1986 – Whatever happened to … Thor – God/Frost Giant War

Flipping through a well-read and battered copy of Marvel Age Annual #2, I came across the above picture with the accompanying text:

“Walter penciled and inked this double-page spread for an anticipated Thor storyline featuring a war between the Frost Giants and the gods, but the artist left the series before the story's realization. This piece was featured in a Marvel Age Annual #2”
- Comic Book Artist #10

From a brief chat I had with Walt Simonson, I got the pretty much the same answer:

“Basically, I got off the book, and never really developed that storyline. I used a little of it at the very end of my run, but the God/Giant War just remains an unfinished dream. ”

However, that won't stop me from dreaming a bit farther. :)

From this two-page spread, we can infer a few things.

-1- This little girl with the eye patch is Volstag's daughter Hildy and since she’s fighting alongside Fandrall and Hogun, you can’t help but conclude that something happened to Volstagg. Hence the “Saga of the Vengeance of Thor”. And what of the previous year’s hint at the death of an Asgardian. Not sure if this was resolved with the death of the Executioner.
-2- “In the absence of Thor…” Where was Thor gone?

Sigh… What could have been…

Update
In my Marvel 1980s notes, I came across this cut and paste from an old message board:

I had planned on doing a god/giant war involving many of the characters I was playing with at the time but got off the title before that storyline ever came to fruition. It's possible--but I don't remember now--that parts of the storyline of my final THOR plot were 'borrowed' from that original idea, although clearly, I didn't use Hildy (shown in the annual drawing) and I'd obviously had additional ideas about using mortal weapons in that storyline.

(For more on the Norse gods and mortal weaponry, check out a copy of Lester Del Rey's book, DAY OF THE GIANTS. I read it when I was late junior high school or thereabouts and loved it. Haven't read it more recently so I don't know how it holds up but the basic idea's there. It was probably the first novel I read that involved a version of the Norse gods.)