Thor #363Issue(s): Thor #363 Review/plot: Meanwhile, because Alex Power is worried that people might have gotten hurt when he lost his temper during that fight, he and the rest of Power Pack, including Franklin Richards, are out surveying the damage. They locate Beta Ray Bill, although he has a little trouble convincing Power Pack that's who he is since he's in his "civilian identity". Bill is aware that Thor has returned to Earth (he has "heard his thunder tonight"), and doesn't believe that Kurse has truly been defeated, so they set out to find and warn Thor. Thor, meanwhile, has released the souls of the mortals that were tricked by Malekith, and gotten into an argument with some vagrants... ...that makes him wonder if he's doing the right thing in spending time on Earth (and sending me to the dictionary to look up "opprobrium" and confirm that "villeins" isn't a typo). The Beyonder, who is responsible for Kurse, has actually moved beyond whatever he thought he could have learned from him, so he almost decides not to watch when Kurse locates Thor, but changes his mind when he sees the nice Walt Simonson artwork. As before, Kurse is delusional, with constant flashbacks to earlier periods in his life. But he's also extremely powerful, and when Thor takes his Belt of Strength out of his goat cart to even the odds... ...the Beyonder secretly responds by increasing Kurse's power accordingly. So when Power Pack and Beta Ray Bill make it to the battle, Thor decides that the only way to defeat Kurse is to have Energizer absorb energy from both Thor and Beta Ray Bill's hammers. Thor then recognizes that Kurse was the handiwork of the Beyonder, and summons him. They have a conversation about irony, and the result is that the Beyonder sends Kurse to Hel to bother Hela, and while the Beyonder decides not to heal Thor's face, he does restore the energy that Katie absorbed from their hammers. Power Pack come to understand during the conversation that the Beyonder was responsible for Kurse, who put their mother in the hospital, so Katie threatens to disintegrate him. The Beyonder tries to teach her a lesson ("then you would be just like Kurse and that wouldn't be any good, would it?") although he might really be learning it for himself. He also says, "in the future, I shall choose good. But I can choose it or everyone.". Sounds ominous. Thor invites Beta Ray Bill to return to Asgard, where they will be choosing a leader to rule in Odin's absence. But Bill decides to see the Power children home first. When they're all gone, we get to see the latest in Loki's machinations, and it's a good one. Earlier, we saw Volstagg's daughter Hildy stumble across the discarded sword of Surtur, which Loki is now draining energy from. And we also saw Loki observing Thor on Earth and then targeting a nearby housewife. The housewife greets Thor in an alley at the end of this story and gives him a kiss, turning him into a frog. Hee hee! More on that in the next arc. Quality Rating: B+ Chronological Placement Considerations: Begins soon after Power Pack #18 and Secret Wars II #6. Thor ends this issue as a frog, but i've kept the main frog story separate from this entry due to the fact that other characters appear elsewhere between this issue and Thor #364 (e.g. Beta Ray Bill appears in Power Pack #19 before returning to Asgard in Thor #364). References:
Crossover: Secret Wars II Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (5): showCharacters Appearing: Agnar, Beta Ray Bill, Beyonder, Energizer, Franklin Richards, Gee, Hildy, Kurse, Lightspeed, Loki, Lorelei (Norse Goddess), Malekith, Mass Master, Thor, Toothgnasher, Toothgrinder CommentsYou have to love comics: one moment you're fighting a powerful Dark Elf with some up and coming kid heroes, and the next...you're a frog. Then again, with Thor's little, um, predicament and the killer Kermit balloon in Power Pack, was Marvel just having this "frog thing" around now? Posted by: Ataru320 | October 17, 2013 11:06 AM Not having read this issue, that panel of Thor getting kissed and vanishing had me thinking this must be Infectia making a premature appearance. Posted by: Walter Lawson | October 22, 2013 10:24 PM Just read this, good fight. I like the comic book and film versions of Kurse either way. I hope we get to see Kurse cause some trouble for Hela in the next Thor volume. Posted by: David Banes | February 24, 2014 2:52 AM Best ending to a comic ever. Posted by: Erik Beck | June 4, 2015 11:59 AM Comments are now closed. |
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