#2 Thor, Odin and scripture according to Cletus Kasady

And GIVEAWAY. That should have been in the subject, right? Christ, I'm already doing this wrong.

Nov 22, 2023

Odin’s last words
GIVEAWAY
Carnage #1 – OUT TODAY!
Partially Naked Came The Corpse!
Everything else
Skade is your queen

A few months ago, I was writing Odin’s last words to Thor – words that should convince Thor that Odin was indeed dead and had left for Valhalla (for good. At least for now. This is comics, after all.) It’s hard to say anything original about death, but one thing is universal – the stories end.

My dad used to tell us stories about Ostegompen, a character he invented for our amusement during the long Sunday breakfasts of my childhood. Ostegompen loosely translates to “The Cheese Giant,” but the name is the only thing that suggests that his adventures began at the breakfast table – the stories were big, absurd and delightful. I used to perch on Dad’s shoulders while we ate, and my siblings and I would shout out ideas for what should happen while he improvised. An excellent storyteller, my father would seamlessly incorporate our suggestions into the tales, and the saga of Ostegompen is, to this day, without an end.

As ever, writing is mostly pillaging your memories. From Thor #35:

From Thor #35, with art by Juan Gedeon and colors by Matt Wilson.

It’s always difficult to know if personal stuff like that will land, so I was delighted to see that Screenrant picked it up, and even more so because I could send this fine example of comic book journalism to my father, who is baffled by my job at the best of times. (It did little to help the confusion, but I think he was touched nonetheless.)

Me, my sister, my mother, my father and my brother. Here, at a Viking Festival, because subtlety is for suckers.

My father is named Tore after Thor (Tor), I’m named Torunn after my father. Torunn means the one who is loved by Thor, and this all works out in the most pleasing of ways. Speaking of fathers—

GIVEAWAY - THE ALLFATHER

To celebrate the launch of this newsletter, I’m giving away this original painting of Allfather Odin. It’s oil on wood, painted by me, and if you want it, all you need to do is leave a comment (say whatever you want) on this post. As I just started my newsletter, the odds should be in your favor.

Carnage #1 is out TODAY!!

MYTH AND MADNESS

Listen, I want you to read this book. Even if you don’t like symbiotes. I’m so damned proud of it, and I’m so excited it’s finally out there in the world.

Writing this series has been a joy in itself, but working with Pere is the true delight of this book. I knew it was going to be something special once I saw his first pages, and it has evolved into one of those magical collaborations where I barely need to describe the panels, yet Pere does exactly what I want, only better.

We balance on a tightrope in this book – we need the action and gore – it’s Carnage, after all – but it wouldn’t land without the heavy emotional scenes and the subtle comedy of it all. Pere gets it.

Carnage #1:
Written by Torunn Grønbekk
Art by Pere Pérez
Colors by Erick Arciniega
Letters by Joe Sabino
Main cover Paulo Siqueira

I’ll write more about Carnage in a later newsletter, but for now:

Buy Carnage #1!

PARTIALLY NAKED CAME THE CORPSE!

The All-Star Annually Convening Cozy Detectives Club In Partially Naked Came The Corpse is a thirteen-part prose epic written by different writers, beginning with an extra-long first installment by Grant Morrison, who chose the name and set the tone for the endeavor. You can read Grant’s beginning for free here.

I had the dubious honor of writing part ten, which came out in last week’s PROJECT: CRYPTID – it was a ton of fun!

Other things

I’ll be in Greece for AthensCon. Come by and say hi!
I’m doing an AMA over at over at League of Comic Geeks TODAY. Ask me anything!
I was on Near Mint Condition last Sunday. I love Melanie and Omar, and as usual, the discussion went in some interesting directions. If you want to watch, you can do so here.