Balder the Brave gets four issues to himself. Walt Simonson does the covers—because nobody’s buying this if it’s not connected to his stellar Thor run—and Sal Buscema does the inside art. Sal’s good—it’s a worth entry into the Simonson Thor era.
And it’s got the patented, genius Simonson sound effects.
The story shows the “chaotic neutral” character Karnilla holding Balder as her sex slave, until Balder figures out that Odin is believed dead and he’s needed in Asgard. He figures it out because bats tell him. Apparently, Balder can talk to all the animals. I didn’t know he had that power. But they tell us, right on the splash page…
From there, we have some A-Team type prep panels where Balder, who is basically fat now, gets all cut by retraining himself for combat, and then he has a series of adventures in Asgardian realms.
In the end, he leaves Karnilla, Queen of the Norns, to return to Asgard—but he gets a ring and a big kiss.
It’s worth noting that Balder carries this book alone—Thor doesn’t even appear!
Here’s the final page–just an “altogether” pose shot.
