{"id":33138,"date":"2025-06-19T17:54:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T17:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33138"},"modified":"2025-06-19T17:54:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T17:54:44","slug":"mighty-thor-marvel-masterworks-volume-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/06\/19\/mighty-thor-marvel-masterworks-volume-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Mighty Thor Marvel Masterworks volume 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Roy Thomas<\/strong>, Don Glut<\/strong>, Don Thompson<\/strong>, Maggie Thompson<\/strong>, Mark Gruenwald<\/strong>, Ralph Macchio<\/strong>, John Buscema<\/strong>, Keith Pollard<\/strong>, Walter Simonson<\/strong>, Alan Kupperberg<\/strong>, Wayne Boring<\/strong>, Arvell Jones<\/strong>, Pablo Marcos<\/strong>, Tom Palmer<\/strong>, Chic Stone<\/strong>, Ernie Chan<\/strong>, Tony DeZu\u00f1iga<\/strong> & various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-1821-7 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Once upon a time, disabled physician Donald Blake <\/em>took a vacation in Norway, only to stumble into an alien invasion. Trapped in a cave, he found an ancient walking stick which, when struck against the ground, turned him into the Norse God of Thunder! Within moments, he was defending the weak and smiting the wicked. Months swiftly passed, with the Lord of Storms tackling rapacious extraterrestrials, Commie dictators, costumed crazies and cheap thugs, but these soon gave way to a vast kaleidoscope of fantastic worlds and incredible, mythic menaces, usually tackled with an ever-changing cast of stalwart immortal warriors at his side\u2026<\/p>\n

As the ever-expanding Marvel Universe grew increasingly interconnected and matured through its first decade – with characters literally tripping over each other in New York City – Thor<\/strong>\u2019s Asgardian heritage and the soaring imagination of Jack Kirby most often drew the Thunderer away from mortal realms into stunning, unique landscapes and scenarios. Now as the King prepared to leave Marvel again and mostly mainstream comics entirely behind, his successors had room to play with his creations…<\/p>\n

Spanning cover-dates January to December 1979, this power-packed compilation re-presents The Mighty Thor<\/strong> #279-290 and Thor Annual<\/strong> #7 & 8. By blending stints on Midgard with cosmic doom and whilst playing with established prophecy, inspired scribe Roy Thomas opens this tome with an engaging Introduction<\/em> detailing his interest and relationship with Kirby\u2019s other, other <\/em>Marvel pantheon and discussing The King\u2019s last great contributory concept to the House of Ideas…<\/p>\n

Then the comics catastrophes and revelations resume with Thomas, Walt Simonson & Ernie Chan using the extra page count of Thor Annual<\/strong> #7 (cover-dated September 1978 and on sale from June 20th<\/sup>) to detail a forgotten \u201cfirst contact\u201d moment. After Balder<\/em> is killed by Loki<\/strong>\u2019s machinations in an attempt to trigger Ragnarok (Thor Marvel Masterworks #17<\/a><\/strong>), the Thunder God reluctantly consults hostile prophet Mimir<\/em>. The flaming seer of the Well of Wisdom instead emphasises how untrustworthy Odin is by telling of an event Thor cannot remember even though it was one of his most significant exploits…<\/p>\n

Tale within a tale \u2018And Ever …The Eternals!\u2019<\/em> reviews the creation of and war between Asgardian and Greek pantheons – which Thor readily recalled – before going on to disclose how the proud prince had continued seeking new mortal worshippers. Roaming Midgard doing heroic deeds, he had encountered and barely defeated a monstrous mind-controlling horror dubbed Dromedan.<\/em> Moving on, in what would be later called Central America he meets another – unsuspected – god-like race: Polar Eternals Ajak<\/em>, Druig<\/em>, Valkin<\/em> and Virako<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Thor then reexperiences how he learned Midgard was a laboratory preserve of incredible super-gods from space: \u201cCelestials\u201d who had genetically modified proto-hominids to create humanity, Eternals and horrific predatory Deviants. These subspecies had battled for ownership of Earth in wars spanning the length of human existence…
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\nConfronted by such sheer heresy and baffled by obvious nonsense, Thor learns now that his new friends were as treacherous as any god or mortal, with all knowledge of Celestials excised after he and the Eternals defeated a resurgent Dromedan and horde of Deviants and Mutates. Mindwiped, he returned to Asgard, oblivious to the fact that Space Gods would periodically return to judge the progress of their three-pronged project… as indeed they were doing at that very moment under a colossal gleaming dome in Earth\u2019s Andes mountains…<\/p>\n

When Kirby\u2019s series debuted in 1976, we met anthropologist Professor Daniel Damien<\/em> and daughter Margo<\/em>, whose explorations revealed giant aliens had visited Earth in ages past: sculpting hominid beasts into distinct sentient species – Human Beings; genetically unstable Deviants and god-like superbeings who called themselves Eternals<\/strong>. Moreover, those Space Gods had occasionally returned to check up on their experiment.<\/p>\n

