Issue(s): Thor #374
Cover Date: Dec 86
Title: "Fires of the night!"
Credits:
Walt Simonson - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Sal Buscema - Inker
Craig Anderson - Assistant Editor
Ralph Macchio - Editor

Review/plot:
Now it is time for a god to rain down fury on these Marauders for their atrocities. Actually, the Marauders all ought to change their religion to become worshipers of Hela, because if it wasn't for her curse i don't think they would exist any more. Thor is all about "retribution" in this issue as the three Marauders he faced last issue gather their courage and try a second attack.

You can add Thor to the list of characters that seem specially equipped to fight Vertigo, as we've seen throughout the Mutant Massacre...

...but in her defense, none of the Marauders have much of a chance against Thor, and they go running again.

Instead of chasing them, Thor attends to Angel, who he didn't seem to recognize at all last issue but now describes as "vaguely familiar".

Meanwhile, Sabretooth shows up to taunt the guys that lost to Thor. Somehow Harpoon and Vertigo avoid the taunts and it all gets put on Blockbuster, who stalks off to fight Thor alone.

Thor meanwhile hears the sobbing of Artie (who i thought was mute, but Thor is a god!) and convinced him to come along with him.

That's when Blockbuster attacks again. It's a sneak attack that targets Thor's arm, and, thanks to Hela's curse, shatters the bones.

Angel wakes up to try to help, but in the end Thor dishes out death.

Artie generates a mental image of Cyclops and Jean, who Thor also recognizes "from some other time and place". Artie leads Thor to them.

After handing Angel and Artie off to Jean and Scott and promising to give the Morlocks a Viking's Funeral...

...Thor walks the tunnels to ensure that there is no one else living. He's then visited by Hela, who reveals the nature of her curse: his bones are brittle and will not heal. When she departs, Thor unleashes a flame that scourges the tunnels of its dead.

Continuing with the two subplots of last issue., Volstagg introduces the mortal Kevin and Mick to his large family...

...and Balder brings the feather that Muninn brought him last issue to the Fates, who give him a vial of water from the Well of Life to restore Muninn's twin, Huginn.

Further complicating my minor naming confusion around the Norns/Fates, Balder refers to the one known as Urd (who i tag as Clotho) as Wyrd this issue.

Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - Nothing specific, but this issue is considered a highlight of the Mutant Massacre, with the breaking of Thor's arm and the flame cleansing having impact beyond this issue.

Chronological Placement Considerations: Thor's cleansing fire at the end of this issue is simultaneously shown at the end of X-Men #212 and the middle of X-Factor #11. That's a good demonstration of how these stories are all running concurrently. I almost felt like this one should be placed prior to X-Men #212 to show where that fire is coming from, but either way the events of these issues are happening at the same time and so i've stuck with my plan of keeping the issues in the same order as the trade paperback.

References:

• Balder met the Fates circa Thor #344-346.
  
• Thor refers to the time when the Avengers met the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #9. He refers to it as "when the Avengers faced Lucifer", which isn't exactly accurate, but it's clear Thor is having some memory problems this issue. For example, you can use my Character Intersection Search feature to see all the times Thor met Angel since that issue!
  
• Hela was angered by Thor's invasion of her realm in Thor #360 through Thor #362.

Crossover: Mutant Massacre

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Thor is being incredibly irresponsible by setting all the bodies on fire. As we see in X-Factor and X-Men, several characters barely made it out of the tunnels alive. Also, he couldn't have checked the tunnels completely, as he missed the Tunnelers in X-Factor 11. And why couldn't he have waited for the authorities? They could have handled a public health hazard. Let's hope nobody got burned.

I have to wonder if Blockbuster got killed in order to avoid problems with DC's Blockbuster coming back to prominence(briefly)in their 1986 Legends mega-crossover.

Come to think of it, DC had a Scalphunter too...

Yep. He hadn't really been seen since the '70s though, and wouldn't be used again until the 1990s. Outside of some Starman appearances, he wasn't used in anywhere close to any important roles, at all.

You wrote: "Thor meanwhile hears the sobbing of Artie (who i thought was mute, but Thor is a god!) and convinced him to come along with him."

Well, Artie may not have vocal cords any more due to his mutation but part of sobbing is heavier breathing than normal and probably sniffling too. Thor does say "softly" and "small" to describe the sound.

Wyrd is the Old English name for Urd. It's the equivalent of going back and forth between Odin and Wotan (or Woden), or between Thor and Donner. There appears to be no standard at Marvel, thus causing much confusion (you shouldn't need a mythology encyclopedia to read a comic, unless it's all part of Marvel's evil plot to secretly make readers *learn something*, bwahahaha).

Always kind of loved that Thor makes reference to a battle they fought together in 1964. I mean, he did fight side by side with Scott in Secret Wars.

Thor should also remember Angel from the time Ghost Rider went nuts and they teamed up to fight him.

Isn't there some law in Asgard that forbids Thor and other asgardians from killing mortals on Earth? Wouldn't killing Blockbuster get Thor in a lot of trouble?

Probably there's a "defense of others" exception, just like with our laws against murder.

" I almost felt like this one should be placed prior to X-Men #212 to show where that fire is coming from"

Imo, I think you should, this issue fits perfectly after PP 27 (because of the whole X-Factor segment)