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Or Life With Loki #360 - Into the Valley of Death! #361 - The Quick and the Dead! #362 - Like a Bat Out of Hel! #363 - This Kursed Earth…! #364 - Thor Croaks! #365 - Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, or, It’s Not Easy Being Green #366 - Sir! #367 - The Harvest of the Seasons #368 - The Eye of the Beholder #369 - For Whom the Belles Troll... #370 - Easy Money #371 - Peace On Earth #372 - Without Justice, There Is No Peace! #373 - The Gift of Death #374 - Fires of the Night #375 - Shadows of the Past #376 - Heroes Always Win--Don't They? #377 - This Hollowed Armor #378 - When Loki Stood Alone #379 - There Were Giants In Those Days (Or, A Discourse Between Heroes and Villains) #380 - Mjolnir's Song #381 - Ye Olde Shelle Game! #382 - Journey Into Mystery #383 - This Secret Love--! #384 - Who Shall Be Worthy? #385 - Be Thou God, Or Monster! #386 - When Warriors Clash #387 - Judgment Day #388 - Alone Against the Celestials #389 - When The Thunder Fails #390 - The Hero and the Hammer #391 - The Madness of Mongoose #392 - Quicksand Kills #393 - The Blaze of Battle! #394 - "...And How Shall Mortals Know Ye?" #395 - Enter the Earth Force! #396 - Into the Realm of Death #397 - When the Gods Make War #398 - The Prisoners of the Black Pyramid #399 - When Asgard Dies #400 - Lest the Heavens Perish! #401 - The Wager #402 - Even An Asgardian Can Die!! #403 - When the Executioner Calls!! #404 - Something Is Killing The Great Gods of Asgard #405 - Odin Must Die #406 - War With Wundagore! #407 - Menace of the Living Universe #408 - "The Fateful Decision!" #409 - Doom Is Only Sixty Seconds Away #410 - "Two Dooms to Destroy Me!" #411 - The Gentleman's Name Is Juggernaut! #412 - Introducing the New Warriors #413 - Within Me Dwells A Monster! #414 - Beyond Courage Must I Strive #415 - When Gods Wear Mortal Flesh! #416 - The Hero and the Horror #417 - Only Death Can Save Thee #418 - Fear Kills #419 - The Summons [The Black Galaxy Saga] #420 - If Death Be My Destiny! (The Black Galaxy Saga Part 2) #421 - ... And If Gods Are Men... [The Black Galaxy Saga] #422 - …Then What Are Gods? [The Black Galaxy Saga Part 4] #423 - The Day of Their Return [The Black Galaxy Saga] #424 - Let There Be Life [The Black Galaxy Saga] #425 - The Flame, The Frost and the Fury! #426 - Aftermath #427 - The Homecoming! or How Do You Spend the Night After You've Saved the Universe? #428 - If This Be Juggernaut! #429 - This World Is Mine! #430 - The God, the Ghost, and the Guilty! #431 - Requiem for the Wrecker! #432 - At Death Do We Part #433 - Whosoever Holds This Hammer #434 - ...If He Be Worthy! #435 - The Power of Thor #436 - Savage Reunion #437 - Clash With Quasar #438 - Yesterday Must Die! [The Thor War, Part 1 of 4] #439 - When Hammers Clash [The Thor War, Part 2 of 4] #440 - All The Rivers Run! [The Thor War, Part 3 of 4] #441 - My Brother's Burden [The Thor War, Part 4 of 4] #442 - The Day of His Return! #443 - The Mephisto Waltz #444 - How the Groonk Stole Christmas! #445 - The War and the Warrior #446 - Now Strikes the Starforce #447 - Strange Alliances #448 - Secret Agendas!! #449 - Riot On Riker's Island! #450 - When Gods Make War #451 - Beware the Bloodaxe #452 - With This Axe, I Thee Kill! #453 - When Mephisto Commands...! #454 - The Warriors Three Die At Dawn #455 - Odin Unleashed--! #456 - The Choice and the Challenge! #457 - Final Gauntlet! #458 - To The Victor...! #459 - What Price Victory? #460 - Fragments #461 - Friends and Lovers #462 - Payments #463 - Devotions #464 - Blessed Obedience #465 - Holy Sacrifice #466 - Odin's Tale #467 - Descent #468 - Distant Thunder [Blood and Thunder Part One] #469 - Absolute Power [Blood and Thunder Part Five] #470 - Ruins [Blood and Thunder Part Nine] #471 - Fathers and Sons [Blood and Thunder The End] #472 - If Twilight Falls #473 - New Gods For Old #474 - When Mountains Walked #475 - Survival of the Fiercest #476 - Whom The Destroyer Would Destroy... #477 - Three Who Ride The Thunder #478 - Come The Lightning! #479 - This Mortal Coil #480 - Blitzkrieg In the Balkans #481 - The Living Stone, I Presume? #482 - Long Day's Journey Into Mystery Chapter One #483 - Armor and the Man-God I Sing... #484 - The God In The War Machine #485 - Things Ain't What They Used To Be #486 - The Coming of Kurse! #487 - Hel On Earth #488 - To Hela and Back #489 - Hel and High Water #490 - Against the Dying of the Light! #491 - Worldengine Part One of Four: Nailed Up #492 - Worldengine Part Two of Four: Run Through #493 - Worldengine Part Three of Four: Run Down #494 - Worldengine Part Four: Finished Off #495 - In Mortal Guise #496 - Doin' the Zodiac Rag #497 - Thor Must Die #498 - Life Preservation #499 - Ludwig's Children #500 - Sunlight and Shadows #501 - Out of the Blue #502 - Putting on the Bear Shirt
