The Mighty Thor #338

"A Fool and His Hammer"
December 1983
Story - Walt Simonson
Art - Walt Simonson
Lettering - John Workman Jr.
Colors - George Roussos
Editing - Mark Gruenwald
Editor-In-Chief - Jim Shooter

Following the cracking first issue of Walt Simonson’s run we find ourselves with Part 2, the cover of which depicts Thor and Beta-Ray Bill wrestling over the hammer, Mjolnir, which is in the middle of the page. It’s a dynamic shot, and the cover art to the first volume of the Walt Simonson Visionaries trade paperback series; it also, as we soon learns, depicts the actual events of the issue rather than being just a throwaway image, something that comic book covers have devolved into in more recent years.

                

The issue itself opens up with a sequence near identical to the opening of the first chapter; a celestial figure, shrouded in darkness, is working tirelessly to create something with a magic glowing rock thing we saw in the last issue. As he strikes the anvil beneath, the word “DOOM!” appears again, and this is surely being set up as this character’s theme. It’s a decent hook, but honestly, every time I see that word I think of Doctor Doom, and I’m fairly certain he’s not going to make an appearance, which is a shame, because Walt Simonson also had a great run on the Fantastic Four.

                

Following this comes the title page featuring a ghostly image of Thor screaming to the heavens, while Donald Blake stands atop the wreckage of Beta-Ray Bill’s spacecraft...screaming to the heavens. The caption boxes fill us in on what happened last time; Thor turned back into Blake, Beta-Ray Bill picked up the hammer and became Thor, Thor was summoned to Asgard, Bill went instead. As Blake breaks down, distraught over his father’s mistake and his apparent discontent with being left on Earth, Nick Fury pops in to remind us Blake only came into contact with Beta-Ray Bill due to a S.H.I.E.L.D. request. Fury assures Blake that Odin will probably realise Bill is not Thor, and come for Blake before long.

                

In Asgard some Asgardians mistake Beta-Ray Bill for Thor, and he attacks them, believing them to be demons. After a brief scuffle, Odin arrives, realises Bill isn’t his son and takes back control of the hammer, demanding to know where Thor is. Odin imprisons Bill in some sort of magic cage and uses his powers to locate Donald Blake. Having found his son, Odin snatches him from next to Nick Fury, who promptly starts complaining about how much paperwork he’s going to have to fill out due to Thor’s disappearance, as well as the fact that it’s started to rain. In Asgard, Odin releases Beta-Ray Bill and he travels with Thor and Odin up a mountain to have a discussion; Odin begins to tell the story of Asgard, and asks Bill to tell his own origin.

                

This is followed by a scene of Sif, who apparently hasn’t spoken to Odin yet, meaning that we still don’t know why Odin wanted Thor back in Asgard. Sif sees Thor in a passionate embrace with Lorelei, another Asgardian. Jealousy takes control of Sif and she attacks them both, storming off because apparently she had dibs on Thor. After she’s gone, we learn that it wasn’t Thor at all, but in fact Loki in disguise. Loki mentions that due to this encounter Sif will soon leave Asgard and that will apparently bring Lorelei closer to a goal her sister never achieved. What this is I’m not sure, but it’s probably something to do with conquering Asgard and bringing devastation to the universe.

                

Meanwhile, we’re given Beta-Ray Bill’s origin; he’s an alien, his people were attacked by demons, he was coming to Earth in search of a weapon that would help him stop these foes. Bill announces that Mjolnir was this weapon, and that it is rightfully his as he won it in fair combat. Thor protests and Odin decides that the only way for the two to settle the matter is in single combat. Odin announces to Asgard that Thor and Bill are going to fight to the death in some other dimension, and the winner will be the wielder of Mjolnir. Thor and Bill are sent to the wasteland of Skartheim where they start to battle. The fight seems pretty equal, with both combatants managing to hurt the other as their brutality begins to increase.

                

There’s a quick scene involving Volstagg and Balder encountering a man named Agnar, who comes from one of the other Nine Realms. Agnar tries to fight them, but Volstagg beats him fairly quickly, sitting on him as punishment. Back to the fight and Thor seems to overpower Bill as they fall onto rocks atop the molten river. However, Bill has one last trick up his sleeve; he makes contact with Thor and there’s a gigantic flash of light. Thor and Bill both collapse as a result, the alien awakening moments later and deciding to spare Thor’s life, pulling him out of the way of a molten waterfall.

                

The issue ends with Bill returning to Asgard, with the beaten form of Thor in his arms. The Asgardians look on in shock as Bill announces that: “The hammer...is MINE!” And so ends the second issue of this great run on Thor; this one was a lot of fun, but wasn’t quite as classic as the first. It does intrigue me, though, with various storylines being set up still, and the payoff surely being further down the road on this forty-plus issue journey.

                

Next: Something Old, Something New...