COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Thor 374 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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1334263029
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Owner:
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Thorseface
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Thor no. 374: “Fires of the Night”
Publication date: December 10, 1986
Signed with remarque by Walt Simonson on 8/25/21.
Census: As of 6/20/23, 30 copies in 9.8 (no change), 3 of which are signed (no change). There is no Canadian variant listed.
Writer: Simonson
Penciler, inker: Sal Buscema
Letterer: Workman
Colorist: Scheele
Favorite line and some thoughts:
"You needn't say anything more, Cyclops. I learned a long time ago not to judge a book by its cover..."
-Thor, who is not a mutantphobe
In 1986 it was still a very rare thing to see Thor cross paths with Marvel's mutants. Here, he remembers Angel, Marvel Girl, and Cyclops from his very first encounter with them way back in 1965's X-Men no. 9 (!!!), which was also the first time that the X-Men met the Avengers. If we wanted to be picky we might point out that Thor had spent at least a few recent weeks in the company of Cyclops during the Secret Wars, and should have known him immediately as a result. But we'll let that slide in recognition of Walt's wonderful reference to the early years of the Marvel Universe. And because Secret Wars is rather silly.
With this issue and the last we are in the full throes of the Mutant Massacre, the very first X-Men "crossover event" masterminded by Claremont and the Simonsons (the idea was originally Weezie's). The events of Thor nos. 373-374 take place right before X-Factor no. 11, where we get a brief cameo of Thor whooping Blockbuster as part of Jean and Artie's recollection of that recent event. The rather odd inclusion of Thor in the crossover had everything to do with the friendship between Claremont, Walt, and Weezie. It was anticipated by Thor's journey into the tunnels during his recent time as a frog. Sadly, the Moorlock Piper, featured in that story, is killed by the Marauders at some point during the massacre.
Nice homage to Frank Herbert's Dune in this issue where Balder achieves the resurrection of Huginn the raven. And speaking of ravens, dig the editorial voiceover from Edgar Allan Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" with which this issue dramatically concludes.
I'm a huge fan of Walt and Weezie's X-Factor work. Since I don't plan on going down an X-Factor CGC rabbit hole I thought it would be cool to commemorate that run here. Had I actually been born with a brain I would have asked Louise to add her signature to this cover, too. Maybe CGC can help make that happen one day. I had the pleasure of meeting Walt and Louise at a recent con. What they say is true: they are the nicest people in comics.
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