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Thor #127: Review

Apr 1966
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Story Name:

The Hammer and the Holocaust!

Review & Comments

Rating:
5 stars

Thor #127 Review by (May 28, 2013)
Review: Hollywood beckons Hercules—but he’s absent from this issue on a long and apparently uneventful train ride so we must needs repair to Asgard to work out the ramifications of the Thor plot. And the chief problem is that, having been endowed with the Odin power, Seidring doesn’t want to give it back. Really, who would have guessed that a guy nicknamed “the Merciless” would cause trouble? The ensuing battle is not as epic as some but still pretty exciting. Meanwhile Pluto—one of the meanest looking characters in the series—sets up his scheme to trap Herc, playing villain to the hilt! As for the Tales of Asgard entry—what? After sending the greatest warriors of Asgard on a death-defying journey to stop some fabled threat, Odin changes his mind a recalls them after only a couple of preliminary adventures. It looks for all the world like Stan and Jack lost interest in the epic voyage and wanted to move ahead with the Ragnarok plot so they had Odin say, “Just a test to keep you on your toes.” The portrayal of Ragnarok is apocalyptic (and the Apocalypse would be Ragnarockin’ if Kirby drew it) but the sudden abandonment of a plot we had a year’s worth of issues invested in is quite jarring.

Comments: Hercules is missing from this installment of the story arc. First appearance of Marvel’s versions of Pluto and Hippolyta (spelled Hyppolita here); the DC version of the latter is more famous as she is Wonder Woman’s mother. Revelation: liquefied wolfsbane looks just like water, in case you’ve always wondered.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor #127 Synopsis by Arcturus Jackson

The Mighty Thor, disgraced by his defeat at the hands of Hercules last issue and humbled by the loss of half his power, wants only to hide his shame; Jane Foster seeks to comfort him by confessing her love but chooses to flee. Jane tries to follow but an auto accident nearby claims her priority as a nurse—and Thor is gone. Soon he is on a lonely mountain top, brooding over whether he is worthy to retain the mantle of Thunder God….

In Hollywood awaiting the arrival of Hercules to star in a move about himself, the sinister film producer Pluto is revealed to be the actual Greek God of the Netherworld. He has enlisted Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons to aid him in his scheme to entrap the hero into signing an unbreakable Olympian Contract….

Odin, looking down on Thor from his throne in Asgard, regrets the harsh punishment doled out to his wayward son. He wants Seidring the Merciless, to whom he granted the Odin power in order to carry out the sentence to restore Thor’s strength. But Seidring, warped by the Odin Power, uses it instead to defeat Odin and proclaim himself the new overlord of Asgard. Balder leads the warriors in opposition to the newly-minted tyrant…..

As Thor ascends the Rainbow Bridge, he discovers Heimdall imprisoned in a force field; moving on his finds all the other mighty warriors rendered helpless by magical means. He then comes face-to-face with Seidring, who tries to enlist the God of Thunder on his side but Thor refuses. The villain then unleashes the fury of the Odin Power and Thor evades crashing planetoids, is trapped in a bubble of liquefied wolfsbane, knocks back flying rocks, yet remains standing. Seidring then plans to send Thro to Limbo but the mighty Thunder God seizes the grip of the Odinsword, threatening to destroy the universe unless the evil one surrenders. Seidring yield and restores the Odin Power to its rightful owner. Odin comes on the run and finds his noble son to have finally collapsed for his ordeal, and proclaims him the noblest Asgardian of all.



Story #2

The Meaning of... Ragnarok! (Tales of Asgard series)

Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: Vince Colletta. Colorist: ?. Letterer: Art Simek.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor and the warriors arrive in Asgard in answer to Odin’s summons (last issue); Thor realizes that the true purpose of the mission of the Odinship was to keep the bored and quarrelsome heroes of Asgard focused on a common purpose. The All-Father directs them to hear the words of Volla the Prophetess. She foresees the Day of Ragnarok—the end of the world—when natural disasters will befall the land, and brother will rise against brother—and the traitor Loki will lead the enemies of Odin against the Golden Realm, resulting in a massive battle the like of which the ages have never seen. There will be no survivors—and finally, the Midgard Serpent will rise to destroy all that is left….

Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Jack Kirby
Vince Colletta
?
Jack Kirby (Cover Penciler)
Vince Colletta (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Sam Rosen.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Balder
Balder

(Balder the Brave)
Loki
Loki

(Loki Laufeyson)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Warriors Three
Warriors Three

(Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg)

Plus: Hippolyta, Pluto (Hades), Seidring.

> Thor: Book info and issue index

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