“The Sacred and the Profane” Part 1
Writers: Jason Aaron & Al Ewing
Artist: CAFU
Cover Artist: Mahmud Asar & Matthew Wilson
Variant Cover Artists: Russel Dauterman & Matthew Wilson, Terry & Racheal Dodson, Meghan Hetrick, Will Sliney, Jack Kirby, Vince Colletta & Morry Hollowell
What You Need to Know: For years, Dr. Jane Foster was a Friend, on again/off again lover, and confidant to the Mighty Thor. For a brief but memorable time, she wielded his hammer as the Goddess of Thunder while battling terminal Cancer at the same time. When Malekith brought his War of the Realms, Jane was asked once again to join the fight and wielded the hammer of War Thor and control the Thunder. With the War over, the hammer shattered and reformed into the All-Weapon that attached itself to Jane. With the Valkyrie slaughtered during the War of the Realms, Jane finds herself in a new position as the Last of the Valkyrie.
In This Issue: With the help of Undrjarn, the All-Weapon that has attached itself to Jane, she is taking her job as the Last Valkyrie to heart. And kicking bad-guy butt all that the same time. A group of low-level villains who happen to have gotten their hands on some Dark Elf and Asgardian Ordnance Weapons have now become a bit of a priority. But its Dragonfang, the personal sword of former Leader Valkyrie that is Jane’s main target but with her still trying to get a hold of her powers, she accidentally lets it get away. As if being Valkyrie isn’t hard enough, being Jane is just as hard with her being late for her own performance review that ends with her getting shipped to the morgue. But it’s there that she finds a body that was murdered by a familiar sword. Jane feels like there is only one person that can give her advice and that’s the former leader herself Brunnhilde in Vallhalla. With the pep-talk she needed, Jane asked Heimdal to assist her in finding the sword only to have the Sword, and its new owner find them first!
Jason Aaron’s writing of Jane has always been wonderful. At the end of this issue, he writes a piece saying that Jane simply wouldn’t die, and he was happy she hung in there even after being ready to go willingly to rest when she reached Vallhalla. Now, even though her title has changed, Aaron’s writing is still amazing. I know that I’m not the only one happy to see her back taking up such an important mantle. The fact that she KNOWS she’s in for a lot yet staying humble about it is intriguing. You would think after being Thor she would be ready to go, but no, she has the where with all to know that things are different. She carries a bigger responsibility on her shoulders, but she gets it which is important as a character. Her outfit has remnants of her time as Thor while keeping it original to the Valkyrie style and the Undrjarn looks amazing when it changes, and all the artwork is worth giving each page an extra minute.
Joanna Robinson
