Valkyrie: Jane Foster #8: Review

Feb 2020

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Story Name:

At the End of All Things Part 1

Review & Comments

Rating:

Valkyrie: Jane Foster #8 Review by Peter Silvestro (August 25, 2020)

Review: Another story arc kicks off, with another ancient evil buried for centuries making a comeback and wreaking havoc on Earth. This time we have a number of guests from the Avengers, etc. showing up to fight the Anti-Life (wait, isn’t that what Darkseid was looking for in DC?). Jane shines, both as Jane the healer and Valkyrie who stands between life and death. Thor doesn’t come off too well in this entry but that’s okay, he has his own book in which to recover. And the stakes are raised with a hero becoming a villain, for some routine excitement next time. A lot of this seems familiar but after a while what doesn’t?

Comments: This issue takes place before the events of THOR (2020) #1 though Thor is shown in his Herald of Galactus guise on the cover. Black Panther and Captain Marvel are mentioned as dealing with the demon incursion elsewhere in the world. Jason Aaron and Torunn Gronbekk are co-writers.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Valkyrie: Jane Foster #8 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Prologue: In a hidden tomb, a mystery god (it’s Tyr, as revealed next issue) pours the sap of Yggdrasil into the heart of an ancient corpse and there are signs of life….

Jane Foster and Lisa Halloran are enjoying an afternoon out when Jane senses trouble and transforms into Valkyrie. The ground opens up and winged demons fly out, seizing people and draining them of their life force. The Avengers are coordinating the global response with Captain America in Manhattan linked by radio to Iron Man on the West Coast. Mounting Mister Horse, Val joins him and Doctor Strange and Spider-Man in fighting the monsters. And then Thor arrives. The action quiets down long enough for Jane to be introduced to the other heroes who have not yet met the new Valkyrie. Val heads into the bowels of the Earth to find the source, accompanied by Thor, the new All-Father. They find the tomb and Thor recalls a tale told him many years ago by his father Odin: When life was created, so was the Anti-Life, a being called the Rokkva. An early king named Ode wanted to control it but it slowly drained him of all that was human; his body was buried here, to be guarded forevermore. And now, Thor tries to destroy Ode’s living, evil heart with Mjolnir but its tentacles reach out, transforming Thor into a cold zombie-like figure….

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