Writer / Penciller: Daniel Warren Johnson / Colour Artist: Mike Spicer / Letterer: Johnson & VC’s Joe Sabino / Collects Beta Ray Bill (2021) #1 - #5 / TPB / Marvel
Buy Beta Ray Bill #1-#5 from our webshop, where you can also purchase Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, also by Daniel Warren Johnson.
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8th December 2021 (Review by Paul)
The Pitch: The second-most famous wielder of Mjolnir! Beta Ray Bill is tired of life in Thor's shadow - and with Bill's own mighty hammer, Stormbreaker, recently destroyed at the thunder god's hands, Bill finds himself at a crossroads. The Korbinite must strike out in search of his destiny - assuming he can first defeat a Knullified Fin Fang Foom! Bill begins a hunt for Odin in hopes of resurrecting his golden weapon - but Stormbreaker is never coming back. Nonetheless, there is one place where Beta Ray Bill could restore his full powers. The All-Father of Nothing offers the Korbinite a path to immortality - but at a price not even a god can afford! Who will join Bill on a dangerous and deadly cosmic quest?
A confession, first up: I don't read Thor comics. Therefore, I don't know anything about Beta Ray Bill. Sure, I know who the character is, I've seen him in other things. But I wouldn't choose it as a specialist subject. So why did I pick this up in singles when it hit the shelves back in 2021? There's a simple answer for that and I think you know what it is if you read my review of Wonder Woman: Dead Earth. Daniel. Warren. Johnson. That's the context of how I came to be enthusing about this particular piece of work, so now some context on the book itself. Beta Ray Bill acts as an intense side-quest to The King In Black event, with BRB facing down a Knullified Fing Fang Foom as Johnson decides to put what would be the 4th issue cliffhanger in any other five-issue mini-series right at the top of the book. It does make you wonder how he's going to top it over the next four...
The book serves as a primer for beta ray bill neophytes and as the beginning for the next chapter in bill’s life
Worry ye not, mortal. BRB finds himself unable to perform in both the battle (where he is rescued by Thor) and later in the bedroom, where he finds he can no longer transform back into his original Korbininte, humanoid form. This puts a dampener on his burgeoning re-coupling with Lady Sif and renders any Korbinite manoeuvres impossible. Placing the blame on the loss of Stormbreaker (as destroyed by Thor), Bill sets out to find Odin for an answer to the problem. Sadly, he gets one. You know that old chestnut about the cure being worse than the disease? Well, here you go. BRB has to best Sutur, the God who once destroyed his home and the one who Bill gave up his humanoid form to be given the power to face in the first place. One of the fascinating and satisfying things about this is the way it acts as a primer on BRB for Korbinite Neophytes yet still gives you an excellent jumping-off point for the next chapter in Bill's life.
THE STORY IS A TRANFORMATIONAL ONE
Bill's life itself is an interesting melting pot of emotions. He feels shame, considering himself unworthy to have ever mixed Gods, but looking at his predicament, it's entirely of the Gods’ making. It's Thor who destroyed Stormbreaker, Odin who sends Bill off on his foolhardy mission to claim Surtur's sword... All so Bill can love himself and feel wanted by Sif. You come to realise that the story is a transformational one: Bill feels he can't love Sif as he should without changing back into his humanoid, Korbinite form whilst Scuttlebutt (Bill's trusty, sentient ship) is given a humanoid form of her own. Meanwhile, Pip is going through his own share of self-shaming about his appearance. Bill is joined by others looking for transformations of their own, including one character I wasn't expecting to see... The quest becomes Mad Max: Fury Road in Hell as Bill and his crew journey to face Sutur. For the Kaiju / Cthulhu lovers among you (me, basically) there are a pleasing amount of fuck-off big monsters for Bill to face and fight down.
Johnson writes with heart and depth, whilst drawing like his life depended on it
Johnson writes with heart and depth, whilst drawing like his life depended on it. Everything is thrown into the pot for this one. Cutaways of giant spacecraft, monsters, magical swords and thunder, writ large for you to feast your eyes on. It's a beast. Johnson's regular colourist Mike Spicer gives us a rich palette of gold and red glory, giving regal fury to hardworking, space-faring folk. VC's Joe Sabino (working with Johnson) let's battle-cry commence on the lettering, with sounds seeming like they're etched into the character's vocal cords. My one gripe? Why isn't this a treasury edition? It sure as hell deserves to be. But it's a small gripe that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the book and will give Marvel another chance at my wallet when they get wise and do it anyway.
Buy Beta Ray Bill #1-#5 from our webshop, where you can also purchase Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, also by Daniel Warren Johnson. Beta Ray Bill is available as a trade from Gosh Comics where it was one of their picks of 2021.