Alan Kistler's History of Thor - Part 2

This is continued from Part 1, which covers the early years of Thor up to the departure of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. You can also skip ahead to Part 3, which covers the recent return of Thor in his latest series.

Quick review. Thor was the god of thunder, one of the Asgardians and son to their king Odin. Thor got a little too arrogant, so Odin turned him into a human being, Dr. Donald Blake, making him a healer who was "lame of leg" in order to teach the guy humility. When it was the proper time, Don found his old hammer Mjolnir hidden away in a cave and could now become Thor again at will. He became a super-hero, kicking ass both in solo adventures and alongside the Avengers. Sometimes he fought super-villains like the Wrecker and the Absorbing Man and sometimes he fought other Asgardians, such as Amora the Enchantress and his step-brother Loki.

And now we continue.

THE FIRST ALTERNATE THOR

After Stan Lee and Jack Kirby left, Thor just didn't seem to have the same magic. Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Bill Mantlo and Len Wein all took turns here and there doing tales of the thunder god. There was a fight against a villain called Damocles who nearly destroyed the UN with a missile and there was a story in which the Egyptian gods clashed swords with the Asgardians. There was a story in which aliens called the Soul Survivors kidnapped Odin to use him as a power source, an act which seemingly caused his death. But Odin turned up again in the next issue, slipping into the "Odinsleep", a coma of sorts which allowed him to heal.

But for the most part, the issues were filled with ideas and battles we’d seen before. Loki once again vying for the throne. The Enchantress once again using the Executioner as her pawn. Foes like King Cobra and the Absorbing Man and the Grey Gargoyle all causing trouble again. Odin still being ticked off about Don Blake and Jane Foster dating. The art didn't suffer though, even if some of the stories did. John Buscema did some great work on the book, as did artist Walt Simonson, who would add quite a bit of magic to Thor and his world in later years.

Then, Roy Thomas (a fan of mythology) decided to have fun by giving readers an alternate version of the hero who more closely resembled the original figure of myth.

Remember that reporter Harris Hobbs who took a photo of Don Blake turning into Thor? And then Thor blocked out his memory of the whole event, but admitted that the mental block may not be 100% effective? Well, turns out he was right. In Thomas' tale, Hobbs showed up again, having finally remembered the truth about Thor. Thor then went off to Asgard, followed by Hobbs and a whole camera crew intent on filming a documentary of Thor's home.

But they came at the worst time, because it seemed like Loki was up to his tricks again. Despite his efforts, Thor was unable to prevent Loki from making sure that Balder was hit with an arrow tipped with mistletoe (which he'd tried before in Stan Lee's adventures, you'll remember). To save Balder's life, Odin gave up a part of his own life force in order to place the noble Asgardian's body in stasis.

During all this, Hobbs and his people were doing their best to film their movie. The cameraman for this crew was Roger "Red" Norvell. Red developed a major crush on Sif but she wouldn’t give him the time of day. Feeling envious of Thor, Red was easy pickings for Loki who offered him a way to match the competition.

Loki gave Red Norvell the iron gloves and belt of strength of Thor, both of which Odin had blessed with Thor's essence, and the human cameraman became a new version of the thunder god. The power drove him nuts though and he immediately attacked Thor (just as Loki had intended).

During the battle, Red tossed a lethal energy bolt at the thunder god but the sound engineer Joey leaped in front of the attack, dying instead. Shocked that he'd just killed his friend and co-worker, Red regained his senses (at least partially). He agreed to stop the attack and leave but only if Sif came with him. Sif agreed and the two left.

Eventually, Red came back and it was revealed that Sif's presence had helped restore his sanity and original frame of mind. Seeing Asgard was under attack, Red wished to make amends and battled the Midgard Serpent, dying in the process. Odin revealed this had been part of his own plan all along. He had known of Loki's plan with Red to attack Thor and had allowed it, wishing to outwit a prophecy that Thor would die facing the Midgard Serpent by allowing a new Thor of sorts to take his place when the battle came.

