tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post1180389946957075964..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: Tales of Asgard Tuesday: Journey Into Mystery #100Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-55005294993722234952011-04-15T20:45:53.515-05:002011-04-15T20:45:53.515-05:00I agree, Karen, that the Donald Blake persona beca...I agree, Karen, that the Donald Blake persona became meaningless once Jane Foster was written out, and even before that his appearances in the series were becoming ever rarer -- he was mostly absent during the long storyline involving Hercules & Pluto. Certainly Blake wasn't integral to the series in the way Peter Parker was in Spider-Man or even Clark Kent in Superman, mainly because while Clark & Peter are links to a significant supporting cast, Donald only linked to Jane, and she was rather boring and one-dimensional. Thor, himself, however, grew to link to a substantial supporting cast of other Asgardians, and really perked up with the addition of the Warriors Three and even Balder added some pathos -- a genuinely nobel best friend beset by feelings of envy, jealousy and shame but remains a true friend. <br />Blake served a purpose in the early stories, of providing a touch of humility to the mighty thunder god, not to mention a bit of homage to the original Captain Marvel but later seemed increasingly silly -- after all, can any real doctor keep a practice going when he's regularly absent for months at a time? Who would work for him and what patients would rely on him?Fred W. Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07602124919964053532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-37920424888883062622011-04-13T09:38:48.268-05:002011-04-13T09:38:48.268-05:00Hi Fred,
I do think that Tales of Asgard is signi...Hi Fred,<br /><br />I do think that Tales of Asgard is significant in that it created a much richer back story for Thor -incorporating the myths and expanding the Asgard cast. It helped to separate Thor from other super-heroes. <br /><br />Regarding the Thor/Blake/Jane Foster triangle, I interviewed Gerry Conway last week and asked him about that and the relevancy of Don Blake. He seemed to feel the Thor-Jane relationship was impossible (which Stan seemed to confirm by dumping her). He also felt that once Stan revealed that Blake was simply a creation of Odin and not a real person, he was meaningless. That, and the fact that Jane had been written out, and there was no real Earth-bound cast to speak of, led to Blake pretty much disappearing during his run, and in many later ones.<br /><br />Personally, I've never seen the need for Blake. But I'd be curious to hear others opinions.<br /><br />KarenKarenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17032477453891087135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-75259221307029209342011-04-13T00:31:08.961-05:002011-04-13T00:31:08.961-05:00These are lots of fun and pretty distinct from the...These are lots of fun and pretty distinct from the usual Silver Age superhero fare. Seems clear that Kirby became far more enthused with the main series when he was able to incorporate more of these mythic elements into the stories, as well as being able to stretch them over several issues. It also helped when they finally ditched the variation of the Superman/Lois Lane/Clark Kent triangle by letting Jane Foster in on Thor's secret and ultimately switching her out for Sif.<br />BTW, bringing up the ages of Thor & Loki in this tale prompts the question did they age in Midgardian time or were they already several Midgardian centuries old when they appeared to be about the age of a typical American 6th grader? Guess it all depends on who's telling the story.Fred W. Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07602124919964053532noreply@blogger.com