Allaric

Ditto , have no idea what OP is talking about. I don't like the casting on Sif either she's to thin looking , I'd would've liked to see someone like Lucy Lawless cast as Sif, I know she is recognized for her Xena character with fans but I'd coulda overlooked that. The blue ray of Dark World has a cut out scene from the beginning battle that I feel they should have left in , but also should have had Sif standing at the front leading the battle more than they did. I hope the movie screen writers are watching History channels "Vikings" to get a better idea of what a shield maiden can do with a sword in her hands, I don't think they really know Lady Sif's reputation as a warrior or they don't use the opportunities they have had to demonstrate it to the movie going audience. Although I will say Sif did beat up the Destroyer in first Thor movie fairly well.

After reading so many of the threads and post about a female Thor , and all the concerns and issues that have been raised amongst comic fans I really questioned why would Marvel make such a move in their comics now. I first became suspicious when I realized that their stated reason for the change were actually lies. First lie , they need more female super heroes , lie , they have dozens of female super heroes , and they have strong leader type characters with Jean Grey , Emma Frost, She Hulk, Ms. Marvel , Rogue, Valkyrie, they even have strong Asgardian female Lady Sif , they even have a strong female that can wield lightning , create storms, hurricanes and tornados , fly , and is a goddess (to some) ....STORM ! So Marvels "reason" is a really big lie.

The second lie is revealed by the way Marvel went about the change. Instead of promoting or building up one of the already popular female super heroes to their own high profile comic , they REPLACE an already high profile male super hero. What !! That isn't anyway to support feminism in the comics , it's just the opposite. The goal of feminist is not to replace men but to be treated as equals and given equal opportunity to use their skills and ideas , NOT to be piggy backed on to or carried by a mans successes. So to try to create more female interest in comics by first destroying a popular long standing male hero and then replacing him with a female is not a way to go about gaining female interest.

So now I look at the bigger picture which includes , Captain America and Ironman, and ex-Thor.

Captain America , in this case Steve Rodgers is having some very nasty things done to him to move him out of the picture, and his replacement is bringing with him some obvious changes , I'm talking about the Falcons' wings. When I saw the Falcon was being put in the role as Captain America , I thought it was really bad what they did to Steve Rodgers , and they could do it another way, but I was also surprised Falcon was keeping his wings. Sure without the wings from a distance he looks like another guy in a Cap suit carrying a shield , yes he's also black but the costume does cover most of his body and face, but those wings now thats a whole new image.

Then there is the new changed up ex-Thor , armor is gone , no helm , no hammer an axe instead , and only one arm. Now that's a big change in looks, but if you don't like him you also have a female version of Thor too and she has both her arms and comes with a Hammer.

And last but not least Ironman with New Armor.

So what do these 4 characters , she Thor , ex-Thor , Captain America and Ironman all have in common ? They all got a dramatic new IMAGE !!!

So in the business this is called re-imaging or re-branding , which leads to remarketing , DING ! Yes with all these new images of Marvels top comic book characters Marvel can now sell new licenses of new toys and games and make more money off essentially the same characters with little to no real work done. Hey do your kids already have Thor/Cap/Ironman toys and games , well guess what thanks to re-imaging they are the Old Thor/Cap/Ironman so now you can buy them all over again , and Marvel gets even more money !!

So there you have it comic fans our favorite super heroes have becomes victims of their own success/popularity.

I guess now what happens to your characters and their story is dependent on how Marvel can market toys and games to kids. When the market is saturated with one image they can just change the equipment , or gender or race to make it a new character , and the comic writers create an appropriate story line for the changes. I'll say it does kinda suck now for Marvel fans that the comic book characters stories are now driven by the guys in the Toys and Games marketing department and not the writers anymore.

For the doubters ...

Hasbro and Disney Expand Strategic Merchandising Relationship for Major Entertainment Properties

Agreement Extends Hasbro's Global Toy and Game Merchandise Rights for Marvel Characters Through 2020

link...http://investor.hasbro.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=779213

@sc:

Your remark stating to one poster that "ruins the character for you" is a bold attempt to trivialize the posters concerns about the character as if they were the only person that had the same concerns when CLEARLY they are not. Also you are wrong on your remarks about feminism ,it is a clumsy attempt at feminism , in that they failed to fool people that the changes to Thor is Marvels intention to represent a female audience , but even Gloria Steinem would criticize such a lame move by Marvel. Ms. Steinem stated many times in interviews that the goal of feminist is not to replace men but to be treated as equals and given equal opportunity to use their skills and ideas , NOT to be piggy back onto or carried by a mans successes. The real truth underneath it all though is that it is all pretense and fake feminism if you take a more cynical point of view toward Marvels actions in which you understand the real motivation for the new Thor. Because of all of this and that Marvel under estimates the acuity of their audience the she Thor experiment is doomed to failure.

