Valkyrie – Jane Foster #2 Review: Long Live the Valkyrie

Bullseye has arrived and Heimdall is down. Jane is still learning how to use her new powers, but will as a Valkyrie anyway. 

Valkyrie – Jane Foster started off well enough with its first issue. It caught new readers up to speed on the character and served as a reminder to fans why they love the character. There were also some fun explorations of her new powers that worked really well. However, it was going to be difficult to differentiate Jane as Thor and Jane as Valkyrie if the series continued as is. However, this issue goes a long way to differentiate into two identities.

This issue is pretty much entirely focused on the action from a plot-perspective. Given that Jane is fighting Bullseye with an enchanted sword and Pegasus, this shouldn’t really come as a surprise. This is a match-up that really is unexpected given the vast difference in power levels of the two characters. However, this is Bullseye we’re talking about. And because it’s Bullseye, it makes the fight between Jane and him all the more thrilling. As Jane actually mentions in this issue, the two characters are opposites, and it’s always fun to see opposites go head to head against each other.

During the fight though, the issue manages to do a lot to prove that this version of Jane is different from when she was Thor. Different powers are a start, but it goes more than that. Like Thor, she often had to just hammer her foes into submission. She did talk them down at times, which showed how compassionate she’s able to be. But this issue does a good job of showing that’s more than just hammer, she’s smart too. Yeah, she’s a doctor so she’s obviously smart, but we get to see it in this issue in a way that was different than her time as Thor.

The end of this issue also sets up at least one more arc of the story that is going to take the series in a really interesting direction. A direction that honestly feels more at home within the DC Universe rather than the Marvel Universe. That’s exciting as a fan of the more mystical related stuff that the DC Universe does so much better than Marvel does.

Cafu does a great job on art with this issue as well. It’s brutal when it needs to be brutal. Exciting when it needs to be exciting. And satisfying when it should be satisfying. There really is a great feeling seeing Jane punch Bullseye in the face multiple times. Cafu’s design choice for the way that Jane perceives death is so clever too. It was interesting in the first issue, but here, he does more with the concept and it makes it more interesting.

CHECK OUT: Valkyrie – Jane Foster #1 Review: A New Chapter Begins