Thor

Marvel Comics

In version of Thor, Odin thought Thor needed to be taught a lesson in humility. So, he transformed him into a medical student named Donald Blake with a lame leg. Donald had no idea he was Thor. However, he found a walking stick and upon striking against a rock, it became his hammer and he became Thor. Thor became a staple superhero in the Marvel Universe.

DC Comics

A more traditional version of Thor appears in The Sandman. He is over-musclar idiot with a hammer able to change size. In "Seasons of Mists", he accompanies Odin to the Dreaming and keep an eye on Loki, while they tried (and failed) to convince Morpheus to give them the key to hell. In the "Kindly Ones", he taking Loki back to Hel, but Loki nearly tricks him into killing him (Hel is much worse then death), but Odin stopped him.

Comico Comics

Here is a wannabe hero that often causes more help than harm. He appears in the Elementals series.

Willy Vandersteen

Willy, a Flemish comic artist, created a caveman called "Tor" (in Dutch the difference in "T" and "Th" is rarely noticed). However, the actual god Thor appears as being very powerful, but bound by responibility.

Valhalla (comics)

Thor (the guy in the picture above with the red hair) appears in a comic called Valhalla, which, despite being base on mythology, makes jokes involving other pieces of fiction and current events. Here is he a powerful, but honest, god. In this, he is married Sif.

Others

• Weird Comics featured a scienist that gained the powers of Thor from a lightning bolt.
• Thor appears in Life Eaters.
• Image Comics have had two villainous versions of Thor.
• The comic strip BC has caveman named Thor.
• El Cazador De Aventuras, an Argentinan Comic, featured Thor in it's Ragnarok remake.

References:

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(comics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(Comico_Comics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(Marvel_Comics)

The Sandman "Seasons of Mists" and "The Kindly Ones" TPB

Shade, the Changing Man

Steve Ditko Years
Rac Shade was a secret agent from the Meta-Zone, an alternate dimension, which is part of the even bigger Zero-Zone. Rac was framed for treason and was sentenced to death. Of course, Rac went on the run and tried to clear his name. He used the M-Vest that allows him to generate force fields and cause his appearance to change depending on the mental state of the viewer (hence "the Changing Man"). Mellu Loron, his former girlfriend, wanted to kill him, because she (incorrectly) thought he killed her parents. However, she changed her mind upon discovering that he saved her from the Area of Madness, which causes people to waste all their bodily functions on screaming. However, Rac is immune to the Area of Madness, due to his M-Vest. He was finally caught and put on trial. But, he leaped into the Area of Madness to escape. He joined the Suicide Squad, but ended up accidentally killing one of his own friends. Feeling guilty, he went back to his home dimension and hasn't been heard from since.
Peter Milligan

During the "British Invasion", Pete revamped Rac. Now, he was a poet sent to Earth to stop it's ever-growing madness. In this version, his vest was the "Madness Vest" and granted Shade reality warping powers. Despite the surreal nature of the comic, it took place in the DC Universe. The series used controversial (for that time) ideas and concepts (such as transgenderism and the JFK assassination). So, DC Comic created an imprint company for it and the other controversial comics called Vertigo Comics. The comic got a cult following, despite not selling in large numbers, and ran a full 70 issues.

Similar to Doctor Who, Shade had the ability to return from the dead, but with a new form. He has had a total of five forms: "the red-head poet", "the Changing Woman", "the black-haired lunatic", "the heartless mod" and "the bedraggled obsessive". Currently, he is a supporting character for John Constantine in Hellblazer.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shade,_the_Changing_Man

Kingdom Come

Promotional Art for Kingdom Come

Plot

10 years prior to the story, the Joker killed the staff of the Daily Planet. He was sent to trial, but a new superhero called Magog killed the Joker and people called him a hero. Upset that the public is treating this murderer as a hero, Superman withdraws from world at large. Due to Superman not being a role model for superheroes anymore, superhumans simply battle each other without cause or concern for the bystanders.
Impending Disaster

