The President Of The United States of America - The Day After - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: The President of the United States, same one as in the real world, sits at his desk, one hand holding his phone to his ear, other hand holding some sort of paperwork he's reading over. He's determined and more occupied with the work at hand than the conversation, but still has a smile on his face. A clock in the background reads 8:30.

Caption: NOVEMBER 7, 2012

PHONE: EVEN THOUGH WE AS A NATION MAY HAVE DISAGREEMENTS AMONG OURSELVES, WE CAN STILL WORK TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS WHEN IT REALLY COUNTS. I'VE GOT TO SAY I'M GLAD WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO TRULY UNDERSTANDS THAT.

POTUS: ME TOO, CAP. AND I ALWAYS DID LOOK UP TO YOU.

Panel 2: Same mileu as the first, different paperwork, same expression, 8:50.

PHONE: VERILY, I KNOW NIGH LITTLE OF THINE MORTAL POLITICS, BUT THEY SEEM A DAMN SIGHT HARDER THAN SIMPLY KILLING THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE VILLAGE TO OBTAIN DOMINANCE OVER HIS LAND AND WOMEN. I DOFF MY WINGED CAP TO THEE, AS THOU HAST CONQUERED A SYSTEM I FALL SHORT OF EVEN UNDERSTANDING, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE. BUT EVEN YOU HAVE NOT KNOCKED OUT THE TEETH OF THE MIDGARD SERPENT WHILST THOU WEREST EVEN IN ITS OWN MOUTH, SO AS MY COMPATRIOT CLINT BARTON WOULDST SAY, "NEENER NEENER".

POTUS: YOU EVER DEAL WITH A TICKED-OFF HILLARY CLINTON?

PHONE: ...

POTUS: I REST MY CASE.

Panel 3: Same general environs as the 1st and 2nd, 9:16. The president is looking a bit annoyed.

PHONE: LISTEN, BUB, EVEN THOUGH YA GOT TA BIN LADEN BEFORE I HAD THE CHANCE, I DON'T HOLD IT AGAINST YA.

PHONE(SMALLER): LOGAN! THE PRESIDENT IS A BUSY MAN AND DOESN'T NEED THE HASSLE OF YOU CALLING HIM ALL THE TIME! LET HIM GET BACK TO HIS JOB!

PHONE: *SIGH* FINE, KITTY. I'LL LET THE PRESIDENT GET BACK TO WHAT HE WAS DOING.

POTUS: YOU'D BETTER LISTEN TO HER, LOGAN. SHE SEEMS LIKE SHE'S GOT A BETTER HEAD ON HER SHOULDERS THAN YOU DO.

PHONE: AH, WHADDA YOU KNOW? YOU DON'T HAVE ADAMANTIUM BONES.

Panel 4: 10:02. The president doesn't even look like he's listening, just going through the paperwork.

PHONE: HEY BARRY, THIS IS DEADPOOL. I JUST WANTED TO SAY, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART--

Panel 5: 10:03. The president has the phone at arm's length, and is calling out to the other room.

PHONE(Much louder than before): BABA BOOEY BABA BOOEY HOWARD STERN'S PENIS!

POTUS: ANYONE KNOW IF WE CAN JUST BLOCK ALL CALLS FROM CANADA FOR THIS PHONE? MAYBE REDIRECT THEM TO DIAMOND JOE? ANYONE?

Mjolnir - Hammer To Fall - Rol Hirst

Panel One.

Thor sits alone in a darkened room, huddled and slumped and drained. He is weak and thin, withered. His helmet is slipping down to one side, his gold locks desiccated, his chain mail armour hangs off him, baggy and oversized. He is a shadow of his former self. As he leans forward, he holds the strap of Mjolnir. The hammer itself stands upright (head on the floor) before him.

The only illumination in the room comes from a doorway to Thor's left. Shadows fall across him as three men enter (off-panel).

Strange (O/P): Thor…?

Panel Two.

Thor lifts his head wearily and stares at his comrades. Iron Man, Captain America, Dr. Strange. We can see a little more of the background now: we are in Stephen Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Thor is putting on a brave smile; his friends look grim.