Thor and Hercules rush the dying Krista to the hospital; privately Thor turns back into Dr. Don Blake, surprising the hospital staff with his sudden reappearance after a long absence. He also confuses Herc by describing himself as a friend of Thor but soon hints at his real identity, further confusing the Greek god. Don sends Herc out on the town while he tends to his patient….
Elsewhere in the city, Professor Clement Holmes is examining the Destroyer which he found on a trip to South America. He is trying to revive it but his assistant Otto wants nothing to do with it and leaves. The armor awakens and absorbs Holmes’ soul to fully activate it and it heads out, looking for its enemy, Thor….
After surgery, Don talks to an assisting surgeon, Dr. Lois Reddy, who asks him why he has been gone so long, neglecting his patients and his medical gifts. He doesn’t know what to say….
Hercules enters a swanky nightclub where he enjoys the liquor and the company of the ladies when the club begins to shake. Herc goes out to investigate and discovers the Destroyer tearing down the building, having detected someone like Thor inside. Herc fights it and it surprised to discover its strength (courtesy of Odin); they battle and Herc is thrown around and Destroyer prepares to use its visor blast. Don Blake is in Krista’s room at the hospital, pondering whether he does more good as Thor or as Dr. Blake. He looks out of the window and sees a glow in the distance which he recognizes as the Destroyer’s. He quickly changes into Thor and flies to the scene where he takes on the giant armor which is trying to blast the swiftly dodging Hercules. The Destroyer appears to be winning when Thor hurls Mjolnir which picks up Destroyer and carries it through the air and hurls it into the river, then returning to its master’s hand. Thor explains to Herc that the Destroyer is activated by a human soul and dispatches Herc to find that person while he heads to the waterfront to resume the battle with the enchanted armor. Thor and his foe fight on the docks until the Destroyer wrests Mjolnir from Thor’s hand and advances, while Thor worries about losing the hammer for sixty seconds which will turn him back into the vulnerable Don Blake….
Review: A pared down plot marks this issue as we don’t have to worry about Krista because Don Blake has everything in hand. (Note that none of the assisting personnel noticed anything unusual about the Asgardian patient, suggesting that an Asgardian’s internal organs are identical to mortals.) The bulk of the ish is devoted to a big fight scene with first Hercules then Thor against the Destroyer. Destroyer stories are usually cool but here, with its fourth appearance, it may be starting to become overused; by the 21st century it definitely would be. And for the character moments, Don wonders about his career choice, surgeon or superhero? Marvel characters are required to ponder their existence twice a year it seems and here is Don Blake’s turn. Somehow, I don’t think we’ll see a cover depicting Don walking away from Mjolnir in a trash can with the title “Thor No More!”
Comments: Part one of five parts. The last appearance of Don Blake in this comic was issue #209; in the meantime, he appeared in AVENGERS #113 and 121 and IRON MAN #67, the latter without Thor. This is the fourth appearance of the Destroyer which was last seen in THOR #150-152, ending with Odin taking the armor into his keeping; the next issue informs us that Odin hid the Destroyer in South America to await Ragnarök. Only appearance of Dr. Lois Reddy. The letters column includes one by future Marvel editor Ralph Macchio and one by future writer of NINJA HIGH SCHOOL Fred Lee Cain.
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