Thor lives in Oklahoma?

9:18 PM EDT on September 12, 2007

So far, I think we've done a pretty good job of covering most of the weird news that comes out of this state. Then I see this strange headline at NewsOk.com:

Oklahoma's 'Thor' Tops July Comic Book Sales

When I clicked on the link, I was greeted by the following odd text:

Oklahoma's superhero topped the sales charts for July, as "Thor" No. 1 was the most-ordered comic book by comic specialty shops.
Industry Web site ICV2.com estimates "Thor" No. 1 sales at 165,235.

What the hell!?! Thor the Viking is from Oklahoma? When did this happen? Then I find this story on NewsOK that was posted on July 13th:

Thor comes to the Sooner State in the relaunch of "Thor." Based on the mythological Norse character, Thor was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962. Thor will make his home in Oklahoma in the new series from Marvel Comics, publishers of "Amazing Spider-Man" and "X-Men."
Writer J. Michael Straczynski, who penned "Amazing Spider-Man" for nearly seven years, and is the creator of the TV show "Babylon 5," is the writer of the new "Thor" series.
Straczynski said he wanted to feature a key Marvel hero in an area other than New York City.
"I wanted to put this somewhere fresh, somewhere in the American heartland, and for a number of reasons, including the Heavener runestones, this seemed like the perfect place," Straczynski said in an interview with The Oklahoman.

Okay. I'll be the first to admit that I know nothing about Thor, other than it's the fake name I sometimes give to City Bites when I order my California Club on Tomato Basil bread. And I only do that because I'm a jackass, and because it's pretty funny to hear 16-year-old stoned girl say "Thor. Your order's ready. Thor" on the microphone.

But really, what in the name of Grace Hanadarko is going on here? Can't we get some sort of respectable fictional series to be set in our state? Is Thor and Saving Grace the best we can do?

In a way, maybe it is.

The first two mainstream, "realistic" fictional portrayals of our state that come to mind are Where the Heart Is and The Grapes of Wrath. And I'm not really sure they did us any favors. Plus, things could be worse, Bradley Beasley could produce some riveting documentary on the people that go the Oklahoma State Fair, or CBS could announce that Big Brother 9 is going to consist entirely of Oklahoma City Weathermen. Which on second thought, would be amazingly awesome! We need to work on that. Maybe Thor will help.