Lyndsey Wang

Professor Bump

The Victorian Novel

13 February 2007

On Thor’s Hammer of Unity in the Marvel Universe

Dobie, one of the most popular places on campus for students to live, is also home to a few retail stores, including the comic book store, The Funny Papers. Though the popularity of the comic book culture has died down since is peak in the 1960-70s, Marvel comics still puts out a number of good comics. Beginning in Summer 2006 and ongoing even now, Marvel has created its Civil War comics. The storyline follows the lives of many well known Marvel superheroes such as Ironman, Captain America, Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and many others, including Thor. The superhero world has been divided by a Super Human Registration Act that requires all super human individuals to register themselves with the government. However, as with any controversial issue, the superheroes are divided. Ironman leads the pro-registration heroes that is backed by the government, while Captain America leads his opposition. The genius leader of the Fantastic Four, Reid Richards is also pro-registration, and through his leadership, the pro-registration side was able to resurrect Thor, using his genetic material. Thor appears in a critical moment in the war and attempts to “hammer their thoughts into unity.” Thor has always represented a character that is influential enough to change the outcome of a conflict. He is a natural leader with the reputation and abilities to induce some kind of resolution when all seems hopeless. In this illustration, Thor wields his powerful hammer against those who oppose the legislation of the government in order to create unity within the super-human world.

Regarding my own quest for knowledge, the comic book industry represents a repressed aspect of my childhood. As a little girl, I was afraid of other children’s opinion of me should I delve too deeply into comic book culture. I therefore stayed away from it even though I had an itch to know what was going on with the X-men and many others. I am now trying to relive that portion of my childhood and I have learned from that experience that I should not allow anyone to tell me what I am or am not allowed to like. Today I still read comic books and I admire and respect the amount of artistic dedication that went into the production of each one. Comic books enhance and personify admirable personality traits; it reminds the reader (including me) to aspire to a greater level of leadership and accomplishment through hard work and cooperation.