"The End" Week: Immortal Thor #25!

I wasn't reading this regularly, and seemingly missed the Roxxon-sponsored issues as well; but I did get several of this series from the dollar bins. It was probably always headed here, but there was at least one thing I liked about this issue...that probably won't be touched anywhere else, even though it should've been. From 2025, Immortal Thor #25, "The Twilight Kingdom" Written by Al Ewing, art by Janeth Bazaldúa Nava, Justin Greenwood, and Pasqual Ferry. Cover by Alex Ross.

The last few issues had the cover banner "Even an Immortal can Die," and sure enough, Thor is dead as Hel from the get-go here. While he had seemingly won his trials against Utgard-Loki, regular young Loki had stabbed him in the back: betrayal and murder...or sacrifice? While Sif and the Warriors Three are enraged, Utgard-Loki is merely confused: Loki advised him, "Would you know more, old trickster? More will be told." before disappearing. Skurge had been left on the Black Bridge by Thor, and had been told to stop Utgard-Loki and his forces at all costs: Skurge shatters the Black Bridge with his Bloodaxe, and falls into nothingness with a seemingly wry smile. The Black Bridge had been the opposite of the Rainbow Bridge Bifrost, and the two had been tied: the Bifrost shatters as well, and Asgard is seemingly separated from Midgard...retroactively, as we see a game show contestant struggle with but finally name all of the original Avengers: Iron Man, the Hulk, the Wasp, Ant-Man, and...Beta Ray Bill! (Yeah, give Bill some love! He's so cool.)

Sif, with sight like her brother Heimdall's, sees "a wave of forgetting...of rewriting the stories," and wonders if Bill remembers her. Asgard was now again only myth, and Thor entered into his death.

Thor finds himself, not in Valhalla or Hel, but in Vidblainn, the land of lost souls; with no Mjolnir and no storms. He is then visited by Har, Jafnhar, and Thridi: you know them, even if this was the first time we hear those names. They were Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, from X-Men/Alpha Flight #1! I don't know if they have direct analogs in traditional Norse myth; I feel like they were created as a narrative device for Loki to have someone to get power from and subsequently judge him. Here, they have some cryptic advice and warnings for Thor, as he walks the path of sacrifice, as Odin had before him, but that Thor would take a path not yet taken. (There's also a bit of foreshadowing for Thor's son Magni; who I think the Enchantress had pulled out of an alternate future, and was probably headed for a bad end.)

Next, Thor is visited by Don Blake, his one-time mortal identity...who was no longer. His eyes burned out by snake venom, Thor realizes Blake had been put through Loki's torment: Blake describes himself as having everything Loki no longer wanted. Thor feels bad for what Blake had been through, but he was dead now, so maybe time to let that go? Blake advises, he "could be so much deader," and tries to beat it out of him with Hellnir, a dark version of Mjolnir. Blake blinds Thor, which ironically opens his eyes: Thor had before, possibly more than once, sacrificed an eye for wisdom. He sees a way to "sacrifice himself to himself," and pick up a human soul neither he nor Blake now possessed. This leaves "Blake" now a soulless serpent-man, and Thor...gone.

Back on earth, the elfin boy "Lukki"--"Lucky?"--wakes up a man in an alley, seemingly after a mugging. Lukki returns a wallet and apartment key, but advises there was no ID, he would have to remember who he was himself. "Sigurd Jarlson." This would of course set up the next series, the Mortal Thor: somewhat tellingly, it only has that title on the covers, it's just "Thor" in the indica. And the first issue was Legacy #787, so I'd be surprised if he wasn't at least moderately more godly by #800. But what I wish, is that Marvel took a moment to acknowledge the continuity change and maybe retell a big Avengers issue, with Beta Ray Bill redrawn in for Thor! Avengers #166 would've been perfect for that. 

Also, darn it: I recently picked up but haven't yet read the Thor: Epic Collection Hel on Earth: it's later Roy Thomas issues, and not a highwater point for the character, but features maybe the start of Don Blake's "I want to be a real boy" heel-turn, from around Thor #475 in 1994. Wait: Thor, and Blake, debuted in Journey Into Mystery #83 in 1962. Walt Simonson phased out Blake in 1984's Thor #340, as the ability to change to a civilian identity was given to Beta Ray Bill. (Bill wouldn't turn into Blake, but would apparently lose that ability later.) I mention this because it looks like Blake's heel-turn has lasted longer than he did as a secret identity!

