Synopsis
Thor (1966 series) #463 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Last issue Thor saw off an attack by Ares and Pluto. Now in his anger he destroys the Olympian space-going barge they arrived in, but also the similar ship Odin sent him out on (in #460). For this is no ordinary anger. Thor has been beset by a madness (since #460) which manifests as an imaginary companion Valkyrie who has turned him against his father Odin and urged him to bow to no-one.
Meanwhile Pluto has gone to Zeus to complain that Thor attacked *him* and has put Ares in hospital. He has convinced the Olympian head god who swears vengeance on the Thunder God.
Thor and Valkyrie go to an uninhabited planet for some time alone together. But Thor hears a woman's voice calling him and sees a vision of golden-armoured Goddess in a pool. She rises out of the water and invites him to join the other heroes in her Crusade to eliminate evil from the universe and spread peace and love (see Infinity Crusade #1). As with others she tempers her message to suit the audience, in this case stressing that no-one will be ruled by another. Thor's madness/anger softens under her spell ...
... until Valkyrie interrupts. Goddess knows that she isn't real but that she seems to believe that she is, so she decides to play along with the fiction. She summons a flaming blade to her hand and they start to sword-fight. Goddess claims that the Thunder God is in need of a purpose, but Val responds that Thor needs listen to no-one but her in order to make his own mind up. The object of their contention has being standing indecisively but now he breaks up the fight by cracking the ground open with Mjolnir. He says that Goddess' cause is obviously righteous so he'll join her. Valkyrie is flummoxed and Goddess easily dispels her with her sword. And then she takes the bewitched God away with her.
Meanwhile in Asgard Lady Sif is worried about Thor. She fears he has succumbed to Warrior Madness, and if Odin learns of it he will be constrained to impose the fixed punishment of eternal banishment. She sent Beta Ray Bill to shock him out of it (#461) but that failed. So now she uses the Norn Stones to seek help on Earth from Eric Masterson (who used to be a stand-in for Thor but is now Thunderstrike).
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Goddess.