Thor #81: Review

Aug 2004

Daniel Berman, Andrea Di Vito

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Story Name:

Ragnarok Part the Second

Review & Comments

Rating:

Thor #81 Review by Peter Silvestro (August 15, 2012)

Review: Epic Avengers action—even if two-thirds of the heroes shouldn’t be at Ragnarok. The battle scene is the highlight with a pair of wordless pages, featuring panels that become smaller and smaller until they drip off the end of the page. This is followed by two moving sequences—Balder’s funeral, and Thor’s farewell to his fellow Avengers, and climaxes in a bittersweet call to battle. Oeming and Berman hit all the right notes, and Andrea DiVito’s art is stunning. A terrific issue.

Comments: Cover: “Avengers Disassembled Prologue.” Deaths of Heimdall and Balder (both between issues #80 and #81); deaths of Ulik and Hyrm. Hyrm is called Hymer in this issue.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor #81 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Thor brings Captain America and Iron Man to the Nine Realms; there they discover Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge, shattered, its guardian Heimdall dead. The city of Asgard is in ruins, its people slaughtered by trolls. Cap rescues an orphaned boy just as Loki and his allies Fenris, Ulik, and Hyrm arrive. The heroes battle the enemy and in the fracas, Ulik and Hyrm are slain. Loki and Fenris flee. Going on the heroes hear singing and follow it to discover a funeral for Balder. Harokin the barbarian warrior describes the fall of Asgard and the death of Balder, killed with mistletoe-tipped spears. After mourning his fallen friend, Thor sends Cap and Iron Man home, over their protests, since this is not their fight, and heroes will be needed to protect Earth should Loki invade there. Thor assembles the Asgardeans and announces that Ragnarok—the end of all things—has arrived and they must now fight to the death for the glory of Asgard…

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