Tainted Love: Tales from the Longbox – The Mighty Thor #383 (1987)

Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.

The Mighty Thor #383
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Artists: Ron Frenz/Brett Breeding

While they may have followed Walt Simonson’s memorable run on The Mighty Thor, Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz had the longest creative team run ever on title, from 1987 until 1993. Hot off their success on The Amazing Spider-Man, their fast-paced and entertaining storytelling demonstrated what a serial comic could really accomplish with a sense of energy and momentum.

While not as ground-breaking or revolutionary as Simonson’s run, their run was an obvious crowd-pleaser. Their brand of storytelling had a strong retro-1960s feel with Tom DeFalco channeling Stan Lee with snappy dialog and epic storylines and Ron Frenz was paying homage to Jack Kirby and John Buscema.

The Mighty Thor #383 was the first of two fill-ins they would do before taking over the title. In the space of a mere 22 pages, they crafted a fine story, a self-contained untold tale of the Secret Wars.

Despite the issue’s banner of The Mighty Thor, the story was really about one of his antagonists, the Enchantress, also known as Amora, and the love she had for Thor. The foil in this story is Amora’s sister, Lorelei, who had recently been defeated by Thor and she had nothing but hate for the Thunder God.

A young warrior overcame a gauntlet of deadly threats around Lorelei’s castle only to gaze upon her beauty. She rewarded his efforts by turning him to stone. Amora appears and questions her sister’s cruelty. She then related a tale in hopes of reminding Lorelei was a precious thing love can be. Amora deeply regretted an opportunity during the Secret Wars event when she could have stood with Thor and won his love. Her passionate words fail to reach her sister, which and Lorelei’s conceited attitude only drove them further apart.

“Then, thou art truly blind, Lorelei! And, I am a fool for trying to aid thee! Look you to yon warrior–! Perhaps, he was the one destined to bring you happiness! Perhaps your cruel jest has cost you far more than you could ever imagine!”

Keep an eye for this issue when you’re diving through the back issue bins at the next convention!

Jason Shayer has been trying his best not to grow up for that last 30 years and comics books are one of the best ways to keep him young at heart. He’s also known as the Marvel 1980s guy and has probably forgotten more than you’d ever want to know about that wonderfully creative era. Check out his blog at: marvel1980s.blogspot.com.