BHOC: THOR #263

This was the second of two issues of THOR that were contained in the SUPERHERO GIFT PACK that I received for Christmas in 1978, and its story picked up where the preceding issue had left off, fortunately. So I rolled right in, interested to see what would become of Thor and his posse as they confronted the living Odin-Force monster that had been created by the Templeworlders who had seemingly sucked Odin dry.

THOR was, perhaps, the Marvel series that most suffered from the departure of Jack Kirby. In his absence, there didn’t seem to be all that much of a spark to it all throughout the decade of the 1970s. As I’ve mentioned before, there seems to have been an attempt to get it to straddle the line between a super hero book and a barbarian book, which is smart from a commercial standpoint but which I found dull as a reader. It wasn’t really until Walt Simonson came on as both writer and artist that the series got its snap back–and that’s a long time to go without a really good run. Writer/editor Len Wein does yeoman service here, and he’s always solid, but he doesn’t seem especially inspired by the story he’s delivering either. It feels like there was an outline of what a Thor story should include, and as long as you colored within that line, you’d be left alone.

So this issue opens with an extended fight scene, as well as some ill-fitting finishes from Tony DeZuniga over Simonson’s breakdowns. The Odin-Force rolls over the Asgardians without pause. Thor realizes that the enchantment upon his hammer is gone, eliminated by the Odin-Force and thus preventing it from automatically returning to Thor’s hand. Only Volstagg remains to stand up against the Odin-Force monster, and surprisingly given how often he’s been depicted as cowardly, he does so.

What’s more, Volstagg begins to generate awesome energies within himself, energies that stagger the Odin-Creature. They pair parry and thrust at one another, with Volstagg living up to the reputation of himself that he was always boasting about as a great warrior. In the end, Volstagg can’t quite seem to put the Odin-Force beast down, but he does get it to exhaust all of its energies, causing it to in essence consume itself. And so his fellow Asgardians are saved.

Thor races to teh side of his father, but Odin appears to have perished. And so, when K’rll, ravaged by the feedback to the Odin-Force creature that he was manipulating, enters in a murderous rage, Thor is just about ready to put him down for good in vengeance. But them, Mjolnir lies back to his hand, indicating that the All-Father may not be so demised as they had all through. Rising, Odin commands a halt be put to all hostilities. As he faltered, he of course passed along some of his Odin-Power to Volstagg for safe keeping, reasoning that so long as it existed, Odin could not truly die. And so it is thus.

The rest of the issue is pretty much wrap-up, as Thor and the Asgardians make for home. Odin must enter the renewing Odin-Sleep to replenish his depleted energies, an so Thor and his crew craft a spectacular viking bed for him aboard their starjammer. They notably don’t solve the Templeworlders’ energy problem, but rather seal up the manner in which they entered the so-called Doomsday Star and leave them to their fate. This seems a bit cruel somehow–though it’s blunted in that we really only ever got to see two Templeworlders throughout this whole story. Still, though.

As the issue wraps things up, Thor’s ship returns to Asgard among cheering throngs overjoyed to hear of Odin’s return. But when they arrive, Thor and his friends are summoned to the Throne Room, where they are confronted by Loki and his allies the Enchantress and the Executioner. They have taken the throne for themselves, and this portents new conflicts to come in the next issue. To Be Continued!