MARVEL COMICS - Published April 2010

Writer: Kelly Sue Deconnick. Pencils: Ryan Steyman. Ink: Tom Palmer. Ink: Victor Olazaba. Colors: Juan Doe. Cover Art: Travel Foreman. Cover Art: June Chung. Editor: Ralph Macchio. Publisher: Dan Buckley. Executive Producer: Alan Fine. Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada. Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona.

I picked up Sif #1 after reading a brief interview with writer Kelly Sue Deconnick. Deconnick was hired to write this one-shot story about Sif as part of the Marvel Women initiative – a public relations event that hopes to bring more women writers into comics and promises to more prominently feature superheroines. In her interview with Comics Alliance, Deconnick says, “Being born a girl means being born at a disadvantage.” She discusses the societal expectations imposed upon women, the pressure to charm and be liked rather than have an opinion. For Deconnick, Sif is a character who has an opinion and isn’t afraid to say what’s on her mind and Deconnick’s story is “about Sif fighting an external enemy and the insidious doubts” that fill women’s heads.

From what I understand, Sif is one of Thor’s faithful Asgardian sidekicks and sometimes lover. In the past, she has spent most of her time searching for Thor, longing to be reunited with him. After the evil prankster god Loki destroyed Asgard and banished the souls of the Asgardians into the bodies of mortals, Thor rebuilt Asgard and searched the world for his mythical brethren.  While most of the Norse gods and goddesses, once awakened, chose to return to Asgard, Sif chose to remain among humans in small-town Oklahoma. Sif’s struggle to heal from an assault – her violent possession by Loki - serves as the emotional spine of the book.

By all appearances, Sif’s race is white – in fact, every character (sans extraterrestrials) in this book is white. Sif fits the warrior woman type – tall, strong, gruff, passionate, sexually powerful, and quick to fight. However, artist Ryan Steyman gives Sif a very slender, almost underweight body. She is so slim, in fact, that panels of her swinging her giant sword in battle are a little difficult to believe. When wearing her Asgardian armor and animal pelts, her thighs, shoulders and cleavage remain exposed, which hardly seems practical for a warrior goddess from a brutal land of snow and ice.

The story begins with Sif taking a bath. While the art doesn’t seem to sexualize her here, I can’t help but wonder how many times an issue of Thor has started out with him naked in a tub of conveniently positioned bubbles. (My guess is zero.) After Sif nearly kills her friendly landlady, thinking she is Loki returning to terrorize her, Sif heads down to the local bar.

A sleazy meathead-type approaches Sif and attempts to make an advance. Sif brutally pounds the man’s head into the bar as simply as if she were shaking his hand. With this act, Sif seems to declare that her body and personhood are to be respected – or else.

Enter Beta Ray Bill, a brawny lizard-faced alien and classic Thor ally. He’s come to Oklahoma (with his demure female mate) in search of Thor. Sif informs Bill that Thor’s unaccounted for at the moment and offers her help instead. After a moment of hesitation, Bill accepts. It is hard to believe that Bill and his mate are from the same alien race (the Korbonites). Bill’s reptilian face and build are exaggerated and terrifying but his mate’s face is soft and humanoid. Her body is much smaller than Bill’s and she is curvaceous and femmy. She is always shown clinging to Bill’s arm for protection.

Bill and his mate explain to Sif that their sentient spacecraft, the Skuttlebutt, was attacked, overpowered, and infected by an alien virus. The virus is stripping Skuttlebutt of her identity and is replacing the ships consciousness with the hive-mind that guides the invading aliens. Bill believes that Sif’s strength as a goddess of Asgard may allow her to withstand infection and rescue Skuttlebutt from alien control.

Sif obviously identifies with the assault on Skuttlebutt and vows to free the living ship. She boards the ship and fights off some alien bad guys until an enemy splatters Sif’s face with a liquid carrying the virus. As she begins to lose herself to the evil alien consciousness, Loki seems to take possession of her once again. Sif’s rage and willpower prevents both invading forces from taking control of her and she drives her sword into the heart of the alien consciousness before collapsing. She wakes up later, recuperating in Skuttlebutt’s reclaimed medical facilities. She has succeeded in rescuing Skuttlebut and in conquering her own inner demons. The Korbonites thank Sif for saving their ship and she returns, triumphant, to Oklahoma.

GRADE: B- (score 7)

-The Bechdel/Wallace Test

oGender - 5

1. • Where there at least two women characters with names? (+1)
   

2. •Did these two women talk to each other? (+2)
   

3. •Did they talk to each other about something other than a man? (+2)
   

oRace - 0

oSexual Orientation - 0

-Representations of Gender - 2

oWere women characters portrayed as sexual objects? (-1)

oWas a woman portrayed as a doting lover or girlfriend? (-1)

oWas a woman the focus of the story or the lead character of the book? (+2)

oWere there women who resisted sexist stereotypes? (+1)

oWas a woman presented as powerful enough to defeat any enemy alone? (+1)

-Representations of Race - 0

-Representations of Sexual Orientation - 0