The name got me so close to a joke about a Warriors Three/Daughters or the Dragon team-up (which sounds pretty awesome), but the guy's name was Angar the Screamer, not Agnar. Damn.
I don't know why they decided to do a Balder the Brave mini-series during Simonson's Thor run. Maybe because Simonson needed for certain developments to take place, but couldn't spare the pages in the main title.
The series starts after the big battle against Surtur, as Thor prepares to storm the gates of Hel to retrieve mortal souls. Balder's been to Hel and escaped, though badly traumatized, so they'd like him to come along. Balder had been living with Karnilla the Norn Queen, who has had a thing for him for at least the previous 200 issues. He's been trying to smooth down her sharp edges, with limited success.
By the time Balder returns, Karnilla's been captured by the Frost Giants (as the opening move in an assault on Asgard), and Balder sets off to rescue her. By the time they return to her kingdom, Thor's refused to take the throne of Asgard, and Balder's been nominated. He starts out having seemingly abandoned any responsibilities, content to just hang out with Karnilla, and now he's taking on jobs that aren't even his.
Balder, who started Simonson's run depressed and possibly suicidal after being confronted with all the people he'd killed and thus consigned to Hel, regains some of his warrior's drive, but tempers it with mercy, such as not finishing the Frost Giants when he has the chance. Not that I'd ever understood Balder to be particularly bloodthirsty, but I guess the legions of dead say otherwise.
Of course, that mercy came back to bite him in the ass once Loki helped the Frost Giants regain their size, and they attacked while almost all of Asgard was stricken with a plague.
For Karnilla, she's always been very possessive. She wants Balder all to herself, and expects him to just ignore anything else. Which isn't going to happen, but she's been slow to grasp that. She hinders his chances in Hel, and gives the Frost Giants a dangerous weapon, by not giving him a legendary sword she has. Because she's too pissed he's leaving her to help dumb ol' Thor save some mortals. By the end, she's figured out she can't hold Balder that way, and doesn't try to stop him. She also doesn't go with him, choosing to stay and try to learn how to undo the curse the Frost Giants placed on her kingdom. Which is itself a change, since she previously regarded them as little more than her property, to dispose of as she saw fit. Now she feels a responsibility to them that supersedes her feelings for Balder.
Sal Buscema handles the art chores, so you know what you're going to get. Although there aren't as many of his typical haymaker punches as you'd expect in a story set in Asgard. Balder spends the first few issues either absent or training, and the third issue trying to infiltrate the Frost Giants' keep. It's only in the last issue he really starts throwing punches.
I don't know why they decided to do a Balder the Brave mini-series during Simonson's Thor run. Maybe because Simonson needed for certain developments to take place, but couldn't spare the pages in the main title.
The series starts after the big battle against Surtur, as Thor prepares to storm the gates of Hel to retrieve mortal souls. Balder's been to Hel and escaped, though badly traumatized, so they'd like him to come along. Balder had been living with Karnilla the Norn Queen, who has had a thing for him for at least the previous 200 issues. He's been trying to smooth down her sharp edges, with limited success.
By the time Balder returns, Karnilla's been captured by the Frost Giants (as the opening move in an assault on Asgard), and Balder sets off to rescue her. By the time they return to her kingdom, Thor's refused to take the throne of Asgard, and Balder's been nominated. He starts out having seemingly abandoned any responsibilities, content to just hang out with Karnilla, and now he's taking on jobs that aren't even his.
Balder, who started Simonson's run depressed and possibly suicidal after being confronted with all the people he'd killed and thus consigned to Hel, regains some of his warrior's drive, but tempers it with mercy, such as not finishing the Frost Giants when he has the chance. Not that I'd ever understood Balder to be particularly bloodthirsty, but I guess the legions of dead say otherwise.
Of course, that mercy came back to bite him in the ass once Loki helped the Frost Giants regain their size, and they attacked while almost all of Asgard was stricken with a plague.
For Karnilla, she's always been very possessive. She wants Balder all to herself, and expects him to just ignore anything else. Which isn't going to happen, but she's been slow to grasp that. She hinders his chances in Hel, and gives the Frost Giants a dangerous weapon, by not giving him a legendary sword she has. Because she's too pissed he's leaving her to help dumb ol' Thor save some mortals. By the end, she's figured out she can't hold Balder that way, and doesn't try to stop him. She also doesn't go with him, choosing to stay and try to learn how to undo the curse the Frost Giants placed on her kingdom. Which is itself a change, since she previously regarded them as little more than her property, to dispose of as she saw fit. Now she feels a responsibility to them that supersedes her feelings for Balder.
Sal Buscema handles the art chores, so you know what you're going to get. Although there aren't as many of his typical haymaker punches as you'd expect in a story set in Asgard. Balder spends the first few issues either absent or training, and the third issue trying to infiltrate the Frost Giants' keep. It's only in the last issue he really starts throwing punches.
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