Female Thor is not the real problem

By the Eye of Odin! Thor is now a woman. What in the name of Asgard is going on?

Well, I’ll tell ya.

First, let me state that I understand that every once in a while the people at Marvel have to change things up to keep it new and interesting to generate sales. By that logic I have learned that they even once turned Thor into a frog…man, I’m glad I stopped reading comic books when my sons outgrew them back in the early to mid-90s. I don’t know if I could have handled the God of Thunder being an amphibian.

How would a frog be seen as worthy? Heck, how would a frog even be able to wield Mjolnir?? Never mind…

So, the powers-that-be decided making Thor a girl fits a story line. Okay. Got it. I admit that at first I thought it was just a ploy to keep fanboy cave dwellers enticed, because Penny from the Big Bang Theory doesn’t happen in real life. But after reading comments by longtime fans I decided I get the thought process of changing Thor up a bit every once in awhile.

Now the real problem – the lack of viable female characters being introduced to audiences in comic book form. Making Thor a girl for a short period of time for the sake of a current story line does nothing to fix that problem.

I was 12-13 years old when Marvel introduced Storm. They did a great job, and she is one of the most popular female characters in comic lore.

I was 16-17 years old when Marvel introduced two more popular female characters: Rogue and Shadowcat. Both have done very well.

In fact, BtVS creator, Joss Whedon, names Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) as an influence to his Buffy. New female characters can be introduced. Make sure they have cool names, a cool story and cool powers. It has been done, and it has been done correctly with huge success. The industry is lazy.

This isn’t just on comic books, movies are to blame too.

The movie industry has seen the popularity of The Hunger Games (female lead),

Divergent (female lead), Underworld, and a few others. Plus, someone like Emma Watson, and her fan base could definitely carry a franchise; or either of the girls from the Percy Jackson movies (Alexandra Daddario and Leven Rambin) could both be leads in action type movies. Jamie Alexander (Lady Sif) could do the same as a main character, though probably not as Sif.

Personally, I think YA literature has taken the lead in bringing strong female characters to the forefront. I hope that my Julie will get a chance to continue to build a strong female presence and fan base. Maybe someday the rest of the entertainment industries will catch up.