Thor #147 (December 1967)
"The Wrath of Odin!"
Stan Lee-Jack Kirby/Vince Colletta
Doug: We've all commented on that book or two we've read and read again, until the cover literally fell off of it. Today, and again next Sunday, I'll be taking you inside of a couple of yard sale finds from the mid-1970's. In fact, these consecutive issues of
Thor are among, if not, the first 12c books I ever owned. And, rather than do our usual service in providing a nice cover from the folks at the
Comic Book Database, I've decided to scan the one I'm reading -- gape if you will at the frayed edges, wrinkles, so-called "Marvel chipping", rolled spine, the places where the tape stuck to the cover and peeled away the color, etc... this is a well-loved book! So let's have a peek inside:
Doug: One of the reasons this book stands apart is that it was my entry level for so much of the Thor mythos. At the time I first read this story I was fascinated with Greek mythology -- this comic then encouraged my entry to Norse mythology. Inside these covers we'll find not only the base villainy (well, for what that's worth) of the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime and evil Loki, but also Asgardian mainstays Odin, Sif and Balder, and the whole Asgard/Earth dichotomy. I'm pretty sure I had had some solo-Thor exposure around this same time in the then-current mags, but let's face it -- with the adventure possibilities in this comic series, one could land just about anywhere and in any situation. So all of this felt new to me. Add in the fact that in the current issues of the time the art was by John Buscema and here we find the classic team of Jack Kirby and Vinnie Colletta and this story again could not have been more different. So I was fully aware that I was in the middle of something much older (I'd have been only a year and a half old when this first saw the spinner racks), and somewhat seminal.
Doug: We pick up the story right after Thor's battle with the aforementioned Ringmaster. Trapped in a gallery of some unknown (to me) description, a dazed and confused Thor had been assisting Princess Python in the theft of an enormous golden bull. The ringing of police-fired bullets snaps the God of Thunder to his senses. But we quickly learn that he has been stripped of his god-like control over the thunder and lightning, along with his immortality. Still, with his wits now about him, Thor sees what he was doing and lifts the 5-ton statue back onto its base. The police begin to read him his rights, when the Princess's giant snake suddenly finds her and spirits her away. She seems to have a thing for Thor, but nonetheless joins her band of do-badders as they speed away. And what of Thor? Always one to do the right thing, he allows himself to be arrested. And at the local precinct, after being interrogated, Thor surrenders the now-powerless Mjolnir.
Doug: Cut to a hellish place full of Kirby Krackle, where we find the God of Lies holed up and awaiting his final judgement. Loki has been banished from Asgard, yet still plots to gain revenge upon his half-brother. Suddenly he is summoned to the Realm Eternal. The All-Father Odin has deigned Loki be free once again, promising to do no further mischief. At this point Sif and Balder enter the room and draw Odin's ire by questioning the wisdom of such a strategy. Odin reminds them what happens to those who step on the royal piggies, as he shows them an image of Thor in jail on Earth. Sif cries out for mercy, and Loki stalks off. It's only about two panels later before he's on his way to torment his brother.
Doug: Arriving on Earth, Loki disguises himself (in a Clark Kent sort of way) and posts Thor's bail. His timing could not have been better, as Thor was about to mop the place with a tough who was making trouble. Lucky for him... Once outside, Thor is as dense as he's ever been, not recognizing Loki behind the shades. But as they get into a car, the conversation takes a sinister turn and the ruse is quickly over. The car disintegrates around them by some sort of magic, and before Thor can get his bearings Loki cold cocks him. Remember, Thor is depowered by Asgardian standards -- he maintains his natural strength (he did just lift five tons after all), but this ain't yer daddy's Thor. Loki knows it, and brings an endless intensely physical assault. Thor fights valiantly, but is really no match for Loki's strength.
Doug: At about this same time, I had received the
Bring on the Bad Guys tpb for Christmas. In it were a couple of reprints of the "Tales of Asgard" series, so I knew Loki always relied on guile and rarely if ever dirtied his hands. This was, as far as I was concerned, uncharted territory.
Doug: The battle continues to rage, destroying much of the city block in the process. At one point Thor leaps for a sign, as we might see Daredevil do, but Loki counters by sending a shockwave up the building wall, tumbling it and his brother. As Thor lays stunned, Loki moves in for the kill. Mustering one more defense, Thor clocks him good a couple of times. But the effort exhausts him, and he stumbles into Loki's arms. Lifting the Thunder God aloft, Loki prepares for the end. However, a bright light appears behind him, and he whirls to find Balder and Sif, come to save their liege. As they square off with Loki, we switch scenes to Asgard, where Odin has watched these events unfold. Now blindingly angry, the All-Father sends a ray equivalent to the hand of justice, depowering all of the Asgardians who've defied him. As they say, "to be continued"!
