Marvel revealed today that Kathryn Immonen will take over Journey Into Mystery with issue 646. Kieron Gillen left to take on Iron Man. The Gillen run starred Kid Loki. The warrior Lady Sif will become the new lead character.
“We talked at length as far as what her story could be, and it came down to a single question: What does she want? For Sif, what she wants above all is to be a better warrior. How far would she go for that? She makes some terrible decisions and puts a lot of people in peril,” explains Immonen of the lead change.
“One of the really interesting things about Sif to me is that she’s defined by absence, with her lover, Thor, and brother, Heimdall, always away from her.
‘What’s most interesting to me about the Asgardians is the inevitability of them. So much of their conflict is internalized because they don’t have alter egos. They’re also almost more human because of that.”
Immonen sets out the journey she’s planned for Sif and the change in tone of the title.
“Sif is not just a warrior. We’ve often seen her leading the charge, but I don’t feel like we’ve ever seen her in charge. Bear with me, but she’s kind of like my dog. He’s very committed to his pack, but never looks back because he assumes everybody else is as committed as he is. Sif is the same way.
I see a similarity between Sif and Loki because neither of them can ever be Thor. I think that has more effect on her then she’ll admit. She’s been told she’s capable of anything, but at the end of the day, she will never be Thor. It’s a matter of finding out how to be enough anyway.”
Sif is an action hero. Loki is not. They’re fundamentally different. I don’t use the talking to get to the fighting, I use the fighting to get to the talking.” says Immonen.
Journey Into Mystery #646 out this November. Editor Lauren Stankovich revealed up and coming Italian artist Valerio Schiti will provide art.
Jaime Alexander played Sif in Thor on the big screen. With this kind of higher comic book exposure could we see a bigger role for Sif in Thor: The Dark World.
If you love the idea of Asgardian warrior women then I highly recommend Fear Itself: The Fearless. This 12 part epic starred Valkyrie on a mission from Odin. Valkyrie defied the Avengers on a quest that has personal implications for her and took us across the Marvel universe.
I’m a huge Valkyrie fan. Hope she is part of Marvel NOW! too.
By Editor