Blogotional: Comic Art

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Comic Art

What is a man without the loe of a good woman? - And what sort of woman could love a god? Why another god, of course! Case in point today, The Lady Sif - immortal love of Thor, who remains the central character of the Marvel-published saga of Asgard. Which is, of course, where we return this week as we explore the greatest work of the greatest comic artist of all time - Jack Kirby.

I must confess to you that as a young lad, Sif was a drag. Who needed the hero carrying on and *shutter* kissing. As I grew older, her obvious feminine appeal became apparent - which in some sense sets Sif apart from almost all other women in comics.

Sif has, on occasion, picked up a sword and fought, like any good denizen of a warrior race, but she is, in the end, all woman, in the traditional sense of that word. As an asgardian she can kick the crap out of pretty much any human male on the planet (super-powers excepted) and yet she chooses to rely on her male, in this case Thor, to protect her and keep her safe. She is the strong one in the relationship and yet she manages to hold up the ego of her man in that way only a truly loving woman can.

Of course, as in all things, Sif is changing to meet the more modern ideals for a woman, and the things that I came to truly love about her are rapidly disappearing, and that is sad. For many years she was the truest of all women in comics.