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This specifically doesn't count; and yet, here we are!

I did check a couple stores and more than a few bins, to see if I lucked into another iteration of Avengers #23: Bendis had one in 2012, Hickman in 2014 that looks like the new issue of 'Infinity,', and course there were stacks of variants and spin-offs: West Coast, New, Academy, Savage, Spotlight, Uncanny...the point is just that comics numbering is largely a nightmare and probably a hindrance to new readers. But, we've got one more issue, partly because I think I've bought it more than once and keep forgetting! From 1994, Avengers Annual #23, "Strangers on an Astral Plane" Written by Roy Thomas, art by John Buscema.

Yes, it's a riff on the Hitchcock classic Strangers on a Train, albeit in a bit more forced way. Pluto and Loki bump into each other, on a distant astral plane: Pluto was currently forbidden by Zeus from leaving Hades, while Loki was trapped in Mephisto's hell, yet they seem to be out for a little constitutional. And, Loki suggests, maybe they can help each other out: Loki could bump off Hercules, while Pluto wacked Thor. They would be able to look innocent; or at least set up alibis ahead of time. Back at Avengers' Mansion, it's two of the main activities we usually see there: training and brooding! Hercules and Captain America are both distracted and gloomy today. There's probably a board for it somewhere, like you see at daycares or animal sanctuaries.

In Hades, Loki frees the Titan Typhon, who should just be happy to get away from the torture, but wanted revenge against Herc and the Avengers for beating him way back in Avengers #50; also by Roy and John! Loki also frees some other Titans, partly because they jumped him, but also because Hercules would probably have back-up. He maybe didn't have to worry; since when the Titans attack Herc at a fancy restaurant, Herc refrains from calling the Avengers, but his ID card is activated in the fight. The Avengers don't arrive in time, as the Titans escape with the captured Herc, for a quick trip back to Hades, to dip Herc in the waters of the river Lethe, which brings forgetfulness! (This memory loss for Herc was a plot point in the MST3K favorite Hercules Unchained! Although I don't recall if the Lethe was mentioned by name.) Not remembering otherwise, Hercules is easily convinced that Typhon was his pal, and they all had been wrongly sent to Hades by Zeus, which is close enough to crap Zeus actually had done to Herc that it seems true. Sneaking up Mount Olympus, Typhon recovers his axe from a mystic brazier which then goes out, reducing the Olympic pantheon to mere intangible wisps.

The Avengers currently had Thunderstrike on the roster, and while he wasn't as adept at transporting to other realms as Thor, he's able to (eventually) get the team to Olympus: the team had figured Typhon might want to kill Hercules in front of Zeus, and Cap recognizes this as being not unlike Typhon's last appearance. While the Avengers fight the other Titans, it's down to Cap--who was at a low point, the "Fighting Chance" storyline where the Super-Soldier Serum was breaking down in his system. Cap goads Herc with comments about his dead wife and kids, which led to Herc having to complete his Twelve Labors to redeem himself, and in remembering, Herc diverts a river, washing Cap headfirst into a wall. Herc goes after him, intent on maybe showing him how he strangled the Nemean Lion, but the water of Olympus returns his memories. Hercules then rescues Cap, and together they start in on Typhon; with Cap passing his axe to the other Avengers to relight the brazier; even though Typhon reverts to a more horrible tentacled version in the fight.

With the Titans defeated and Zeus and the other Olympians restored, Typhon is questioned but refuses to talk; and Pluto has been chilling with his wife Persephone, innocent as a baby lamb. Still, now Pluto has to make arrangements to re-imprison the Titans...and kill Thor. That would be in Thor Annual #19, which I'm pretty sure wasn't the best. Also this issue: Giant-Man and Vision in "Master of his own Density," story and art by Al Milgrom. An AI "Glitch" that looks like a more articulate Kremzeek tries to take over the Vision. In a training session, Giant-Man realizes the Vision was getting dumber every time he tried to change his density, until Glitch takes over. But Glitch may end up in his own trap...

I went back to add the Pluto/Persephone panel, since it was a very Buscema panel, and great! And I did like to see Herc's concern and honestly, affection, for Cap: like Thor, Herc seems to just like Cap more than the other Avengers usually do. Read more!

This month, Thor picks a fight with his buddy's dad.