Doug: I remember just having a blast reading this over 35 years ago. As I said, there was a true sense of discovery, and Kirby was at his bombastic best. Dabbling in DC's at the time, Stan Lee's over-the-top scripting was a real treat -- they just didn't write like this in the Batman or Teen Titans mags! Additionally, these were the days when the Inhumans were again guesting in the Fantastic Four, and their solo series was in the offing. This issue of Thor contains one of the Inhumans back-ups, telling their Kree origins. Sentry-451 is featured in this story. I have the complete back-up series in the first volume of the
Inhumans Marvel Masterworks, and have hinted to Karen that if she has access to the same stories and is game, we could run a "Tales of Attilan" series. We shall see.
Doug: One of the reasons this book stands apart is that it was my entry level for so much of the Thor mythos. At the time I first read this story I was fascinated with Greek mythology -- this comic then encouraged my entry to Norse mythology. Inside these covers we'll find not only the base villainy (well, for what that's worth) of the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime and evil Loki, but also Asgardian mainstays Odin, Sif and Balder, and the whole Asgard/Earth dichotomy. I'm pretty sure I had had some solo-Thor exposure around this same time in the then-current mags, but let's face it -- with the adventure possibilities in this comic series, one could land just about anywhere and in any situation. So all of this felt new to me. Add in the fact that in the current issues of the time the art was by John Buscema and here we find the classic team of Jack Kirby and Vinnie Colletta and this story again could not have been more different. So I was fully aware that I was in the middle of something much older (I'd have been only a year and a half old when this first saw the spinner racks), and somewhat seminal.
Doug: We pick up the story right after Thor's battle with the aforementioned Ringmaster. Trapped in a gallery of some unknown (to me) description, a dazed and confused Thor had been assisting Princess Python in the theft of an enormous golden bull. The ringing of police-fired bullets snaps the God of Thunder to his senses. But we quickly learn that he has been stripped of his god-like control over the thunder and lightning, along with his immortality. Still, with his wits now about him, Thor sees what he was doing and lifts the 5-ton statue back onto its base. The police begin to read him his rights, when the Princess's giant snake suddenly finds her and spirits her away. She seems to have a thing for Thor, but nonetheless joins her band of do-badders as they speed away. And what of Thor? Always one to do the right thing, he allows himself to be arrested. And at the local precinct, after being interrogated, Thor surrenders the now-powerless Mjolnir.
Doug: Cut to a hellish place full of Kirby Krackle, where we find the God of Lies holed up and awaiting his final judgement. Loki has been banished from Asgard, yet still plots to gain revenge upon his half-brother. Suddenly he is summoned to the Realm Eternal. The All-Father Odin has deigned Loki be free once again, promising to do no further mischief. At this point Sif and Balder enter the room and draw Odin's ire by questioning the wisdom of such a strategy. Odin reminds them what happens to those who step on the royal piggies, as he shows them an image of Thor in jail on Earth. Sif cries out for mercy, and Loki stalks off. It's only about two panels later before he's on his way to torment his brother.
Doug: I remember just having a blast reading this over 35 years ago. As I said, there was a true sense of discovery, and Kirby was at his bombastic best. Dabbling in DC's at the time, Stan Lee's over-the-top scripting was a real treat -- they just didn't write like this in the Batman or Teen Titans mags! Additionally, these were the days when the Inhumans were again guesting in the Fantastic Four, and their solo series was in the offing. This issue of Thor contains one of the Inhumans back-ups, telling their Kree origins. Sentry-451 is featured in this story. I have the complete back-up series in the first volume of the Inhumans Marvel Masterworks, and have hinted to Karen that if she has access to the same stories and is game, we could run a "Tales of Attilan" series. We shall see.
Karen: When I was working on my recent Marvel Tales post, it got me to thinking about the importance of reprints to me (and probably many of you). The regular reprint books, the Treasury reprints, and books like Origins of Marvel Comics were exciting, because I was discovering the "history" of the Marvel Universe. Even though by 1972 what we knew as Marvel had only been around 11 years, it seemed like it was already a complicated web of interconnected characters and concepts. Characters in different books knew each other. They would recall past meetings when they got together, and if you hadn't read those stories already, it seemed very intriguing. Had Spider-Man really tried to join the Fantastic Four? Had the Avengers and the FF teamed up to fight the Hulk? Or what about finding out about past details of heroes you'd been reading about? What do you mean, Iron Man used to wear a big ugly suit of grey armor?The Hulk was grey too? 