I think its more than just being "unhappy about the decision" or " ruins the character for you ". You seem to be cleverly ignoring and trivializing some valid points that several of the poster are trying to make as well as making some BIG assumptions "new Thor will get a chance by most " , Oh Really ?

Frozen is correct in the observation that the changes to Thor are a clumsy attempt at feminism , but you are also correct in pointing out that its also being done in a way to stir curiosity for the Thor comic but sensationalism would be more accurate hence the dramatic changes but these are not the reasons behind the sensationalism and faux feminism.

@squares:

squares ..

"No, what he's doing is saying that women only read stuff like Fifty Shades of Grey. That's goddamn insulting. And saying the X-women are just T&A is...I don't even know what that is."

No what I said is what is printed right there "all my female co-workers and friends have read 50 shades of grey , not a single one has read a comic book" this is a fact one you can't refute. I let my co workers know that you are actually "goddamn insulted" that they don't read comics but read 50 Shades of Grey and they said to tell you" to get a life and to pick up a book and learn to read ", also you are the one who thinks X-women are "just" T&A , because you said that , not me.

So today I dropped by the comic store to tell them I'm canceling all my Marvel titles. At the register in front of me was a college student buying comics and his girl friend was with him. I asked the girl if any of the comics her boy friend was buying were hers , she said No she DOESNT read comics, she did say "I used to read Xena" so I told her that the Thor comic was going to be a female character would you buy and read that she said "No I'm not interested in the Thor character". I said really but She would be a lot like Xena , she said it doesn't matter she has no interest in a female Thor.

This comic store is in a town with 2 college campuses within a 15 minute drive of it, on both campuses females out number males by about 3000, 3000 more females than males combined. I asked the owner of the comic store ,who's been there about 20 years, about what percent of his customers are female he said about 10% and of his comic subscription titles about 2% of the total are female buyers. This goes directly to what I know about comic readers and the Thor comic. There isn't even a small a group of Thor fans out there wishing Thor was a female, and there is no interest among females for a female Thor. If you want attract more females to comics then create new characters that have the qualities females are interested in.

Staying on this theme females and Thor here's a opinion about the changing Thor to female written by a female writer..

"I wonder if Thor is Angry", by bluebird

"So. Female Thor. Needless to say proper fans have already been forming their opinions. But as a woman with an admiration for comic book characters and, as something of a writer, I feel I can weigh in here. What the hell! No really. What the hell are Marvel thinking? You don't just change a well established character like that."

"Also. To attract more female readers you need to break the association of comic books being for nerdy boys, not warp a beloved character, and established cash cow." "I will not suddenly start reading Thor just because the character is a woman."

"So I fully appreciate that it is very hard not to make something, a written work especially, seem racist and in some cases sexist and that some things need to be changed to fit a different medium. But you don't just change everything that the original creator set down just so that you won't be hated, or so you can appeal to a wider market. If it bothers you that much then you create something yourself to avoid those concerns or to appeal to that market. You don't alter something that someone loved just so suit your needs. It really bugs me."

The entire post can be found here ...http://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?13415-I-Wonder-If-Thor-s-Angry

This plan of Marvel's will end in complete failure , ending the Thor title completely.

No it wont , Thor is not a women , we don't want to read about a women who can drink every man under the table ,then beat the crap out of all the other gods in a bar , then brag about her female conquest in bed , that's way to much Gender bending for fans of the god of thunder..

THIS IS A TOTAL FAIL MARVEL

Not many girls read comics because they are more into literature and not picture books. all my female co-workers and friends have read 50 shades of grey , not a single one has read a comic book , male or female super hero. If you are doing a Thor gender swap just to put more T&A for boys , well that what you have Emma Frost and the X-women for. Marvel you are not going to net any more sales and in the end you will have killed what interest there had been, f u Marvel.

@frozen:

Seriously , I'll just pick up a new DC title instead , screw u Marvel.

Screw Marvel , I'll stick with DC

Female Thor ? Of course I'm canceling , this was my favorite comic , I'm pissed so I'm canceling ALL my Marvel comics. At least DC has enough creativity to have both a male and a female super hero , they don't have to do a sex change on Batman or Superman , by Marvel.