Thor #38 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The Destroyer roams the Earth once again!

Loki, along with Karnilla, have decided to have a little bit of fun. They've removed the soul of the Asgardian ally Tarene and placed her essence into the armor of the Destroyer. Try as she might, Tarene is unable to control the destructive rage of the Destroyer. 

Sensing something is wrong, Thor approaches the Manhattan mayhem with caution. This results in the thunder god losing control of his trusty hammer Mjolnir to the Destroyer, making the creation of Odin even more indestructible! As 60 seconds count down, Thor reverts back into his moral form of EMT Jake Olson?!

When Thor first appeared in the pages of 1962's Journey Into Mystery #86, Thor's mortal secret identity was that of crippled doctor Donald Blake. Odin had placed Thor into the broken shell of a healer in order to teach his arrogant son a little humility. Years later, Thor Odinson becomes fused with the mortal body of architect Eric Masterson. After a brief time in exile, Thor seeks to take a leave of absence from his heroic responsibilities and entrusts Masterson to wield his hammer in the thunder god's stead.

When it comes to EMT Jake Olson, things mirror the complex relationship of Batman and gangster Matches Malone. With Matches Malone, only Batman knows that the criminal is really dead. So the Dark Knight masquerades as Malone when he needs to infiltrate the criminal element for information and clues. In the pages of Thor, Jake Olson is killed in an explosion in which only a couple of close friends know. Needing a new identity to hide from the Dark Gods, Thor takes on the fallen man's identity with help of Marnot, one of Odin's trusty ravens. 

Dan Jurgens pens this 2001 issue. Underneath the battle of Thor and the Destroyer, Odin is faced with a difficult choice. If the ruler of Asgard allows the Destroyer to kill Thor, a prophesied golden age of peace for the entire universe will be ushered in by the Designate Tarene. If Odin interferes and gives Thor the victory, a future in which the Odinson becomes a despotic ruler will become Thor's destiny. 

Stuart Immonen was the penciler and inks were done by Scott Koblish. 

The cover was by Barry Windsor Smith. It's a stunning image of Thor's hammer creating a diamond-patterned rainbow. It looks like the colors are wrong. But if you start with the center image of power, radiating an intense yellow hue and then work your way out, the viewer will notice that the colors follow ROY G. BIV correctly recycling back when the palette goes from indigo to red again. An absolutely keen eye to detail here!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #30 (A Thor Story) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.