Over 19 issues and an Annual, the series avoided true contact with Marvel continuity as modern mankind\u2019s military and moneyed movers-&-shakers dealt with the politics and panic of a world-shattering event. Ikaris (son of Valkin and Virako), Margo, Ajak, Sersi<\/em>, Makkari<\/em>, Zuras<\/em>, Thena<\/em>, Sprite<\/em> and Druig fought and foiled Deviants Kro<\/em>, Brother Tode<\/em>, Dromedan, Ransak<\/em> and Karkas<\/em> with humanity terrified in the background and under the microscope as The Fourth Host<\/em> of Celestials hovered above the world in a city-sized ship, pondering final judgement: a process that would take 50 years.<\/p>\n

Never a comfortable fit with the rest of the Marvel Universe – only S.H.I.E.L.D. ever really got involved – The Eternals<\/strong> further embodied Kirby\u2019s fascination with Deities, the immensity of Space and potential of Supernature through the lens of very human observers. Once the series ended, Kirby moved on and other creators eagerly co-opted his concepts (with mixed success) into the company\u2019s mainstream continuity…<\/p>\n

In Mighty Thor<\/strong> #279 (cover-dated January 1978) the new quest is briefly diverted as Don Glut, Alan Kupperberg & Pablo Marcos detail how the Thunderer\u2019s latest exile to Earth results in more reminiscing and \u201cuntold tale\u201d \u2018A Hammer in Hades!\u2019<\/em> After a chance encounter with first love Jane<\/em> Foster<\/em> led to her imprisonment in the underworld, Thor flew right into an ambush organised by Loki, Grecian death god Pluto<\/em> and super-troll Ulik<\/em>, but proved more than even that trio of terror could handle…<\/p>\n

Still preparing to confront the Fourth Host, Thor is again forestalled in #280 where Thomas, Wayne Boring & Tom Palmer pastiche DC\u2019s Annual JLA\/JSA<\/strong> summer team-ups with \u2018Crisis on Twin Earths!\u2019<\/em> after Superman<\/strong>-analogue Mark Milton<\/em>\/Hyperion<\/strong> of the Squadron Supreme<\/strong> requests Thor\u2019s assistance on his own alternate Earth. Sadly, the evil Hyperion of the Squadron Sinister<\/em> manages to replace his goody-goody doppelganger and a shattering battle erupts before order and dimensional stability is restored…
\n\"\"
\nOne last digression came in #281 as Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, Keith Pollard & Marcos probe continuity in \u2018This Hammer Lost!\u2019<\/em> Thor prepares for his confrontation with the Celestials by time-travelling to the moment the First Host arrived. However, en route<\/em> Mjolnir<\/em> is snatched from him and the Thunderer ends up trapped in Limbo, confronting old foes like the Space Phantom<\/em> and other chronally adrift threats before he can recover his mallet…<\/p>\n

Ambushed and embattled, Thor then faces Time Lord Immortus<\/em> and temporal tyrant Tempus<\/em> before escaping in #282\u2019s \u2018Rites of Passage\u2019<\/em>, but only at the cost of one of the greatest weapons in his armoury…<\/p>\n

Cover-dated May 1979 (and on sale from February 6th<\/sup>) The Mighty Thor<\/strong> #283 at last proclaims \u2018Suddenly… the Celestials!\u2019<\/em> as John Buscema & Chic Stone return to art duties for the opening shots of the long-anticipated clash. After a brief, crime-crushing stopover in Mexico City and another savage argument with All-Father Odin, Thor accepts that his sire is somehow complicit in the Celestials\u2019 schemes and presses on to confront them on his own…<\/p>\n

When the Andean dome proves utterly impenetrable fortune seems to desert the Asgardian when 2000ft tall Gammenon the Gatherer<\/em> attacks him whilst seizing a circling passenger jet…<\/p>\n

Apparently destroyed in #284, the deity has given way to Dr. Don Blake who sneaks aboard the captured pane and surreptitiously enters \u2018The City of the Space Gods!\u2019 <\/em>Blake befriends Dr. Damien and constant companion Ajak who have observed the Space Gods\u2019 mysterious works for three years now. None are aware the jet also carries an undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and legendary Deviant warrior queen Ereshkigal<\/em>, who has tormented humans for centuries as Hecate<\/em>…
\n\"\"
\nBack in Manhattan and unaware of a brutal three-way firefight under the Fourth Host Dome, Ikaris, Margo and Sersi fear the truce they had brokered between the three species is unravelling, even as Thor manages to rescue the jet and its passengers. The effort leaves them all locked outside the Dome as \u2018Deviants and Doormen!\u2019<\/em> (#285 by Buscema & Stone) opens with Thor back in New York and battling philosopher\/poet\/gladiator Karkas – a Deviant Mutate who switched allegiance to the Eternals. The misunderstanding is quickly settled, and the warriors unite to track down missing allies Ikaris, Margo, Thena, Ransak & Sersi: a trail taking them deep below the city to an ancient Deviant citadel.<\/p>\n