Karen: We probably haven't reviewed near enough Legion of Super-Heroes here at BAB. Although Doug and I are both Marvel-centric, Legion is a DC title we both are quite fond of and have fairly decent collections of. So to start rectifying this gap, we'll review this cool issue from 1977. While people typically mention Dave Cockrum, Mike Grell, or Keith Giffen when they talk about Legion artists, I want to sing the praises of this issue's artist, Jim Sherman. I think he does a really solid job, juggling a dozen costumed characters, depicting outer space, futuristic cities, and spaceships. Jack Abel's thin inks are not the greatest choice here (or anywhere, in my opinion), but the art is still very engaging and gets across the huge scale of the story. 
Doug: One more thing before we get to the plot synopsis -- I love face-off covers, and this one is cool. Mon-el looks like he's about to dispense the hand of justice. Funny that Lightning Lad appears on the outside of the book, but is nowhere to be found inside. 
Doug: As to Projectra's "friskiness", I just personally found the Legion in this era more than my budding adolescent hormones could handle. And Jim Sherman really added to my suffering. I think Validus is such a visually-interesting character. His head's just a big (empty) brain, but the wrinkles at the forefront mimic eyes. So I guess he's really blind? The toes/fingers thing he has going is a curiosity as well. Tharok on the other hand was always the least interesting of the Five.
Doug: Everyone around here knows of my love of giant-sized characters, and Colossal Boy is no exception. There are some great panels at the beginning of this scene where the art team does a fantastic job with scale. Superboy floating on by to converse with Gim was a nice effect as well. Mon-el is my favorite Legionnaire -- can't beat that costume. Tell me -- you pick three characters and put 'em up against the Legion's Big Three. Tough call, huh?
Doug: All boys know that we shouldn't hit girls, but I always, always, wanted someone to just take out the Emerald Empress! Could. Not. Stand. Her. The Legion's Transuits are pretty nifty, but you'd think after 20 years in print they'd have somehow evolved the fishbowl space helmets... 
Doug: I recall being very excited when the Legion's big-hitters arrived to rescue their girls. Mon-el's attack on the Persuader was topped only by seeing Big Gim taxing his flight ring to the max! You know, I'd think that through sheer numbers the Legion would easily overwhelm the Fatal Five, but the fact that many Legion members have powers only useful in a strategic, specific team-oriented mission evens the odds pretty quickly. In regard to Mon and Ultra Boy's strategy, Jo must not have been using his ultra-brain. By the way, Validus' kick to Colossal Boy's head seemed out-of-character. Finesse -- not from him. 
Karen: The Legion is stunned by this terrible plan -all except one: Superboy. He's righteously angry. He zooms into space in a really nice set of panels by Sherman, heading straight for Tharok's ship. But he slams against it ineffectually, and goes falling back through the atmosphere towards Mordan, to land conveniently next to the Legionnaires. Tharok again repeats his threat to kill two of their group. The Legionnaires are defiant and continue to fight. Tharok then fires up his killer robot and sics it on Karate Kid and Princess Projectra. The Kid easily tears the thing apart. It really wasn't a very impressive robot to begin with -kind of spindly. Certainly no mandroid! Tharok is so sure of his robot's success, he turns back to his other viewscreens. This guy really needs to see some James Bond films. Of course, KK and Projectra soon make their way to Tharok. But Tharok contacts his partners on the planet, and the Empress, and all return to his ship just in time to keep Karate Kid from pounding the scientist into pulp. The duo are captured again.
Karen: They both had the high collars, which makes no sense when you're fighting. Nevermind, let's get back to the story. The Legionnaires on the planet return to the evacuation. Brainy has a plan, and he has Ultra Boy and Colossal Boy get inside a sphere that looks like a small asteroid. They use their flight rings to zip into space. Back on Tharok's ship, the Five gloat over their prisoners when suddenly the faux-asteroid comes crashing into the ship, breaching its hull. It seems Brainy gambled that Tharok's shield's would not be programmed against space debris, as this area of space was relatively devoid of such things. Colossal Boy and Ultra Boy hop out of the rock and start fighting again, and Karate Kid manages to break his bonds and join them. But suddenly, the viewscreen shows the sun go nova, earlier than expected. Tharok panics, and runs to his equipment, but the rest of the Legionnaires show up and the three man team of Superboy, Ultra Boy, and Mon-El manage to put Validus down, and the rest of the Five are also quickly dispatched. Brainy disarms Tharok's device, saying there's still time to save the Mordanites who haven't left yet. The Five realize that the explosion they saw was fake, and Tharok manages to trigger a self-destruct device. The Legionnaires flee into space, where Brainy's force bubble and Element Lad's oxygen-creating powers save them. The ship violently explodes seconds later.
Doug: So the asteroid Ultra Boy found came equipped with a sliding door? Hmmm... I thought Paul Levitz's script gave each Legionnaire a chance at the spotlight. I could tell from reading this that Levitz had some strong passion for these characters. The ending was pretty exciting; fast-paced for sure!
