Saturday: The seventh day, Nordic for bath day due to the Viking practice of bathing on Saturdays.
Thor: Norse god associated with thunder and protecting mankind; a Marvel comic book hero created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby.
Moonshine: High proof distilled spirit, usually produced illicitly. Also known as White Lightening.
I don't know how the stars aligned to give me such a pitch perfect early Saturday but after seeing Thor: The Dark World, I reached for a copy of Marvel Visionaries: Walter Simonson's The Mighty Thor, Volume 3 and started reading. The collection starts as Thor leads an army into Hel to free the captured souls from Midgard (earth) being kept by Hela, Goddess of Death. After facing down Hela in a one on one showdown and having his face scarred in the process, Thor emerges victorious and heads to earth to clear his mind. There he gets mixed up with Beta Ray Bill, the Power Pack AND a jerry curled Beyonder to battle the evil Kurse, the super powered lackey of Malekith.
Simonson's art is crisp, detailed and exciting. Being on a different world, the costumes and colors pop, creating a kick ass blend of medieval fantasy action. I cracked up when some of Thor's warriors brought back crates of M-16's from Midgard and used them in Hel. His writing is also commendable as it takes you to a different world of magic mixed with myth. This is especially cool since most of Marvel's characters are grounded in reality, limitations and problems people could actually have.
The moonshine just seemed appropriate because each issue got crazier than the last. I remember a story about Rob Liefeld being handed a stack of early Fantastic Four issues to read along with every Beatles album to listen to in the background. The Beatles went to India and partook in some herbal enlightenment to open up their creative channels. I can't listen to music while reading and don't do drugs so this 70 proof Apple Pie will just have to do.
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