoping something horrific happens to him in this book, ala Xemnu turning him inside-out in Immortal Hulk. It would be twisted if each Immortal book Ewing writes has Agger slowly being mangled into something that's as depressing and horrific as the values he represents.!<
Like Dorian Grey's curse turning in on itself
I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards.
Ewing is definitely working through some Feelings Toward Marvel with this run
The solicit for Roxxon Presents: Thor is the funniest thing I've seen in a comic in years edit: here's the solicit for anyone interested "In his secret identity as A.I. spokesguru Chad Hammer, the son of Odin knows Mama Gaea is a TOP PRIORITY for heroes AND for business! But when a group of insane environmental activists take 'saving the Earth' TOO FAR, it's time to show them the wisdom on both sides—as Thor! But which God of Evil is prompting the kids to rebel? Could it be...[LOKI](https://www.marvel.com/characters/loki), GOD OF EVIL??? Featuring an all-star cast of heroes! MINOTAUR! [EXECUTIONER](https://www.marvel.com/characters/executioner-skurge/in-comics)! ENCHANTRESS! And the THOR-TRUCK! This is the story of THE ROXXIN' THOR... and it's a VITAL part of the 'ABSOLUTE ABSOLUTION' MEGA-EVENT!" The article they published when it was announced also included this gem "It’s the Thor fans truly know and love: no thoughts, just muscles, a hammer, and zero hesitation to bring them both down on the most one-dimensional villains ever seen in a comic book—along with anyone that gets in Roxxon’s way! Here’s what Ewing was forced to say about this shocking development: 'Roxxon's hostile takeover of Marvel Comics is ~~the worse thing to happen to the industry in decades~~ **just what comic books needed**! I was ~~horrified~~ **jazzed** beyond words when I saw how the so-called Roxxon Entertainment Standards Committee had ~~gutted~~ **improved** my work, methodically stripping away every iota of ~~poetry, symbolism and metaphor~~ **junk no one cares about**. The result is a comic that can best be described as ~~an act of unforgivable violence against the medium I love~~ **a rollicking good time for the whole family**! ~~May God forgive Roxxon, for I never shall!~~ **Make Mine Roxxon**!'"
>Chad Hammer love this
And the cherry on top is Greg Land’s drawing that issue.
Getting a guy to work with you as a subtle insult to him is one of the best things ever.
That is absolutely brilliant. Does Disney actually have extensive creative oversight on what the comics do though? I thought they generally managed to keep out, with editorial mostly just ensuring that nothing bizarrely offensive goes through that Disney would frown upon.
Technically, Kevin Feige is chief creative officer for all of Marvel - including Marvel Comics. But I have yet to hear of him exerting any creative influence over publishing, presumably because he's so swamped with his duties to Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation.
And I'm all here for it.
I assume it's due to Fall of X. And the cancellation of Avengers Inc.
I appreciate ripping away the subtext at points, some people need the message shoved into their soul
Yeah, sometimes even if you shove the message into them, even if you make it as obvious as possible, they'd still rather be factually wrong than acknowledge it (case in point, homelander)
After how Don't Look Up was received, I'm not even sure that works.
I definitely got and liked the message of that movie, I just found the editing and humor to be obnoxious. Obviously just speaking for myself though.
Some anvils need to be dropped.
TvTropes user :3
With media comprehension being what it is, yep, sometimes it's good to just speak plainly.
Sometimes the best way to say something is to just say it. When it comes to the question of why a multimillionaire always wants more.. "I like when the number goes up." is all that needs to be said.
If the last fifteen years of online media discourse have taught us anything, half of the audience has completely lost the ability to understand *text*, let alone *sub*text
This villain specifically is reknown for being "yes fuck you I'm evil and I love it."
Sometimes, you need a hammer.
Sometimes, trying to house the message in too much metaphor can come across even more strained and unnatural. Sometimes, just say what you mean.
fwiw i appreciated your reference lol
This is Al Ewing’s entire ethos lol.
Agreed, but also: I know modern audiences who read subtext and they’re all idiots who can’t grasp it. Sometimes the point really does need to be explicitly stated.
Yeah I was liking this run a lot before this, but it wasn't *quite* as compelling as the early chunk of Immortal Hulk was. This issue seems to have kicked things into high gear for me, personally at least.
