Issue(s): Thor #318
Cover Date: Apr 82
Title: "A kingdom lost"
Credits:
Doug Moench - Writer
Gil Kane - Penciler
Gil Kane - Inker
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
The credits say Gil Kane did the inking, but someone has written in to the GCD to suggest that it was really done by Pablo Marcos.

Wouldn't it be awesome if Thor fought the statues of Easter Island? Yeah! So let's do that!

Thanks to Loki for setting things up, and Karnilla for lending her Norn Stones to make it happen.

In addition to the statues, Thor also fights Fafnir the dragon.

Odin show up at the end to say he might have turned Fafnir from a dragon back into the man (or was it a dwarf or giant?) he originally was if he had just asked him instead of allying with Loki.

You'd think i wouldn't have any complaints about a story where Thor fights Easter Island statues and a dragon, but i am an expert at complaining. And there really is a problem here; Moench's story is just really corny and kiddie-oriented. The whole thing kicks off when Loki overhears an Asgardian storyteller telling kids that Thor is great, and it makes Loki jealous.

That's like... coloring book level plotting.

Pretty corny ending, too.

I've made excuses for Moench on his Godzilla and Shogun Warriors books with the assumption that he was targeting a younger audience. But this is Thor. It's always been a more mature book. Not necessarily mature topics, but epic, complex (granted, sometimes confusing) stories. And it wasn't that long ago that Moench wrote a story about race relations in this book. So to go from that to this is a pretty big shift.

Here's your Gil Kane up-nostril shot of the issue.

A back-up feature called The Gods and Goddesses of Asgard has pin-ups of Heimdall, Hermod, Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun. Ummmm.... which ones are the Goddesses?

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Avengers #218-219. Thor investigates the ongoings at Easter Island because the other Avengers are "off on a mission", but that doesn't seem to refer to anything we know about.

References:

• Karnilla initially wasn't interested in working with Loki again after Thor #308, but she is quickly convinced.
  
• Fafnir first appeared in Tales of Asgard back-ups in Thor #134-136 (which were not included in my Marvel Spectacular reprints). He also appeared in the Eternals saga circa Thor #288.
  
• Thor mentions the Demon, the Witch Doctor that found a Norn Stone circa Journey Into Mystery #123.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A