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Thor #207

Jan 1973
Gerry Conway, John Buscema

Story Name:

Firesword!


Synopsis

Thor #207 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

The Rutland (Vermont) Halloween Parade is ready to go. Attendees Len and Glynis Wein, Steve Englehart, and Gerry Conway hop in their car and head to Tom Fagan’s house, full of costumed partygoers. They sense something off about Tom but he placates them. He is under the spell of Loki, who is hiding in disguise with Fagan’s two mean dogs, Satan and Diablo….

Thor arrives, with Sif and Hildegarde, having trailed the Absorbing Man from New York with the aid of Mjolnir. They explore the forest and Creel, now made of oak, jumps out and hits Thor knocking him into the river. Sif draws her sword but Thor assures her he must fight alone. Thor hits Creel with his hammer, turning the villain into Uru and the ensuing fight tears up the ground like an earthquake. When it ends, they are at the bottom of a man-made chasm, Thor pinned by a giant boulder and Creel is recovering first….

The Marvel staffers are hanging around a diner, waiting for the parade to start. Glynis excuses herself to go to the ladies’ room and when she doesn’t come back for a long time the guys investigate and discover she is missing….

Crusher Creel prepares to bash Thor’s head when the Thunder God revives, grasps the baddie by the ankle and flips him up through the tunnel; he summons Mjolnir and blasts his way to the surface. He smashes Creel who goes flying into the river; unable to keep himself from turning into water, the villain dissolves and is washed away. A snarky voice behind him causes Thor to turn and see Loki, accompanied by the magically enhanced dogs, Satan and Diablo. He orders them to kill Thor who summons a whirlwind to take them away, unharmed. Loki then shows Thor a host of hypnotized locals, including Tom Fagan and Glynis Wein, telling him that he will be drawing their power to fight Thor, through the flaming Firesword. They duel and Thor discovers the Firesword can cut him seriously. Sif again wants to leap to Thor’s aid but Hildegarde restrains her, reminding her that Thor must win this battle alone. Karnilla the Norn Queen suddenly appears beside them and offers to save Thor if Sif will agree to help her find Balder. Sif declines. Thor and Loki continue to fight and then Mjolnir is knocked from Thor’s hand and Loki restrains him from recovering it, counting down the sixty seconds until Thor once more becomes Dr. Donald Blake. At this, Sif hastily agrees to anything Karnilla wants so the Norn Queen conjures up a rainstorm. Loki is distracted and Thor recovers his hammer. Then Thor calls down a lightning bolt which destroys the Firesword, freeing the captives—but also strikes Loki blind….

Epilogue: As Glynis finds her way back to the others, someone steals Steve’s car and drives off; blind Loki pursues the car until he tumbles over a cliff. Thor returns to Hildegarde to discover Sif has left with Karnilla to fulfill her promise….   


 

Review / Commentaries


Thor #207 Review by (November 1, 2022)

Review: A nice issue featuring a more interesting fight with the Absorbing Man than last time followed by a battle with a Loki who is on equal ground for a change. This battle is pretty cool. The guest appearances of the four Marvel staffers are cute, especially as they are not overdone. There are a few loose ends in the story, though. Why does Thor insist he must battle Absorbing Man alone and why does Hildegarde assume this also applies to the duel with Loki? And since Karnilla does aid Thor in the latter battle, are there any consequences? Why did Loki take time out from his evil scheme to head to the diner just to capture Glynis Wein? Why does the parade appear to be in full swing on the splash page when it is later said to be postponed while the floats are repaired? Doesn’t Crusher Creel have more control over his absorbing powers than to turn to water unwillingly when tossed in the river? And who steals Steve’s car at the end? Creel? Where did he come from? And why is blind Loki frantically chasing it down? Sometimes a story is more fun because of the crazy questions that come up and this issue is a prime example.

Comments: “Special Haunted Halloween Issue!”—Cover. Part two of two parts. The annual Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont, organized by Tom Fagan, had a superhero theme and thus lent itself to being the backdrop for an unusual crossover, the first between Marvel and DC. Part one is in Marvel’s AMAZING ADVENTURES #16 (starring the Beast in his solo series); part two is DC’s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERCA #103; part three is the present issue. Other issues have been set at the parade as one-shots e.g. MARVEL FEATURE #2, the second appearance of the Defenders. Marie Severin (credited with “good works”) drew the caricatures of Marvel staffers throughout the story. Guest cameos: Batman and Superman, on the splash page. Loki was imprisoned in amber by Mangog in THOR #195. The cover image was used for Loki’s Marvel Value Stamp.



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Preview Pages




John Buscema
Vince Colletta
Glynis Wein
Gil Kane (Cover Penciler)
Joe Sinnott (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Denise Wohl.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Absorbing Man
Absorbing Man

(Crusher Creel)
Hildegarde
Hildegarde

(Hildegarde)
Karnilla
Karnilla

(Norn Queen)
Loki
Loki

(Loki Laufeyson)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)