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Thor #301

Nov 1980
?, Chic Stone

Thor #301 cover

Story Name:

For the Life of Asgard!


Synopsis

Thor #301 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Having revealed herself to be his mother, Mother Earth heals the wounded Thor in the Eternal city in the Andes. She explains to the puzzled god that she is the last of the Elder Gods and Odin wished for a son who had an affinity for Midgard as well as Asgard and so the two mated and she bore a son who was given to Frigga to raise as her own. She also explains how the All-Mothers of the various pantheons bore children to be the heralds of their people, the twelve youths delivered to the Celestials last issue. The threat of the Celestials, Thor realizes, is what motivated much of Odin’s otherwise mysterious actions over the last few years, including forcing a fake Ragnarok. Mother Earth then reminds him that Odin and all of the Norse gods are dead, their life force having animated the Destroyer which was itself destroyed (last issue) by the Celestials. Mother also suggests Thor visit the pother pantheons to borrow a bit of their life force to reanimate his people. Setting out, Thor approaches the Eternals who are mourning their chief Zuras, who died in the collapse of the Uni-Mind. Sersi fixes up Thor’s torn clothing and he is off…

Thor approaches each of the other pantheons and asks the chief god for a bit of power to resurrect the Norse gods. Most of them are obliging, Zeus, Osiris, Yu-Huang, and more; the problem comes when he reaches Nirvana: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva rule jointly, and their consensus is to say no. Thor challenges the snide Shiva to a fight and the Hindu god obliges, with his four arms bearing four weapons, he attacks Thor (two arms, one weapon). The Thunder God is hard-pressed until he creates a vortex around them that transports them to the Rainbow Bridge. On home ground, Thor has the advantage and defeats his foe, threatening to hurl him into the void unless he gives up some of his life force. No fool, Siva hands over some of this energy and threatens revenge against Thor….

Thor returns to Odin’s throne room and unleashes the combined force of the pantheons and Odin revives, and in turn the All-Father raises all the other Asgardians to life. Father and son are reconciled and there is great feasting, lasting for nine days….

Ikaris, Thena, and Ajak also appear among the Eternals.


 

Review / Commentaries


Thor #301 Review by (October 28, 2019)

Review: Aside from the Dungeons and Dragons explanation of gods as depending on the beliefs of his followers to live, this is still a pretty strange issue to end the Eternals Saga. Bringing the Norse gods back to life makes perfect sense but having Thor invade another pantheon is bizarre. And an active pantheon at that? Though Hinduism is a fairly complex belief system many still worship the gods seen here. They (wisely) omitted reference to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as a) not easy to adapt to a superhero comic book and b) including multitudes who would be offended if they tried. And rightly so. Current Marvel doesn’t seem to have that sensitivity/sensibility as mocking religion is fairly common these days. Anyway, it’s an offbeat issue and serves the purpose of supplying a mother for Thor even if she doesn’t have a strong presence over the years.

Comments: Part nineteen and the last of the Eternals Saga which spans issues #283-301. Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio share scripting duties. The following Norse gods have cameos in this issue: Sif, Frigga, Loki and his wife, Balder, and the Warriors Three, plus Karnilla the Norn Queen. The Hindu gods return in THOR (1998 series) #61; it has been revealed that the Shiva in this issue was in reality Indra, the previous Vedic thunder-god, who reappears in THOR ANNUAL #10. Sersi is revealed to be no mere illusionist as was mentioned earlier but a molecular rearranger with actual powers. 



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Main/1st Story Full Credits

?
Chic Stone
Chic Stone
George Roussos
Keith Pollard (Cover Penciler)
Keith Pollard (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Layouts: Keith Pollard. Letterer: Joe Rosen.

Characters

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Plus: Gaea (Mother Earth), Thena, Zuras.

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