Roy Thomas also had Thor fight the character Hyperion, a Marvel creation who was meant to be a direct analogue to DC's Superman. In DC Comics at the time, many of their characters lives on parallel Earths and when they crossed-over the story would be entitled something akin to "Crisis on Earths 1 and 2" or "Crisis On Two Earths." Since Hyperion was from an alternate universe, Thomas jokingly entitled the story "Crisis on Twin Earths!"

In the next issue #281, Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio (the writer, not the actor) decided to take away one of the abilities of Mjolnir. In this story. Thor encountered the space Phantom, whom he'd met years ago during his time with the Avenger.The Space Phantom took Thor to his home planet Phantos and explained that his race was dying. To save them, Thor used energies from his hammier, sacrificing the enchantment that allowed him to travel through time.

This was done , of course, so that Thor could no longer just time travel whenever he pleased (and thus fans wouldn't constantly ask why he didn't do so more often). Years later, writer Kurt Busiek would retcon this in the series Avengers Forever, saying that this was all a ruse by the time villain Immortus since he wasn’t keen on certain people and enemies also being able to move through the time stream.

And then Roy Thomas decided that what the thunder god really needed was a little more Kirby in his life. And really, isn't that true for all of us?

ETERNALS AND REINCARNATION

Jack Kirby went to DC Comics and created some folks called the New Gods, a sci-fi reinterpretation of mythical gods on a cosmic scale. When he came back to Marvel, he tried a similar project in a series called The Eternals. The basic premise was that during the dawn of humanity, god-like aliens called the Celestials visited Earth. These beings took groups of early humans and messed with their genes. The results were three cousin races: normal humans, the demonic Deviants (who mutated with each generation), and the nearly immortal and genetically perfect Eternals.

This was supposed to be a sci-fi explanation for myths and religious imagery on Earth. Deviants, who lived in caves and hidden away, inspired legends of demons and devils. While the mountain-dwelling Eternals (with names such as Makkari and Sersi) inspired legends of gods of good.

Although Kirby intended this story to be fairly separate from the mainstream Marvel universe, it was later decided to insert the Eternals firmly into continuity with the other books. Personally, I think this was a mistake because then you get sci-fi characters implied to have inspired myth co-existing with actual mystical/mythical characters and that just seems repetitive to me. But, it happened, so there ya go.

Thor met the Eternals and later the Asgardians started clashing swords with this other race. And during the second half of "The Eternals Saga", Odin (rendered mad due to outside forces) nearly destroyed Nor, only To then remark that he refused to kill his son "again." Thor was naturally quite confused and decided he needed some answers.

In ancient myth. Odin sacrificed an eye in order to gain insight and wisdom. In the Marvel Universe, this eye grew to enormous size and gained sentience. Yeah, I know it's weird, but it's a comic book universe where Thor co-exists with Spider-Man and Howard the Duck. So just accept.

Thor asked the Eye of Odin what the deal was and the Eye obliged. Thor found out that thousands of years ago there had been a race of beings known as the Aesir. Many of whom seemed to be counterparts to the Asgardians he knew. The Aesir had their own version of Thor who had red hair and a beard (as well as a family). The Aesir had a version of Loki who was considered Odin's blood-brother rather than his adopted son. The Warriors three and certain others were nowhere to be found.

As Thor watched, the Aesir finally faced Ragnarok and it happened just as the Norse myths said. He was stunned to see his own counterpart slain in battle against the Midgard Serpent. Asgard died in a flash of light that appeared as a brilliant new star in the night sky (and apparently this event occurred roughly 2000 years ago. So you get the implication, right?).

Afterwards, Odin, having merged his essence with that of members of his family, brought forth a new version of the Aesir race, reborn and now calling themselves Asgardians instead. As their lives unfolded, many events would echo from their original incarnations (with minor differences here and there). Save for Odin, they were all unaware of their previous lives. This was why the myths of Earth seemed to be inaccurate concerning Thor and his people. Those legends were actually about the previous generation of Asgard. Roy Thomas had gotten the idea from an old comic in which Odin had implied that Ragnarok was a cycle which had taken place once before in some way.

The Eye also told a couple of stories about how Thor had once been reborn as a human warrior and then was reincarnated as the same warrior's son. In this second life, he encountered the Valkyrie hero Brunnhilde(also a member of the super-hero team the Defenders) who had also come to Earth in mortal form.