I think I've read several issues of this series from the dollar bins, but maybe none in order. Still, we'll see if this one does anything for us: from 2024, Immortal Thor #14, "The Wheel" Written by Al Ewing, art by Janeth Bazaldúa Nava. Cover by Alex Ross.

This issue opens with a flashback to the mythical origin of Zeus: his mother, Rhea, had gone to the earth-mother Gaea for help. Namely, how to keep the Titan Cronus, from eating her son Zeus? Gaea substitutes a magic rock, for Rhea to feed to Cronus in Zeus's stead, then gets kind of creepy and grabby: she considers if Zeus could be useful, in the future, was he the one...? She decides no, but maybe he could be a final test for that chosen one.

Millenia later, Thor and Hercules find the resurrected Zeus, in a dark dimension of endless night. He had been killed by Nyx, who seemed to have a lot of power there, but she, like the rest of them, was seemingly trapped in that dimension by a rune of Loki's. (Actually, although he may have used it, I don't think it was Loki's rune.) Loki was currently appearing as a younger man, and shows up with Athena, who seems to have gone a bit dark and spacey, filled with "the wisdom beyond wisdom." They give Thor some clues about his current test, before Zeus returns, now partnered up with Nyx, and intent on killing Loki--and incidentally, Thor, Herc, and even Athena--then getting out to start a new race of gods. Still, his vaunted thunderbolts can't even reach Thor: he was currently the All-Father, and could turn the bolts away. Herc notices, that seemed to dismay Loki...

Zeus gets angrier and angrier, as Thor feigns boredom batting away the bolts. But, Hercules realizes, the test was to "take it like a god!" Thor takes on Zeus, hand to hand, and catches about a million volts, but stays in there. Herc turns his attention to Nyx, forgiving her, in an attempt to free them both from an endless cycle of vengeance. He also points out, a realm of eternal night, maybe actually was a good home for her? Nyx realizes, yeah, she could do something there, for herself (and probably without Zeus...) and sends one of her calmer-seeming kids, Hypnos, to go with Hercules back to the "old world." But Zeus and Thor's fight continues: Loki says, his trial wasn't over.

Despite Zeus hitting him with everything, Thor is unhurt: in fact, he's taking in Zeus's power, leaving him smaller and weak, and finally collapsing. Thor now had the power of Odin and Zeus...as well as the mark of the wheel. To be continued! 

I would have to read more of this series in one sitting to be sure, but I wonder if Ewing wasn't trying to see, if the old cycles like Ragnarok couldn't be broken. Can you learn from them, if you have to keep reliving them?

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"Well, look at that. 'Start Ragnarok, all die.' Even had it underlined."

I watched the last season of What If? over the holidays, and while it didn't knock my socks off, I don't know why it's ending, either: plenty of other stories out there, although I suspect they're limited by what actors are available to use. (Just use voice actors! They usually do a better job anyway.) Here's a recent one, that maybe could've used a Watcher, to ask, what was Loki thinking? From 2023, What If..? Dark: Loki #1, "The Song of Mjolnir...in minor..." Written by Walt Simonson, pencils by Scot Eaton, inks by Cam Smith and Scott Hannah.

This was "What If...? Dark," not "Dark Loki," and I think there were a few one-shots here that were all downbeat endings. I was flipping through old Journey Into Mystery covers, since I thought this might be based of a story from that era; but it didn't immediately jump out. (Maybe around Thor #138!) While Thor fought Ulik, Loki steals Mjolnir, having used enchantments of his own and from Karnilla so he could lift it. He then stabs Dr. Donald Blake in the back with Mjolnir's walking-stick form, and murders Sif for good measure! Then, he makes a quick trip to Nornheim, to kill Karnilla before she could take back her magic. Three murders so far, and Loki's just getting started! He's mildly annoyed that Mjolnir doesn't return to his hand and he has to dig it out, but as the hammer sparks lightning while he holds it, he thinks Mjolnir is starting to learn who was boss.

Spying on Odin, Loki sees how Ragnarok usually goes down, starting with his torture, then the death of Balder. He opts to move up that timetable, using Mjolnir to force-grow a sprig of mistletoe into a mighty spear, with which he backstabs Balder, right after he got the bad news about Karnilla. Loki then frees Fenris, and rallies his allies: the Frost Giants, Hela, the Midgard Serpent Jormungand, and Surtur. Heimdall gets clobbered by Mjolnir before he can sound the alarm, and Loki's forces storm Asgard almost without a fight. Odin is eaten by Fenris, and Loki is now in charge...for about three seconds, as Surtur was going to light his sword, and burn all of the Nine Realms. Somehow this comes as a surprise to Loki; and he can't throw Mjolnir hard enough to stop him; nor can he turn the lightning on Surtur. Instead, Mjolnir lightnings Loki into ash. Surtur lights his sword and destroys everything; even himself. But, a flash of lightning heralds a new universe.

