COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Thor 353 Modern
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Grade:
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9.8
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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1204115018
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Owner:
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Thorseface
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Thor no. 353: “Doom II!”
Publication date: March 10, 1985
Signed by Walt Simonson with remarque on 8/25/21.
Census: As of 6/20/23, 34 copies in 9.8 (up by 6), of which 2 are signed (up by 1). There are 2 Canadian 9.8s, unsigned.
Writer, penciler, inker: Simonson
Letterer: Workman
Colorist: Scheele
Favorite line and some thoughts:
"FOR MYSELF!" - Loki
Behind issue 380 my favorite book in Walt's run. The final battle in Asgard, with Odin, Thor, and (surprisingly) Loki on one side and Surtur on the other is, for my money, the best it gets in comics. I'll wager no one predicted that Loki would intervene on the side of Odin and Thor, especially after the red herring that was his "alliance" with Malekith. When the three Asgardians finally turn their combined might on Surtur, Loki utters one of the funniest, in-character, and on-point lines in the history of Marvel Comics. His anti-hero turn in this final battle is capped off by his exclamation (simultaneous with Thor), "Father!!!", when Odin and Surtur tumble into Muspelheim. I would submit that this was a huge step in the overall development of the character: somewhere, beneath all the malfeasance and spite, Loki gives a damn. This is his persona today, across multiple media.
I'm not going to be able to do justice to Walt's pencilling work on the final, epic battle, so I won't even try. Behind Thor's showdown with Jormungand in Thor 380 it's my favorite moment in Walt's run. Just mind-blowingly majestic.
The title "Doom II" denotes the bookend relationship of this issue to Thor 337 ("Doom"), the beginning of Walt's run. That first episode of Walt's Surtur Saga ended with Donald Blake crying out "Father," an image with clear Christological resonance. Thor 353 ends with the same exclamation from both Thor and Loki. Similarly, as Odin falls into Muspelheim, he tells his sons "Into your hands, I give the future!", phrasing reminiscent of Luke 23:46. Here it is the father who makes the sacrifice rather than the son(s).
This is a hugely important moment in Marvel's Thor continuity. Odin disappeared for 45 issues, almost a full four years. We didn't see him again until Tom DeFalco's and Ron Frenz's Thor 398. With Odin gone, we find Thor somewhat unmoored; Walt explores this turn of events in subsequent issues in the run. Later Thor scribes have built on Walt's work by making Thor the ruler of Asgard, etc., but Odin always returns in one way or another (hey, this is comics).
I have to say I really like the reference to Thor 353 in the final issues of the second volume of Thor, written by Michael Oeming. His take on the Ragnarok "cycle" is pretty ingenious, and cleverly incorporates events from Walt's run and that of Dan Jurgens. The visual nods to Walt's work by Andre Di Vito are gorgeous, too, but I digress.
At the foot of the splash page that concludes Thor 353 is the following dedication:
"The issue especially is for Stan, Jack, Vinnie, Artie, and Sam." In other words, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Vince Colletta (one of Kirby's most frequent Silver Age inkers), Artie Simek, and Sam Rosen (two of the principle letterers for Marvel's Silver Age). With the exception of Simek (d. 1975), all of these greats were still alive when Thor 353 was published and (one hopes) read the book. All were no doubt instrumental in the literary, artistic and calligraphic formation of both Walt and John Workman.
As of May '23 I am the proud owner of a Newstand copy of this book: 4250929010. I'll include an image in due course.
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