Issue(s): Thor #326
Cover Date: Dec 82
Title: "The scarab strikes! / This battleground Earth!"
Credits:
Doug Moench - Writer
Alan Kupperberg - Penciler
Jon D'Agostino & John Tartaglione - Inker
Mike Carlin - Assistant Editor
Mark Gruenwald - Editor

Review/plot:
Jon D'Agostino inks the main story here and John Tartaglione inks a modern day Tales of Asgard back-up.

Thor comes into conflict with a new Scarlet Scarab.

But he knows that he only has about 18 pages thanks to the Tales of Asgard back-up, so he wraps things up quickly by ripping off the Scarab's gem.

Then they team up to stop some thieves of Egyptian artifacts.

It's pretty weird that Arabian people were colored grey, of all things, in the comics.

The cover, which has Thor hiding in a sarcophagus waiting to surprise the Scarlet Scarab, is hilarious; it's not quite as good in the book.

The back-up has the Warriors Three rescuing Idun from Loki and Tyr, and continues to show Loki's lack of enthusiasm in this latest scheme after learning that his father wasn't really having an affair with Jolena. But Tyr and Loki still control Idun's apples, so the Asgardians' immortality is in jeopardy. Sif points out that no reader has ever seen Thor eat a golden apple while on Earth and it's never affected his immortality, so she suggests that all the loyal Asgardians retreat to Earth, and Mimir confirms that that's a good idea.

Again, it feels like the main story doesn't have enough room to work. It's also interesting that concepts introduced in Moench's run, like the Menagerie and the new Scarlet Scarab, were almost never seen again (in the Scarab's case, he potentially has appeared much more recently in a single issue of New Avengers but it's just a cameo if it's even the same guy).

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Avengers #226-227. I'm again allowing a long period of time to take place in between installments of the the back-up story; the Asgardians flee to Asgard at the beginning of next issue but i have a lot of Thor appearances in other comics taking place in between. One possibility is that the Tales of Asgard aren't taking place at the same time as the main story; the other is that it takes a while to gather all of the loyal Asgardians and prepare them for transport to Earth. Ether way, this has to take place after Odin's brief appearance in Hulk #279, since he can't be under siege in that story.

References:

• The original Scarlet Scarab was shown in Invaders #23 & 25 (issue #24 being a reprint). The new Scarab's description of the gemstone doesn't mention anything involving the Living Mummy; it simply reappears in the place where his father first found it after a while.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A