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Valkyrie: Jane Foster #1-2
Jane Foster: The Saga of Valkyrie
Death is not the end! When the Goddess of Thunder falls, that doesn’t mean Dr. Jane Foster’s epic journey is over. The woman who was Thor claims a new heroic legacy…as the last Asgardian Valkyrie! Jane takes over as the guide and ferrywoman to the dead — and she’s going to be busy, because the lethal killer Bullseye is on the loose, with an Asgardian weapon in hand! As one ally is lost, new friendships are forged with marvelous medics Doctor Strange, Night Nurse and the Excalibur-wielding Dr. Faiza Hussain. But who is their patient? Plus, Valkyrie reunites with the Odinson! And meet your new favorite talking steed, Mr. Horse!
COLLECTING: Mighty Thor (2015) 702-706, , Valkyrie: Jane Foster (2019) 1-10; material from Mighty Thor: At the Gates of Valhalla (2018) 1, War of the Realms: Omega (2019) 1
COLLECTING: Mighty Thor (2015) 702-706, , Valkyrie: Jane Foster (2019) 1-10; material from Mighty Thor: At the Gates of Valhalla (2018) 1, War of the Realms: Omega (2019) 1
357 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 29, 2022
12 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,351 books1,680 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 21, 2024
Is it damning with faint praise to say this was actually much better than I'd expected?
At any rate, this volume did a good job fleshing out Jane Foster as both a character and a heroine in her own right and dealt cleverly with themes of mortality and ethics.
The Blue-collar Yorkshire Pegasus "Mr. Horse", on the other hand, was a less-than-charming gimmick. But with Jason Aaron I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
He could have gone back to being voluntarily mute from this point on, frankly.
At any rate, this volume did a good job fleshing out Jane Foster as both a character and a heroine in her own right and dealt cleverly with themes of mortality and ethics.
The Blue-collar Yorkshire Pegasus "Mr. Horse", on the other hand, was a less-than-charming gimmick. But with Jason Aaron I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
He could have gone back to being voluntarily mute from this point on, frankly.
August 28, 2022
This graphic novel starts by collecting the last of the Mighty Thor series and continues on through the first ten issues of Valkyrie: Jane Foster.
I picked this up after watching Thor: Love and Thunder. Jane Foster has always been one of my favorite characters from the MCU, and I wasn’t satisfied with the end of her story. One thing I love about Jane getting her own series is that she’s no longer just the side character, so her own relationships can be developed and explored.
The reason this only gets 4 stars instead of 5 is because I feel like the second half of the book (the Valkyrie issues) weren’t as richly developed as they could have been. It felt formulaic: overpowered villain wants to take over the world, Valkyrie loses some aspect of her powers, almost dies, but then good always overcomes evil.
Overall, not bad for the debut of a new superhero. There’s a fun cameo by Mephisto, plausibly setting him up as a recurring villain in future series. This was an enjoyable read for sure, and hopefully future issues will flesh out the character of Jane/Valkyrie even more.
I picked this up after watching Thor: Love and Thunder. Jane Foster has always been one of my favorite characters from the MCU, and I wasn’t satisfied with the end of her story. One thing I love about Jane getting her own series is that she’s no longer just the side character, so her own relationships can be developed and explored.
The reason this only gets 4 stars instead of 5 is because I feel like the second half of the book (the Valkyrie issues) weren’t as richly developed as they could have been. It felt formulaic: overpowered villain wants to take over the world, Valkyrie loses some aspect of her powers, almost dies, but then good always overcomes evil.
Overall, not bad for the debut of a new superhero. There’s a fun cameo by Mephisto, plausibly setting him up as a recurring villain in future series. This was an enjoyable read for sure, and hopefully future issues will flesh out the character of Jane/Valkyrie even more.
August 3, 2024
As comics go, this is pretty great. It balances humor and drama well with some great art. Included here is the end of Jane Foster’s run as Thor and her beginnings as Valkyrie.
The Thor run has a really beautiful and poignant conclusion with Jane Foster battling cancer as she defends the universe. This storyline filled with tension does what the best superhero comics do providing an escapist metaphor for our own mortal lives shining a little light on the struggles of being. Not too deep, but satisfying for anyone that isn’t too jaded and looking for something grittier and painful. There is comfort food in the big industrial company stable of characters that is Marvel Comics.
The second bit with Valkyrie is a little wobblier, but still solid. The art remains consistently stunning. But the storytelling tries to explore the same territory in three different story arch’s. Specifically, what is the role of death in our lives? I like this idea and would have preferred a ten issue story arch centered around the death of death as opposed to three issues we got. The story of Heimdall’s journey into mystery and Tyr’s bringing on the antilife force were a bit less compelling and felt like treading the same waters with a different context.
All that said, this was a totally fun read, and I love Jane Foster’s comic character. A human trying to live right in a crazy world where death is simply the door we also will eventually walk through. There is no use fighting that. So, how do you come to terms with it?
The Thor run has a really beautiful and poignant conclusion with Jane Foster battling cancer as she defends the universe. This storyline filled with tension does what the best superhero comics do providing an escapist metaphor for our own mortal lives shining a little light on the struggles of being. Not too deep, but satisfying for anyone that isn’t too jaded and looking for something grittier and painful. There is comfort food in the big industrial company stable of characters that is Marvel Comics.
