Doug: Edo Bosnar is back today with another Bronze-feeling gem from the 21st century. Join him as he walks us through an Alan Davis/Mark Farmer Thor romp. And yes -- for those scoring at home this is our third Thor post of the last four days!
Edo Bosnar: Once,
when Karen and Doug reviewed Avengers 1.5,
the post had the title “Finding Silver Well Past Bronze.” Well, I think this
book kind of fits that category, although the story has more of a Bronze Age
feel.
Thor:
The Truth of History (2008)
Alan Davis-Davis/Mark
Farmer
Although this book was published in 2008, it could have very easily been released as
an annual in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s and nobody would have batted an eye.
It is very much like one of those fun, done-in-one stories from that period.
(Even the art, except maybe the coloring, wouldn’t have been too out of place:
as far as I know, Davis was already working for Marvel UK in the early 1980s).
The
story starts with a prologue in modern-day Egypt. Two archeologists (who bear a
striking resemblance to Laurel and Hardy) are discussing the sphinx, and some
controversies surrounding the hieroglyphs on it, which may or may not speak of
a great rainstorm in ancient Egypt. One of the scholars is receptive to the
idea, the other is dismissive.
And
you may ask, what does all of this have to do with Thor?
Well,
the scene then shifts to the distant past, and we see Thor, Sif, Balder, and
the Warriors Three storming a fortress inside Asgard held by Storm Giants. There’s a mystical gateway in the fortress that the Storm Giant queen wants to
use to access Midgard, which is apparently a no-no due to an agreement reached
between all of the pantheons, as Thor explains to the queen. Volstagg, enjoying
the heat emanating from the portal, gets closer to warm his posterior, and – of
course – ends up falling through it.
This
prompts Thor, together with Fandral and Hogun, to go through themselves to
retrieve their voluminous comrade. They emerge in a desert, note the furnace-like
heat, and then see a construction site nearby and set off for it. The workers
are quite frightened at the site of the Asgardians, pointing out that they must
be demons since they have the appearance of “blood-drained corpses.” A nice
touch here as that neither understands the other (even though I recall reading
a Thor comic once in which it was pointed out that Thor understood pretty much
every human language). In the first sign that something is seriously amiss in
Egypt, the overseer of the workers, a demonic-looking beast, interrupts the
attempts at communication and attacks the Asgardians. Thor dispatches quite him
easily.
In a
an attempt to ease the fears of the workers, he uses his hammer to cut the
remaining stone blocks for them, saving them a few days’ work at least.
However, this makes them angry, as they shout that he deprived them of their
right to “cut the sacred blocks.” Oh, well.
Thor
then spies a city in the distance (Giza as it turns out), and they figure that
may be where Volstagg ended up. They hope that he’s had a better welcome. And
sure enough, Volstagg seems to be having the time of his life – and not really
questioning why everyone is content to ply him with food and drink.
Thor
and the Warriors Two make their way to the city, where they see, among other
things, a pyramid being built. Thor is none too impressed.
They
eventually run into a priest who seems to speak a little Asgardian.
Specifically, he keeps repeating, rather awkwardly, “wine, mead, food, hungry.”
Thor and his companions immediately conclude that Volstagg is somewhere nearby.
While
being led through the settlement, the Asgardians also make some disparaging
remarks about the Egyptian (they call them Heliopolitan) deities, which seems a
bit like the pot calling the kettle black – because anyone who’s read any
mythology knows that many of the gods of any of the various pantheons were
often than not rather petty and disagreeable sorts.
Anyway,
they also pass by the sphinx, which indeed has a different head than the one
with which we’re all familiar – it’s also some kind of demonic-looking beastie. The
Asgardians are led to a table set for a feast, but Thor is rather disgusted by
the fact that this abundance is being offered to them while the common people
seem to be on the verge of starvation. So he picks up the table and tips it
over so everyone can get some.
At
this point, the pharaoh shows up with a rather unusual entourage, and he’s not
very happy with Thor’s act of generosity. The Asgardians don’t understand a
word, but wonder how Volstagg is involved in all of this.
And
the scene switches again to Volstagg, being carried on a litter (I had to
sympathize with the guys carrying it). They take him to a dark chamber, where
there’s several lamp-wielding priests, some kind of cairn and a pile of human
bones. Volstagg finally puts 2 and 2 together and shouts for help, loud enough
so that Thor and his companions hear him, and rush to his rescue. The three
fight their way to the sacrificial chamber, where Volstagg is now tied to the
obelisk, about to be eaten by a giant griffin-like creature that looks exactly
the sphinx statue.
Thor
takes the (fire-breathing, as it turns out) creature on, and the next few pages
contain a nicely drawn battle sequence. The demon puts up a good fight, but
Thor eventually smites him down, and in the process summons up a massive
thunderstorm.
Oh,
and during the fight, much of the head on the sphinx statue gets broken off.
Thor muses that the griffin and the other demons must have been some kind of
discarded pets of the Heliopolitan gods whom the pharaoh thought he could tame.
He also says he will dispel the thunder, but not the rain…
As
the Asgardians head back toward the portal, they wonder if their unexpected Egyptian
adventure was somehow decreed by fate, seeing as how it caused the downfall of
a tyrannical pharaoh, the vanquishment of a demon, and much-needed rainfall in
the impoverished and drought-stricken land. Indeed, Volstagg says that the day
it rained in Egypt will be recalled “as long as men walk this Earth.” And
that brings us back to the present day and the two debating archeologists in
the epilogue …
This
is a fun little story, and the art is simply a joy to look at. I think it’s
still really easy to find this cheaply, and it’s included in a TPB called
Marvel Tales that also collects a few annuals done by Davis.