Although Thor and Brunnhilde were brother and sister in these mortal lives, Thor sensed inwardly that they were offspring of Asgard and so that meant it was okay for them to be in love since they were beyond mortal restriction. Which is really creepy and I'm not sure why Thomas thought this up. Anyway, circumstances led to Odin (in mortal form) slaying Thor in battle and that was why old One-Eye later said he was unwilling to have his son die "again."

It was a very complicated tale, but it did involve a very interesting way of making the Marvel Norse gods co-exist with the original myths and also implied that theirs was a race that lived life in a cycle of life, death and rebirth (a theme central to many mythologies).

Towards the end of the story, Thor also at last found out that his mother was Gaea, the spirit of the Earth itself, and that Odin and coupled with her in order to make sure his son had a connection to Midgard and humanity.

These revelations where handled by Roy Thomas, Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio. The Eternals Saga ended when Odin placed himself and the spirits of all the Asgardians (save for Thor) within the body of the Destroyer in order to battle the Celestials, who had returned to judge whether or not Earth was fit for survival. The Destroyer armor was demolished and Odin and the Asgardians seemingly died. But Gaea stepped in, offering the Celestials a group of humans who would be new Young Gods for the Celestials to use for their own purposes. And then Thor set about restoring the Asgardians by asking for a donation of energy/life-force from each of the many other pantheons that were connected to Earth. Thus, Odin, Sif, the Warriors Three and all the rest were restored to living forms and everyone celebrated.

For the next several issues afterwards, Thomas, Gruenwald and Machio all switched off on writing duties for Thor, along with writers Doug Moench and Bill Mantlo. There were a couple of decent stories during this time. You got to see Thor fight off Firelord and Air-Walker, both heralds of the world devourer Galactus. Balder returned from a state of near-death, his spirit shaken and his hair now white as a result of his trauma.

When Doug Moench took over as regular writer, he decided to have Thor carve out his own niche in the Marvel Universe, away from New York which was becoming overrun with costumed champions. Donald Blake moved to Chicago in issue #319, following an adventure against the zany villain called (wait for it) Zaniac. Thor fought off super-villains such as Graviton (who had the very bizarre plan of taking a Bloomingdale's store hostage in order to find a bride) and once again faced Loki and the Midgard Serpent.

Later, Alan Zelenetz took over writing chores and introduced the Christian-themed villain Crusader. Not a bad idea, considering that Thor was, after all, a symbol of pagan belief. Fittingly, renewed faith was the key to the thunder god's victory in that battle.

Sif was around for many of these stories, but in the end realized she simply did not have the interest or care for Earth that Thor did. She returned to Asgard, leaving the thunder god alone and without love once again. Of course, our boy isn't one for moping really, so he held his head high and decided to simply move on with his life.

Back to Roy Thomas. For a while, Roy wrote the series The Invaders, featuring Marvel's Golden Age heroes fighting the Nazis and what not. In one issue, Thomas wrote that Hitler (thanks to the aid of a scientist named Dr. Olsen) was able to summon Thor from Asgard. Not a bad idea, since Hitler was known to be heavily into the Tuetonic gods and the idea of Ragnarok. Hitler convinced Thor to join him but after battling the Invaders, the god of thunder realized he'd been tricked and promptly left (a shame he didn't stick around to help the fight against the Nazis).

Before leaving though, Thor had to clean up some spilled milk. See, during the fight against the Invaders, he'd blasted the second hero to be called Union Jack with a bolt of lightning. Once he realized Hitler was a big fat liar, our golden-haired boy used Mjolnir to recall the electricity out of Union Jack's body, restoring him to health. Exactly how this made sense and why we never saw Thor able to use such a power before or since was never explained. And as a side effect, Union Jack II could now discharge electricity. Weird, right? 

And then came the glourious Thor #337. Walt Simonson came back as artist and writer and began a revolutionary era in the comic's run. And it all started with an alien who looked like a horse.

"IF HE BE WORTHY ..."

