Warning: contains spoilers for Beta Ray Bill #2
Beta Ray Bill is a cross between a horse, a god-like alien, and a body-builder, none of which should make him particularly good with finesse or skills that require precision. But Bill has a hidden talent that betrays his appearance as a clumsy meathead.
Writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson has taken Bill’s story as a side character and explored the depths of his life spent in the mighty Thor’s shadow. Beta Ray Bill #2 begins Bill’s quest to find a new weapon after Thor destroyed Stormbreaker—the hammer made especially for Bill that allowed him to transform and walk around without a long face. It just so happens that the former destroyer of Bill’s home planet, Surtur, left his sword just laying around in the realm of Muspelheim.
But before he could wield the Ragnarok-causing blade, Bill took some time to decompress on his spaceship Scuttlebutt. And what better way to relax than a good singles game of ping-pong. Yes, the hulking, mean-mugging alien with the strength to rival gods like Thor has the soft touch to wack a plastic ball around. And not even a Thor-modified version with a denser ball or stronger backboard, just regular ping-pong.
One wouldn’t think that Bill, who has defeated Thor several times, would have the restraint to play such a subtle game as ping-pong. For a guy who spends a lot of time swinging a hammer as hard as he can at various monsters, he shows tremendous discipline for table tennis. This is the same Beta Ray Bill that was tussling with the gigantic dragon Fing Fang Foom not one issue prior.
The brief glimpse at Bill’s pastime in this comic shows him working through his issues while bouncing the ball off a wall. Bill is a bit distracted since he has to worry over his ugly visage, Thor destroying Stormbreaker (the one thing that let Bill transform), and his search for Odin to find a new weapon. But the fact that this yoked-out bruiser can play at all without obliterating the plastic ball with one swipe of his paddle speaks to Bill’s control over his own strength. He only manages a few volleys back and forth before losing focus. But he didn’t burn a hole through the table (and it wouldn’t be hard for him to do).
Heroes on the Superman spectrum of super strength are often tested with withholding their full power in order to not kill lesser foes. Thor has struggled with this, once frying Tony Stark’s twin brother with a lightning bolt in the Ultimates series, accidentally killing Gregory Stark. That Bill can hold back speaks to his Beta Ray Bill's heroism. If he was out there punching holes in every villain or foe that faced him, Bill would match his menacing face. Instead he shows restraint. And can whip a ping-pong ball faster than the pros.