The story is told from the point of view of Norman McCay, who gains from the Sandman the ability to see into the future. With the help of the Spectre, he jumped through time and space to see what's happening. Magog's Justice Battalion tried to kill Parasite, but Parasite tore Captain Atom open... causing an explosion and killing millions of people.
Second Coming of Superman

Superman finally decided to come back and try to stop the rogue superhumans. He reformed the Justice League to include some of the "old" heroes (Green Latern I, Hawkman, Dick Grayson [now called Red Robin]) and reformed superhumans like Avia (daughter of Big Barda and Mr. Miracle). However, Batman thought that Superman was being too idealist and formed the Outsiders (which consisted of non-powered heroes [such as Green Arrow] and second and third generation heroes). Lex Luthor formed the Mankind Liberation Front (consisting of Silver Age villains and third generation villains).

Pact

The Justice League created a superhuman prision, but it was filled up within two weeks of its creation and pressure built as the superhumans started riots. Meanwhile, Batman discovered that Lex Luthor has brainwashed Captain Marvel. The prisoners of the before mentioned prison killed Captain Comet and Captain Marvel frees them. This leads to the JL and the rogue superhumans to clash.
Armageddon
While things get worse, the U.N. decided to nuke the superhumans. Wonder Woman and Batman stopped two of the planes with the bombs. But, one got pass them. Meanwhile, Superman and Captain Marvel clash. But, Superman managed to free Captain Marvel from the brain washing. Captain Marvel used his lightning bolt to cause the bomb to explose in mid-air, but it killed most of the superhumans.(Green Lantern managed to save a few) Superman went mad and runs amok (he thought everyone else died). However, Norman talked him out of this saying this was why humans fear the superhumans.
Epilogue
Batman opened up a hospital for the superhumans harmed in the previous battle and Superman restores the farm lands destroyed by Captain Atom exploding.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Come_(comics)

Webcomic

Xkcd (the comic above), a self-sustaining webcomic

Format
One of the reason people choose to make webcomics is because of the "infinite canvas" (the idea that on the web comics can spread out in any direction infinitely), rather be confined to the "finite" canvas of a piece of paper. Some web comics, such as Argon Zark!, have animation and interactive elements. Most webcomics use a traditional 3 to 4 panel format, although some comics use a style similar to comic books and manga.
Content
Webcomics (due to their independent nature) usually manage to escape the censorship of mainstream comics, hence enjoying freedom similar to the Underground Comix movement. However, the content can cause trouble, like when the Catholic League complained about the "blasphemous treatment of Jesus" at the hands of artist Eric Monster Millikin.
History
Starting around the 1980s, the first webcomics included Witches with Stitches and T.H.E. Fox. However, more and more people started to make webcomics to the point of an estimated 38,000 webcomics being published.
Business
Some webcomic creators have actually been able to work full-time on their webcomics, because they make money off them from banner ads on their site. A notable example is Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik (who make Penny Arcade). Others (such as Kaja and Phil Foglio) use webcomics to reach out to a wider audience. Some comics such as Order of the Stick and Diesel Sweeties have seen print.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webcomic

Marvel Apes

Plot

In a loose parody of Marvel Zombies, Gibbon's (a mutant with a simian appearance) finds his whole life went down the tubes when his wife left him. Due to boredom and depression, he let Fiona Fitzhugh experiment on him. Fiona discovered that he is "connected" to an alternate reality. Unfortunately, she accidentally sucked them both into this reality (later designated as Earth-8101), which was full of simian versions of the Marvel characters (such as Spider-Man's counterpart, Spider Monkey). While there Gibbon helped the Ape-Vengers (counterparts to the Avengers) stop Doc Ooktavius (an orangutan Doc Ock) and was allowed to join their ranks. Meanwhile, Fiona tried to get this reality's version of Reed Richard's (a baboon) help. Gibbon got to known the members of the Ape-Vengers... only to see them brutally kill Doc Ooktavius. While a gorilla Captain America chases him, Gibbon discover that "Captain America" is actually Baron Blood's counterpart (a vampire) and was using the Ape-Vengers as a way to get food. With the help of a group of heroes, Gibbon found the real Captain America frozen in ice. Then, he thawed him out and the duo stopped Blood.
Sequels / Spin Offs
The comic has several sequels such as Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution, where the Marvel Zombies meet the Marvel Apes, and four one-shots: Amazing Spider-Monkey, Speed Ball Special, Grunt Line and Prime Eight.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Apes