Nick Fury had a tough job. As Director of the high-tech counter-terrorist/peace-keeping organization called S.H.I.E.L.D., it was up to him to protect folks from evil cults such as HYDRA and the Hand, as well as extranormal menaces, whether it be Dr. Doom or an alien invasion. Sometimes he would recruit help from super-heroes, many of whom he kept tabs on and whose secret identities he made sure to learn, just in case.

So when Don Blake was approached by Fury and told that Earth needed Thor's help, he knew it was serious. Turned out there was a big mother-honking ship headed in Earth's direction and no one knew what its purpose was. Thor went out to investigate and triggered the automatic defenses. Upon entering the ship, Thor found a large and muscular alien in stasis. The alien being then woke up, introduced himself as "Beta Ray Bill", and then proceeded to attack the thunder god, convinced he was a demon that had plagued his people.

During the battle, the mystic hammer Mjolnir was knocked from Thor's grasp. Thor reached for it, knowing he had only 60 seconds before the mallet's enchantment would revert him to his human form of Don Blake. Thor was then shocked when he saw Beta Ray Bill do the impossible. He actually lifted the hammer himself and in that moment he received power and armor similar to Thor's own.

 

As the ship crashed to Earth, Odin sent out a summons for his son and Beta Ray Bill found himself teleported away, leaving Don Blake powerless and marooned on Earth. Of course, Odin isn't blind in his remaining eye, so as soon as he realized the horse-looking guy was not his kid, he summoned Don Blake to Asgard as well, turning him into Thor. Thor explained that Beta Ray Bill had done what no other (except for Loki when he used some serious magic) had done before and had lifted the mystical uru hammer. Impressed that this being from the stars had proven worthy enough to lift the hammer and be granted the power of the thunder god, Odin asked for Beta Ray Bill to explain his origins.

Beta Ray Bill explained that his was a humanoid race of people who lived near the center of the galaxy. Eventually, they had to leave their home and look for another. The race housed themselves in stasis aboard several space arks. For their protection, they engineered a new warrior, a cyborg being with a disfigured appearance and great strength and resiliency. This was Beta Ray Bill. His people had been attacked by demons beforehand and he'd assumed Thor worked for these same forces. Although he now knew Thor and Odin were not his enemies, he still believed he had a legitimate claim to the hammer Mjolnir.

Odin agreed that both Thor and Beta Ray Bill had a legit claim to the hammer and told them they had to decide it via a trial by combat. By a close margin, Beta Ray Bill won the competition due to his alien physiology. Although he could've left Thor to die, Bill felt such a death was unworthy of the man and so he saved him.

Odin was impressed with Bill’s honorable spirit. Thor felt disgraced and conceded he would give up his godhood as a result of the competition. Bill wished to keep the hammer, as it would help him defend his people against the demons, but wasn’t happy with the outcome himself, as he respected Thor. Odin came up with his own solution. He had the dwarves craft a new hammer, one similar to Mjolnir, and presented it to Beta Ray Bill, naming it "Stormbreaker." Furthermore, Odin gave Beta Ray Bill a second gift. By transferring the transformation enchanment (which allowed Thor to become Don Blake and back) out of Mjolnir and into Stormbreaker, Beta Ray Bill could now resume his original appearance by striking the hammer onto the ground (which would cause it to look like a cane until he transformed back again).

Of course, this meant that Thor was now unable to turn back into Don Blake again. Odin told him not to fret about it, since that mortal guise had outlived its usefulness. As Beta Ray Bill went off again (with his new friend Sif in tow), Thor returned to Earth ready to start a new chapter of his life. No longer able to transform into a mortal man, the thunder god still felt the need for a secret identity so that he could stay grounded with humanity and occasionally retreat from his duties as a grand superhero.

Nick Fury set our boy up with a false identity, that of "Sigurd Jarlson", a construction worker. To disguise himself, Fury suggested that as Jarlson our hero could pull his hair back into a ponytail, don a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, and wear loose clothing to hide his physique. Thor was doubtful such a disguise could work. But after running into a reporter (who looked remarkably-like Clark Kent) and seeing that he wasn’t immediately recognized, he figured he’d give it a shot.

