Valkyrie: Jane Foster #1
Valkyrie: Jane Foster #1 marks the third and most narratively ambitious superhero identity for Jane Foster, completing a character arc that Jason Aaron had been building across nearly a decade of Thor comics. Having previously served as Thor, Goddess of Thunder, Jane here becomes the sole surviving Valkyrie in the Marvel Universe — a role that fuses her identity as a physician with the sacred duty of escorting the dead — giving her a mythos entirely distinct from her predecessor Brunnhilde. The issue introduces Undrjarn the All-Weapon, a transforming bracelet forged from the remnants of the Ultimate Universe's Mjolnir, as a wholly new Asgardian artifact in the Marvel canon. As the debut of Jane Foster's solo ongoing series, it represents a landmark in how Marvel sustained a female-led Asgardian title beyond the headline-grabbing 'female Thor' moment, grounding the character's heroism in mortality, medicine, and grief rather than godhood.
In "The Job I Have to Do," Jane Foster, still grappling with her role as Valkyrie, attends a lecture by archaeologist Annabelle Riggs alongside her friend Lisa, hoping to uncover clues about Brunnhilde. When a sudden portal tears open during the event—drawing the attention of Dr. Strange—a trio of malevolent sorcerers from a dimensional prison emerge, setting in motion a deadly mission for the Grim Reaper, who’s been ordered by Mephisto to either kill Jane or claim the soul of a hero. Written by Jason Aaron and Al Ewing, with bold art by Cafu and striking colors by Jesus Aburtov, this first issue sets a haunting tone for Jane’s journey, all framed by Mahmud Asrar’s intense cover.
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The series was announced at C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) in 2019 and spun directly out of the 'War of the Realms' event, with the identity of the new Valkyrie kept secret until War of the Realms #2 hit stands. Jason Aaron, architect of the entire 'War of the Realms' saga, co-wrote the debut with Al Ewing, whose concurrent run on Immortal Hulk had cemented him as one of Marvel's most thoughtful writers of superhero existentialism; Aaron stated in interviews that he wanted to honor the emotional weight of Jane's cancer storyline by giving her a new purpose rather than a magical reset. Interior art was provided by CAFU (Carlos Alberto Fernández Urbano), with the main cover by Mahmud Asrar and a suite of retailer incentive variants by Russell Dauterman, Terry Dodson, and Meghan Hetrick. The series ultimately ran ten issues before ending in June 2020, a conclusion shaped in part by the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption of the comics industry, and was later continued through King in Black: Return of the Valkyries and The Mighty Valkyries.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Released July 24, 2019 (cover date September 2019); written by Jason Aaron and Al Ewing, interior art by CAFU (Carlos Alberto Fernández Urbano), colors by Jesus Aburtov, main cover by Mahmud Asrar.
- First appearance of Dr. Regina Hagen and Dr. Rudy Gillespie, two hospital colleagues who anchor Jane Foster's civilian identity as a morgue-level physician.
- First in-series appearance of Undrjarn the All-Weapon — a shape-shifting golden vambrace forged from the shattered remnants of the Ultimate Universe's Mjolnir — which serves as Jane's primary weapon and also functions as a key to Valhalla.
- Jane Foster's formal debut as the last surviving Valkyrie; her acceptance of that mantle was depicted in the bridge issue War of the Realms: Omega #1, making this #1 her first solo adventure in the role.
- The opening arc's central antagonist thread is established: Brunnhilde's enchanted sword Dragonfang is stolen from the villainous Fast Five (Blue Streak, Silver Ghost, Gold Rush, Redline, Green Light) and ends up in the hands of Bullseye, setting up the 'Sacred and the Profane' arc's key conflict.
- The issue introduces Jane's dual life tension — she is demoted to hospital morgue assistant by Dr. Regina Hagen as a consequence of her superhero absences, a dynamic writers Aaron and Ewing explicitly drew as a parallel to Thor's Silver Age Donald Blake secret-identity template.
- Heimdall appears in the issue and his fate — death at Bullseye's hands via Dragonfang — is foreshadowed when Jane's new Valkyrie death-sight reveals that he carries the largest fate she has ever seen.
- The first trade paperback collection, Valkyrie: Jane Foster Vol. 1 — The Sacred and the Profane, collects issues #1–5 alongside material from War of the Realms: Omega #1; a broader omnibus-style paperback, Jane Foster: The Saga of Valkyrie (2022), extends coverage to the full ten-issue run.
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Jane, along with Lisa, goes to a lecture by archaeologist Annabelle Riggs in hopes of getting information about Brunnhilde. After the lecture, with Dr. Strange in attendance, a portal opens and lets in a trio of evil magic users from a dimension used for a prison. Mephisto orders Grim Reaper to kill Valkyrie or bring him the soul of a hero, which would allow Reaper to be the new Valkyrie and under Mephisto's control.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).