Michael Avon Oeming: Thor's Divine Hammer

Posted: Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Posted By: Mike Stroniolo

Michael Avon Oeming is an accomplished comic book artist with titles such as Powers and Bulletproof Monk under his belt. Recently he’s decided to venture into the writing department, penning books such as Hammer Of The Gods, Bastard Samurai, and many others. Now he going to handle the writing tasks for a run on Marvels’ own Asgardian God, Thor. Here’s what he had to say about the title…

Mike Storniolo: What plans to you have in mind for Thor? What are you planning to do that will make it really stand out from the rest of the character’s history?

Mike Avon Oeming: We wanted this to be a touchstone for the series. It will look back much of the history; from the forming of the Avengers to the end of Dan Jurgens run. We'll see LOTS of characters from Thor’s past whom we haven’t seen in a long time, plus some new ones. I promise there are things being done in this arc that we have not seen in Thor before. It’s also self-contained, so those of you curious about Thor can check it out without the pain of investing in an ongoing story arc.

MS: What super villains, if any, can we expect to pop up during your run? If not super villains, what kind of threat(s) might arise?

MAO: Thor villains! [laughs] No kidding, there are tons of cameos, some we have not seen since the 70s. This is overall, about Thor, Loki and the family. Sopranos with winged helmets. Someone gonna get wacked.

MS: Given that Thor is a staple in the Marvel Universe, are there any worries you have about writing the series?

MAO: Besides embarrassing myself, 40+ years of continuity and ruining my chances of ever writing a mainstream book again? Naw...

MS: Did you pitch your Thor story to Marvel, or did they approach you? What was the process of dealing with Marvel like?

MAO: A little of both. They knew I wanted some Thor work and Bendis kept bringing my name up at meetings. So when the time was right, it happened. So far, working with Marvel has been super smooth; Tom Brevort and Andrew Schmidt are great help and good guys. Plus I get to read Jurgens’ Thor scripts before they hit the stands, and that’s cool.

MS: Are there any restrictions on Marvel’s part, about what you’re allowed to do with/in the book, or are they just letting you run with it?

MAO: None really. I know I’m playing with their toys, so it’s their rules- but so far none of them have gotten in the way of being creative. I think I have it easy though with one story arc, plus not having to deal with picking up someone else’s story.

MS: Most of your writing has been with your own characters; has there been any difficulty or challenges writing an established character like Thor?

MAO: Not yet. If I was asked to write Spider-Man or The Avengers- I don’t think I could pull it off. Certain things I can click with. Thor, Daredevil a few other things yes, but put me on Iron Man or X-Men and I’m lost.

MS: For any Thor fan that is may be unsure of your writing on the title, what would you say to help catch their interest?

MAO: This is a touchstone for the series over-all, they will see characters they haven’t seen in a long time- also, this is self contained, if they don’t like it, its not tied into years of reading. If you’re not sure about the writing, check out Hammer of the Gods, Parliament of Justice or Bastard Samurai, all very different kinds of books.

MS: Does your Thor connect to Avengers Disassemble in any ways? Is there anything you can say about it?

MAO: It takes place just before it, so I’m sure some of the events in my story will be touched on in Bendis story.

MS: Did you have a lot of prior knowledge of the character/title before writing it, or did you have to do some research into it? Has it been any help?

MAO: I did, but most of it from the early stuff like Simonson, Buscema and Kirby. I had a lot of catching up to do. There’s a great Thor message board that was a huge help, plus Tom Brevort and Ralph Macchio have a vast knowledge of the book to help out.

MS: Are there going to be any similarities between Thor, and your previous work on Hammer Of The Gods?

MAO: Not really, other than an epic feel.

MS: Is your approach to writing Thor any different than that of your previous writing works?

MAO: I think its better! [laughs]

Visit Mike’s website at Mike-Oeming.Com.

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