Valkyrie: Jane Foster #9: Thor vs Former Thor

Valkyrie: Jane Foster #9 brings answers to the questions of the Rokkva from the last issue. We learn that Tyr is the culprit, how he discovered them and what his true motive is on releasing this poison on the Earth. Unfortunately, aside from three panels of conversation with an unnamed character, this is all done via narration. In other issues, the narration didn’t seem to stick out. But here, where its paired with Valkyrie’s thoughts narrating the battle against the Rokkva controlled Thor, it misses the balance that previous issues found and feels exposition-heavy.

The art does little to change the feel of exposition. Between the dark background of the underground setting of the battle and the bright light of their powers, the text boxes of narration seem even more prominent. Despite this, Ramon Rosanas still does a good job portraying the battle between Valkyrie and Thor. In comparison, the vibrant colors by Jesus Aburtov continue to remain a consistent treat.

To further the feeling of disconnectedness from past issues is Jane’s lack of interactions with others. Whether it has been members of Jane’s medical life, such as her boss or Lisa, or other heroes like Doctor Stange, or even just Horse, those moments added something that this issue lacks. The single page of Horse finding Jane does not provide that sense of life that the supporting cast was able to provide for other issues. While this may have been necessary for the plot development done here, the end result does feel the less for it.