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Thor #357

Jul 1985
Walt Simonson, Walt Simonson

Story Name:

A New Deal From An Old Deck, or, The Credit Card Soldiers


Synopsis

Thor #357 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 5 stars

As the children play in the snow on the long trek back to Asgard, they are snatched up by a pair of frost giants. Thor arrives and orders them to drop the children but is talked out of slaying them by a merciful Frigga who has had her fill of killing….

Sif and Beta Ray Bill (in his semi-human form) stroll through New York taking in the sights; she buys him a Groucho face disguise to help him blend in. A few blocks away, a street cleaner drops a handful of objects resembling credit cards into a trash can. Moments later he sends a signal and where the cards were now come a band of yellow-armored warriors who enter the nearby bank. They are members of the Green Liberation Front; they loot the bank of securities and set off a bomb to destroy the bank’s computer records. But Sif and Bill have heard the explosion and come running (Bill first changing into his Thor-form). They lay into the baddies whose mysterious leader orders them to flee. Dashing after them around a corner, Beta Ray Bill finds them gone. Only a pile of credit cards lie on the sidewalk, to be swept up by a street cleaner….

Elsewhere in the city, Fandral and Volstagg are walking along, the latter boasting of his mighty deeds (as usual). Some kids nearby overhear him and scoff; they are warned by Hogun from such foolishness. The kids—Power Pack in their street clothes—take off….

Loki gives Lorelei a love potion from the goddess Lofn, guaranteed to make Thor fall under Lorelei’s spell. All Loki asks in return is that she persuade the enchanted Thor to support Loki in his bid for the throne of Asgard….

Amora the Enchantress returns to Asgard by her own magical means to find it in ruins. She discovers the fallen scepter of Odin and casts a spell on it to lay a trap for her no-good sister Lorelei….

On the way back to Asgard, the kids ambush Thor with snowballs and he allows one to knock off his helmet, inspiring the children to keep trying on the long, dull journey….

The leader of the Green Liberation Front berates his men for failing to defeat the phony Thor. The street cleaner, Sergei, designer of the technology, scatters a handful of crickets behind him….

Atop the World Trade Center, Bill and Sif confess their fondness for each other but realize their responsibilities make it impossible for them to remain together….

In Asgard, Loki finds the fallen scepter but is caught by Heimdall, who makes him hand it over; the guardian gives it to Frigga when she and Thor arrive. Frigga takes the children home with her to stay until their parents return. Thor goes to his home where Lorelei releases the love potion and its vapors do their work….


 

Review / Commentaries


Thor #357 Review by (December 24, 2013)
Review: Nice cover balances the two heroes whose stories are contained in this crowded issue. Thor battles giants in the land of Norse Myth while the alien Beta Ray Bill engages in sci-fi/superhero deeds. Meanwhile: romance between Bill and Sif! Intrigue with Loki and Lorelei! Suspense with the Enchantress! Comedy with the Asgard kids! And Simonson does a masterful job of holding it all together. Wow.

Comments: Fandral’s poet friend he gave suggestions to was Shakespeare, writing The Tempest. The two giants are the same ones who showed up briefly in issue #354.


> Thor comic book info and issue index

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Preview Pages




Walt Simonson
Walt Simonson
Christie Scheele
Walt Simonson (Cover Penciler)
Walt Simonson (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Freyja
Freyja

(Frigga)
Loki
Loki

(Loki Laufeyson)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Warriors Three
Warriors Three

(Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg)

Plus: Frost Giants, Green Liberation Front, Power Pack, Titanium Man (Boris Bullski).