Feels like Loki should have kinda seen this coming; but gods might be locked in on some of their actions. Still, he had been on a roll; did he really need Surtur? All he does is show up at the end to set everything on fire; maybe leave him on the bench. This issue would've been on the racks just prior to the first episode of the second season of Loki, and feels like a conscious choice, to remind readers when Loki was consistently an amoral monster. Read more!

Here it is, your moment of Xen:

I've been meaning to get back to it for several years now, but I haven't sat down and read all of Earth X/Universe X/Paradise X in a while; even as I seemingly, slowly continue to randomly put together more of another run of it. (Got a cheap-but-readable Earth X #0 the other day!) From 2002, Paradise X Special: Xen #1, plot and cover by Alex Ross, plot and script by Jim Krueger, pencils by Steve Yeowell, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz.

I had to double-check a reading order for this, since there were several specials, and I wasn't sure where this fell. Also, I couldn't remember the order of the main series, and I forget there was the Marvels X prequel series from 2020, which seems like something I should be more interested in? But I kind of think it was maybe six issues of "here's where everything goes to crap and there's no stopping it," and I don't feel like getting into that? Anyway, if all of Earth X had proper numbering, prequels notwithstanding, like maybe triangle numbers like the Superman titles used to have; this would be like #41 out of #56? So, pretty deep into it, and yet there are a ton of characters this issue that readers would not have spent a lot of time with previously; as well as a few that had been involved to various degrees for much of the run.

Doctor Strange was back from the presumed dead, and gives a lengthy recap to the Xen team; most of whom openly disagree with their Lord Sunfire about this whole deal: when the Terrigen Mists mutated everyone on earth, public opinion swerved hard on earth's superheroes for their perceived failure to stop it. Strange had devoted himself to trying to figure out what happened, and didn't notice problems closer to home: Clea stabbed his body while he was in his astral form, but she had been turned against Strange by Wong, who had turned to Mephisto, seemingly in frustration over being a servant...and maybe over what his mutation had done to him. Mephisto's aid came with strings, though: the devil couldn't risk Strange's actual death, so Wong was forced into servitude maintaining Strange in a coma-like state, until discovered by Bruce Banner. Clea had been turned, with "unbridled lust" for Loki; and later Thor had banished her to Asgard: Thor and Loki had learned a lot of unpleasant truths about their father Odin, and themselves. Wong was killed by Adam Warlock, after his mutation had been revealed.

Loki and Thor advise the heroes, they can't let Odin find them too quickly; but with Strange and Xen go to Jotenheim; under the assumption that Odin wouldn't keep Clea in the city, since her magic could break the illusion of Asgard. They are set upon by Frost Giants, and Strange ponders why Xen was even a team: they weren't all Japanese, and he knew who Tao was, but didn't know why he wore a mask. The flaming Tora gives a brief origin, telling how Jim Hammond had helped her control her powers. But, this little journey had taken longer than the last few pages had indicated, and back in Japan the ghost of Fin Fang Foom is tearing up the place, while the Stark-created Seven Silver Samurai try to save the world. In Asgard, Odin feels betrayed by Mephisto, who says he's not the devil Odin knew. (Best of my recollection: "Odin" had been a storyteller, given power, to spin Asgard and the other realms besides 'Midgard' into being, setting himself up as the All-Father. Mephisto had a long game in mind; and Thor and Loki were rebelling against the roles Odin had forced them into.) While Xen fights the Warriors Three (who may have always been imaginary, creations of Odin) Tao speaks with Thor, letting him know hey, he's knows what it's like to have a villain for a dad.

