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Thor #294: Review

Apr 1980
Roy Thomas, Chic Stone

Story Name:

New Asgards for Old!

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Thor #294 Review by (September 9, 2019)

Review: Strange, the previous issue ended with the birth of Jesus Christ but this one starts in on retelling the Nibelungenlied, Germany's national epic and subject of Wagner's Ring Cycle of operas. And we get some overly mystical mythologizing over the Celestial Axis at the beginning but soon the story settles down into its tale of gods and heroes; some okay stuff though a bit wordy overall (one of Roy Thomas' endearing traits). The art is likewise serviceable, with a solid bit of storytelling without any flashy stuff. And no Eternals either, despite this being part of the classic Eternals Saga. PS Roy Thomas and Gil Kane would later do a straight adaption of the Germanic saga for DC Comics.

Comments: Part twelve of the Eternals Saga which spans issues #283-301. As the cover says, the origin of Odin. Other Asgardians seen at the Creation include Heimdall, Balder, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, the Enchantress, and the Executioner. A detailed version of how the Celestial Axis and Zodiac Precession work appears on the letters page. 





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor #294 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

The revelation of the earlier Ragnarok by the Eye of Odin only raises more questions in Thor's mind. The Eye shows him the Celestial Axis, linking Earth to other planes of being including Thor's Asgard. The Eye takes him back to the remnant of the earlier Asgard and its small band of survivors who find small statuettes of their fallen comrades and Thor's sons Modi and Magni discover their father's hammer which, since there is no need of weapons in this idyllic place, they hurl down to Midgard. The hammer crashes into the Rhine River and is transformed into a hoard of gold which will be mentioned again later. Odin's surviving brothers Vili and Ve and his sons Vidar and Vali discover their father's spear Gungnir when they all touch it, all of the surviving Asgardians are transformed into Odin, Thor's father, leaving some new statuettes on the grass. The All-Father raises up gods and monsters from the ground and has a tornado whisk the latter away to their own lands. The gods rebuild Asgard while Odin wipes away the last vestiges of memory of the old Asgard from their minds and finally Odin creates Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge connecting Asgard to Midgard. Then Odin decides to take a wife and beget a natural son so he journeys to Midgard—but the Eye will not let Thor see what happens next and the God of Thunder, who does not know who his mother was, is frustrated....

The Eye picks up the story again with the Rhinegold, guarded by the Rhinemaidens. One day the gnome Alberich comes to them and they tell him the secret of the Rhinegold: anyone who can forge a ring of the gold will conquer the world—but he must renounce love in all its forms. Alberich, who has never known love, finds that an acceptable trade-off and steals the gold....

Meanwhile, back at Asgard, Odin has a pair of Storm Giants, Fafnir and Fasolt, building him a great hall called Valhalla, promising them the goddess Idunn as their payment, because Loki promised them that the price would not be paid since Idunn's golden apples keep the gods young. Loki appears and hands over Idunn to the giant brothers. Thor and Frey (her brother) hears her cries for help and they hasten to the scene. (Thor tells the Eye he remembers nothing of this.) Thor attacks the giants but Odin orders him to put down his weapons—or die....


Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Chic Stone
Chic Stone
Carl Gafford
Keith Pollard (Cover Penciler)
Keith Pollard (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Layouts: Keith Pollard. Letterer: Joe Rosen.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Loki
Loki

(Loki Laufeyson)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)

Plus: Eye of Odin, Frey, Idunn.

> Thor: Book info and issue index

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