Thor: So, gentlemen. Your learned diagnosis…?

Captain America: There’s no easy way to say this, old friend.

Iron Man: It’s the hammer, Thor.

Strange: A grave enchantment is upon it. Dark magics even I can’t combat…

Panel Three.

Cap crouches before Thor and rests a hand on his old friend's shoulder.He holds tight onto his own shield as he does so.

Captain America: You need to relinquish your hammer, Thor. You need to send it far, far away...

Captain America: Before it kills you.

Panel Four.

Close on Thor, weak but determined.

Thor: Nay, Captain. If Mjolnir and I are destined for Valhalla, we shall journey there together.

Panel Five.

It’s a struggle for him to even lift Mjolnir now, but somehow he manages it. Holding it with both hands, the Thunder God staggers to his feet. Defiant.

Thor: Shortly... after... we have slain my damn'd brother...

Thor: Loki...

Thor - Hammer Squared - Matt Duarte

Thor in “Hammer Squared” by Matt Duarte

Note from the author: Two weeks ago, I missed my Thor script. This is my catch up script, with my Omega Red going up later in the day.

Panel 1

Description: Ronan, The Accuser is wielding his mighty hammer in a powerful upwards swing, attacking Thor. The full impact of the blow is landing squarely in his chest.

RONAN: Odinson! Mjolnir might find you worthy, but The Accuser finds you severely lacking.

Panel 2

Description: Thor has been knocked to the ground, with Mjorlnir laying a few feet away from him. Ronan is walking towards Mjolnir, still carrying

RONAN: Having defeated you so easily, reason dictates that your weapon is now mine. Stand aside, as the Accuser adds another mighty tool to his arsenal.

THOR (weakly): Thou...does not... understand...

Panel 3

Description: Ronan attempts, futilely, to lift Mjolnir. Without realizing it, in his eagerness to get a hold of a new toy, he has dropped his Universal Hammer.

RONAN: Blasted artifact, why won't it yield?

THOR (off-panel): Thou has not been deemed worthy, Accuser.

Panel 4

Description: Thor returns the favour from earlier by hitting Ronan, with his own Universal Weapon, straight into the chest, knocking him away.

THOR: Mjolnir does not measure worthiness by thy fighting prowess or thy self-righteousness...

Panel 5

Description: Ronan has fallen on the floor and is looking up. Thor has not only recuperated Mjolnir, but he is still wielding Ronan's Universal Weapon.

THOR: Only through humility will a warrior ever wield Mjolnir.

THOR: Now, for thy treacherous attack earlier, I shall teach thee a lesson.

Next: It's Hammer Time!

Thor - Whosoever - Danial Carroll

PANEL ONE

We are looking up at Thor standing upon a small hill. He is holding his arm up, commanding a lightning bolt to Mjolnir. Electric energy surges all around him.

CAPTION: People look to me for my power.

PANEL TWO

Thor and Hulk are lunging at each other. Thor has Mjolnir swung back, ready to strike, while Hulk has his fist clenched, preparing a punch. An earth-shattering collision is imminent.

CAPTION: My strength.

PANEL THREE

Thor is standing before a mass of Skrull. He has thrown Mjolnir into the fray, cutting a path right down the middle. Skrull bodies are flying aside from the force.

CAPTION: My grace under fire.

PANEL FOUR

Close up of Mjolnir, sitting on the ground at a slight angle. This panel should be highly detailed and elaborate.

CAPTION: And yet, they can't even pronounce my name...

CAPTION: MJOLNIR!!

Thor - Fracture - Sime McDonald

PANEL ONE

Iron Man, Reed Richards and Stephen Strange stand together atop the Baxter Building. The sky above their heads is an ominously dark shade of red, crackling with a bizarre cosmic energy. The trio are dishevelled; bruised and battered, unshaven. The city around them is in ruins, debris strewn about, and skyscrapers threaten to crumble. This is the aftermath of an epic battle; but by no means the end of the war. Before the trio stand members of the Avengers, listening to these men of science and magic enunciate their findings. Thor is the most prominent figure amongst them. He looks troubled and is without his Uru mallet.

REED RICHARDS

It wasn’t Galactus.