Thor is distraught over the deaths of his old comrades, and Loki yells at him: none of them really "died," Odin just moved them around like pieces on a game board. At the world tree Yggdrasil, Strange tries to sense Clea, mentioning he couldn't stand to project his astral form anymore: Clea was with the Warriors Three and Balder...in Hel. Thor and Loki call foul, that Odin was changing the rules. Odin appears to them, Time Bandits-style, a giant, glowy beardy face. Thor falls back into his old role, but Loki resists, and threatens "Pops" that if he could convince Thor that Asgard was a lie, he could convince the other gods, so release Clea or else. Odin obliges, but Clea isn't overjoyed to see Strange: first, she thinks it must be a lie, or a torture, but says she'll "play along" after Strange calls her "wife." And it's brutal: Clea points out, Strange never treated her as his "wife." Strange has to admit that's true, but he's changed...no sale. Odin proclaims, someone had to take Clea's place in Hel: Loki agrees to, but Odin has no intention of letting him "poison" his realm, and takes Thor instead; sending everyone else back to earth, to the middle of the Foom/Samurai fight.

Counter-intuitively, Strange returns the ghost of Fin Fang Foom to its body; giving them the means to kill it finally. Some of Xen are still steamed with Lord Sunfire, and while Clea had supported Strange there, she didn't do it for him. Thor returns to Loki, since their plan had gone perfectly: Thor had freed all the "dead" Asgardians from Hel, even Hela. The returned Asgardians rejoice, while Odin feels his control slipping away... 

Hmm, this ends with a blurb for Paradise X #3; maybe this was issue #40 outta #56? The Foom/Samurai battle could've been a whole special by itself, too. Still, such a dense read; although I'm not positive much of Xen appeared in the rest of the run.

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What do Lone Wolf and Cub and Marvel Adventures Avengers have in common? Well, I've probably got all of both of them, spread out across like four different formats. Today we've got one of the collections that I believe were sold at Target, per the indica: Target Avengers: Mischief, reprinting Marvel Adventures: Avengers #5-8, written by Tony Bedard, pencils by Shannon Gallant, inks by John Stanisci, Cory Hamscher, and Norman Lee.

As always, these are fun, light adventures; with a line-up I kind of like: mainstays Cap, Iron Man, and Janet Van Dyne as Giant-Girl; Wolverine and Storm, Spider-Man and the Hulk. Most of these issues feature Loki, creating foils for the team just to see what would happen: this was pretty close to the Wrecker's usual origin, and he fits into Juggernaut's as Cain Marko's guide "Loquito" and points him at the temple of Cyttorrak. Loki later disguises himself as Cap and the Juggernaut as the Hulk, as they breakout the recently created U-Foes to join their little team. (It's easy when you can pick up four members at once!) Loki leads an attack on Avengers Tower, in a flying middle school (Irving Forbush!) reasoning they wouldn't know what to make of it, until it was too late! Still, Cap works out what Loki wanted--to regain reverance over "twerps" like Spider-Man--and embarrasses him on national TV as a bully.

This collection is a hair bigger than a usual comic, but I also have several of the digest-size books. I didn't have this one, though; in fact I had less of them than I had thought! A lot of that shelf were the later collections which usually spotlighted Spidey, Cap, Iron Man or Thor; or some team-up pairing thereof. But, I have some as they were originally published, as regular comics. I might have to take a bit to re-read the last collection of the series--there was a relaunch afterwards--and the team had added Tigra by that point, which is even better! Read more!

He already thought he was a demon once, it wouldn't take much to convince him he was dead.

Even though it's not inside this issue, I swear there was a house ad with the cover for this one; but I hadn't read it until just now! From 1982, Thor #325, "A Deal with Darkoth" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Alan Kupperberg, inks by Jim Mooney.

Darkoth wasn't even a bad guy, but does fall into the familiar villain trope of seemingly dying, a lot: he was apparently killed in Fantastic Four #194, but instead had been grabbed by Mephisto, who wants to use him against that goody-goody Thor: they had fought recently in Thor #310, and Mephisto didn't think he could get better than a stalemate directly. But, Darkoth had been test pilot Desmond Pitt, an old friend of Ben Grimm's; who tried and failed to infiltrate Dr. Doom's intelligence operation against NASA. Doom had taken Pitt, ruined his name, faked his death, made him a rather baroque cyborg, convinced him he was actually a demon, but abandoned Darkoth when he turned on him. Darkoth may or may not have been "dead" at this point: Mephisto might just be lying, about giving him enough life for this chance to kill Dr. Blake and be reunited with his son.

