Thor #52

Posted: Thursday, August 15, 2002
By: Jason Cornwell

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Dan Jurgens (p), Tom Palmer (i)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Plot:
The book opens with a concerned Balder the Brave seeking out Thor, as the Thunder God has missed a meeting with him. As Thor's chief advisor Thialfi states that Thor is busy attending to an urgent matter, but refuses to say where, or what this matter is, we see Balder grows highly suspicious. We then look in on Thor where we see Balder's concern is unnecessary as his king is on Earth visiting the site where an ancient battle took place. We then see that this wasn't really a battle, but rather a massacre where a band of Vikings butchered a village of people who possessed neither weapons or warriors to defend themselves. As a young Thor arrives to discover the atrocities these Vikings have committed in the name of the gods of Asgard, we see him plead with his father to bring the mother of the sole survivor of this attack back to life. While Odin is unwilling, or unable to perform this task, we see he instead makes the young child an Asgardian, and this young boy grows up to be Thialfi, who Thor has placed in a position of trust in an effort to assuage his guilt over his role in the murder of Thialfi's parents.

Comments:
Dan Jurgens picks up on the idea that Jose H.P. Armenta (winner of Marvel's recent writing contest) offered up in his contribution to the 50th issue, as this issue has a young Thor dealing with the idea that the Vikings were outright bastards. Now I'm not sure I care much for the idea that right from the start Thor's been invested in the affairs of mortals, but the wickedness of the Viking warriors in this issue is played up to such a degree that it would've been next to impossible to even suggest that Thor would condone such behavior. Now while the dialogue does make it clear that Thor appreciates a good fight, and that the Vikings' behavior is deserving of his contempt, as it's neither brave nor heroic, I would've like to have seen Thor's reaction to a situation where the Vikings actions were wrong, but not so patently evil. I mean this issue doesn't present a moral dilemma for Thor to struggle with, but rather it's a simple case of Thor stumbling across a band of evil Vikings. One is also left dissatisfied when the story doesn't deliver the scene where Thor unleashes his wrath upon the evil he uncovers in this story.

This issue also exists to give us the back-story for Thialfi, a background character who I must admit I never even knew was in the book until this issue turn the spotlight his direction. Oh I'm sure if I go back over the previous issues I'll see he has played a small role, but the simple fact of the matter is he's done such a good job of being an unnoticed background element, that this issue played acts as my first exposure to the character. As for the background story that Thialfi brings to the table, I must confess that to me it read more like the back-story for a person that would grow up to become Thor's most hated enemy, rather than one of his most trusted advisors. I mean this is a child whose entire family was wiped out by a group acting in the name of the gods of Asgard. Does it really matter that these Vikings were targeting innocent victims, as if not for the gods of Asgard praising their fighting prowess & encouraging their barbaric behavior one would think that these Vikings wouldn't have been out on their rampage in the first place. I've seen villains target a hero for far less, so I share Balder's wariness regarding Thialfi.

Dan Jurgens' work as an artist has never really done much for me, as while it has all the basic elements down, nothing about it really stands out. The art tells the story in a clear enough fashion, but it never really conveys any real sense of excitement. The anguish of Thor as he revisits the battlefield in the present, and his reaction to the murder of the mother later in the issue is perfectly fine, but I can't shake the feeling that the art could've done more with this material. Now I do like his work on the young Thor, as the character looks like a youth who hasn't been exposed to anything too upsetting, and his anguished pleas with his father to bring the mother back to life is a well done sequence. However with the news of Tom Raney's impending departure coming out earlier this week, I must confess that I'm not exactly convinced that this book is standing on solid footing artistically. Plus, since the writing on this title is hit & miss, I hope Marvel has itself a solid artist to bring to this book, as I don't feel Dan Jurgens can carry this book all by his lonesome. The book has got itself some great looking cover art though.

Final Word:
The idea that this issue devotes its attention to was covered better a couple issues back, where a young Thor found himself dealing with a similar problem, as Dan Jurgens kick at this can offers up a problem where there's very little room for questioning the idea that these Vikings are acting against the interests of the gods of Asgard. I mean it's clear right from the start that these Vikings are evil, and that they are not following the wishes of their gods, so when Thor discovers what is being done in their name, his horrified reaction is hardly unexpected. I'd much rather have had Thor placed in a situation where he could've landed on either side of the fence, and had to really struggle to decide which side he felt was right. Dan Jurgens has given us such a black & white scenario that it lacks any real emotional weight. Plus, the story leaves the issue of the Vikings punishment unresolved which made for a rather unsatisfactory conclusion.