TONY STARK

Not intentionally, anyway.

PANEL TWO

Flashback: alternate colour palette. Dynamic shot of Thor throwing Mjolnir at the Galactus. From the look on the Odinson’s face, he’s put everything into this strike.

CAPTION

REED RICHARDS

This isn’t an exact science.

We are the victim of an uncanny set of circumstances.

A fusion of cosmology and Asgardian mysticism.

CAPTION

STEPHEN STRANGE

Science and magic.

CAPTION

TONY STARK

When Mjolnir stuck Galactus, something happened.

PANEL THREE

Flashback: as Mjolnir strikes Galactus, a cataclysmic explosion of energy erupts from the connection between both forces.

CAPTION

REED RICHARDS

The barriers of space and time were pierced.

For a nanosecond, the walls that separate the nine realms of Yggdrasil melted…

PANEL FOUR

Species from the nine realms of the World Tree manifest from the vortex of swirling energy; fire giants, frost giants, and others from Norse mythology.

CAPTION

TONY STARK

… and Earth was invaded.

PANEL FIVE

The Avengers look to Thor. This is his domain, after all. The God of Thunder’s troubled expression remains. Intentional or not, he knows he is the cause of this mess. He is feeling that burden.

THOR [1]

Know this, Avengers.

THOR [2]

Without Mjolnir, I am unable to repair the fracture that

has unleashed the beasts of the nine realms upon Migard.

THOR [3]
Though we are mighty, though we stand as a strong united force,

I fear we are unmatched for the battle that lies ahead.

PANEL SIX

On Thor, his expression grim.

THOR

This is the prelude to Migard's Ragnarok.

Thor - The God Delusion - Rol Hirst

The following page takes place towards the end of a story in which Thor has been called upon to investigate a number of crimes against prominent religious figures. High profile priests have been crucified, holy books burned, temples destroyed. Thor has tracked down and confronted the man responsible yet has been unable to stop his reign of terror...


Panel One.

Thor stands before a burning cathedral, the stained glass in its windows broken, thick black smoke pouring from a hole in its roof up into a dark, thunder-swept sky. Thor himself is beaten and bloodied, his face and arms scarred and bruised, his costume torn. He's holding his hammer defiantly, but we can tell he's on his last legs.

Thor: I have seen the atrocities that lie in your wake...

Thor: Desecration and bloodshed not even the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim would wreak...

Thor: And I have done all within my power to bring this to an end...

Thor: Yet still you stand... still you blaspheme... still you defile...

Thor: How can this be?

Panels Two - Four.

Three small panels of Thor getting his ass handed to him and taking a serious whupping at the hands of his enemy: a small, intellectual-looking man in his early 70s (though still in reasonably good health) with swept-back grey hair and spectacles. He's wearing a woolly crew-neck jumper and cords. Thor is unable to fight back. With each blow, the Thunder God weakens further... and gradually turns back to Dr. Donald Blake.

SFX (4): THOK!

SFX (5): THOOM!

SFX (6): THOOP!

Panel Five.

The man holds Donald Blake's body up. Blake slumps, defeated - he would fall to the ground were it not for the man's hand gripping the front of his shirt. The man speaks directly to Blake. Behind them, the cathedral roof collapses into the flames while thunderclouds continues to roil overhead.

SFX: Kra-koom!

Man: If a god were ever to ask me that… if a god were to stand before me now and speak those words from his own immortal lips… do you know what I’d tell him, Dr. Blake?

Man: I wouldn’t tell him anything. I wouldn’t even hear him.

Man: Because I am…

Man: The Atheist.

Panel Six.

The Atheist snarls into Donald Blake's face... he's been corrupted and driven insane by his own unholy power.

The Atheist: And no god has power over me.

Thor - Midgardian - Ben Rosenthal

1. A typical bar setting, somewhere in Oklahoma at night. The bar is full of people. One of these people is the bar tender, dressed in a green shirt and pants. He is middle aged and slightly overweight. At one end of the bar Loki sits, disguised. He is staring at Thor, who sits at the other end of the bar, a stein of mead in his hand (or beer - whatever you want to call it). Not in his usual Asgardian attire, but in a simple blue shirt and jeans. He is trying to blend in. Thor is bearded, dishevelled and quite possibly slightly drunk. And has just noticed Loki.

