Thor #497: Review

Apr 1996

William Messner-Loebs, ?

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Story Name:

Thor Must Die

Review & Comments

Rating:

Thor #497 Review by Peter Silvestro (June 11, 2024)

Review: Well, Thor is back and his first order of business is to terrify a would-be superhero with an inflated opinion of himself. But the clown turns out to be pretty effective once he enters battle so maybe it will work out. We’ll never know because the two wannabe heroes are never seen again. Then Thor kicks some actual bad guy butt with all of his powers that fizzle out at the wrong moment. So Thor says, “Krakka-thoom!” and a page seems to be missing because we don’t see what happens or even the aftereffects of what happens, we never get back to that part of the story. Instead, something something Odin. And then the story gets very scary as we see the Prazniki family has been transformed into horrible 1990s comic book caricatures—oh wait! That’s what they are supposed to look like. Never mind. The issue did have some humorous moments to justify its existence.

Comments: Part two of five parts; part one was in issue #495. Thor lost his powers in #495 and they were restored in INCREDIBLE HULK #440; he then appeared in AVENGERS #397-399 before returning here. First/last/only appearance of Razorfist and Spiral. Razorfist is not related to any of the three Shang-Chi villains called Razor-Fist; it’s not even spelled the same. Spiral has no connection to the X-Men villain with the same name. First appearance of Officer Kim Gaunt who will be around in the next four issues. Credited with pencils: Luke Ross, Oclair Albert, Frank Toscano; credited inkers: Rene Micheletti, Grant Nelson, Alexander Jubran, plus Eddie Wagner. The letters page includes one by Kennth Kim, who may be the future author of The Superhero Memoirs.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thor #497 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

The newly repowered Thor is flying over New York when he spies a message on a rooftop: “Thor must die.” He descends to investigate and encounters a warrior calling himself Razorfist and boasting of how he is going to defeat the powerless Thor and take his place in the Avengers. Razorfist has a female accomplice called Spiral who is dubious about this plan. Thor blasts the baddie with a bit of lightning and immobilizes Spiral’s Vortex-staff with a touch. Thor then snatches them into the air, flying over Central Park where they see a nightmare in the making. A drug sweep has gone wrong and two gangs, the Hawks and the Aryan Dream, normally enemies, have joined forces against the quickly overwhelmed police. Thor, lecturing the two would-be Avengers on the qualities of heroism, descends into the midst of the gangs and sets them down so they can battle the baddies. To help, Thor summons great winds to blow away several gangsters, then, rain, lightning, and thunder, ending with an earthquake. The gangs all subdued, the wounded police officer, Kim Gaunt, thanks him for his intervention, introducing him to a little girl named Darcia, who was caught in the crossfire. Aryan Dream members surround Thor, Kim, and Darcia, planning to take them hostage. Thor raises his hammer—and it fizzles out. The baddies smile—and then Razorfist jumps in and starts clobbering the baddies. The Aryan Dream leader, holding a cop by the throat, defies Thor to call down lightning upon him so Thor uses his voice…and then Thor spies an elderly vagrant and recognizes him as Odin. He glances away then back, and the man is gone….

At home, the Prazniki family is nearly killed by a sudden burst of gunfire through the window. Making sure his wife and daughter are all right, Victor decides that he must hire Thor for protection….

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