COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Thor 362 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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1293812002
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Owner:
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Thorseface
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Thor no. 362: “Like a Bat out of Hel!”
Publication date: December 10, 1985
Census: As of 6/20/23, 33 copies in 9.8 (up by 3), 1 signed (no change). There are no Canadian 9.8s on the census.
Writer, penciler, inker: Simonson
Letterer: Workman
Colorist: Scheele
Favorite line and some thoughts:
"I will hold the bridge."
-Skurge, the Executioner
There are a number of reasons Walt provided for Thor’s to journey to Hel, including the search for the soul of Odin and the retrieval of those mortal souls condemned to the Norse netherworld as a result of their brush with Malekith. Clearly he was keen to explore the landscape of Hel and its features as described in the mythological source material, for example the bridge Gjallerbru and, for the first time in this issue, Naglfar, the ship of the dead that will set sale at Ragnarok (check out the sweet cranes at work on the deck, no doubt lifting crates filled with finger nails). But he had another card to play, one that has since become near-synonymous with his run. This is Skurge’s lone rearguard defense of the retreating Asgardian army on Gjallerbru. In rereading Walt’s run over the course of the last few months I am struck by how far in advance the seeds were planted for this moment. We have Amora’s repudiation of Skurge a few issues back, but also the National Guard giving machine guns to Harokin and the Einherjar as a kind of parting gift after the battle against the demons of Muspelheim in New York (just a friendly gesture, I guess). Harokin proudly mentions his new weaponry on a number of occasions before the journey into Hel, and it all pays off with the Executioner’s famous last stand. This was Walt’s homage—at least in part—to the Rambo phenomenon. Hence the cover’s “First Blood! Last Man!” The film Rambo, First Blood, Part 2, was released in U.S. theaters on May 22, 1985. Walt signed and dated the interior pencils of Thor 362 on July 5,1985.
Keep an eye out for the cameo by Magma of the New Mutants. This is a rather oblique nod to the New Mutants' adventures in Asgard as detailed in Chris Claremont’s New Mutants Special Edition 1, which takes place while Thor and the Einherjar are in Hel. Magma, it seems, ingested a bit of faerie food and for a hot second found herself in Norse Hel.
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