Walt Simonson took Thor to new heights. His stories had a sense of majesty that had not been seen since the days of Lee and Kirby. Thor had epic battles as he fought against entire armies of foes. Old enemies such as the Executioner were updated, wielding modern-day assault weapons rather than an axe. The Midgard Serpent appeared again, but now he seemed an enemy of greater raw power and danger. There were new dangers such as the dark elf Malekith and the being known as Kurse. And there were huge bad-ass wars, juxtaposed with short, poignant tales such as when Thor met the last living Viking on Earth and decided to help him earn his place in Valhalla.

And in one epic issue, Odin and his arch-enemy Surtur both fell into a chasm, locked in battle with one another. It would be years before they would be seen again. Thor was offered the crown of Asgard, but turned it over to Balder who he believed to be more worthy.

I will not go into major detail on these stories. They are awesome and you should read them for yourselves. If you have trouble finding the trades of Walt Simonson’s run, write in to Marvel and demand that they print more copies!

On thing I will say is that Simonson wasn't done messing with Thor's physical state. Just as we were getting used to our hero being stuck in godly form, we then had to deal with Thor being magically turned into a frog. Silly? Absolutely. That's what made the story so much fun. Of course, Thor was not about to let being turned into a frog stop him. He went off to find Mjonir, convinced that once he lifted it (for he was still worthy, after all) it would transform him back into the god of thunder we all knew and loved. It didn’t work exactly as he’d hoped though. Instead, we got a 6'6" frog dressed in armor and ready to throw some lightning bolts at anyone who even attempted to make a Kermit joke.

 

Thor was returned to his normal state, but then had to deal with a curse from Hela. The death goddess used her magicks so that Thor was now immortal but would be unable to heal from any wound. To protect himself from excruciating pain, Thor got himself a suit of armor to cover his entire form. He also grew a beard to hide new scars on his face.

Eventually, Thor got Hela to remove the curse. Later on, he was speaking to Loki, who had been involved (as usual) in quite a bit of chaos in Thor's life recently. Although Loki's schemes had been defeated, that wasn't enough for the thunder god this time. Without warning, Thor struck Loki on the arm with his mighty hammer, breaking it. It was a simple scene, but a strong reminder that Thor did not abide by the same combat codes many other super-heroes did.

Sal Buscema drew a lot of issues during this run and his art work definitely added to the magic. It was a sad day when he and Simonson finally left the book.

Moral of the story? Go out and find the trades that collect Simonson's run. And for those trades that are out of print, write to Marvel and demand more copies!

MORE ALTERNATE THUNDER GODS

Tom DeFalco took over as main writer next. One thing he introduced into the mythos was the character Dargo Ktor, a man from a possible future who had come into possession of Mjolnir and become a Thor for the future. Dargo was obviously a fan of hair metal bands, as his costume seemed to imply that he was ready to play back-up guitar with Guns and Roses or Van Halen.

After several issues, DeFalco decided he wanted to bring Thor back to the root idea of a god who occasionally transformed into a mortal man. But he wanted to add a twist. Whereas Don Blake had been just another aspect of Thor's personality, what if the mortal man was a completely separate person with his own life and personality?

In his identity of Sigurd Jarlson, Thor became friends with an architect named Eric Masterson. Masterson later learned about Thor's true identity and helped him out during an affair involving the Celestials. When they got back home, they wound up in a battle against the villain known as the Mongoose. As Thor and Hercules battled the villain, Eric leapt in front of an energy beam meant for Thor and was left mortally wounded.

Odin had since returned to Asgard, alive and well. With Masterson injured, Thor plead to his father to help his friend, who had only been injured because he’d been trying to help. To save Masterson's life, Odin merged his life-force with that of Thor, who willingly complied. The two were now bound together, sharing physical existence. Just as Thor had been able to transform into a mortal guise before, he could now trade places with Masterson when he wished it and vice versa.

There was more dramatic tension now than there had been when Thor turned into Blake. Those early transformations had been very akin to a typical super-hero secret identity. But now, Thor and Masterson were like the ultimate roommate nightmare. Masterson had his own life, his own agendas, and was in the middle of a custody battle for his son Kevin. The fact that he now had to be inexplicably absent from time to time because his buddy Thor needed to re-appear and go save the Earth definitely added a lot of problems to his life. Likewise, Thor wasn’t always comfortable with being forced out of existence now and then.

