I'm very pleased to announce my next book, A Philosopher Reads... Marvel Comics' Thor: If They Be Worthy, coming out next year from Ockham Publishing ahead of the highly anticipated film Thor: Love and Thunder. (Information about pricing and pre-ordering are coming soon.) UPDATE: It's now available.
From the publisher website:
We all know the Mighty Thor: Prince of Asgard, son of Odin the All-Father, and God of Thunder. He has long been one of the few in the universe worthy to wield the mystic hammer Mjolnir… until, one day, he is not. Soon, a new Thor emerges, a woman who commands the thunder and the hammer in ways all her own. She is none other than Jane Foster, and as she learns to be her own version of the Mighty Thor, the Odinson can only watch and wonder why he is no longer worthy, while this new Thor clearly is.
This is not just the story of two Thors, though. This is a tale of worthiness: what it means, how it can be lost, and how one can reclaim it. This is the journey of a god-prince, born and raised to be a hero who wields the ultimate weapon, who suddenly finds himself unable to even budge it and has to struggle to relearn who he is and what it means to be a god. This is also the adventure of Dr Jane Foster, battling the scourge of cancer whilst juggling the responsibilities of being a god, before being forced to choose between the two.
In this book, philosopher Mark D. White, author of A Philosopher Reads Marvel Comics’ Civil War and The Virtues of Captain America, introduces you to the world of Thor and leads you through the legendary saga of Jane and the Odinson, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Esad Ribić, Russell Dauterman, and many others. Along the way, White draws on Western and Eastern thought, ethics and existentialism, as he explores the philosophy of self-worth and worthiness, as well as questioning the nature of gods in the Marvel Universe.
Written in his characteristic light style, A Philosopher Reads Marvel Comics’ Thor is the perfect mix of superheroes and philosophy, accessible to new fans as well as experienced Asgardian travelers.
This is the long-awaited second entry in the A Philosopher Reads... series, following my book on the Marvel Comics "Civil War." It is a slim volume, about a third as long as the Civil War book (as well as my other books on Captain America and Batman); as the series moves forward, I will alternate between "full-length" books, covering the entire history of a superhero or team, and "novella" length ones, focusing on a specific storyline or period. (The third entry, already in the works, is planned to be full-length, but more of them after that will be novella length.)
As the description above says, A Philosopher Reads... Marvel Comics' Thor: If They Be Worthy covers the seven years of Thor comics written by Jason Aaron in collaboration with magnificent artists such as Esad Ribić and Russell Dauterman, starting with Thor: God of Thunder #1 in January 2013 and ending with King Thor #4 in February 2020, covering four volumes of Thor comics plus miniseries such as The Unworthy Thor, War of the Realms, and King Thor. (To provide background for these stories, as well as the characters and concepts in them, I discuss plenty of older Thor comics too—the reference list is quite exhaustive, trust me!)
It is also the first superhero-and-philosophy book of mine that is not based primarily on ethics, focusing instead on different philosophical aspects of the concepts of worth and worthiness as suggested in the adventures of Thor from 1960s to today, plus other concepts relevant to the story, such as godhood, humanity, and mortality, all of which Jane Foster and the Odinson struggle with in their own unique ways.
I'm sure I will have much more to say about this book in coming months, possibly including podcasts and videos (!), but for now I'll just say this: A Philosopher Reads... Marvel Comics' Thor: If They Be Worthy is a love letter to the concept and legacy of Thor, including both the Odinson and Jane Foster, and especially the incredible storytelling of Aaron, Ribić, Dauterman, and others. It is an honor to write about these characters and concepts, for which we all owe an Asgardian-sized debt to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and I can only hope I have done them, and everyone involved, justice with my words.
