Issue(s): Thor #481
Cover Date: Dec 94
Title: "The Living Stone, I presume?"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
M.C. Wyman - Penciler
Mike DeCarlo - Inker
Joe Andreani - Assistant Editor
Mike Rockwitz - Editor

Review/plot:
If you closed this comic and burned it based on the title alone, i understand.

Thor doesn't really have a home at the moment, so he decides to go to Avengers mansion. Jarvis can at least be relied on to pretend that his costume looks ok.

But neither Thunderstrike or Hercules are home (nor are any of the Avengers, due to "a plethora of world crises"). So Thor has Jarvis look up Donald Blake's phone number. Blake doesn't want to talk to him, but agrees to a meeting. On his way there, Thor saves a woman from getting hit from a car, and has a bad encounter with some humans in the aftermath.

Thor is then telepathically contacted by the High Evolutionary and the Godpack, who ask him to come back. He's honored, but declines for now. He meets with Blake, who asks for help winning Jane Foster back, but then the conversation devolves since Blake is still angry over having his life stolen.

And it turns out that Thor is being monitored by Grotesk and the Lava Men.

Finally! An actual super-villain!

Grotesk has detected some connection between Blake and Thor, so he opens up a chasm to pull Blake down. Thor fights his way through the Lava Men's Living Rock, then the Lava Men, and then Grotesk.

The Living Rock grows out of control, threatening the Lava Men's realm as well as the rest of Earth. But the Lava Men are under Grotesk's control so they don't stop it. The rock also keeps Thor from his hammer, and Grotesk holds Blake as a hostage. But the Godpack show up to help.

Grotesk is tossed into the Living Rock, stopping it. Once he's down, the Lava Men are free from his sway, and Thor allows them to leave. But Donald Blake's apartment was destroyed in the attack, so he has no choice but to go back to Wundagore with the Godpack and Thor. On their way back, the Godpack are contacted by the High Evolutionary, who says that they're going into space to fight his last creations, the New Immortals. Thor agrees to go with them.

Grotesk - bolstered by the Lava Men - vs. Thor is a fun match-up. Unfortunately, while Roy Thomas is willing to spend tons of issues in a row on the Godpack and Red Norvell and Thor's origin, this fight only gets about half an issue and feels throwaway.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Thor and the Godpack will be shown arriving in Wundagore at the beginning of next issue, so once again there isn't a lot of room for time to pass between issues.

References:

• Thor got re-exiled from Asgard in Thor #479.
  
• The Lava Men fought Thor in Journey Into Mystery #97 and Avengers #5.
  
• Grotesk's civilization was destroyed by underground nuclear testing, as shown in Uncanny X-Men #41.
  
• The New Immortals were last seen (in flashback) in Thor #473.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The chronology of next issue is complicated by the fact that Thor rescues Loki from Mephisto's realm next issue while Mephisto is absent- the implication is that this takes place shortly after Mephisto is destroyed in Dark Design. The problem is that the Punisher seems to have his battle van in Dark Design (i.e. not a van he took off a crook he killed).