Refusing to murder Blake or Thor, Darkoth is eventually turned evil by Mephisto, but Thor manages to free him, at least momentarily. Darkoth begs Thor to kill him, to free him from his half-life slavery, and Thor obliges. Mephisto is furious over the loss of Darkoth's soul; and Thor smites a ton of Mephisto's lackey demons. I feel like Darkoth would've said his son's name as he died; not "my son..." like a Borat bit. Later, Dr. Blake makes arrangements for his new secretary to adopt Desmond's son, so sort of a happy ending? Even though I still think Thor and Darkoth got fooled there; and Darkoth still wasn't dead; he'd turn up in 1991's Excalibur #38.

Also this issue: another "Tales of Asgard," as Loki again steals the golden apples of immortality and the goddess Idunn. I don't think I've read the previous issue (with a fight against perennial punching-bag Graviton) but Loki seems like he thought Big Daddy Odin was maybe cheating on his adopted mom Frigga, and took extreme steps to retaliate, which included giving most of the apples to the Midgard Serpent, Jormungand. Loki maybe realizes his error, but will have a hard time convincing Tyr to come off it...("The Golden Apples of Immortality" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Alan Kupperberg, inks by Jack Abel.) Read more!

How many early Thor issues were just Loki convincing some chump "Thor? Totally overrated! You can take him..."

Because this one, well...From 1975, Marvel Spectacular #13, reprinting (most of) 1967's Thor #142, "The Scourge of the Super-Skrull!" Written by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta. Better part of a page is cut from the reprint, presumably to clear space for ads.

This one does open with Thor having a bit of fun with a young motorcycle rider: I feel like Thor used to have a bit more fun, honestly. Although, he changes to Donald Blake after that, which doesn't seem convenient, he might have just left Blake to walk halfway across town...Meanwhile, Loki is on one of his periodic exiles, sent to his room by Odin. Oh, wait, not his room, "a lonely, endless space-time continuum!" He gets his own continuum, and he's still bitching? Loki reaches out with his mind to find someone to give Thor the hassle, but I don't think you see Loki do that bit much anymore. I guess maybe you don't have to when you can actually go places and whatnot, but it does seem handy. Anyway, he plants the idea in the Super-Skrull's head, that if he defeated Thor the Skrulls would sing his praises again, give him a parade, and so forth. Cue fight scene!

Super-Skrull makes a pretty good showing, before getting thumped. Thor also uses Mjolnir to "create an anti-force" to send him back to his ship. In his parting speech, he says "thy banishment eternal!" but that means about as much here as when Odin says that to Loki.

Also this issue: "Aftermath!" Another Tales of Asgard feature, from Lee/Kirby/Colletta. Oh, yeah, we saw the previous issue some years back! This is Volla the Prophetess dropping the tale of Ragnarok, the fall of Asgard, and the new age that follows. Loki pipes up that it's a load of hoopla; Odin tells him shut up, you're the one that causes it. Which feels like a weird place to end, but OK. Read more!

Out of office today, so here's Mobius, Loki, and Thena for no reason.

Mobius and Thena are both Target exclusives, but locally didn't arrive at the same time or at the same store: I picked Mobius up Sunday, Thena yesterday. I don't think I'm all in on the Eternals figures; I'm not even sure I'm all in for the movie. It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't seem to have the bold color of Kirby's comic; and I think Marvel went with a director who used a more naturalistic, outdoorsy palette? I feel like I'm going to get the Eternals with some comic presence, like Sersi and Ikaris; although I'd kind of prefer comics figures.

Anyway, out today, so have a good weekend! Read more!

How about another darn Ghost Rider guest-spot? I'm not even doing this on purpose here.

From 1991, Thor #430, "The God, the Ghost, and the Guilty!" Plot and words by Tom DeFalco, pencils and plot by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

I don't think we often see villains like the Wrecking Crew after a fracas, but I would've thought they would've known not to set the Wrecker off after a loss. In this case, it's Piledriver catching hands for implying the boss maybe might've been the teensiest bit scared of the Ghost Rider. This being an affront to his leadership and his ego, Wrecker orders the Crew to search the city until they find the Ghost Rider...his skull's on fire and he leaves a flaming trail, but it's still surprisingly tough to find him, right? Oh, the Wrecker also wants his "red-faced friend," none other than Mephisto himself!

Loki, on earth with Ulik and the Enchantress in earth garb (which is not super-convincing for Ulik) thinks the Wrecker could've got Mephisto's attention on his schemes, or he could just be looking into the then-relatively new Ghost Rider. Loki visits Mephisto, who claims to be bored with the mortal realm, and was looking to collect an immortal soul with his "soul shrouds!" There is a face in the shroud, and we don't see whose, but Loki proposes they team-up. Still, Loki seems shaky later with Enchantress, who wonders what could rattle him.