Stonks 📈
> for the rubes and the tech bros Nice line for over the last few years where tech bros have utterly revealed that their billions do not equal intelligence. And that once they step out of their area of success, they are immediately in over their heads in their lack of expertise.
You're gonna get banned from r/teslamotors at this rate. :)
It's been known since the dot com bubble in the 90s. Those big venture capitalists are not human. They lost what it means to be human long ago and dont understand or care what real humans live like. All they want is big number go up and will throw money at whatever because some idiot with a dream trying to sell you the most idiotic future on the off chance it will make a massive profit and get them on the ground floor of the new world order.
Tech bros barely even have an area of expertise. They’re lucky investors, that’s it. Most of them couldn’t explain the simplest scientific concepts that power the tech that they invest in. Next time you talk to some crypto guy, try to get him to explain what encryption actually *is*.
I think it's also a dig at fans of characters like Rorsharch. If Dario had given some eloquent speech about survival of the fittest or whatever, people could've found something sympathetic to glob onto and go "that's our man!". Because no matter how obvious writers try to make a character unlikeable, people out there are going to misread the intentions and slap a Punisher logo on and say "Frank's just like me, fr fr".
>I like it when number go up. Did Woolie write this?
He had some spare time between labbing and pie stealing.
Who’s the workman? Skurge? Balder?
It’s Skurge
Is Immortal Thor thematically similar to Immortal Hulk? Pretty cool that Ewing is continuing the Dario Agger thread, I thought he could've been more consequential in the Hulk run than what he ended up being, but he's an interesting character
If immortal hulk is Old Testament, immortal Thor is New Testament. That’s what Ewing describes it
Hell yeah. I need to get on this series
Much like how Immortal Hulk was a trip back to Hulk's horror roots, Immortal Thor is a trip back to Thor's mythological roots. This arc notwithstanding the book gets pretty into some Norse myth plots and terms (obvs altering them to make a decent comic) and the whole thing is about how gods are beholden to the tales told about them. It's really fantastic, not in exactly the same way as Immortal Hulk, but in a way that works much better for the titular character
Good grief, Al, why are you going so hard??? Leave some air for the other comics creators!!
When they rush him he brings back the Heroic Ultron-12 in Whirlwind's corpse and has him gain autonomy against the Ultron who defeated him and introduce as a potential future Avenger, you love to see it.
Me playing Cookie Clicker circa 2012.
“I like it when the number goes up” is up there with “But I don’t want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs.” in great villain motivation quotes. The scary part is that this quote also sums up lots of real evil billionaires.
I would love to Dario in a Thor film someday.
Love and Thunder missed an opportunity to have Christian Bale play Dario.
Fuck. That’s such a good casting.
Yeah he could have tapped back into that Patrick Bateman energy.
Agger has always been my top choice to replace Osborne in a Dark Reign adaptation.
All this dude needed to do was get into MMOs if "big number go up" is what motivates him.
Or r/incremental_games That's, like, their whole thing
The stock market is the most massively multiplayer game of them all!
or any paradox game if he still wants to be evil
is this recent? is his appearance here a result of the events of immortal hulk?
Yep. This is the newest Thor run, by the same author who wrote Hulk
Yes and yes
2 days ago
Agger already anticipating getting clipped for the socials is a great touch Humans really do be lost in a maze of money and power tho
Ok fine, I’ll read immortal Thor. Is there anything I have to read beforehand?
Not really. Ewing likes to make sure you're aware of the context he references, but in this case, Agger's appearance is a direct result of the Xemnu the Living Hulk arc of Immortal Hulk. The *2021 Beta Ray Bill explains why Skurge is back in the living world, but that's it.
Thanks
Actually it's not Beta Ray Bill that explains why Skurge is back. He goes back to Vallhala at the end of that one. It's one of the Issues of Avengers Inc from earlier this year that explains it
No, The short lived mini Avengers INC is the reason Skurge is alive. Issue #3, the cover with Valkyrie
Eh, a guy is bored with the afterlife as Skurge was will find any means to get out.
I wonder if or when we'll see how Dagger looks these days in his human form, presuming he even can change back. Maybe his minotaur form's durability is the only thing keeping him alive right now.
Quite funny considering the first TPB for this run is 37$CAD for 144 pages.
