Issue(s): Thunderstrike #10
Cover Date: Jul 94
Title: "Hero"
Credits:
Tom DeFalco - Script
Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz - Plot
Ron Frenz - Layouts
Al Milgrom - Finishes
Matt Idelson - Assistant Editor
Ralph Macchio - Editor

Review/plot:
Thunderstrike is training with Hercules when a news report comes in that Thor is tearing up Manhattan. The "Thor" in question looks like Eric Masterson when he was Thor, so the other Avengers give him a fifteen minute head start in dealing with the situation.

The encounter doesn't go well.

The other Avengers help out trying to catch Thor, who gets busy committing crimes.

Contrast the public's reaction to all of this to the positive reception Thor gets in Thor #476, which takes place only hours after this story. It is said that the Black Widow intended to hold a press conference telling people that it wasn't the real Thor, and Thunderstrike does try to help Thor's reputation by defeating the imposter in yet another Thor costume.

But public opinion in the Marvel universe tends to sour on super-heroes fast and usually doesn't recover so quickly.

Anyway, the real Thor turns up after that and he and Eric spend some quiet time together. It's the first time that Thor has seen Eric in his Thunderstrike guise.

Speaking of "yet another Thor costume..."

A NO-FOOTNOTE PRIZE to whoever can identify when Thor first said that quote.

After the awesomeness of the Juggernaut fight, this series has been falling in the "Mostly Harmless" category. Which makes it slightly better than a lot of what was going on at the time, but it's not really standing out, either. And as a vehicle for Ron Frenz's art, it's a shame that he's only doing layouts and Al Milgrom is doing finishes.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Thor appears here during Thor #476, after bringing Donald Blake to New York but before he's accosted by his fans and then attacked by the Destroyer. Thunderstrike subsequently appears in Thor #477.

References:

• Thunderstrike thinks to himself that the last he's heard, Thor was undergoing "a humdinger of an identity crisis", which began in Thor #460 but Thunderstrike heard about it from Sif in Thunderstrike #2-3.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A