Beta Ray Bill takes a bloody path to find his glory — and the perfect weapon to forge it with. And he’s even got a few friends to brave the battle alongside him. But the journey is one even Odin would call treacherous, and not all of Bill’s friends will survive. At least not in the form you know. Giddyup for Beta Ray Bill #3 by writer/artist/letterer Daniel Warren Johnson, colorist Mike Spicer and co-letterer Joe Sabino.
Skuttlebutt has a butt now.
The journey to Muspelheim has done some Weird Science to Bill’s ship and given its AI form as a sort of mannequin with antennae and good birthin’ hips.
Pop culture has a long history of turning computers into shapely ladies. See Gideon in Legends of Tomorrow, EDI from Mass Effect, Cortana in the Halo games. Ava in Ex Machina. Danger from X-Men. Even Amy Adams’ disembodied voice in Her fits the bill on a spiritual level. And of course, not a robot, not a woman but still checking off many of the boxes of the trope whilst lampshading them, Janet from The Good Place (and her himbo equivalent, Derek. Maximum Derek).
These characters exist to provide info dumps to the often male protagonists, to mother them at times, to stir feelings in them they don’t immediately understand, but rest assured they’re sexual.
Skuttlebutt is no exception. Skutt, like the men in this comic and really the protagonists of most Daniel Warren Johnson comics, is sad. Confused and scared, too — she can’t explain her transformation — and yet she continues to serve Bill, by transforming his ship to survive the lava flows of Muspelheim, revealing she’s kept records of all his journeys so he can watch highlight films (aka reread the Simonson run). She even makes him a shiny new robo-ax, complete with polycarbon nanite steel, mini-power thrust action and latching alternate blade attachments. It’s enough to make Skurge weep with weapon envy.
But it’s not Twilight. Bill is obsessed with Surtur’s old sword like a tween on Team Edward in 2008. To him, it’s the only thing that can help him transform back into his Korbinite form and give him the power he needs to be a real hero. Nevermind the fact Johnson draws him like a giant, orange, horse-faced Hulk who clearly hangs serious brain. Clearly he needs MOAR POWER!
Skutt obviously cares for Bill. Maybe as a mother figure. Maybe as a lover. Maybe both. Like any gynoid (I just learned a new word!) worth her circuits. But Bill is too far down his beating-himself-up hole to keep from hurting her.
It’s a bit telegraphed. Bill clearly will have to make a choice between his quest for self-worth and the new anthropomorphic version of his longtime computer companion. And it will teach him a valuable lesson about getting out of your head, being there for those who have been there for you, and realizing the magic was inside you all along, like a true Disney property.
But also, this is a DWJ book, so even if the plot is easy, we’re here for the art, first and foremost. And this issue, we get Skuttlebutt-loads of fire demons with (checks notes) flamethrowers.
Why do fire demons need flamethrowers? They’re magical creatures who live in a literal lake of fire. I suppose Skurge doesn’t own the market on an unhealthy obsession with modern weaponry, but still, one scratches the head. Still looks badass, though.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
