Eric Masterson: Thor/Thunderstrike Appreciation 2018

[phantom1592]

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eric1.jpg

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Haven't seen one for him yet!

Probably because he's been dead for years... But it's marvel, so there's always hope. Eric was the Thor when I got back into Marvel all those years ago and was in the Infinity Gauntlet story. At the time, I remember eagerly awaiting the return of the 'real' Thor... but after the real Thor DID return, I found him pretty boring.

There was something special about Eric-Thor, and it seems relative to the Jane-Thor story that's been going on. From what little I've seen, Jane just seemed too confident and capable holding that hammer. Eric on the other hand... He did it RIGHT. He was anxious. He lacked confidence. He did a fantastic job of showing what it would be like for an Everyman ordinary guy to suddenly weild the power of a god. He did his best to live up to the legacy and never took it for granted... because he was standing in for a GOD!!!

Wonderful concept.

Thunderstrike was up there too. I enjoyed it for a while, but I think the story fell apart a bit do it's 90'sness. Where he was supposed to cover for a thor who was retiring... the real thor came right back with a collection of the most HORRIBLE costumes (or lack there of) that the 90's ever spewed forth... and Thunderstrike was depowered with a new weapon. I enjoyed the look of the mace... but I remember it's powers being VERY undefined and his 'status' seemed to dance around a bit, focusing more and more on Code Blue or BloodAxe till he was killed off.


Sadly I've never seen them collected anywhere, but would love to fill in the major gaps I have.

Anyone else a fan of his??

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

I enjoyed the whole DeFalco/Frenz era of Thor, and got a kick out of Masterson filling in while Thor had been banished.
Hoping that this will eventually be put into an Epic collection someday....whether it be from the Thor pages or his solo series.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

I'd buy this...if it was real!

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Crap! And it's companion too!
Sad thing is, I don't Thunderstrike getting a completed TPB treatment, let alone an omnibus.
There is hope for the Thor stories getting into an Epic volume, thought....

[phantom1592]

yeah, with all the omnibus/tpb going on... I would think these two would be on the list SOMEWHERE... 27 issues is a healthy run, yet not an overwhelming one, and 24 issues with Thunderstrike that ended with a death... So really it was unusual for a hero to have such a well defined beginning, middle, and ending arc.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Sparky...

[The Whovian]

Thought I would share this really cool Thunderstrike gif with you all

[Hypestyle]

So does his son have the mace now?

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Eric Masterson: The Mighty Thor #433
Replacement superheroes — when new characters step like hermit crabs into the capes and togs of venerable icons — are a dicey business. In an effort to shake things up and stimulate sagging sales, you run the risk of alienating the core comic book readership that treasures the way things have always been. Comics are always about new and better, but they’re also about staying true to what has come before. It’s tricky. Hence, substitute heroes are usually here and gone before you know it, much like subs in elementary schools. The real deals are back in class to wipe the spitballs off the walls and scrub the graffiti from the chalkboard. They have all the staying power of character deaths, which is to say none at all. We want Bruce Wayne to be Batman. We want Steve Rogers to be Captain America, not U.S. Agent.

Enter the Eric Masterson Thor. He was here. Then he was gone. And this is where it all got started.

Lest we forget, for a time Masterson had replaced Donald Blake as the always rather extraneous Earth-bound alter ego of the God of Thunder, a narrative boat anchor that was passé and useless when Goldilocks was still under the Journey into Mystery banner. Then Thor took the rather drastic step of killing (not really) Loki — an end a long time coming. For that sin he was banished from this plane of reality, and Masterson was suddenly not just a man who summoned a Norse god by banging a cane on the ground, or had the same bonded with his consciousness. Now he became the Norse god.

Issue #433 was his first solo day on the job. Co-scripted by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, penciled by Frenz and inked by Al Milgrom, this new start has Masterson, understandably, brooding over this new boon/burden:

There’s no time for ruminating on spectral window silhouettes of Thor, though. Ulik is in town, and he’s menacing New York and Thor’s old law enforcement allies, Code Blue.

To Masterson’s credit, he doesn’t hesitate to enter the fray but gets his ass handed to him, and heads off to lick his wounds complete with an obligatory “not able to pilot Mjolnir” scene.
His duds are all in tatters, so Masterson, who’s a graphic artist, sits down at his table, turns on his architect’s lamp and gets to designing a new look.
Then comes the big moment: Masterson — as Thor in street clothes — goes to the tailor to pick up his new costume.
Here he is suiting up, with an internal monologue that serves as a meta commentary on the comic book publishing biz:

Once we go to round 2 with Ulik, where our (least) favorite Rock Troll learns that THERE’S A NEW THOR IN TOWN, ONE NOT AFRAID OF EMPLOYING A PUERILE RUSE OR TWO:

Would Ulik really be one to whip out the Marquess of Queensberry rules during a fist fight?
Whatever the case, New-Thor whoops him, and though people seem to realize that he’s not the old model at story’s end, they don’t seem to care. But we do!
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....day_ron_frenz/

[Magmaster12]

Yes he does it and Thorgirl are one of the few dangling plot threads Jason Aaron could write but won't.

[BlitheringToot]

Eric Masterson was the Thor I grew up with. Although Donald Blake remains my favorite alter-ego for Thor (and I hated the way Blake was most recently written out of the equation), I'll always have a fondness for Eric, and the Thunderstrike identity. I'd love to see Eric return one day, but in his absence I'd love to see DeFalco and Frenz do another Thunderstrike series about Kevin, who's easily one of my favorite Marvel legacy heroes. He'd fit in great with the Champions.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Eric vs. Loki

[Nomads1]

I really miss Eric.

Peace

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

"Thor can't get to the phone now.."
"He's out to lunch"

LOL!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I only know of Kevin Masterson possessing the mace in the MC2 Universe and not in the 616 Marvel Universe.