Panel Borders: The Mighty Thor by Walt Simonson

March 18, 2009 — Classic Heroes month

Panel Borders:

The Mighty Thor by Walt Simonson

Originally broadcast 12/03/09 as an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM

Beta Ray Bill, the alien Thor by Walter Simonson (The Mighty Thor #337)

Continuing ‘classic heroes’ month on Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to artist and writer Walter Simonson, whose exceptional 4 year run on the Marvel comic The Mighty Thor in the early 80s remains the most appreciated version of the character since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought the Viking hero to Marvel comics a generation before. Alex and Walt talk about combining European mythology and space opera, esoteric character design (why does Beta Ray Bill have a face like a horse’s skull?), turning the Norse god of war into a talking frog and the joy of revisiting classic heroes.

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org

Links: Wikipedia pages on Walter Simonson and The Mighty Thor
lambiek.net entry on Walt
Extract from The Mighty Thor #361, in which our hero is turned into a frog!

Comics / Sci-Fi News:

At the Memorabilia cult TV weekend, you can meet stars of classic television such as Robert Vaughn (Hustle, The Man from UNCLE), Craig Charles and Robert Llewllyn (Red Dwarf), Richard Briars (The Good Life), Linda Blair (The Exorcist) and Colin Baker (Doctor Who).

9am – 5pm, 28th & 29th March, The NEC, Birmingham
More info at www.memorabilia.co.uk