After a ferocious clash with the forces of Warlord Kro and Brother Tode in #286\u2019s \u2018Mayhem under<\/u> Manhattan!\u2019 <\/em>(Thomas, Stone and new regular penciler Keith Pollard) the citadel is destroyed. Deprived of Asgardian allies, Thor travels with his new friends to the mountain home of the Eternals in hopes of finding someone to help repel the space gods and end their threatened judgement…<\/p>\n

With additional material by Gruenwald & Macchio, \u2018Assault on Olympia!\u2019<\/em> sees Thor very much a stranger in paradise, and challenged by deviously-manipulated Eternal outlaw The Forgotten One, even as many realms away, Sif <\/em>and Warriors Three<\/strong> Fandral<\/em>, Volstagg<\/em> and Hogun<\/em> undertake a perilous mission for Odin, one bringing them into the deadly grip of abominable dragon Fafnir<\/em>…<\/p>\n

In Olympia the duel escalates into vast brawl involving most of the Eternals, but at its height, Thor and the Forgotten One vanish to reappear miles above at the feet of prime Celestial The One Above All<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Unable and unwilling to stop fighting, the \u2018Fury of the Forgotten Hero!\u2019<\/em> is only stilled when Thor downs him, but such tactics have no effect on the space god who shows the Prince of Asgard a shocking image: Odin in eons past kneeling in submission before the Third Host…<\/p>\n

And in the Nine Realms, Sif and her allies draw closer to the All-Father\u2019s objective, working to complete a scheme none but Odin are aware of…<\/p>\n

Shattered by revelations of betrayal Thor is swifty banished by The One Above All, rematerialising in Olympia with The Forgotten One as the tempers begin to cool all around. Meanwhile, Odin voyages to other pantheons to call in old markers in his grand plan and Sif takes control of Asgard\u2019s ultimate Doomsday weapon to defeat and despatch her beloved Thor when the incensed hero tries to storm the Rainbow Bridge in #289\u2019s \u2018Look Homeward, Asgardian!\u2019<\/em> before Arvel Jones pencils the final chapter of the ongoing epic as \u2018Ring Around the Red Bull!\u2019 <\/em>sees the Thunderer fortuitously crash down in Hollywood in time to save Luchador (costumed Lucha Libre wrestler) Vampiro<\/em> from ruthless sadistic opponent El Toro Rojo<\/em>. It\u2019s not as simple as it sounds: the former is an Eternal and Red Bull is a brutal Deviant methodically removing long-lived immortal second stringers from the world before the final battle against the Celestials begins…<\/p>\n

Happily Thor is enough to rebalance the odds…<\/p>\n

To Be Continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Although the unfolding epic pauses here, there\u2019s one last legendary call to battle as The Mighty<\/strong> Thor Annual<\/strong> #8 (1979) depicts \u2018Thunder Over Troy!\u2019<\/em> as Thomas, Buscema & Tony DeZu\u00f1iga (with the help of consultants Don & Maggie Thompson) bring you a refresher course in the classics – specifically The Illiad<\/strong>\/Trojan War with a touch of the Aeneid thrown in – as young Thor and Loki are again hurled through time to ancient Greece, with the Thunderer allying with the besieged Trojans whilst his wily stepbrother played it cool as an advisor to cunning strategist Odysseus…
\n\"\"
\nRepeatedly unable to save any of his newfound comrades, the callow arrogant storm god futilely attacks Zeus himself, but it\u2019s a war of Thunder he has no chance of winning.<\/p>\n

Augmenting this volume is a full cover gallery by Simonson, Dave Cockrum, Joe Sinnott, Pollard, Palmer, Marcos, Buscema, Bob McLeod, Al Milgrom, Bob Layton & Stone; Thomas\u2019 editorials from The Mighty<\/strong> Thor Annual<\/strong> #7 & 8 and seven fabulous pages of original art and covers from Simonson, Chan, Sinnott, Boring, Palmer, Cockrum & McLeod.<\/p>\n

The tales gathered here may lack the sheer punch and verve of the early years but fans of ferocious Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights fantasy will find this tome still stuffed with intrigue and action, magnificently rendered by artists who, whilst not possessing Kirby\u2019s vaulting visionary passion, were every inch his equal in craft and dedication, making this a definite and decidedly economical must-read for all fans of the character and the genre.
\n\u00a9 2019 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Roy Thomas, Don Glut, Don Thompson, Maggie Thompson, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, John Buscema, Keith Pollard, Walter Simonson, Alan Kupperberg, Wayne Boring, Arvell Jones, Pablo Marcos, Tom Palmer, Chic Stone, Ernie Chan, Tony DeZu\u00f1iga & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-1-3029-1821-7 (HB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. Once upon a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Mighty Thor Marvel Masterworks volume 18”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,94,317,246,102,359,288,120,72,79,174,219,390,100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-avengers","category-doctor-doom","category-eternals","category-fantasy","category-frankenstein","category-hercules","category-iron-man","category-marvel-masters-masterworks","category-marvel-superheroes","category-nick-fury","category-s-h-i-e-l-d","category-squadron-supreme","category-thor"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8Cu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33146,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33138\/revisions\/33146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}