This is "Out of Sight," a feature where I explore notable comic book moments that occurred off-panel. When I say "off-panel," I'm mostly talking about a character not being around and then showing up and us learning that something dramatic happened to them off-panel. I'm flexible enough that I can deal with maybe something "in between panels," as well. You can hit me up at brianc@cbr.com if you have a suggestion for a future column!
My pal, Fraser S, suggested the fact that Jane Foster seemingly has led a remarkably interesting life...with much of it off-panel!
Obviously, in recent years, Jane has become Thor...
and now the new Valkyrie...
but for years, she was just Don Blake's nurse when Thor was in his Don Blake identity that he yearned for but could not be with...
Eventually, she was written out of the series (that whole deal deserves its own column) and she became the nurse for another doctor, Keith Kincaid.
After a few hundred issues, we discover that in Thor #279 that Jane and Keith are now dating...
Then, after a situation where Jane sort of kind of went missing due to some mystical mumbo jumbo, we learn in Thor #332 (by Alan Zelenetz, Don Perlin and Vince Colletta) that Jane and Keith actually got engaged at some point off-panel!
Thor goes off to bring Jane home (in part because people think Don Blake was responsible for her disappearance) and we do, at least, see Jane and Keith get married in Thor #336 (by Alan Zelenetz and MD Bright)...
However, when a reporter checks in with Jane in Thor #394 (by Roger Stern, Bob Hall and Tony DeZuniga), we see that in the time since we last saw her, Jane has had a child!
Dr. Kincaid and Jane make a few appearances here and there over the years.
Then, in Thor #5 (of the 1998 series, by Dan Jurgens, John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson), Jane has become a doctor off-panel!
That's Jake Olsen, Thor's then-new identity.
Okay, so Thor "dies" at the end of that volume and when it relaunches in Thor #8, Don Blake is back, as well, and in Thor #8 (by J. Michael Straczynski, Marko Djurdjevic and Danny Miki), we see that Jane has divorced her husband off-panel and left her child to go search for Don/Thor...
Finally, in Mighty Thor #704 (by Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman and Matthew Wilson), we learn that at some point after that (at least based on Thor's costume in the flashback), that Jane's ex-husband and son were both killed in a car accident...
That's a whole lot of joy AND darkness that took place off-panel in Jane's life!
hanks for the awesome suggestion, Fraser!
If anyone else has a suggestion for a notable plot point (or, like here, MULTIPLE plot points) that happened off-panel, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!