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Marvel Masterworks: Thor Vol. 8
This collects Thor #’s 163-172 and is written by Stan “The Man” Lee and illustrated by Jack “King” Kirby. The introduction is written by Jon B. Cooke and he writes not just about the comics but the time when they were written, a time when Jack Kirby was on his way out from the bullpen of Marvel and into DC Comics. There’s a great story about Jack wanting to kill off Thor and the Asgardians in order to start a new storyline in Marvel, something about New Gods? Awesome introduction.
Spoilers Ahead
-Thor #163- Thor looks for Sif only to get transported to some weird realm, possibly future Earth, where Sif is captured. Thor meets Pluto, leader of the underworld and defeats Thor by issue’s end, vowing to head to the 20th century to take that over. There’s a little tidbit at the ending referencing an unknown biological specimen. Hmmm….
-Thor #164- Thor fights Pluto as Balder is tracked by a woman named Karnilla. Balder refuses her advances and heads to help Thor, giving us a classic splash page in the true Kirby fashion. Pluto is eventually dispatched by Thor, with the help of Zeus, and things are back to normal, except for that unknown biological specimen’s cocoon opening. This issue has some great Kirby fight-scenes.
-Thor #165- That biological specimen that was hinted at the first two issues hatches, and it is Him! We know him now as Adam Warlock, but back then he was Him and this would be his second appearance after his first appearance in the pages of FF. Him tells us his origin, for those who didn’t read FF and he takes Sif as his mate. Thor doesn’t like this and chases after him but loses him when Karnilla tries to claim Balder again. Meanwhile, Odin says he must find Galactus.
-Thor #166- Thor finds Him and goes bezerk when they fight, succumbing to something called Warrior Madness. Thor just beats the crap out of Him (and Kirby does the usual awesome job of the duo’s mash-up) but Thor soon realizes that he suffered from the Madness and must repent now for this misdeed. This is quintessential Kirby.
-Thor #167- Thor returns back to Asgard and learns from Odin that his punishment for his madness was to find Galactus for him. He asks for one last reprieve, to head to Earth. He gets his wish and finds Balder, who vowed to protect Earth in Thor’s absence, gravely injured thanks to Loki. Thor becomes Blake to save him only to have Loki steal the cane. Odin intervenes and tells Loki that he who has the cane, or Mjolnir, must find Galactus and Loki says the hell with that and drops the cane. Thor saves Balder and goes on his mission. I have to mention the awesomest Galactus splash page that’s ever been drawn that is in this issue, and it is suitable for framing; that’s how good it is. If you need a reason to know why true comic fans love Kirby, read this.
-Thor #168- Balder recovers to find the Warriors Three waiting for him. The four of them will protect Earth while Thor looks for Galactus. Unfortunately, Thor can’t find Galactus. Luckily, Galactus finds him! Finally, we return to the Warriors Four who hear about a super-destroyer robot that the Commies are working on and unleash onto the United States. This was more a set-up issue than anything as nothing too notable happened here.
-Thor #169- Galactus tells of his origin, and it is pretty bland and unimpressive. He is the last survivor of some alien race who harnessed all that race’s power. All of a sudden, all that build-up for Thor looking for Galactus is ended as Thor is sent back to Earth to stop the Thermal Man, the device unleashed on the US last issue. Reading the introduction revealed that this was supposed to be a lot longer a story arc, but creative differences between Stan and Jack nixed that. This was definitely rushed and the story suffered as a result.
-Thor #170- So Thor shows up on Earth to battle the Thermal Man, Karnilla rescues the warriors Three and Balder to nurse Balder back to health, and the Thermal Man is quickly disposed of by Thor. This was a by the numbers story, though there was another great Kirby splash page in here.
-Thor #171- Thor finds out that a noted politician is injured and his death would start a race riot, so he becomes Blake to save him. The Wrecker shows up to wreck things so Blake has to leave in the middle of surgery to defeat Wrecker. The day is saved eventually. Another by the numbers story that saw both Jack and Stan noticeably off their game.
-Thor #172- Thor is kidnapped by some old dictator for the purpose of switching minds with him. You see, this old man wants to be immortal. Thor beats him in a battle of the minds and this story’s only notable thing was bringing Jane back to the Thor title. I think you can tell Jack’s general displeasure with the company by now, as this was really phoned in. I think Stan was getting a bit burned out by this time as this was two really basic stories in a row.
-The Bottom Line- Although the collection ended with a thud and wasn’t what I would consider the best of the Stan and Jack partnership, it was interesting to see how things started to come to an end between Marvel and Jack Kirby. There were plots that were set up that really weren’t paid off (the Galactus one being the most obvious) and towards the end we saw two guys just phoning it in. Don’t get me wrong, there is some really good stuff in here, especially from Kirby, and the unused pages and covers that are in here as extras show just how damn good Kirby was. This is a really unique collection. Comic book fans looking for classic, great, Thor stories will have to look elsewhere, but comic historians will definitely appreciate this work and appreciate what would be his last run of Thor. He would only do 6 more issues of Thor so this is the last Masterworks that is just of Jack and Stan. It’s an easy read, not spectacular, but a solid Masterworks collection. Mildly recommended.
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