Anatomy of a Cover - Thor variant cover by Greg Hildebrandt

Thor vs. Loki by Steve Rude

1988 - Anatomy of a Cover - Asgardian Wars Trade Paperback by Art Adams

Asgardian Wars homage by Fred Hembeck colours by Gerry Turnbull

The Mighty Thor bookend covers for Walt Simonson’s run

Asgardian Villians by Bing Cansino

1985 - Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 by Art Adams

1. Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 unpublished splash page
2. Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 published splash page
3. Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 unpublished splash page recycled into page 3.
4. Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 page 3.

1987 - Anatomy of a cover - Alpha Flight #50

by June Brigman, andWalt Simonson

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=290657&ArtistId=440&Details=1&From=Room

1985 - The Mighty Thor #345-348

The Mighty Thor #345-348
Jul.-Oct. 1985
Writer/Artist – Walt Simonson

With Thor – The Dark World hitting theatres across North America, I thought it would be fun to look back at the origins of the movie’s antagonist, Malekith the Accursed. Malekith was created by Walt Simonson and made his first appearance in The Mighty Thor #344 (Jun. 1985).  He is the ruler of the dark elves who inhabit Svartalfheim, one of the Nine Realms of Asgardian mythology, and wielder of Dark Faerie magic.

Malekith’s tale is often overshadowed by the climax of Simonson’s epic storyline, The Surtur Saga. Malekith was the key plot point as he and his dark elves recovered the Casket of Ancient Winters, which was the elemental weapon used to free Surtur from his fiery realm and kicked off his invasion of Earth. Malekith allied himself with Surtur in revenge against Odin, who had banished him because he had created the Casket of Ancient Winters. Surtur then freed Malekith and set him about on his quest to recover the Casket.

In this tale, Simonson not only creates a great foil in Malekith, but also adds another character named Roger who learned that his father died protecting the Casket of Ancient Winters and that this responsibility has now passed down to him. Malekith calls up a horde of demon dogs to begin a fairy ritual called The Wild Hunt to track down the Casket. Fortunately Roger’s Korean War experience pays off as he eludes the dogs and the master of the hounds long enough for Thor to join the battle. They drive off Malekith, but he’s not done with our heroes.

Thor and Roger go to the Faerie Realm to rescue his love interest, Melodi who’s been captured by Malekith. At this point, Thor is completely unaware that Melodi is Lorelei who is the Enchantress’ little sister and working for Loki. While Malekith throws various threats at Thor to keep him busy, his dark elves capture Roger and Malekith recovers the Casket of Ancient Winters.

Thor and Roger soundly defeat Malekith, but despite their victory, they’re unable to stop Malekith from destroying the Casket and releasing all of its magical powers. The combined powers of centuries of winters freeze the gateway barrier between Muspelheim and the Earth. Surtur then used his newly forged sword to destroy the barrier and he crossed over into the Earth dimension on his way to Asgard.

It’s not hard to see that Simonson had a blast writing Roger, as well as his father Eric. Through most of this story, Thor reacted like more of a blunt instrument of force, while Simonson devotes a lot of comic page time to Roger who’s a regular joe drawn into this epic conflict between gods. Simonson effectively used Roger’s point of view to ground the reader and to help set the scope for the upcoming battle against Surtur and his legions of fire demons.

1989 - Loki by John Buscema and Brett Breedings

1985 - Charles Vess Portfolio

From Marvel Fanfare #20:

Thor: The Dark World (2013) Trailer

 

The official UK trailer...

MOOLT - Thor vs Loki

Here's a fun little animated short, "Thor VS Loki, A Marvelous-Parody" by Moolt Cartoons.

1986 - Thor Print by Walt Simonson

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=760115&GSub=48466

1989 - Asgardian Wars TPB house ad

Some very cool coloured John Byrne commission by Rick Hannah

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?Order=Date&Page=1&GSub=100655

1985 - Original art from New Mutant Special Edition and X-Men Annual #9

The Asgardian Wars from the summer of 1985 will always hold a special place in my heart. It was an amazing coming of age story for the New Mutants. Claremont and Art Adams were at the top of their games...

