365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 365

Splash panel from "The End!" in Thor #145 (October 1967), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby,
inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Sam Rosen

And so, there you go. Verily!

So: why the Warriors Three? Like The Thing (in whose pleasant company we spent 365 days in 2009) and The Beast (2010), they're characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, so they fall within that primal and basic range of Marvel characters who've been present since the early years of the Marvel Universe. As Spock would say: "Ah...the giants." Yes, there were giants in those days, and I'm not even talking just about big-as-an-Asgardian-Home-Depot Volstagg. Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg were part of the larger-than-life mythology of Lee 'n' Kirby's Asgard, but rather than adapting the ancient myths (red-headed, bearded Thor and blonde Sif among them) to modern superheroic conventions, the Warriors Three were spun out of cloth by Stan and ripped timely from the thigh of Jack. Ewwwww. Maybe I should just say they wrote and drew them.

As fictional supporting characters they began then, but they've battled their way into my heart. I'd read and enjoyed several stories featuring the W3 before I started dropping them into this little puppet-town cow-blog every day for the past 52 weeks—mainly in Walt Simsonson's legendary Thor run, as guest stars in quite possibly the best New Mutants speciall ever, and in their four solo issues in Marvel Fanfare drawn by the incomparable Charles Vess. But I didn't know much more than that about them: the dashing one, the grim one, and the fat one.

There's plenty of archetypes for heroes in packs of three throughout history, literature, myth and fiction: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. Mo, Larry, and Curly. Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Crosby, Still, and Nash. Sabrina, Jill, and Kelly (or, if you prefer: Dylan, Alex, and Natalie). Groucho, Chico, and Harpo. Huey, Dewey, and Louis. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Prudence, Piper, and Phoebe. Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles. Jeremy, Richard, and James. Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Dmitri, Ivan, and Alexei. Ed, Edd and Eddy. Jack, Janet, and Chrissy. Manny, Moe, and Jack. Fluid Man, Coil Man, and Multi Man. Sting, Andy, and Stewart. Gödel, Escher, and Bach. Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo. Who, What, and I Don't Know. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato. Lather, Rinse, and Repeat. Reed, Sue, and Ben (in 2011). But probably Stan and Jack were most influenced by Athos (a planet on Stargate Atlantis), Aramis (a manly scent for manly men), and Porthos (first beagle aboard a warp-class starship). Oh, and D'Artagnan. Which makes four. Somebody needs to write Monsieur Dumas and let him know that. Also, that they are always carrying swords and not muskets.

Anyway, back to the Warriors Three: the dashing one (Douglas Fairbanks), the grim one (Charles Bronson), and the comic relief one (Falstaff, probably), begin as pretty broad caricatures, but it's clear that Stan and Jack have more in mind for them pretty early on with one of the first extended "Tales of Asgard" (Thor #137 starts this tale off) delving into the history of Hogun. But it's especially during Walt Simonson's run that all the Warriors step forward with distinct heroic personalities of their own. Volstagg started out as not much more than a bluffing braggart with a (big) yellow belly, but under the pen of Mr. Simonson he saves Asgard and Midgard, adopts a pair of Earth orphans, cheers up (and fills out) Balder, and sits on an insurgent and tells him tales of bravery rather than immediately strike him down. By the mid-eighties, Volstagg is shown to have a true soul: maybe not the most ept of Asgardians, but the one with the biggest heart. The expansion, if you forgive the word, of Volstagg is one of those rare personality jump-starts that isn't immediately retconned after Simonson leaves the title. And the old gag of Mrs. Volstagg being a shrew is finally tempered by his great love for her (not to mention their double-digit numbers of offspring). Here's a particularly touching scene I didn't get a chance to fit in over the past year from a post-Simonson Thor:


Panels from Thor #397 (November 1988), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Ron Frenz,
inks by Brett Breeding and Don Heck, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Jack Morelli


Volstagg even comes off well during one of the series' lower periods, The "Lost Gods" serial in the post-Onslaught replacement for Thor, Journey Into Mystery, as a chunky TV chef with a metal skillet to bash baddies' skulls. I think if you count up the number of times I've used each of the three Warriors this year, you'll find Volstagg far out in the lead. The writers and artists love him a lot, and so do I.

But it's together...all for one and one for all...that the Warriors battle on into our legends and our hearts. It's been a good year to be a Warriors Three fan: several high-profile Thor comics and books have featured the W3. There was that fairly entertaining movie which coulda been made even better with more Joshua Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, and especially a hundred or so more pounds of Ray Stevenson. 2011 saw the publication of the first Warriors Three miniseries, and the republishing in trade form of several more tales from Marvel's past history. And despite the grim and gritty landscape of the past several years of the Marvel Universe, the Warriors Three (especially Volstagg) have taken important roles right up front, from their post-Civil War return to Midgard following Ragnarok, to crashed Asgard of Siege, to the counter and kitchen of Bill's Diner in Broxton, Oklahoma, to quite possibly one of the finest Volstagg and Family stories of recent years (Journey Into Mystery #630).

So if you learned and laughed and enjoyed and wondered at this feature every day at five pm (Asgard Central Time) for the past three-hundred-sixty-five...well, I'm with you on that one. I've come to know and love the Warriors Three more than ever.

Rudyard Kipling wrote:

One man in a thousand, Solomon says,
Will stick more close than a brother.
And it's worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.
Nine nundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you.

...

...The Thousandth Man will stand by your side
To the gallows-foot—and after!

Thor's one of the luckiest ones in the Marvel Universe: like Ben Grimm, like Alex Power...he has three that stand beside him, all the way to Valhalla.


Panel from Thor: Vikings #5 (January 2004), script by Garth Ennis, pencils and inks by Glenn Fabry,
colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Dave Sharpe

But let's not ponder on inevitable, once-in-an-eon Ragnarok (which has happened about seven times so far in the Marvel Universe)...let's go out the way so many of those grand Thor issues go out...with a mighty roar, a hoisting of arms, and a cheer for Asgard!
Panel from Thor #250 (August 1976), script by Len Wein, breakdowns by John Buscema,
finishes by Tony DeZuniga, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by John Costanza

There'll always be an Asgard. And there'll always be a Warriors Three. So say we all!