Tuesday 10 May 2011

The Mighty Thor #339

"Something Old, Something New..."
January 1984
Story - Walt Simonson
Art - Walt Simonson
Lettering - John Workman Jr.
Colors - George Roussos
Editing - Mark Gruenwald
Editor-In-Chief - Jim Shooter




The next chapter in Walt Simonson’s Thor features a cover that isn’t quite true to the story of the book. It shows Beta-Ray Bill flying through the air, his hammer being blasted by Odin as Thor and Sif look on helplessly. It implies that there is going to be some huge fight between the alien and the Allfather, but this isn’t the case; while a scene similar to this does happen in the book, as a cover it is completely out of context and tricks the readers into thinking they’re about to get some intense Odin action. In case you aren’t following properly: You’re not.
                
We open with a title page that doesn’t highlight Walt Simonson’s favourite four-letter word, but instead features an incredibly quick recap of the previous two issues, along with an image of Beta-Ray Bill collapsing before the Asgardians, the unconscious Thor falling from his arms. It’s a striking image, and it highlights the confusion and madness of the last issue’s abrupt cliffhanger; everyone is scrambling around and no one feels truly defined or in control of the situation. Odin orders that Thor and Bill be taken to the House of Healing to recover as he can’t allow either of these brave warriors to die...even though he told them before their battle that there could only be one survivor...oh, Odin – you and your Godly forgetfulness. As both warriors lie in recovery we get a brief scene of Lorelei talking with a female attendant about both men; it becomes clear very quickly that Lorelei is unconsciously anti-alien as she says she’d rather kiss a dog than Beta-Ray Bill. Sif arrives just in time to turn this into an amusing insult, which is thrown back in her face as Lorelei reminds her rival of her brief tryst with Thor from the last issue (which, as we know was actually Loki in disguise).
                
Thor awakens from his coma and asks to be forgiven for losing his battle with Beta-Ray Bill, saying he’ll live in exile as punishment. Odin quickly tells him this is stupid, and goes to talk with Bill instead. Bill reveals that he could have left Thor to die, but decided to save him at the last minute. Odin makes a deal with Bill to help him in his battle against the demons that are plaguing his people. We cut to a scene of Odin, in the worst disguise in the world (a fedora), travelling to see some Dwarfs and making a deal with them; he’ll send a female warrior to battle their nastiest Dwarf, in exchange for a service. As an extra condition, though, if the female loses, she will become the Dwarfs’ sex-toy...I do sometimes wonder why Odin is the king. The next day, Thor and Bill witness Sif leaving Asgard; apparently Odin felt it was she who was most unlikely to lose, and therefore the least likely to end up a sex slave.
                
We get a brief fight scene between Sif and Throgg the Dwarf who is, in fact, gigantic. In just a page, Sif seems to already be on the losing side of this battle. A quick cut takes us to Volstagg who is still sitting on Agnar from the previous issue, and boring him with a story about Loki which is probably incredibly relevant to the ongoing arc. This is followed by another quick cut to Walt Simonson’s favourite part of the issue, as our celestial terrorist continues to forge something in the dark which is starting to look like a staff. As he strikes his hammer down in the final panel of the sequence we’re treated to another loud proclamation of “DOOM!” which, hopefully, will actually come to something in the next few issues. Yet another cut takes us to a lighthouse in Quebec where the disgruntled lighthouse keeper is suddenly attacked by a gigantic red demon thing screaming that he is free and that “Vengeance is mine!” which would be awesome had it not come out of nowhere and got an Alice Cooper song stuck in my head.
                
Back to Sif and she continues to battle Throgg the Dwarf, managing to harm him in battle, which has apparently never happened before. After a few more quick blows, Throgg lies defeated and the rest of the Dwarfs show up, probably because they’ve been watching the whole time. In a flash, they’re all skipping off to complete their task for Odin, because after all, a deal is a deal, even when you make it with the stupidest Allfather in the universe. Back in Asgard, Bill confides in Sif that he’s worried about his people, and also reveals that when he became mechanical (sorry if I didn’t mention that earlier, Bill is part-robot) he sacrificed his humanity...even though he’s an alien, so he didn’t have any humanity to begin with. Thor, Bill, Odin and Sif travel to the Dwarfs factory, which seems a bit too industrial to belong in the fantastical world next door to Asgard. The Dwarfs are forging something, which Odin and the others need to wear goggles in order to witness. This might be the most unintentionally funny moment of the book as Thor and Odin look ridiculous wearing tinted goggles.
                
It is revealed that the Dwarfs have forged another hammer, which Odin blasts (see the cover) with enchantments to make it just like Mjolnir. Bill takes the hammer and transforms once more into the alien-Thor hybrid from the first issue. Now that Thor and Bill both have hammers, they seem to get along like two best friends, as Odin names Bill’s hammer Storm Breaker. Thor is given back Mjolnir, and decides to go with Bill to fight the demons that threaten his world. Bringing their hammers together, Thor and Bill summon a weird flying chariot and climb aboard. Sif announces she’s going too, which leads to a briefly sexist moment as Thor gives her a dirty look and then says she can come anyway. The final image of the book is the trio riding into the sky aboard their chariot, being pulled by some weird goat-headed horse-thing.
                
Considering this comic book was published in the early 1980s, it’s astounding to me that it feels just like a modern comic book; it’s a slow building piece, focusing on character just as much as the big crazy action. In fact, considering this is Thor’s book, Thor didn’t even do anything this issue; it was all about Sif’s fight with the Dwarf, and Odin’s deal with Beta-Ray Bill. The promise of a war in the next part is great, though, meaning we’ll get some gorgeous Walt Simonson drawn Thor battle images, which are, if I’m honest, some of the best comic book images I can think of. That’s if they’re in the next issue, of course, and not much further down the line. Either way, the next one will surely be just as great as these last few.
                
Next: Though Hel Should Bar The Way!

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