Thor #303

Jan 1981

Doug Moench, Chic Stone

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Story Name:

The Miracle of Storms

Synopsis

Thor #303 synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Rating:

While flying over the city one night, Thor spies a man being beaten by a pair of thugs. The Thunder God chases the bad guys off and discovers the victim is the priest of the nearby church. Once inside, he tends to the man’s injuries as Dr. Donald Blake and when he awakens, Don offers to call the police. Father Coza declines, saying his assailant were thugs hired by a real estate firm that covets the church’s property for development and has been waging a hostile campaign against the priest. Father Coza wonders if it’s time to give up, the church is dying and he is losing his faith. Don decides to help….

Learning that the mobster Angelo Simoni is behind the shady real estate firm, Thor goes to Simoni’s mansion and puts the fear of (a Norse) god into him, accompanied by lightning and thunder. Simoni promises to leave the church alone—but he’s already sent some hoods to firebomb the church….

Father Coza is counseling Mrs Sheehan, a parishioner facing an unwanted pregnancy when the church starts burning. The priest flees in despair and falls to his knees in prayer. Thor brings rain to quench the fire and when Father Coza sees Thor outlined against the smoke and flames, his courage revives and he rushes back in to rescue Mrs. Sheehan. As he is heading out with the lady in his arms a wall begins to buckle and fall and Thor supports it with a giant wooden cross. Coza wonders if Thor is the One True God but the Thunder God tells him there are many gods, all backed by the same universal Higher Force. Father Coza now has the faith to rebuild his church and start over….

Epilogue: Angelo Simoni shows up to apologize and donate a huge amount of cash to rebuild the church his men burned down. Father Coza recognizes the hand of Thor again….

Review / Commentaries

Thor #303 Review by Peter Silvestro (November 11, 2019)

Review: An attempt at a gentle uplifting tale suffers from espousing the Dungeons & Dragons view of religion. All gods exist but derive their powers from the number of worshipers they have—and they all work together to help one another when trouble arises. If that brief exchange from Thor were excised from the story, it would have been much better, with a more natural (and mysterious) return to faith on the part of Father Coza. And guest artist Rick Leonardi’s work is a bit blander than it could have been. This earns a few points for actually trying to deal with actual religion in a comic book starring a mythical god but could have been better.

Comments: Issue includes a gallery of pin-ups, written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by Keith Pollard. Thor and Sif, Hela and Volla, Loki and Sigyn, Balder and Karnilla, Odin and Frigga.

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