Jane Foster and Runa are the last surviving Valkyries. But Karnilla, the Queen of Hel, means to fix that oversight. Your Major Spoilers review of Mighty Valkyries #3 from Marvel Comics awaits!

MIGHTY VALKYRIES #3

Writer: Jason Aaron & Torunn Grønbekk
Artist: Mattia De Iulis/Erica D’Urso
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Editor: Will Moss & Sarah Brunstad
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 16, 2021

Previously in Mighty Valkyries: While Kraven the Hunter stalks Jane Foster on Midgard and the newest Valkyrie fights for her soul on Perdita, Karnilla, the queen of Hel, works a miracle in the land of the dead! But Karnilla isn’t Hel’s only ruler… and now she’s upset the cosmic balance. There will be a price to pay and Karnilla intends to ensure the Valkyries pay it.

CHILDREN OF THE AFTERLIFE

This issue features two intertwining stories. In the first half of Mighty Valkryies #3, Jane Foster is trying to protect a giant shape-shifting wolf from the unerring aim of Kraven the Hunter, while Runa works to free Kvasir, an oracle, from imprisonment. Jane and her mount manage to keep More the wolf free, but in so doing, lose track of the beast in the streets of New York. (At least they got to see “a man with lion eyes for nipples”, remarks her mount, in the most hilarious line of the issue. “T’is not every day!”) Rune manages to get Kvasir back home, only to find out about Jane’s travails and set out for New York. As for the Queens of Hel, Hela finds out what has happened to Karnilla, while Karnilla engages Loki himself to try and protect her newest charges, three young gods that she stole from Midgard for some sort of revenge plan.

KRAVEN AND KARNILLA

Like so many Aaron stories, Mighty Valkyries #3 is very complicated, featuring a lot of moving parts and interlocking stories, and for the most part, it works. I like how his portion of the issue and Grønbekk’s interlace, and the stories come together nicely at the end, but the divergent art styles are a problem for me. D’Urso’s work is strong comic book work, reminding me a bit of Daniel Acuna in spots. De Iulis, on the other hand, has a fully painted style that completely clashes with D’Urso’s. Both artists are doing good work, but it’s hard to feel like they’re in the same universe, much less opposite halves of the same story. It’s all very well-rendered work, but it also pulls me out of the story each time we swap, just due to the sheer difference in styles.

BOTTOM LINE: A LOT TO LIKE

With that in mind, Mighty Valkyries #3 is still a good book, and the compatibility of the writers is such that it’s easier to get past the less compatible art styles, leaving us with a better-than-average 3 out of 5 stars overall. I am hoping that Jane and Runa are going to unite, maybe even helping to found a new Valkyrior, but no matter what happens, the plot twists here will be bringing me back for issue #4. It’s a well-done comic book.

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