At one point, the two were separated but found that their life forces were too bound up in each other now. They either had to re-merge or die.

Not long after, Loki showed up and attempted to kill Masterson's family. He only succeeded in killing Masteron's friend Sarah Austin and Thor lost it, seemingly killing the god of mischief at last. It then seemed that Thor's spirit was killed, as punishment for killing a fellow Asgardian and family member. Masterson was now left in control of Thor's body, able to transform between it and his own mortal form whenever he wished it. So for a while, Masterson continued masquerading as Thor, doing his best to speak as Thor did and pretend he was the genuine thunder god.

Masterson was interesting in that he was basically the blue-collar Thor. Rather than wondering about how to balance his godly and Earthly natures, he was usually more concerned about how his son was doing and how he was going to take care of his bills that month.

Eventually, Loki was revealed to have faked his own death and Thor's spirit re-emerged. He and Masterson were finally safely separated by Odin. But because of their bonding, Masterson still had a piece of Thor's essence inside him. He just needed the right tool to let him access it.

Eric was given a walking stick which, when he struck it on the ground, would transform into a mighty mace called "Thunderstrike" and grant him an Asgardian-like body with the abilities that came with it. The mace allowed him to fly (though not as well as Thor), would return when it was thrown, could fire bolts of mystic energy, and create teleportational vortexes.

 

Calling himself Thunderstrike, Masterson continued operating as a super-hero. Typical of the silliness of the 1990's , Thunderstrike later teamed-up with Beta Ray Bill and Dargo and collectively they called themselves the "Thor Corps." I'm not sure how a mere trio constitutes an entire "corps", but hey, what do I know?

Thunderstrike hung out with the Avengers for a while and then got his own series. It never really hit a chord with fans, though. One of Masterson's arch-enemies was the warrior called Bloodaxe, who had been blessed with Asgardian-level strength and might after finding the axe of Skurge the Executioner. Bloodaxe’s identity was secret and many false clues were lefts in the Thunderstrike series before it was finally revealed that "he" was actually Jackie Lukus, Eric's new love interest.

Eric was then infected by the "bloodaxe curse" which had transformed Jackie. Realizing he was a danger to others, he caused a psychic backlash that killed himself, thus seemingly ending the curse. This sacrifice brought his series to an end. We saw Eric go off into the afterlife, claiming that Valhalla wasn't for him.

While he may not have been interesting enough for an ongoing series, I think it was a mistake to kill Eric off. You never know when a later writer might have a fun idea that could involve that character. And surely someone can see the story possibilities of a divorced father with tons of self-doubt suddenly finding himself with the power of a god.

OF GODS AND MEN

Roy Thomas jumped back into Thor's writing slot. His story arc "Blood and Thunder" wound up crossing over with titles such as Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch and Dr. Strange. Basically, Thor's mind had finally broken. The constant shifting between being a god to being a god who sometimes turns into a man to being a god whose soul is bonded to a mortal man's was all just too much for him and he went nuts. It was only thanks to the assistance of Adam Warlock and Dr. Strange, sorcerer supreme, that Thor was able to regain his sanity.

Thomas then had Thor's outfit changed into the first attempt to make him more "90's style." This involved him showing off most of his abs and chest and donning some really shiny boots. Thomas also brought back Roger "Red" Norvell. Apparently, Odin decided that Thor spent too much damn time on Earth and wanted Asgard to have a thunder god protecting it at all times, so he brought back the cameraman-turned-god.

These stories weren't terrible, but a lot of readers just didn't care that much.

Eventually, writer Warren Ellis came onto the book. If you have read Ellis' work on Planetary and The Authority, then you know this was a good thing. In his first arc, Thor found himself without his godly powers and cut-off from Asgard. He was still a huge, vital guy who'd never been sick a day in his life and he could still lift Mjolnir. But his Asgardian superhuman strength, endurance and resiliency were gone. He was now only as strong and tough as a top-level human athlete of that height, weight and build (so he could still definitely kick my ass).

