Thor 290. December 1979.
Ring Around The Red Bull
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Arvell Jones
Inks: Chic Stone
Colours: Carl Gafford
Letters: Joe Rosen
This is essentially a filler episode, which serves to get Thor back to Earth and set up the next stage of the Eternals storyline.
A little background here. Jack Kirby's Eternals ran for nineteen issues from July 1976, but was eventually cancelled with most of its major plots and themes left unfinished.
The original idea had been for the Eternals to exist in a separate universe to the Marvel heroes, but this had been overturned in order to enable crossover appearances that the company hoped would prop up sales on the flagging title. This meant that after the main title was dropped, the cosmic events that the series was leading up to needed to be resolved. Roy Thomas and Mark Gruenwald took on the task of completing the story, mostly in the pages of Thor.
This particular issue revolves around a minor skirmish between an Eternal known as El Vampiro and a Deviant (the Eternals' evil foes) known as El Toro Rojo. Both of whom are professional wrestlers.
It is strange now to read a story that treats wrestling quite so earnestly. It is easy to forget that for a long time, much of the audience for professional wrestling considered it to be a genuine sporting contest. El Vampiro boasts of how he became successful because he always won his matches, for example.
There is an interesting relationship between Marvel heroes and wrestling. The "Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation" would emerge in the mid-80s, with heroes like D-Man and the Thing taking to the ring. Again, stories were told with the understanding that the bouts were for real. Obviously, if you can believe in superheroes, then wrestlers are pretty much a given, right? And of course wrestlers were far less likely to break "kayfabe" in those days, they had to act like it was real at all times. This particular comic appeared several years before Andy Kaufman's venture into the sport, which itself was several years before the first Wrestlemania event. For many people, it was as real as boxing or any other sport.
There is also some boilerplate business around the Mjolnir enchantment. At this point, Thor and the hammer were both still operating under the original conditions they had shared since the character's debut. Doctor Donald Blake is a mortal with a bad leg, when he strikes his cane on the ground it becomes Mjolnir and he becomes Thor. If Thor is separated from his hammer for sixty seconds then he is transformed back into Doctor Blake and the hammer becomes a cane once more. It's a simple gimmick that, by this point, had perhaps overstayed its welcome, but Thomas uses it here to propel the plot forwards.
The story itself then. Thor is falling to Earth from space following a fight with the Destroyer on Asgard's Rainbow Bridge. This is enjoyably recreated in a page long flashback sequence, bringing new readers up to speed and reminding the faithful where we left off.
The God of Thunder then cruises over Hollywood, briefly mistaking Lou Ferrigno for the real Hulk before realising his mistake. It is then that he encounters the flying but badly injured form of Vampiro. As Thor rescues the Eternal wrestler, Vampiro tells how he was attacked in the ring by El Toro Rojo, who promptly appears to finish the job.
During the inevitable fight, El Toro Rojo uses one of his horns to deflect the course of Mjolnir, putting it beyond Thor's reach. He is confused by Thor's subsequent transformation into Doctor Blake, and takes off with the magic stick.
You may have guessed where this is going and yes, Don Blake, bad leg and all, eventually masks up and steps into the ring, where El Toro Rojo tries to smack him about with his own cane.
It is a fun, if somewhat lightweight, story that seems to shout "filler" - a feeling that is underscored by the presence of Arvell Jones on pencils duty. This is only Jones' second Thor, following #228 in 1974, where he shared inking duties with Sinnott and Pollard.
Don't get me wrong, Jones does a great job here, and it remains something of a mystery to me that he never really became a breakout star. The art is dynamic and melodramatic, perfect for the subject matter. He has brought in obvious Kirby references, and shows great inventiveness in showing bodies get thrown around, which helps sell the whole wrestling angle. The design of the two new characters is perhaps a little generic, and may explain why neither became fixtures of the MU. Vampiro, as far as I can determine, did not reappear until Eternals Vol.4 in 08-09. Toro Rojo featured as a member of "Delta Force" in the pages of the Avengers around 1994.
Great use of some original sound effects here too. Notice the use of the Spanish-style inverted exclamation marks, a nice touch.
Overall then, a rather lightweight story that does little to advance the ongoing story. There is also very little development of Thor's personal life. This, along with the guest artist, tends to suggest that this may have been a filler issue, perhaps to allow regular series artist Keith Pollard some time to catch up. As such, it works reasonably well as a self-contained story, but the by-the-numbers plot is heavily padded out with extended fight scenes which, while fun, are realistically only ever going to end one way. You have a bull-themed villain with horns. You have a hero in a red cape...
