Lessons From Behind The Counter At A Comic Book Store
When the news broke that Thor, the hyper-masculine thunder god, had become a woman, my Twitter feed exploded. It seemed like everybody had something to say. "Who will play the female Thor in the movies?" came up a lot. Meanwhile, I first had to figure out who Thor was. To me, stories about superheroes were for nerdy white guys imagining a world where they could lift heavy things and somehow get the girl. In short, boring. I was hopelessly behind the times.
But like any good journalist, I wasn't about to let total ignorance keep me from chasing down a good story. I saw in Marvel's press release that Jason Aaron was writing the new Thor — so I decided to give him a call. He's in his 40s, from Alabama and has the slightest hint of a southern drawl. Gruff and to the point, he's the strong-but-silent type.
But when I ask him if he is a feminist, he says, "I'm not one of those people that think feminist is a bad word. I don't see why everyone shouldn't be a feminist."
Aaron has been writing Thor for Marvel since 2012, but the thunder god's been around since the '60s. For the uninitiated: Thor wields a hammer that reads: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Aaron says that he's always planned for something to happen to make Thor unworthy, and for someone else to pick up that hammer. Why not a woman?
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