Feeling alone and without resources, Thor found an unexpected ally when Amora the Enchantress appeared. Having seen that her twisted plots and schemes over the years had not forced the thunder god to love her, she now sought to earn his affection by becoming a trusted friend.

The two found out that Asgard's power had become unbalanced due to a scientist having actually convinced the mythical world-tree Yggdrasil (a nexus point between many dimensions) that Ragnarok had actually happened. Thor then took care of the situation, but still found himself unable to call upon Odin or the Asgardians.

One thing that Warren Ellis brought up in this story was that as far as much of the public of the Marvel Universe was concerned, Thor and the Asgardians were not gods but aliens worshipped as gods, with technology that was simply indistinguishable from magic (which is, of course, a reference to one of Clarke's Laws). Although this had been hinted at before, Ellis made it very concrete, going so far as to show readers an excerpt of a scientific journal published on the subject of Thor's heritage.

Warren Ellis left after this brief story and again the title didn't feel quite as magical. William Messner-Loebs took over the writing chores and although he'd worked with artist Mike Deodato before, something wasn't quite right this time around. For instance, in one issue, Thor is traveling with a few friends when one of them winds up getting kidnapped. Thor says that he and the others will rescue their friend, but then in the next scene we can see that same friend still walking with the group. Even as one of the other characters talks about how they need to find her! I don't know if that was a scripting error or an artistic error, but something's up when the panels contradict the dialog.

Thor later found out that Odin had saved the Asgardians from the premature Ragnarok by transporting them to Earth in mortal form with amnesia. Teaming up with Red Norvell, Thor went off on a quest to find the Norse gods.

During this time, our boy got his powers back and donned yet another "90's style" outfit with needless leather straps and an enormous chain attached to his hammer, all of which made him look like an extra from the movie Mad Max.

Before he found all of the gods and returned them to their proper lives, Thor became entangled in the crossover event known as Onslaught. The big battle involved a new X-Men villain who was composed of incredible energies. Thor, along with several other heroes, seemingly sacrificed himself in order to destroy the creature. After hundreds of issues, the Thor series ended.

But he wasn't killed. Instead, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and Dr. Doom were all transported to a newly created "counter-earth", birthed via the powers of the young mutant boy Franklin Richards (son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman). There, the heroes were reincarnated into lives that echoed their old ones but had noticeable differences. For instance, here Thor was a Norse god who'd been trapped for centuries in ice, held in suspended animation, and was then discovered and freed by the Avengers and a human named Don Blake.

Eventually, the heroes realized the truth about their lives and identities and journeyed back home to the real world. Dan Jurgens wrote the new Thor series and quickly tied up the loose ends from the pre-Heroes Reborn series. The gods who Thor had been looking for? Apparently, they all got their memories back while the thunder god was lost on Couner-Earth, only to then be captured by beings known as the Dark Gods.

After rescuing them, Thor resumed his super-hero life, back in his old school costume and ditching the 90's style outfit, much to the relief of all fans (though later he'd take on another armored look). Along with the return of the classic style came super-star artist John Romita, Jr., who can draw Thor like nobody's business.

Jurgens then decided that, like DeFalco, he missed the old Stan Lee idea of Thor spending half his time as a healer. And like DeFalco, he decided to do his own thing rather than just bring back Donald Blake. In a battle with the Destroyer, a paramedic named Jake Olson was caught in the crossfire and killed. Thor felt responsible and as penance he was now to continue Olson's life.

Thor would now transform into Olson from time to time, taking on his physical body. However, Thor had none of Olson's memories, so he had a difficult time adjusting to this new civilian identity. He was also put off when he re-encountered Jane Foster.

Later on, Jurgens apparently decided the Olson identity wasn't working out as he'd planned. Olson's spirit resurfaced and he was separated from Thor, becoming a living being once again.

And a while later, Jurgens introduced the character Tarlene, an alien girl who emulated Thor, adopting a similar costume and her own mighty mallet. Tarlene called herself "Thor Girl", no doubt making all of the Marvel marketing boys very happy that now they wouldn't have to worry about someone else grabbing the copyright to that name.

Thor Girl didn't exactly excite fans though. Possibly because of the dumb name. I mean, Thor isn't a super-hero title, it's a name. She-Hulk makes sense. Jean Grey-Man doesn't. See what I'm saying?

