BHOC: THOR #280

This was one of the strangest issues of THOR that I bought as a relatively new Marvel reader, and I didn’t completely understand why for several years, until I had learned enough about the history of comics to be able to fully appreciate it. Ever since the end of his Ragnarok storyline, writer/editor Roy Thomas had been stalling the start of his Eternals saga, and this was another stall-tactic, albeit a precisely timed one. That Eternals storyline wouldn’t begin for another three issues, as things turned out. This story, though, was all about the soon-to-be-released SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, as well as Roy’s love of parallel Earths and the DC comics of the early 1960s. Apparently, it was fans Don and Maggie Thompson, who would soon take over the Comics Buyers’ Guide newspaper, who suggested the story concept.

One of the reasons that this was such a wild issue was down to its artist. It was drawn by Wayne Boring, who had been the primary delineator of Superman through the 1940s, 1950s and sporadically into the 1960s. Boring had left the business by the time this story was done, but it turned out he was the uncle of new Bullpen hire Ralph Macchio, who was able to assist in brokering his return for this one special issue. Tom Palmer continued to ink the series, his strong finishes bringing Boring’s dated style at least a bit more in line with the expectations of Marvel readers in the late 1970s. I’m guessing that this was the first and only time that Boring ever produced a story Marvel style, which may explain some of the quirks of the pacing and the storytelling in this piece.

The entire story is pretty loopy, and doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny all that well. Nevertheless, it is fun. It opens with Thor standing around on a streetcorner thinking about Roy’s upcoming Eternals storyline and what he’s going to do when it gets here. Unbeknownst to the Thunder God, there’s a sinister figure in hat and trenchcoat stalking him. But before this figure can make a move, a portal opens up in front of the Thunderer, through which appears Hyperion. This is the Hyperion of the Squadron Supreme, who are theoretically good guys–but not certain which one he faces, Thor jumps into battle with the Man of Atoms, and the two pulverize a bit of the neighborhood before calming down and coming to terms to speak with one another.

Turns out that a film is being made concerning Hyperion’s exploits, and he wants to recruit the Avengers to play themselves in the movie. Thor isn’t all that interested, but agrees to bring Hyperion to Avengers Mansion to make his pitch. Meanwhile, as the two heroes chat among themselves, trenchcoat man makes his move, leaping into the portal through which Hyperion came.  He doffs his overcoat, revealing himself to be the evil Hyperion of the Squadron Sinister, the Marvel Universe’s parallel version of the big guy. He was waiting for an opportunity to clobber Thor, but this is even better. This Hyperion wants to destroy the Earth in the same way his own microscopic homeworld was destroyed by the earliest cyclotron, but destroying Earth-S is almost as good from where he’s sitting.

The Avengers aren’t available as it turns out, so for no really good reason, Thor accompanies Hyperion back to his home universe, where he meets the director of the film, L. L. Burbank. In on the joke, Boring draws Burbank as a dead ringer for his version of Lex Luthor, just wearing cool shades. (Luther Burbank was a famous horticulturist.) Hyperion leaves Thor at the film set while he returns to the Squadron’s Rocket Central headquarters–where he’s jumped by his evil counterpart, who succeeds in overpowering him, binding him with his own super-tough costume and hurling him into space. The villainous Hyperion can now pose as his good guy counterpart with nobody being any the wiser.

The evil Hyperion heads for the movie set, where he adopts good Hyperion’s civilian guise of cartoonist Mark Milton, and is almost tripped up when co-worker Lonni Lattimer speaks to him. But the moment passes when the set is attacked by Hyperion’s greatest foe, Emil Burbank, who hates the Man of Atoms for irradiating his hair with his Atomic Vision, causing it to grow wildly. Bad Hype carried Burbank away and brings him up to speed on his ruse, recruiting him as an ally in his villainy. At this point, the good Hyperion shows up, accompanied by the entire Squadron Supreme. Turns out he was rescued when Doctor Spectrum called a meeting of the team by teleporting them all to their satellite. As Thor is speaking with Lonni, good Hyperion one again misunderstands and decides the smart move would be to punch Thor out again.

At this point, the last vestiges of plot are thrown out as Burbank and bad Hyperion show up in a giant robot. Thor clobbers the mech while Hyperion lays out his villainous counterpart. The movie crew has been filming the fight, so they now have enough footage for two movies. And that’s it! Thor sets off for his home dimension, parting with Hyperion on friendly terms despite having been cold-cocked by the guy just a page earlier. The entire thing is a bit of a mess, but it’s filled with oblique references to both the Superman comics of Boring’s own era as well as to the Superman film then in production. So I can’t say that it was in any way good, but it was at least memorable.