Thor: "The Miracle of Storms"

Thor #303 (1981)

By Doug Moench, Rick Leonardi, Chic Stone

Background: Thor has returned to NYC after a prolonged period in Asgard.

So, What Happens? Thor saves a local priest named Father Coza from two thugs. With no time for an ambulance, he turns into Donald Blake and performs emergency surgery to save his life. After mistaking him for a miraculous apparition, Father Coza regains consciousness and explains that his attackers were hired killers paid by a local crime boss bent on purchasing and demolishing his church. After five years of putting up with vandalism, harassment and threats, Father Coza is now tempted to give up since the church appears to be dying down anyway and there isn't enough money for essential repairs. More importantly, the priest is experiencing a crisis of faith, his beliefs numbed by the constant presence of evil and apathy around him, by the lack of proof of good. Don Blake argues that he might be an instrument of God and offers to help. With a couple of phone calls, he learns the name and address of Angelo Simoni, the man behind the attacks on Father Coza, and pays him a visit as Thor. Simoni and his men are no match for the Thunder God, but the terrified mobster confesses to having arranged an arson attack to burn down the church and everyone inside. Thor flies to the rescue, but is too late to prevent the arson and the church starts to burn, With a pregnant woman trapped in his office, Father Coza is torn between saving his own life and running back through the fire to get her out. His prayers for strength are answered when he sees Thor summoning rain and lightning to douse the flames. Inspired and mindless of his own injuries, Father Coza runs to his office and starts dragging the woman out, being once again saved by Thor from a toppling wall. Seeing a different deity upsets the priest, but the Odinson briefly explains that there are many gods across the universe, all originating from the same universal higher force and given truth by their worshippers' faith. His beliefs renewed, Father Coza later tells Donald Blake he has been given the proof he had asked for and will carry on. The next day, whilst numerous volunteers are helping cleaning up, Father Coza is visited by Angelo Simoni, who, prompted by the watching Thor, makes a "large donation" to rebuild the church and begs for forgiveness.

Notes: Given his name, Angelo Simoni is either Italian or of Italian descent. Whether his promise to leave the church alone extends to giving up crime altogether is unrevealed. Similarly, it's hard to tell whether his donation to Father Coza and plea for forgiveness are genuine or if there was a little push by Thor.

The story touches on religion and on the impact that having a Norse god flying around in the modern world can have on the more religious people. This is something that gets discussed from time to time in Thor, usually with a message of tolerance and respect, and with the occasional mentioning of a power higher than even Odin. It's a theme that will rear its head again in the two-part Crusader storyline (#330-31) and eventually be central to the Reigning arc in Volume #2.

Something Silly This Way Comes: Simoni's businessman front suggests that the police are unaware of his real activities, but all it takes for Thor to find out is one phone call.

Review: I mentioned in the blog's opening post that Thor is one of my favourite Marvel characters, and for this reason I have a lot of TPBs collecting various eras of his history. This carried with it the all too pleasant problem of having too many stories to choose from for his first review on this blog. I should start with something from the Simonson era, surely. But then there's the Lee/Kirby era that introduced us to Asgard and to many crucial characters. And what about the De Falco era, with the Egyptian Gods saga? As I pondered and pondered, I was drawn to the brief, urban, grounded Moench period (to call it "era" would probably be an overstatement) and to this particular story, as it highlights a side of Thor often forgotten or ignored: his wisdom. Thor can be arrogant, boastful, short-tempered, but when well-written there is also a gravitas about him. A dignified, charismatic nobility of spirit that makes others stop and listen. The Miracle of Storms doesn't really display Thor's powers, nor does it offer any spectacular battle, but entertains by putting the Thunder God in a realistic situation where his openness and convictions help Father Coza more than his strength.

What this story lacks in action, it more than makes up for with a mature script. Father Coza's crisis of faith comes across as genuine, and so does Thor's counterargument. The points get across without the need for overly preachy statements. In fact, unlike his boastful battle-self, here Thor says very little at all, letting his actions and charisma do the talking, but also leaving Father Coza freedom of choice. In avoiding to push his view too hard, Thor respects the intimate importance of the priest's inner struggle and allows him to make up his mind.

Without much action or need for dynamic panels, the art by Rick Leonardi is all about static figures and facial expressions, with mixed results. Thor is always pretty good and imposing, and for once the wings on his helmet don't look like they are about to fall off, but only a few close-ups are successful in conveying the inner struggle of the characters. More often than not, middle-distance characters are somewhat featureless, bodies are stiff, backgrounds down to a minimum. It's not bad by any means, but could have been better and the overall impression is that Leonardi isn't quite the right match for this type of script.

Final Verdict: A self-contained, mature story, a little hindered by the art. 4/5