But I digress.

GOD OF THUNDER, LORD OF ASGARD

Jurgens then decided to give Thor a new role in life. And so, readers got the "Death of Odin" story-arc in which Odin fell to the fire demon Surtur. Granted we'd seen this happen before, but we were assured that this time his death was permanent. And so, Thor was now ruler of Asgard and inherited the Odin-power.

Thor decided it was about time the Asgardians took a more direct role in human affairs again. He brought Asgard into Earth's reality, having it hover above New York, and began throwing his weight around. This brought him into conflict with Earth's heroes and finally the thunder god decided it was time he become Lord of Earth, for the good of humanity. It was revealed that his mind had become corrupted by the incredible power of the Odinforce (and let's face it, Odin was always a bit of a bastard) and by the lingering bloodaxe curse.

After two hundred years, he realized the folly of his plans and used time travel to undo it. He merged his younger self with Jake Olson again, thus returning a sense of mercy and human perspective to his personality. The future timeline of his rule was prevented and much of the Odinforce left him. Thor didn't forget the dark lessons he had learned, however. What's more, he now had the responsibilities of being a father, as he now had his son Magni representing the next generation of Asgard.

Jurgens left the title and Michael Avon Oeming jumped on. Oeming brought back a sense of majesty to the title. Sadly, his run was too short. Soon after he joined, it was decided by Marvel that Thor would be seemingly killed as a precursor to the upcoming crossover Avengers Disassembled, in which the super-hero team would be ripped apart and forced to reform some time later with an entirely new roster and purpose.

In "Thor Disassembled", Loki and Surtur joined forces to finally begin Ragnarok for real. Thor and his forces battled them, but this was a true war and there were losses. At one point, Thor summoned Captain America and Iron Man to help him but then, seeing that this war could end in everyone's death, he sent his two brothers-in-arms back to Earth rather than see them sacrificed. Soon afterwards, Beta Ray Bill returned to Asgard, sensing that his blood-brother Thor was in danger. He joined the battle alongside the Asgardians, ready to die if need be.

To gain greater knowledge, Thor went on a similar journey to what Odin had gone through in order to gain his own great power and wisdom. Thor's "journey into mystery" involved him hanging himself and then plucking out not one but BOTH eyes. Thor now understood that looking down on the Asgardians was a race of beings known as Those Who Sit In Shadow. These beings were the ones responsible for Asgardians being forced to lead cyclical lives. Those Who Sit In Shadow somehow fed off of this process of reincarnation.

Thor, however, had the ability to break the cycle. Not just because he was now aware of it, but because Odin had prepared him for this moment. He had been born of Gaea, the spirit of the Earth, making him a part of humanity. What's more, he had lived several years as a mortal being when Odin had transformed him into Donald Blake. These qualities gave him a unique insight and so Thor knew that he could end the cycle and prevent Those Who Sit In Shadow from feeding off of the struggles of his people by destroying all of Asgard himself. Those Who Sit In Shadow pleaded with him to stop, but Thor wouldn't listen. At least this way, his people would be allowed to truly die and not just be puppets. This was the purpose Odin had always intended for him, he knew that now.

Thor first sent away Beta Ray Bill, asking the alien to keep their memory alive. And then he brought about Asgard’s destruction. But the last page of that final issue hinted that when the universe was ready, it would find a way to restore the thunder god once again. It was only a matter of time.

This story is available in trade as Thor Disassembled, should you wish to get yourself a copy. 

And that concludes Part 2.

You can now go to Part 3, which covers the recent return of Thor in his latest series..

Comments

[Chris]

Great job, sir. This finally answered some questions of mine.

[Mikhail]

Sorry to hear about your gran dad, Fantastic work, well worth the wait!!!

KISTLER'S RESPONSE:
It was his time. Glad you enjoyed the piece. The History of Iron Man won't take as long to put out, I promise. :-)

[Alec]

Warren Ellis wrote for Thor? Is that collected anywhere?

KISTLER'S RESPONSE:
Yes, in the trade THOR VISIONARIES: MIKE DEODATO.