I’m gonna jam through a bunch of issues in a row because, frankly, it feels like the writing is rushed so the reading and blogging might as well be too.
Let’s start with #414, in which Thor beats the crap out Ulik after Ulik beats up Hercules and then, at the end of the issue, Eric Masterson’s ex-wife shows up to take custody of his kid. I wish they’d drop this Masterson identity already. Nobody cares about it. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just…Boring. DeFalco’s Thor run is mostly boring.
On to #415…
The “losing my kid” cliffhanger doesn’t get picked up much in issue #415, except that Masterson is feeling weepy and nostalgic. Herb Trimpe steps in for the art chores in a re-telling of Thor’s Don Blake origin as Eric Masterson wrestles with having to turn his identity/body over to the Thunder God all the time.
Filler.
Although I suppose if you’re going to re-tell a classic tale, bringing in Trimpe makes sense.
Then a “stalker from space” comes and Herc and Thor fight it in issues #416-417, along the way having another Thor vs. Herc fight that doesn’t matter because of mind control.
And remember that subplot about Masterson losing his kid? The one from a few paragraphs ago, which I said nobody cares about? Apparently I was right, because it’s now four issues later and not a word about it.
Kinda ponderous.
There are some Tales of Asgard backups in these issues that aren’t worth a mention. Not bad but, again, not interesting either.
I do like Ron Frenz’s art though.