Meanwhile, Eric Masterson's friends Susan Austin and Jerry Sapristi confront him with his secret: his weird disappearances, sketchy behavior, giving custody of his son Kevin to his ex-wife Marcy; he obviously has a drinking problem! Eric laments his secret identity drama, then changes into Thor to look for the Wrecking Crew. He is spotted by Thunderball, who reports in since if Wrecker gets his clock cleaned by Thor, Thunderball thinks he could take over; and since Piledriver wouldn't mind seeing Wrecker catch a beating, Wrecker has to face Thor to maintain his rep. Loki gives Danny Ketch a little mental projection to get him to the scene as well.

Loki has set all this up, to steal back his stolen Asgardian power from the Crew. He maneuvers the Wrecker into opening a portal releasing demons, then the big dope gets his power drained and captured, setting up the next issue, "Requiem for the Wrecker!" And Mephisto reveals the shroud's face; it looks like a bad silkscreen of Thor. 

Also this month, a Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation: Paid circulation, actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 157,425. Plus 5,700 in subscriptions! Not bad!

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I say "big fat cheat," but it's kind of the opposite.

Last year we checked out one of my favorite classic Thor issues, which featured Walt Simonson art years before he took over the book again. Today we've got another of his early ones: from 1977, Thor #263, "Holocaust and Homecoming!" Written by Len Wein, breakdowns by Walt Simonson, inks by Tony DeZuniga. Cover by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott, but it promises help that's a big fat cheat!

Odin is dead, his lifeforce drained and monsterized by the alien "Soul-Survivors." You can see a bit of what would be Surtur's redesign there, I think. Things look pretty bad: not only are Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three no match for Odin's stolen power, but with the All-Father dead, the enchantments powering Mjolnir are no more: it no longer returns to Thor's hand.

A surprising hero rises to save the day, though: Volstagg, the Voluminous! Who has developed zap-power, somehow: Odin slipped his power to him the previous issue. That's the cheat I mentioned: there is no way that shadow on the cover is Volstagg's, it's far too svelte! Most light can't escape the surface of Volstagg...The Soul-Survivors are defeated, I guess: they seem to just drift out of the story. Odin is revived and drifts off into the Odin-sleep, as Thor and company return him to Asgard...to find Loki upon the throne, with the Enchantress and Executioner beside him! Or in front. Whatever.
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I don't think I have all of Thor #301-336, but I do keep picking away at them: from 1981, Thor #307, "Wings in the Night!" Written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, layouts by Alan Kupperberg, finishes by Chic Stone. (And that's a surprisingly popular title at Marvel, used in Conan, Spidey, and Solomon Kane stories!)

This is a pretty standard number, with Thor vs. a dream-monster accidentally created by a psychiatrist's research machine. There are a couple interesting scenes, though: when Dr. Blake gets called to the hospital, a peckish Thor checks the fridge and finds "little here to satisfy the hunger of a god." Did Blake just not have any food, or do he and Thor eat differently? If Blake eats, is that enough to hold Thor over, or would he still be hungry? And is Thor able to find...wait, what do Asgardians eat? Boar or something? What did Vikings eat? My grandparents were Norwegian, maybe Thor digs lutefisk.

Later, when the dream-demon attacks a sleeping Blake, we see his nightmares--or Thor's, or both? A co-worker saying he doesn't like him, and a boss waiting to fire him? Well, that's relatable. Also this issue: a Tales of Asgard back-up, "The Chains that Bind!" Written by Gruenwald and Macchio, pencils by Keith Pollard, inks by Chic Stone.

It looks like Loki almost spiked his helmet hard enough to bounce it off a wall and onto his head, which would be pretty impressive...no, Loki is pitching a fit, since he's been chained to his wife Sigyn since Thor #275. (And we've seen that before, way back in Thor Annual #9!) Somehow, everyone seems to act like this was more of a punishment for him than for her. Finally feeling sorry for him, Odin releases Loki, and banishes him to the farthest border of Asgard. Sigyn, being the goddess of fidelity, or doormats, thanks Odin for his mercy, but he can't even look at her: not out of shame, but because he feels like he lost his son. Boo-hoo, jerk.
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