CAPTION (LOKI)
Midgard. I do not see why my brother cherishes it so.

THOR (1) (from across the other side of the bar)
Come to gloat, brother?

THOR (2)
Here to toy with me, now? To revel in my loss?

2. Thor is standing, looking unsteady on his feet. He is angry at the insolence of Loki, appearing to him at this time of heartache. Whether he is drunk or purely upset at his loss, we are unsure. The bar tender has placed his hand on Thor’s shoulder in order to calm him down.

CAPTION (LOKI)
Revelling in their triumphs, celebrating their victories.

THOR (1)
I’ll not have it.

THOR (2)
Be gone from here trickster. Either under your own momentum, or with the aid of mine.

3. Thor lashes out at the man who has placed his hand on his shoulder.

CAPTION (LOKI)
And despairing in their falls.

THOR
Off me.

4. The force of Thor’s shrug off throws the bar tender smashes into the shelves of bottles which line the wall behind him

CAPTION (LOKI)
Poor brother. So arrogant.


5. Thor is checking on the man he has just hit. The man appears to be dead.

CAPTION (LOKI)
You cannot be in a place for so long. Live as one of them...


6. Mephisto has appeared in front of Thor, grinning.


7. A small panel, which simply shows the evil smile of Loki.

CAPTION (LOKI)
...and not abide by their rules.

Thor – The Victory Of Defeat – Ryan K Lindsay

Set up: Thor has just killed boy Loki. You don’t need to know why, just believe that he has.

1. Thor sits in the middle of a field with boy Loki’s dead body in his lap. They are both slumped, Thor cradling Loki's lifeless form.

Caption-Thor: You didn’t expect to win. Not as we think of the term.
Caption-Thor: You don’t care about your victory…

2. Thor cries, really cries, you must sell this panel.

Caption-Thor: You only ever cared about my defeat.

3. Thor’s hands still grip tightly to the length of rope used to strangle Loki.

Caption-Thor: Making me do this…
Caption-Thor: This was your true victory.

4. Wide shot from on high, Thor screams upwards, dark clouds are being summoned from every direction.

Thor: Yaaaarggghhh!
Caption-Thor: You will be honoured, still. You will be remembered.
Caption-Thor: I shall plant a new world tree in your name.

5. Lightning rumbles in the clouds. These clouds must look electric, violent, sad.

Caption-Thor: But you shall have no place upon it.

6. Rain hammers dead Loki’s face.

Caption-Thor: And that will forever crush me.
Caption-Thor: Which I know will make you happy.

Why Thor?

Oh c'mon. Do I really need to explain why?

Adapted from Viking mythology, Marvel Comics' hammer-wielding God of Thunder was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby in the early 60's and in that time he's survived Ragnarok, grown a beard, survived (and benefitted from) a J. Michael Straczynski run, and is starring in his very own blockbuster movie, aptly titled Thor. In truth, he's not a character I've ever liked. As a kid, I barely understood the words coming out of his mouth - a little too Shakespearean for me - and the mythology was all a little too complex from me; Asgard? Midgard? Valhalla? And I've never quite been sure of how to pronounce the name of Thor's hammer: Mjolnir, anyone?

It wasn't until Thor: The Mighty Avenger was published that I developed any sort of affinity for the character. Writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee infused so much humanity - and just enough mythology - into their short-lived series, making it the unquestionable comic hit of 2010. It hooked me, got me craving more Thor - which has resulted in my recent purchase of the Walter Simonon Thor Omnibus as well as the Dan Jurgens trades being put out periodically by Marvel. Thor What I'm learning is, although creators have different takes on the character of - how essential is his human side, how essential is his Asgardian heritage, etc - there are common themes prevalent throughout his history, some of which we'll discover over the coming week as our tenures and Play-At-Home scripters present their work.

Thor is a tough nut to crack. There is, potentially, a lot of continuity to contemplate. There's a lot of mythology to be explored. But that's what makes him such an exciting character; his potential is almost limitless.

Let's see how we go.