Dr. K's Waiting Room

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In August 1962, Marvel Comics debuted the God of Thunder, Thor Odinson, one of their most successful and versatile characters. As it’s the first Thursday (or “Thor’s Day”) of August, this is the perfect time to celebrate the God of Thunder!

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Quick Facts:
Inspired by Norse legends, Thor Odinson headlined Journey into Mystery after his debut and eventually adopted more aspects of his inspiration, such as Surtr, the great fire giant destined to be at the forefront of Ragnarök, the twilight of the Gods. As imagined by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Surtur fulfilled much the same role and was a prominent villain of Thor in the 1966s. Surtur also appeared in Marvel cartoons and videogames and was a significant destructive force in Thor: Ragnarok (Waititi, 2017).

The Review:
Surtur the Fire Demon first appeared in a backup story in Journey into Mystery #99, one of many “Tales of Asgard” that delved into the rich, colourful lore of Marvel’s iteration of the Norse Gods (which was somewhat comparable to actual mythology). This tale revolves around Odin Allfather, the prideful, all-powerful king of Asgard and Thor’s father, and his solo campaign into the land of the trolls, who’ve joined the mysterious Surtur in rebelling against Asgard. Despite the Troll King threatening that the venture will cost Odin his life, the Allfather unleashes his incredible “Odinforce” power to repel the ravenous troll army, destroying their will to fight and forcing them to meekly point him in Surtur’s direction. Thus, Odin ventures to the “sea of flame” where the mighty, demonic King of the Fire Demons emerges from the flaming pool. Despite Surtur’s gigantic size and demonic visage, Odin fearlessly stands his ground. When Surtur uses black magic to transform his fingers into monstrous serpents, Odin simply lifts his mighty sword and calls down the frozen remnants of a long-dead world to bombard Surtur with a meteor shower! Injured and humiliated, Surtur’s rage turns to spite when Odin demands his fealty, turning the Demon King’s ire towards Odin’s beloved “Midgard” (Earth), which is still awaiting the age of man. Surtur surprises Odin with his speed and reaches Earth before the Allfather can intercept him (despite Odin standing right there…), boring deep into the Earth’s crust and flinging a chunk of matter into the atmosphere that would become our Moon. Rushing to Earth via the Bifrost (a magical “rainbow bridge” connecting the realms), Odin channels “electro-magnetic particles” into his sword, causing the Earth to rotate and thus creating our day/night cycle. This rotating traps Surtur in the centre of our world, where he acts as the planet’s molten core, powerless to do more than try and appease Odin by spewing a beautiful, winged horse from a volcano and hope that he’ll one day be freed…

Surtur next appeared, and first battled Thor, almost six months later in a story precipitated by Thor’s mischievous half-brother, the trickster God Loki Laufeyson. Hidden somewhere in Asgard, Loki berates his allies, Amora the Enchantress and Skurge the Executioner, for failing to defeat Thor in Journey into Mystery #103, enraged at the suggestion that anyone, especially the boorish Thor, could be “wiser [or] craftier” than him. As Odin is apparently unaware of Loki’s schemes, the Allfather summons his adopted son to a mountaintop to discuss his concerns about Thor, who has continually defied his will and chosen to follow his heart and be with nurse Jane Foster rather than heed his father’s commands. As Odin doesn’t want to cause his son heartache by interjecting in his love life but cannot allow Thor to defy him, he asks “clever Loki” for advice and, seizing the opportunity, Loki suggests that Odin travel to Earth to “assert [his] authority in person!” Excited by the proposition, a grateful Odin agrees and plays right into Loki’s hands as Odin decrees that the God of Mischief shall rule Asgard in the king’s absence. Gleeful to finally have the throne he’s long coveted, Loki immediately works to possess it for all eternity, employing the additional powers granted to him by Odin to release Skagg the Storm Giant and Surtur the Fire Demon from their imprisonments! On Earth, Odin assumes the guise of an unassuming gentleman, easily thwarting would-be muggers when they accost him, while Thor (as insecure cripple Doctor Donald “Don” Blake”) watches over Jane as she recovers from her ordeal with the Enchantress and the Executioner. After sending the exhausted nurse home to rest, Dr. Blake ponders Loki’s next move and decides to strike his cane to the ground and transform into the mighty Thor to search New York City for signs of his cunning adversary, taking to the skies with a hefty swing of his enchanted hammer, Mjölnir.

