Thor #415: Review

Mar 1990

Tom DeFalco, Herb Trimpe

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Story Name:

When Gods Wear Mortal Flesh!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Thor #415 Review by Peter Silvestro (July 27, 2021)

Review: Not sure why Marvel decided to put a summary of Thor’s origin here but it serves its purpose and prepares Eric Masterson for action, even though he can see that the parallels between Don Blake and him are so tenuous as to be useless as a guide for his actions. Good thing he didn’t know what his creators had in store for him. The second story is a nice little showcase for Hogun the Grim who doesn’t often get a chance to shine (though he managed an extended adventure in issues #392-400).

Comments: First story: Don Blake’s origin was first revealed in THOR #159 and Blake’s becoming Thor was in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83, of course. Thor’s height is given as six feet six inches. Ron Frenz and Tom DeFalco collaborated on the plot.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor #415 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Eric Masterson broods over his new connection to Thor, God of Thunder. He discovers he can access Thor’s memories so he looks in on the last time the Norse deity was bonded to a human….

Thor, defying a truce between Asgard and Niffleheim, entered the giant’s realm pursuing a deadly Birdbeast which he killed; storm giants objected to his presence and he fought them. Balder found him and took him back to Odin who had been looking for him. The All-Father was outraged that Thor violated the truce with the storm giants and wished to humble the arrogant deity. Odin created a duplicate version of medical student Keith Kincaid and, wiping his son’s memory, put his self into the body of Don Blake, lame med student. Don became a doctor, hired nurse Jane Foster and they fell in love. Then Odin spied an alien Kronan ship coming to invade Earth; he diverted the aliens to Norway and gave Don a sudden desire to visit that country. On a hike, Don discovered the invaders and fled to a cave where he was trapped. There, he found a stick which, when struck, became the enchanted hammer Mjolnir and Don was transformed into Thor, God of Thunder. He defeated the Kronans, returned to Asgard and was eventually given all of his memories back….

And now Eric, pondering the whims of fate, decides he doesn’t understand how all of this works but he is bound to Thor who is now equally bound to the human race as guardian and protector….

“The Way of the Warrior!”
Writer: Tom DeFalco. Pencils: Herb Trimpe. Inks: Herb Trimpe. Colors: Nel Yomtov. Letters: Michael Heiser.
Synopsis: Hogun the Grim is fighting a band of brigands when he discovers a young man, son of a tree-shaper, desiring to become a warrior’s apprentice. Hogun shows him the hard path a warrior must take but it isn’t until the hero tells the kid that a warrior must have no mercy or compassion that the boy is fed up and leaves. Hogun smiles in victory.