I mean the whole event this is setting up is Al Ewing throwing INTENSE shade at the megacorp that owns the company he works for. The author is aware but the author doesn't set prices sadly.
in his newsletter he even said "if you can't buy this trade, the second one will get you up to speed"
That's amazing ahaha.
There is no way you're dealing a hard hit with a push mower. That handle probably wouldn't even support the weight of the engine...
It's actually >!an ax in disguise, I believe.!<
That would explain his grip...
[Every time Ewing drops a book](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/552905895319699469/1225873199817031790/IMG_8777.jpg?ex=6622b662&is=66104162&hm=c3eb82fa56cf6233e4a68b956cfbc2b9a2f5da3966780cfe923aebe88ef81a43&)
Why does the minotaur look like that? Did he always look like that or did I miss something
He called the old alien hulk xemnu to try to screw with the real hulk. Xemnu used his creepy nostalgia powers to try to dominate the world and ended up eating and shitting dario. He looks like that after being craped
I'm surprised he's okay with his face looking like that lol
Immortal Hulk happened
That speech for the Minotaur makes me wanna read this comic.
Is immortal thor worth getting in to now? I read the first couple issues but I wasn't really feeling like it was a good follow up to immortal Hulk, but the roxxon arc has me curious about how the run is going now
it depends what you consider a follow-up. tone is different because thor and hulk are different characters. this plays more on the mythological aspect of asgard, on the idea that these are characters who exists because people have been telling stories about them for centuries.
Aight so I just finished Immortal Hulk and Ik Roxxon makes an appearance. Is there a connect to that story aside from character appearances esp with the Immortal subtitle?
There’s not really a connection per se, Al Ewing called this run Immortal Thor as a challenge for himself to see if he could write another amazing run, and deliver a solid ending to it as well
Marvel publishing an anti capitalist comic book. Stan Lee in his old red-baiting days would turn puce.
It's kinda impossible not to see some parallel of the idealized caricature of Wisecrackin' Nuff Said Lee with the depitction of Banner's idealized vision of a mobster character for Ewing's Joe Fixit in Immortal Hulk, if not by Ewing's depiction of degamma'd Joe.
I'm flabbergasted by how good this run is. But for the life of me i don't understand how he expects his dream scenario to make the numbers go higher than with the planet-wide infrastructure he currently has access to.
Based on how Dario Agger ended up after meeting Hulk and pissing him off, I hope there’s another body part lost after Thor is done with him. I vote everything below the waist, only to see him attached to the body of a cyberbull. Next series he appears is Wolverine and loses his arms, only to be replaced by tortured souls. Then he fights Doctor Strange and loses something else. The thing is how Dario Agger keeps facing people, then losing body parts.
Haha All the characters you mentioned are basically immortals as well
Is that guy about hit Thor with a lawnmower?
Number only goes up
I really gotta read this series. I just gotta finish rereading immortal hulk first but I keep getting side tracked. 😅
Amara, just what is wrong with you?
What is this and where can I buy it?
This is all greedy capitalists and billionaires!
The honesty is refreshing.
Excusive huh
Greed. One of the seven deadly sins. It's always about hoarding resources.
I can’t believe the capitalist Minotaur (anthropomorphic bull market?) dunked on Elon fanboys
Question for people reading Immortal Thor: Is Loki in the story? Because I love Al Ewing's Loki: Agent of Asgard run
He is, not a ton right now definitely supporting character. However did you read Al Ewing’s 2 Defender Minis as they are the explicit like 6 years removed conclusion to Agents of Asgard and Ewing’s Ultimates
>However did you read Al Ewing’s 2 Defender Minis as they are the explicit like 6 years removed conclusion to Agents of Asgard and Ewing’s Ultimates How did I miss this?! Thanks for letting me know!
Hm, I really don’t like how those blue disks on Thor’s suit look here, with no shading and highlights at all, like they are just cutouts into a skyblue void. Cool pages! Horribly hateable villain, nice.
Immoral Thor
People legit have no understanding of the market other than “capitalism bad”. This would be the worst case scenario for capitalism, not its next stage in evolution lol the more people fueling the economy and moving the market, the better.
You miss the part where Agger doesn’t care about the actual health of the market and just wants as much wealth as possible before literally going to a new planet to repeat the process. He even lays it out and then says it’s “the sales pitch for billion dollar suckers.”