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Thor #499

Jun 1996
William Messner-Loebs, Mike Deodato Jr.

Story Name:

Ludwig's Children


Synopsis

Thor #499 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 3 stars

With Odin’s unleashing of the magic sword called Raven’s Eye, Thor, Officer Kim Gaunt, Annie and Silvia Prazniki, and the addled derelict Odin discover they are in a Dungeons & Dragons style fantasy world, dressed and armed appropriately. Thor takes the sword for safekeeping while the two Prazniki women continue their ongoing quarrel. Then they are attacked by a band of warriors, servants of King Albrecht. Thor hurls Mjolnir, forgetting it is no longer enchanted so it does not return to him. Annie is in trouble so Silvia comes to her rescue. The group’s leader raises Mjolnir and they seize Silvia and vanish without a trace. Thor and Kim recognize the name Albrecht as coming from Wagner’s opera known as the Ring Cycle, based on the stories of the Norse gods. So, they walk for three hours…

…and encounter Loki, who asks their help in combating evil. Thor wants to smack him but Kim notes something different about him viz. nobility. Then Loki is struck down by an arrow fired by a vicious Balder, riding a winged horse. Thor leaps into the air and delivers a blow to Balder, unhorsing him….

Back home, Victor Prazniki frees himself from his bonds while an oddly motionless Loki looks on. He picks up a phone and calls Amora but is sent to voice mail….

At New York State Prison, a convict stops by the Mad Thinker’s cell and finds him [apparently] dead….

With a great deal of difficulty, Thor manages to subdue the winged horse and fly it far and wide. Then Thor is attacked by a giant dragon, resembling one from the opera. Thor slashes its face with Raven’s Eye and it plummets to the ground in human form: Albrecht, King of the Dwarves. The hero confiscates the magic ring which gave him shapeshifting powers. Thor flies the horse until he comes upon a castle which he assumes to be Asgard. Thor spies on the inhabitants and sees Wotan (German Odin) and a red-bearded nasty sort called Thor. Balder brings in his prisoners (Odin, Kim, Annie, Silvia, Loki). This Thor glories in the extermination of the dwarves which Loki recoils at; our Thor wonders if this is how Loki sees him and Odin. Bad Thor kills Loki; when Balder mentions that it leaves more gold for the rest of them, bad Thor kills him too. Wotan orders Thor to kill the prisoners too so good Thor bursts in and, dodging bad Thor, he hurls Raven’s Eye, impaling Wotan…

…and suddenly, Thor is transported to the Asgard he knows, only to find it in ruins….



 

Review / Commentaries


Thor #499 Review by (July 3, 2024)

Review: Thor and the gang play D&D and it doesn’t go well, everyone meeting familiar characters with their alignments reversed. None of this is particularly interesting, the two Prazniki women fight with an interesting redemptive moment between them but we’ll have to see whether anything comes of it or of it’s just random. Kim Gaunt could have been an interesting character if she had anything to do besides fight and notice differences in Loki when she had only seen him for five minutes. Alt-Asgard isn’t particularly interesting and the Wagner tie-ins are pretty skimpy—did the writer listen to the opera all the way through? And next we have a milestone issue.

Comments: Part four of five parts. Final appearance of Victor Prazniki. A No-Prize to anyone who can determine why Thor and company chose to walk in that particular direction after realizing they had no idea where to go.  




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Preview Pages




Mike Deodato Jr.
Mike Deodato Jr.
Marie Javins
Mike Deodato Jr. (Cover Penciler)
Mike Deodato Jr. (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Jon Babcock.