Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Kieron Gillen & Marguerite Bennett
Artist: Phil Jimenez & Stephanie Hans
Cover: Stephanie Hans
One of the many revelations to come out of Original Sin was that Thor had a sister. It was also revealed that his sister, Angela, who believed herself to be an Angel of the Tenth Realm, was actually an Asgardian. Unfortunately that family reunion didn’t go over smoothly since she had been raised to hate all Asgardians. Now picking up after Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm, we see what new path Angela is on, and how her role in the Marvel Universe is changing.
Kieron Gillen’s introduction to Angela is one of the better number one issues to come from Marvel recently. It pushes her story forward rather than going back to rehash her time with the Guardians of the Galaxy or even her adventures during Original Sin. The issue also focuses on Angela as Gillen provides a sense of who she is. He expands on a particular story element hinted at in The Tenth Realm when it comes to how the Angels conducted business. They do nothing for nothing and everything has a price. Gillen and Bennett do a wonderful job showing through a flashback how Angela has wholeheartedly adopted this lifestyle. This moment really opens up to the reader about Angela’s code, and sheds some light on how she came to be traveling with Sera.
Phil Jimenez provides the artwork for the main story, while Stephanie Hans makes the flashback look wonderful. Jimenez’s work is very strong here, whether you’re comfortable with Angela’s costume or not. Sure it’s still very 90s, but he chooses to focus on Angela herself and not sexualizing the character. He also depicts Sera with a different body type than what you might be used to seeing in a Marvel title when it comes to females. All of it is great to look at without being a distraction to the story. There’s some intense action scenes that remind readers just how deadly Angela is in battle. As far as the flashback goes, Hans makes it just as mood changing and awesome as the main story. The art style is completely different and completely immerses you in Sera’s story. I wouldn’t mind seeing this implemented more as the series continues.
Angela: Asgard’s Assassin is starting off with the hope of something that is worth your time and money. Hopefully this level of storytelling in both art and narrative will continue as things progress. So if you were on the fence about picking this one up you can jump over to the side that says to give it a try!
Infinite Speech
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If she’s wearing that outfit in the pages, which is essentially underwear with a large belt, she IS being sexualized. I don’t care how else she’s “presented.”
She’s pretty much wearing the same thing as Red Sonja and most don’t have a problem with her attire whether it be male or female. If Stephanie or Phil were drawing her bent over and in provocative positions just to titillate readers then I’d have a problem with how she’s presented to the reader but that’s not the case here. The focus isn’t how sexy they can make her (which was pretty much overdone in the 90s) but in actually telling a good visual story. Had they resorted to exploit her visually just to sell a few extra copies I would have been greatly disappointed.
Aaaaah. Alright. The WAY she’s drawn in that costume does have an effect. I’ll give you that. As for Red Sonja, I do have a problem with her attire. I’ve seen her recently drawn in MUCH better clothing, though. But yeah, that chain mail bikini is completely pointless. No self respecting warrior would wear underwear into battle. :/