The second bit with Valkyrie is a little wobblier, but still solid. The art remains consistently stunning. But the storytelling tries to explore the same territory in three different story arch’s. Specifically, what is the role of death in our lives? I like this idea and would have preferred a ten issue story arch centered around the death of death as opposed to three issues we got. The story of Heimdall’s journey into mystery and Tyr’s bringing on the antilife force were a bit less compelling and felt like treading the same waters with a different context.
All that said, this was a totally fun read, and I love Jane Foster’s comic character. A human trying to live right in a crazy world where death is simply the door we also will eventually walk through. There is no use fighting that. So, how do you come to terms with it?
July 24, 2023
This was a lovely read! My encounters with Jane Foster were limited to the Thor movies and I honestly was not her biggest fan.
Comic book Jane Foster is a badass hero and does an amazing job at saving the Gods, entire realms or even the Earth, multiple times. Her transition into the “job” of Valkyrie was really well planed and I loved finally knowing her true story! The fact that this comic has beautiful artwork only adds to the reading experience!
Finally, once again, Thor’s granddaughters are so much fun to read!!
Comic book Jane Foster is a badass hero and does an amazing job at saving the Gods, entire realms or even the Earth, multiple times. Her transition into the “job” of Valkyrie was really well planed and I loved finally knowing her true story! The fact that this comic has beautiful artwork only adds to the reading experience!
Finally, once again, Thor’s granddaughters are so much fun to read!!
January 26, 2025
SO FUCKING EPIC!!! The artwork is absolutely gorgeous and Jane Foster is so brilliant. I was really upset when she died in the movies but I had no idea she would become Valkyrie! I like how this book went about exploring themes of death and the afterlife - for instance, Valhalla cannot exist without a Valkyrie and that is another reason why Jane decides to take on the mantle. But the interesting thing is how her whole perspective on the world changes with this new role because it's not just about her being a superhero - it's a JOB. And there's a lot of emphasis on that and how her work is not optional - she has to ferry dead souls and do so with care. I didn't expect Bullseye to show up~ I think he's a villain in spiderman but wow the whole series of issues in which he went head to head with Jane was INTENSE. It was also exciting to see so much of Doctor Strange in these volumes, he's one of my favorite superheroes and I like how his cameos complemented Jane's own story/character arc. And of course the final teamup with Odinson was *chefs kiss.* No complaints here; I read this as slowly as I could and dragged it out.
January 14, 2025
I loved loved loved Jane Foster as the Mighty Thor in Jason Aaron's Thor. Jane becoming the Valkyrie made a lot of sense for her character (A mortal career as a doctor and a godly career taking souls to the afterlife? What a *chef's kiss* combo). However, some of the story arcs in the Valkyrie: Jane Foster run felt more formulaic/watered down, and a few moments with real depth felt rushed or underdeveloped. While there was plenty of badassery and Jane saving Midgard, I wish we saw more of her relationship to Asgard and her bringing the fallen to Valhalla.
October 23, 2022
Anyone who has read Jason Aaron’s Thor Volume 4 will notice some overlaps in this collection. While I did not necessarily have as powerful of an emotional experience as I did with the first volume, the adventure Jane undergoes as she becomes the Valkyrie is an enjoyable one. I somewhat suspect that had I read this without having read Thor Volume 4, the impact on me would have been far greater.
October 30, 2024
a little uneven, bc of many series cobbled together, but great imagery and heart
March 9, 2025
One of the best comics runs I've read in a while. Up there with Cates Venom and Bendis Daredevil. It got me interested in both Jason Aaron's work and Thor as a franchise.
October 13, 2022
C'est plutôt chouette de retrouver Jane Foster après tout ce qu'elle a vécu en tant que Thor, surtout sous la plume de Jason Aaron.
Ici elle devient la Valkyrie, la dernière Valkyrie. Elle a donc pour rôle de guider les âmes des guerriers morts jusqu'au Walhalla. Elle entre d'ailleurs en conflit avec Mephistos qui réclâme le terrain du Walhalla comme partie intégrale de son Royaume des morts.
Ça se laisse lire, mais c'est loin d'avoir la profondeur de ce qu'à pu livrer Aaron quand il écrivait Thor. Si vous vous intéressez à l'auteur, commencez par là!
Ici elle devient la Valkyrie, la dernière Valkyrie. Elle a donc pour rôle de guider les âmes des guerriers morts jusqu'au Walhalla. Elle entre d'ailleurs en conflit avec Mephistos qui réclâme le terrain du Walhalla comme partie intégrale de son Royaume des morts.
Ça se laisse lire, mais c'est loin d'avoir la profondeur de ce qu'à pu livrer Aaron quand il écrivait Thor. Si vous vous intéressez à l'auteur, commencez par là!
January 3, 2023
What I love about this anthology is the mishmash of amazing talent set loose on the metamorphosis of legacy characters and mythological (super)heroines. Russell Dauterman's amazing art on the Thor series appears in the first five-issue arc, here, and I never get tired of his imagination.
Jane Foster Thor reincarnates as Jane Foster, Valkyrie. This is great writing by Aaron and Ewing and Gronbekk, and artists Dauterman, CAFU, Pere Perez, Ramon Rosanas and all here.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Fulton County Public Library for the loan.
Jane Foster Thor reincarnates as Jane Foster, Valkyrie. This is great writing by Aaron and Ewing and Gronbekk, and artists Dauterman, CAFU, Pere Perez, Ramon Rosanas and all here.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Fulton County Public Library for the loan.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews