Thor #335: Review

Sep 1983

Alan Zelenetz, M. D. Bright

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Story Name:

Runequest's End!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Thor #335 Review by Peter Silvestro (August 25, 2020)

Review: A journey to a magical world, cameo appearances by a multitude of aliens, a successful quest, and a lot of emotional turmoil. It’s the last that seems to have our heroes undertaking the adventure while their minds are elsewhere. Thor is concerned about Sif staying in Midgard and agonizing over whether he should abandon the quest and his identity as Don Blake and flee to safety in Asgard. And then he feels guilty about forgetting Jane for all these years while the main writers took the series in another direction. And then Sif agonizes over how to tell Thor she’s moving out and going back home to mother. It’s a good thing they had Keith Kincaid along, he’s the only one who kept his mind on the business at hand (to be fair, he had the best motive: getting his girlfriend’s soul out of hock) and figured everything out. And as it turned out, the only point of Thor and Sif’s journey into the Runestaff was to keep them out of Kincaid’s way while he got the job done. It’s all done with smoke and mirrors!

Comments: Part two of three parts. Kamo Tharnn a/k/a Possessor returns in SILVER SURFER (1987 series) #4 and multiple issues following. The creatures within the Runestaff referred to as scorpions look like lobsters to me and so I’ve rendered it that way in the synopsis.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor #335 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

The Runestaff of Kamo Tharnn has failed to restore Jane Foster to reality, confusing Thor and Sif. Kamo Tharnn passes out from lingering pain and Keith Kincaid ministers to him using the medical kit aboard the Quinjet. Meanwhile, they reason that if Sif’s form was contained in the Runestaff when she gave her essence to Jane, perhaps Jane’s in there now. So, Sif uses the power of her sword so she and Thor can enter the Runestaff, appearing in an overly crowded “outer space” setting where they brave a sea of lava, battle giant lobsters, and make it to the center of the staff, only to find it empty….

Outside, Keith discovers that Kamo Tharnn has multiple brainwaves registering on an EEG, suggesting hundreds of separate personalities inside. Keith awakens Kamo Tharnn and asks for his story. Tharnn, in his lust to possess all knowledge killed the owner of the Runestaff and took it, realizing too late that no one could then explain how it worked. His experimentation caused multiple assistants to be absorbed into the Runestaff and presumably they are now within Tharnn’s brain. Keith tries to summon Sif and Thor from within the staff but ends up just having to wait until they exit. Sif then uses the Runestaff to release hundreds of beings from within Kamo Tharnn—and one of them is Jane Foster. Her memory is a mess but she soon recognizes Keith. Kamo Tharnn, likewise, is restored to sanity by the removal of the extra personalities and vows to make the world again a center for knowledge. The heroes return to the Quinjet and take off for Earth while Sif ponders how to tell Thor she is going to leave for Asgard, with or without him….

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