Thor #377: Review

Mar 1987

Walt Simonson, Sal Buscema

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Story Name:

This Hollowed Armor

Review & Comments

Rating:

Thor #377 Review by Peter Silvestro (May 21, 2014)

Review: An action-packed issue, with a mystery malady running through the subplots—can’t wait for the next one. But then, it’s not 1987, so I don’t have to! After a brief slump, Walt Simonson returns to the top of his game. And I want to find out more about that indestructible metal that resembles strawberry Jell-O!

Comments: First appearance of Grendell in a Marvel Comic; he is the villain from the old English epic BEOWULF; there the name is spelled Grendel. His next appearance is twenty-two years later in INCREDIBLE HERCULES #136. Thor visited this steel foundry to reforge Mjolnir twenty-two years earlier in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #120. Numbers don’t lie. No idea what the title refers to: “hallowed” is the word for “sanctified,” “devoted to a noble purpose;” “hollowed,” used here, just means “emptied out.”

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor #377 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Svartalfheim, land of the Dark Elves, is being shaken by the destruction of the portals that lead to other realms. The Mirror of Finvarra reveals that the tremors are caused by Thor, God of Thunder, working at a forge in Pittsburgh, Pa. To put a stop to this threat to their kingdom, they summon forth the ancient warrior Grendell to battle Thor….

Weeks earlier, Thor had left a hospital for mortals and returned to the steel foundry he had used to reforge the broken Mjolnir some years earlier. He hands over a check to cover his rental of the facility for the job he must do. He smelts the steel with lightning and magic to create an indestructible suit of armor but something seems wrong….

Subplots, all in one place: on the Rainbow Bridge, as Heimdall lectures her on her morals, Amora the Enchantress suddenly grows weak and faints. Loki in his castle uses an advanced device to capture Bobby Drake (Iceman of the X-Men) and trap him in a special condenser which drains his ice powers and channels them into restoring Loki’s allies the Frost Giants to their normal size and power. Fandral and Hogun teach the orphaned Kevin and Mick some basic fighting skills but also endow them with the gift of faith; suddenly Sif and Fandral fall ill.

Just as suddenly, Thor is attacked by a company of Dark Elf warriors, led by the one-armed monster of legend, Grendell. Thor, his bones brittle from Hela’s curse is no match for the enemy. He manages to impale Grendell with an iron rod but the elves swarm all over him and hold him at their champion’s mercy. Loki, watching from afar, sends a spheroid to whisk Thor away. Gloating over the helpless Thor and Iceman, Loki is surprised by his treacherous allies the Frost Giants, busting in to seize the unlimited cold power for themselves….

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