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Thor #440

Dec 1991
Tom DeFalco, Al Milgrom

Thor #440 cover

Story Name:

All The Rivers Run! [The Thor War, Part 3 of 4]


Synopsis

Thor #440 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars

In the future Zarrko exults in his success, explaining to Servitor how his Radical Time Stabilizer will merge all possible timelines into a single time stream that Zarrko will control as Master of Time….

While Present Thor (Eric M.)and Future Thor (Dargo Ktor) continue to bicker, with Eric clearly unwilling to leave his own time, Beta Ray Bill scolds them and has them all join hammers and vanish into the future….

At the hospital, the comatose Susan Austin’s doctor gets some good news….

The three heroes (a/k/a the Thor Corps) catch up to Zarrko’s time cube (as the bad guy had planned) and break in. Zarrko unleashes demons on them—ones which consist of Thor enemies from the past and future. They face Grey Gargoyle, Mercurio the 4-D Man, Cobra, and Tyrus the Terrible; Zarrko encloses Dargo’s hammer in a force bubble so that in sixty seconds he will revert to his human form. Eric hurls his hammer to Dargo and that’s good enough, enabling Dargo to repower and smash Tyrus. They are then attacked by two bad guys Eric doesn’t recognize, Shatterfist and Demonstaff, followed by Uroc the Uru Warrior….

Back on Earth, Marcy Masterson and Bobby Steele realize that Kevin must have heard them talking about Bobby adopting him and run away. Kevin has run off to find Jerry Sapristi who tries to convince him his father loves him but Kevin wonders if, with the rough times he’s been facing, maybe his dad would be better off without him….

While Uroc is fighting Eric Thor and Dargo Thor, Beta Ray Bill sneaks up behind him and blasts him through the roof and into the time stream. The next enemy they face is Skurge the Executioner who is offended at these pretenders who would be Thor and tears into them, easily knocking them around. Eric comes up with a plan that enables them to work together to take down Skurge. Zarrko then produces his ultimate champion: Loki, God of Evil….

“By Mine Own Heart Betrayed”
Writer: Tom DeFalco. Pencils: Patrick Olliffe. Inks: Patrick Olliffe. Colors: Mike Rockwitz. Letters: Steve Dutro.
Synopsis: In the cave in Midhogg, the Destroyer battles the boastful Gar-Toom, intending to humble him. Meanwhile, Sif, believing the Destroyer is animated by the Soul of Thor decides to stay behind, Balder gives her the Norn Stone while he takes the sword and heads off to free Hela from her crystal prison. Destroyer smashes Gar-Toom into gravel and Sif appeals to him—and the Destroyer punches her lights out: the armor is animated by Lorelei who has always been Sif’s rival for the heart of Thor. Though she takes a beating, Sif chooses to stand and fight—so the Destroyer lowers its visor, preparing to disintegrate the woman warrior….



 

Review / Commentaries


Thor #440 Review by (March 15, 2022)

Review: More fights with a spectacular array of baddies and a minimum of the soap opera stuff makes for a pretty cool entry in the series. The backup story has a gritty feel, the art resembling that of Mike Mignola or Klaus Jansen and the return of the Destroyer, in the land of the dead, makes for a pretty cool tale.

Comments: First story: First use of the term Thor Corps. Grey Gargoyle has been bedeviling Thor (and others) since JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #107. Mercurio previously appeared in THOR #204, 208, and 214-216; he goes on to battle Quasar and Venom. Cobra goes back to JIM #98. Tyrus’ only other appearance was in issue #384. Uroc was in issues #408-409 and will return in #447-450. Skurge was a longtime foe of Thor’s, dying a hero in issues #360-362; he has quite a few more postmortem sightings. First appearances of Shatterfist and Demonstaff, who return a few more times, the former notably in issue #457-458 and the latter in THOR CORPS. Ron Frenz and Tom DeFalco collaborated on the plot. Zarrko’s opening cry, “Is this a great plane of reality or what?” echoes comedian Yakov Smirnoff’s catchphrase “Is this a great country or what?” Second story: Part four of five parts. Though dead, Gar-Toom returns in THOR (2018 series) #2-4. The letters page includes one by future songwriter Michael Facciani, who has a tune about Thor on Premium Lyrics.




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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Al Milgrom
Al Milgrom
Mike Rockwitz
Ron Frenz (Cover Penciler)
Al Milgrom (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Layouts: Ron Frenz. Letterer: Mike Heisler.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Balder
Balder

(Balder the Brave)
Cobra
Cobra

(Klaus Voorhees)
Executioner
Executioner

(Skurge)
Grey Gargoyle
Grey Gargoyle

(Paul Pierre Duval)
Loki
Loki

(Loki Laufeyson)
Thor
Thor

(Eric Masterson)
Thor
Thor

(Dargo Ktor)
Plus: Bobby Steele, Kevin Masterson, Marcy Masterson, Mercurio (Fourth-Dimensional Man), Servitor, Susan Austin, Uroc, Zarrko (Tomorrow Man).

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