Marvel Rating System

History
Due to Marvel's turning againist CCA, they adopted the Mavel Rating System. It started out in 2001 as:

• All Ages
• PG
• PG+
• Parental Advisory / Explicit Content

The Motion Picture Association of America got mad as they hold the copyright for the term "PG rating". So, Marvel changed it to:

• All Ages
• PSR (Parental Supervision Recommended)
• PSR+
• Parently Advisory / Explicit Content

However, in 2005, they switched to a new version of it:

• All Ages
• A: Apporiate for age 9 and up
• T+: Teens and up
• Parental Advisory
• Max: Explicit Content

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Rating_Systam

Pearls Before Swine

Clockwise: Rat (Top right), Pig, Goat and Zebra the four main characters

Origin
Stephen Pastis (the creator of the strip) tried (failed) to get a comic called Rat (about a depressing philosophical rat) and The Infirm (about a struggle lawyer). He combined elements of both strips to make Pearls Before Swine. Several syndicates liked it, but weren't sure if it was marketable. However, United Media decided to put the strip on the Internet and see what kind of buzz it would make. Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert and fan of the strip) showed his fans the strip, which sparked enough interest for the strip to be published.

Characters

• Rat- He is a megalomaniac rat. He is self-center and acts out his own interest with disregard for other people's feelings. As such, everyone hates him (save Pig). He also thinks he is much smarter than he really is. He has been known to break the fourth wall to complain about the strip. He often writes very bad pieces of literature (such as Angry Bob Vol. I-III) that everyone hates.
• Pig- He is a kind-hearted, but naive and unintelligent pig. He is Rat's roommate and suffers the most abuse from him, but is dumb enough to think of him as a friend. He has a habit to talking to inanimate objects to the point of forming a "Fruit Buddy" club. His least likable trait is the fact is he is a cannibal.
• Goat- He is an intellectual goat. However, he can barely stand the stupidity of Pig and cruelty of Rat. He often criticizes the poor quality of Rat's literature (such as Angry Bob Volume II, where Bob "un-dies").
• Zebra- He is a zebra who tries to deal with the predators attacking him and his herd. A recurring gag early on in the strip is that his herd will do stupid things to try (and fail) to avoid getting eaten. He has a cat named Snuffles (who was revealed to be a terrorist).
• Guard Duck- He is a guard hired by Pig, because a guard dog was too expensive. GD starts as having a temper-problem, but was changed so he sees the whole world as a battle field. He often suggests militaristic solutions to problems in the neighborhood.
• Crocodiles- The main antagonists. The Fraternity of Crocodiles (the official name is "Zeeba Zeeba Eata") are a group of stupid crocodiles, who speak very poor English and have odd accents. Their main goal is to eat Zebra (who they called "Zeeba"), but never succeed.
• Larry-He is the dumbest of the crocodiles and is possibly the leader. However, he doesn't live in the Zeeba Zeeba Eata house. He has a wife, who is much smarter than him, and a son, called "Junior", who is not only smarter than him, but also a pacifist and vegetarian.

Name

The title comes from Matthew 7:6, where Jesus says "Neither cast ye your pearls before swine". In the context of this comic, Rat thinks he is the wisdom being wasted on "the swine" (Pig).

References:
Pearls Before Swine: Sergeant Piggy's Lonely Heart's Club Comic

Various PBS strips

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearls_Before_Swine_(comic_strip)