Thor #130 (1966)
By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Vince Colletta
Background: Pluto tricked Hercules into signing a contract imprisoning him into the Netherworld as its ruler. Thor risks his own freedom to face the armies of Pluto and free the Olympian.
So, What Happens? Judging the fate of Hercules unfair, Thor wows to be his champion. Upon entering the Netherworld, his first foe is mace-wielding Cerberus, but he is no match for the power of Thor and is quickly defeated. The Thunderer breaks into the throne room where Hercules is about to be crowned against his will, and once again promises to fight on his behalf, much to Herc's relief and admiration. Thor smashes past the footsoldiers of Pluto and relentlessly destroys their cannons and warmachines, further motivated by a feeling of danger menacing someone he loves. He breaks out of Pluto's traps, throws away the mighty Crusher, crumbles the archers' towers and is about to create a tornado when Pluto himself stops the battle. The Olympian realizes that going on would only further destroy his realm and accepts to rip apart the contract binding Hercules. Free once more, a grateful Herc calls Thor his friend, and the two of them leave together discussing the responsibilities of power.
Notes: This story is only 15-pages long to leave space for the Tales of Asgard backup feature. The loved one in danger is Jane Foster, who has had a chance encounter with the alien Tana Nile.
Something Silly This Way Comes: With their cannons and flame-throwers, Pluto's soldiers look like riot police. The mythological dog Cerberus is now a humanoid brute with a ray in his helmet.
Review: In its essence, this story is a typical Silver Age slugfest. An action-driven tale where Stan has minimal work to do, but Jack Kirby can go wild with over the top battle scenes showcasing Thor's strength at its most powerful. This isn't a fight to win with strategy or skills, Thor never needs to use most of Mjolnir's abilities and only throws it a few times, but still triumphs with sheer brute force and willpower. One-on-one battles can sometimes make it difficult to truly discern a character's power since the two foes need to be more or less equally matched to make the story entertaining and unpredictable, but in this one-against-an-army scenario we get to see just how strong Thor truly is. This is a type of battle particularly suitable for Thor, and it's not at all surprising that many other writers and artists will use it over the years, especially Tom De Falco and Ron Frenz in the Seth saga decades later.
In terms of art, Jack can have fun with a dynamic, dramatic Thunder God. Despite a very classic page layout, almost every panel seethes with energy as we see Thor cry, swing Mjolnir, punch or push forward. Unfortunately, not everything else works quite as well. The Netherworld is a wasted opportunity as, possibly because of Colletta's involvement, backgrounds are often inexistent. Pluto's armies aren't terribly inspired either, a combination of soldiers with an impersonal design and the odd monster here and there. More in general, it's the science/mythology combination that doesn't work too well here, mainly because most weapons look like ordinary concepts redesigned in a somewhat outlandish way.
With relatively little to do, Stan nails the unbridled fury of Thor with a speech pattern made of a combination of boasts, threats and furious statements, but there is also space for a deeper exchange between the Thunderer and Hercules, cementing the beginning of their friendship and once again showing how quickly Thor can switch between enraged warrior and wise man. This pliability will never be more obvious than when the brasher Hercules is there as counterpoint, and this is one of the reasons why I consider the Prince of Power one of Thor's best cast members.
Going back to the story, one thing that doesn't quite work is the ending, or rather how quickly it comes. After centuries of planning, Pluto gives up way too easily, and Thor's explanation that the Olympian would never be happy in the living world is essentially based on nothing. This story would have been better told over two issues, and instead only gets a handful of pages due to the Tales of Asgard backup tale.
Final Verdict: A classic Thor action tale with a few faults. 3.5/5
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