Thor #279

Jan 1979

Don Glut, Alan Kupperberg

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::

Story Name:

A Hammer in Hades!

Synopsis

Thor #279 synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Rating:

Thor, now exiled to Earth, thinks he sees Jane Foster with her boyfriend Dr Kincaid—but he realizes he is mistaken as Jane was melded with Sif in issue #236. His mind goes back to an earlier incident....

Dr Donald Blake finds his walking stick glowing and leading him to the roof. He transforms into Thor and Mjolnir leads him to a park where he finds Jane Foster; the ground opens up and she is pulled below. Thor follows into a cavern where eldritch lights cause him to sleep.... When he awakens he realizes he is in Hades and Pluto makes himself known, that he is resuming his revenge against the Thunder God (from issue #164) with Loki, appearing in spirit form, as his ally. Jane is hanging by chains above a lava pit and Thor must fight the Underworld's champion to free her. The champion turns out to be Ulik the rock troll and the two go at each other furiously for several pages. Then Pluto unwisely mentions that he is “using” Ulik; this royally ticks off the giant troll and he starts to tear the place apart to get at Pluto. Thor rescues Jane—and Pluto, who is the only one who can show them the way out of this place. Thor sends Ulik to Asgard where he can take his anger out on Loki and a grateful Pluto sends them back to New York City. Finding the memory of the adventure erased from her mind, Thor hurries her home so she is not late for dinner with her boyfriend....

Review / Commentaries

Thor #279 Review by Peter Silvestro (April 23, 2019)

Review: Well, that cover is certainly eye-catching—for the wrong reasons! Moving on...with all respect to the prolific Donald F. Glut, he tended to be a bit of a hack. And this, his only issue of Thor, is a prime example. Familiar tropes are reassembled into a fill-in story with nothing new offered, just another fight with Ulik and Jane in danger. Pretty lame.

Comments: Thor had previously visited Hades in issue #130. Pencils shared by Alan Kupperberg and Pablo Marcos. Letters column includes a missive from Cat Yronwode (Google her).

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