Thor #293
- Date: March 1980
- Publisher: Marvel Comics Group
- Cover Price: 40¢
- Current Price Range: $1.00 - $8.00
- Stats: 31 color pages plus ads, "Bullpen Bulletins" and "The Hammer Strikes" letters page.
- Writer: Roy Thomas
- Artists: Keith Pollard, Chic Stone, Joe Rosen and C. Gafford
- Notable Notes: A giant eyeball that keeps referring to itself as "eye"!
A Fan of Mythology
Ever since 5th grade I have been interested in mythology - mostly Greek and Roman, but others as well. Because of my comic reading days when I was even younger, I also found great interest in Norse mythology. So, it was kind of cool to read about the Norse gods who existed before the Marvel Comic's version, and how their actions lead to the current version. I don't know how much of this issue was based on real Norse mythology, but it was still fun to read about, and even more fun knowing that the creators at Marvel were giving a nod to the real myths.
Synopsis and Thoughts:
The story begins with Thor trapped in a tornado with a giant eyeball! Eek! It turns out to be the Eye of Odin and Thor coerces it to answer a question for him. What does he ask? Well, there are lots of choices, but he goes with why Odin says he "wouldn't kill Thor again." What does the "again" part mean, Thor wants to know. So, the long-winded Eye gives Thor a backward chronology of his life, and then tells about a previous era of Norse gods and how they came to be vanquished and how the current crop popped up. Interesting huh?
I have been a fan of Thor for many years, yet this issue failed to do much for me. The first several pages were a re-hash of previous Thor issues - seriously, it felt like the "clip" episode that TV series used to do, and I hated those! Also, there is the annoying giant Eye of Odin that keeps saying things like "Eye will show you..." and "You may not like what Eye have to say." Ha freakin' ha. It was clever, like one time, and then it got old fast. Anyway, on the positive side, there is some cool classic art of Thor as well as the Greek gods and the Celestials. And we are treated to a bit of a history lesson as the Eye of Odin tells Thor about the previous Ragnarök that took place a couple thousand years ago. Overall a so-so issue, with a bit of sluggish start.
My Rating:
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(This is a revised version of a post which was originally published on comic-prospector.com on Nov 18th, 2012.)