(http://romitaman.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=10227&ArtistId=840&Details=1&From=Room)

(http://romitaman.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=8189&ArtistId=840&Details=1&From=Room)

1985 - Asgard ... that sunny and friendly tourist destination

The New Mutants Special #1 & Uncanny X-Men Annual #9

Summer 1985

The New Mutants Special #1 

Writer: Chris Claremont 

Art: Arthur Adams/Terry Austin 

There's just not enough I can say about this comic book. This issue stands out as one of my favorite New Mutants stories and perhaps my favorite 1980's story. This issue spotlights Chris Claremont at his peak, in my opinion. He's all about characters and his characterization takes center stage in this issue. He took the New Mutants and put them in an unfamiliar setting and forced them to change and to adapt. This isn't your run-of-the-mill character change either. These events and shifts in attitudes, particularly with Mirage (Dani Moonstar) and Karma, forever changes them. Claremont did a spectacular job isolating each member of the New Mutants, which allowed him to explore their character in depths and then by the end of the story brings them all back to together after they've changed.

This issue established Arthur Adams as a great artist. His rich and detailed pencils are truly beautiful and breathtaking. Add to it, the veteran inking of Terry Austin and you've got some of the best 1980s art. Unfortunately, the only detriment to the art was the weak colouring. It's probably due to the horrible colouring techniques of the 1980s. I should probably pick up a copy of the trade paperback and see if they've recoloured it.

Story: After his humbling defeat in the X-Men and Alpha Flight miniseries, Loki dispatches the Enchantress to capture Storm and the X-Men. The Enchantress and her demon warriors capture Storm and the New Mutants, who are mistaken for the X-Men. Illyandra frees the New Mutants, but her spell is disrupted by the Enchantress which scatter the New Mutants throughout Asgard. 

Karma spends awhile in the desert shedding her unwanted girth. Sunspot befriends the Warriors Three and enjoys the Asgardian lifestyle. Cannonball earns the respect and friendship of the Dwarf King. Mirage finds her fate intertwined with the Valkyrie and assumes her place among their ranks. Magma gets mixed up with the fairies and actually became one for awhile. Wolfsbane meets the Prince of Wolves and falls in love. Cypher has a rough time until he met up with Warlock and they team-up.

The Enchantress tracks down the New Mutants, but the New Mutants regroup and defeat her. Illyandra leaves the Enchantress in her Limbo at Sym's mercy. They then decide to return to Asgard to rescue Storm. Meanwhile, Loki has forged a new hammer for Storm which grants her powers over the weather once again.

Which leads us to... 

Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 

Writer: Chris Claremont 

Art: Arthur Adams/Terry Austin 

This annual picks up where the New Mutants Special #1 ended and certainly didn't waste any time.

Illyandra gets a message back to Rachel (Phoenix) about their predicament. The X-Men make their way to Asgard and catch up with the New Mutants. The infiltrate Loki's castle. Wolverine and Kitty confront Loki and he has Storm attack them. Wolverine finally gets through to Storm and she turns the tide of the battle. She rejects Loki's gift and destroys the hammer. Loki capitulates and returns them all to Earth.

Arthur Adams' art continued to show his versatility in handling a rather large cast of characters in a alien environment. His detailed pencils are well suited to lavishness of Asgard. Unfortunately, the poor colouring just doesn't do his art justice.

Claremont is forced to give over a bit of the spotlight to the X-Men which pulls away a bit from all the character development he did with the New Mutants. I would have liked to them earn the victory on their own rather than having to call upon the X-Men for help.

One note though, these issues, upon re-read, do seem a bit dated with a lot of references to the 1980s, like a cameo appearance by Remington Steel and Ms. Holt.