Thor's Day 10: The Wild Hunt

Mighty Thor 346 opens with Roger, the old man (the son of Malekith’s victim last issue) as he contemplates his given task. He’s attacked by Malekith’s servants but escapes.

Thor's Day 9: That Was No Lady!

Thor vs the world's creepiest mime!

We open Mighty Thor 345 in the office of Doctor Willis. The good doctor ties up his assistant Sheila Ordway and forces a burger down her throat. When the police arrive, Sheila’s vanished and Willis is the prime suspect.

Another woman approached him at the police station and it becomes quickly apparent that neither Doctor Willis or the two women are what they appear to be. And in the world of Thor, that means they could be anyone or anything.

Meanwhile, Thor continues to play second fiddle in his own title as Melodi/Lorelei continues to seduce him in to her plans.

Willis’s disappearance leads to packages being sent out, one to a mystery man on Long Island. We learn the older man is named Roger but still somehow Willis’s son.

A phone call to Jarvis brings Sigurd Jarlsen’s level of concern up as he learns that something has happened to the Casket of Ancient Winters. He runs out on Melodi again before she can give him her enchanted mead. (Where’s Michael Scott, when you need someone to say, “That’s what she said.”)

The people after him nearly corner him, but a raven-haired beauty named Angel drives up to his rescue at the last moment. She seduces and enchants him. Willis passes out, but first...

We didn’t forget this guy!

Seriously, Dr. Doom should sue.

Anyway, Angle gets out of the car and transforms in to his true form that of Malekith the Accursed! He leaves Willis dead and goes in search of the Casket of Ancient Winters, but as mentioned many times in this issue another threat looms.

A threat known as ...

The problem with an issue like this and a run like Simonson’s on Thor 20+ years ago, is you can never be sure what you are supposed to know. Had Willis and the Casket appeared in previous issues? It is never mentioned in the editorially star comments, but that isn’t necessarily a mark that it didn’t happen. Still, the mystery adds a bit to the tale, only we are left unaware of whether or not the mystery will be explained to us.

Thor's Day 8: Whatever Happened to Balder the Brave?

Mighty Thor 344 opens with a massive wolf, a creature of Odin, sent to the Nornkeep to find Balder. But for what purpose still remains unknown.

We return to Asgard and Odin. The king of the god reveals that his ravens’s quest in to the burning galaxy went poorly, though he fails to reveal how this relates to his recall of Balder from the land of the Norns.

Odin’s mission is simple: Balder must deliver a message to Loki, the god that only recently tried to kill him (in the issues proceeding Walt Simonson’s run). He agrees to the mission but only if he is allowed to continue his vow of pacifism.

Oh, and this guy is still at it:

(Can you imagine anybody doing this kind of thing nowadays for eight issues? Just a one page subplot over and over again with no link whatsoever to the current narrative?)

Anyway, Balder fights some trolls and invariably gets captured by Loki. There he meets an important figure in the coming issues of Mighty Thor, but let’s let Loki give the introductions (with a little commentary by Balder):

As Balder tries to reason with Loki, Thor plays comic relief back on Midgard as he makes his foreman think he might be a superhero of somekind:

Makes sense to me.

Balder battles it out with the troll minions of Loki, and in the process compromises himself, with consquences most dire for the Shining Realm.

Next time, Thor is back to center stage in “Dinner For Two or That Was No Lady!”