The Mighty Thor #445 - Marvel Comics

THE MIGHTY THOR No. 445, March 1992

For those Thunder God fans not following the New York City-based publisher’s “Operation: Galactic Storm” multi-title event, Tom DeFalco’s opening to Issue Four Hundred and Forty Five of “The Mighty Thor” probably brought them bang up to speed with past incidents, courtesy of some fast-paced dialogue and a momentary “spacequake!” Indeed, the American author sets out this twenty-two page periodical’s stall rather nicely, and soon throws his audience into a truly titanic tussle between two of the Avengers’ strongest members and a disagreeably arrogant Gladiator; “For the safety and security of my people, I cannot suffer this interloper to live!”

One of this comic’s biggest draws however, is arguably the uncertainty surrounding Eric Masterson’s place within the supergroup’s roster, and his lack of belief at successfully wielding Mjolnir. This internal struggle really lies at the very heart of “The War And The Warrior!” by depicting Ron Frenz’s co-creation as battling both his own inner doubts and demons, as well as the formidable superhuman strength of the Shi'ar Empire’s egotistical Praetor of the Imperial Guard.

Likewise, there’s arguably a fair amount of satisfaction to be had in this book’s later stages by witnessing the utterly insufferable Kallark getting his clock well and truly cleaned by the titular character. Admittedly, some bibliophiles may well point out that the extra-terrestrial probably didn’t deserve the death which the new Thunder God momentarily had in mind for him - having allowed his towering rage to blind him from sound reasoning. But the Gladiator definitely deserves a good beating bearing in mind he completely refuses to listen to a surprisingly reasonable Wonder Man in the first instance, and then goes on to covertly conclude that Masterson must be executed immediately due to the human having too much power for the extra-terrestrial’s grand civilisation to permit.

Undeniably imbuing all this pulse-pounding pugilism with plenty of “KRAK!”, “TWAKK!” and “SPWATT!” are Patrick Olliffe’s pencils and Al Milgrom’s inks. Together, the duo make every punch thrown and hammer-blow landed reverberate within the readers’ minds, and help sell the notion that this tale features some seriously sturdy powerhouses trading shots with one another which would easily flatten an ordinary hero within mere moments.

Story: Tom DeFalco, Pencils: Patrick Olliffe, and Inks: Al Milgrom