Text ©2019 Andrew Ness
All art, characters, etc © Marvel Characters Inc.
Ring Around The Red Bull
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Arvell Jones
Inks: Chic Stone
Colours: Carl Gafford
Letters: Joe Rosen
This is essentially a filler episode, which serves to get Thor back to Earth and set up the next stage of the Eternals storyline.
A little background here. Jack Kirby's Eternals ran for nineteen issues from July 1976, but was eventually cancelled with most of its major plots and themes left unfinished.
The original idea had been for the Eternals to exist in a separate universe to the Marvel heroes, but this had been overturned in order to enable crossover appearances that the company hoped would prop up sales on the flagging title. This meant that after the main title was dropped, the cosmic events that the series was leading up to needed to be resolved. Roy Thomas and Mark Gruenwald took on the task of completing the story, mostly in the pages of Thor.
This particular issue revolves around a minor skirmish between an Eternal known as El Vampiro and a Deviant (the Eternals' evil foes) known as El Toro Rojo. Both of whom are professional wrestlers.
It is strange now to read a story that treats wrestling quite so earnestly. It is easy to forget that for a long time, much of the audience for professional wrestling considered it to be a genuine sporting contest. El Vampiro boasts of how he became successful because he always won his matches, for example.
There is an interesting relationship between Marvel heroes and wrestling. The "Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation" would emerge in the mid-80s, with heroes like D-Man and the Thing taking to the ring. Again, stories were told with the understanding that the bouts were for real. Obviously, if you can believe in superheroes, then wrestlers are pretty much a given, right? And of course wrestlers were far less likely to break "kayfabe" in those days, they had to act like it was real at all times. This particular comic appeared several years before Andy Kaufman's venture into the sport, which itself was several years before the first Wrestlemania event. For many people, it was as real as boxing or any other sport.
The story itself then. Thor is falling to Earth from space following a fight with the Destroyer on Asgard's Rainbow Bridge. This is enjoyably recreated in a page long flashback sequence, bringing new readers up to speed and reminding the faithful where we left off.
The God of Thunder then cruises over Hollywood, briefly mistaking Lou Ferrigno for the real Hulk before realising his mistake. It is then that he encounters the flying but badly injured form of Vampiro. As Thor rescues the Eternal wrestler, Vampiro tells how he was attacked in the ring by El Toro Rojo, who promptly appears to finish the job.During the inevitable fight, El Toro Rojo uses one of his horns to deflect the course of Mjolnir, putting it beyond Thor's reach. He is confused by Thor's subsequent transformation into Doctor Blake, and takes off with the magic stick.
You may have guessed where this is going and yes, Don Blake, bad leg and all, eventually masks up and steps into the ring, where El Toro Rojo tries to smack him about with his own cane.
It is a fun, if somewhat lightweight, story that seems to shout "filler" - a feeling that is underscored by the presence of Arvell Jones on pencils duty. This is only Jones' second Thor, following #228 in 1974, where he shared inking duties with Sinnott and Pollard.
Don't get me wrong, Jones does a great job here, and it remains something of a mystery to me that he never really became a breakout star. The art is dynamic and melodramatic, perfect for the subject matter. He has brought in obvious Kirby references, and shows great inventiveness in showing bodies get thrown around, which helps sell the whole wrestling angle. The design of the two new characters is perhaps a little generic, and may explain why neither became fixtures of the MU. Vampiro, as far as I can determine, did not reappear until Eternals Vol.4 in 08-09. Toro Rojo featured as a member of "Delta Force" in the pages of the Avengers around 1994.Great use of some original sound effects here too. Notice the use of the Spanish-style inverted exclamation marks, a nice touch.
Overall then, a rather lightweight story that does little to advance the ongoing story. There is also very little development of Thor's personal life. This, along with the guest artist, tends to suggest that this may have been a filler issue, perhaps to allow regular series artist Keith Pollard some time to catch up. As such, it works reasonably well as a self-contained story, but the by-the-numbers plot is heavily padded out with extended fight scenes which, while fun, are realistically only ever going to end one way. You have a bull-themed villain with horns. You have a hero in a red cape...
I think we'll give this one a three count.
Until next time, front facers!
Text ©2019 Andrew Ness
All art, characters, etc © Marvel Characters Inc.
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