

This being comics-and the fact that Brunnhilde had started out as a ghost in the first place-that didn't stick. Technically a ghost, she possessed the comatose body of regular human Barbara Norriss in order to fight crime alongside a group of heroes that included the Hulk, Doctor Strange, and the Silver Surfer.Īlthough never a massive fan-favorite, Valkyrie nonetheless managed to stick around in the Defenders comic until it was canceled in 1986 with a final issue that featured her apparent death. The third take on the character (all of whom shared the same visual, in addition to the same name), Brunnhilde was the first Valkyrie to fight alongside the good guys, instead of against them. The Valkyrie that comic fans know now first appeared in 1973, when Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema debuted Brunnhilde-one of Odin's finest warriors-in the pages of The Defenders #4. (As if to prove 1971 was a strange year for Marvel Comics, real-life journalist Tom Wolfe is present at the fight, commenting, "I'd compute that the radical chic season for the year 1971 just ended on the Upper East Side.") The next incarnation wouldn't show up for another year, when The Incredible Hulk #142 introduced a student zapped by the Enchantress who became a reincarnated Valkyrie who yells-in the unmistakable parlance of the time-"Up against the wall, male chauvinist pig!" at the Hulk before fighting him. In 1970's Avengers #70, Valkyrie is just a disguise for the Enchantress, a Thor villain who was trying to lead the female members of the team astray. Indeed, the first appearance of Valkyrie didn't actually feature Valkyrie at all.