Thor’s amazed when he’s approached by Balder Odinson the Brave, who was sent to Earth by all-seeing Heimdall to warn of Loki’s plot, and quickly returns to Dr. Blake’s practice, correctly assuming that Odin would visit him there. After learning of Skagg and Surtur’s release, Odin uses his awesome powers to transport the entire human race to another dimension where, trapped in a zen-like state, they’re safe from the conflict. Odin then joins Thor and Balder in confronting Skagg, who emerges from the sea and advances towards the city, his gigantic club ready to destroy. Despite Skagg’s boasts, his weapon is easily reduced to splinters by Balder’s sword, though the giant quickly adapts and whips up a whirlwind to knock Balder from his winged horse. Though Thor rushes to his brother’s aid, Surtur sends Thor crashing to the waters by blasting searing firebolts from his flaming sword. When Odin interjects, causing Skagg to sink into the seabed, the Titan begs Surtur to aid him and, begrudgingly, the Fire Demon agrees in the hopes that the monstrous giant can back up his boasts. Surtur again turns his wrath towards the Earth, becoming a raging fireball that threatens to cause global catastrophe by melting the ice caps. When Skagg has a torrential storm ransack the city, the God of Thunder takes this as a personal challenge and braves the storm to strike Skagg with a lightning bolt from Mjölnir, staggering the giant long enough for Odin to erect a protective shield over the city and draining Skagg’s energy with his enchanted sword (despite Loki’s best efforts to replenish the Titan from afar). The effort drains Odin, so Thor takes his sword and uses it to redirect Surtur’s attack at the last second, flinging him into space and chaining him to a tiny asteroid in another galaxy. Though proud of his son’s victory, Odin is disappointed that Thor still refuses to return to Asgard and concerned that Thor’s heart has been “weakened by love”. However, Odin begrudgingly returns to his throne and punishes Loki’s treachery by forcing him to serve the trolls for an indeterminate amount of time.

Final Thoughts: 
These stories were an inauspicious debut for the mighty Fire Demon, to say the least. “Tales of Asgard: Surtur the Fire Demon!” is simply a five-page introduction to the devilish entity; it tells us nothing of his motivation, his abilities, or his personality. All we know is that Surtur has randomly decided to rebel against Asgard and whips up the trolls to join him, a poor choice considering Odin’s power is the “only force in the universe that can shatter [their] unbreakable grip”. Thus, Surtur’s campaign was seemingly doomed before it even began, but certainly moot once Odin personally came to root his rebellion. As large and intimidating as Surtur is, Odin shows no fear and immediately humbles him with a meteor strike. Even Surtur’s incredible speed and the power he shows by birthing the Moon are nothing compared to Odin, who easily traps the Fire Demon within the Earth. On the plus side, “Tales of Asgard: Surtur the Fire Demon!” does reveal that the Norse deities birthed our Moon and the planet’s rotation. I’m not sure if this is reflected in Norse mythology, but it was an interesting wrinkle to show how intertwined Earth’s history is with Asgard, especially as Odin cares for the still-developing Earth as deeply as Thor would come to. Indeed, Odin is apparently thrilled by Loki’s suggestion that he visit Earth and even teleports the human race to safety before battling Skagg and Surtur. Ironically, Odin’s largely dismissive of humans on a personal level. He despairs of Thor’s love for Jane Foster, easily dispatched his would-be muggers, and thinks nothing of hypnotising Dr. Blake’s secretary into allowing him access to his son’s office. Although Odin throws himself into the fight against Skagg and Surtur, seemingly delighted to be on the battlefield once more and fighting alongside his sons, he’s left aggrieved and despondent by Thor’s choice to remain on Earth with Jane, worrying that Thor’s feelings for the mortal will spell doom for him in the long term.

Like many Thor stories around this time, Loki is behind the plot of “Giants Walk the Earth!” The scheming, mischievous God perfectly manipulates Odin’s feelings to acquire Asgard’s throne and immediately frees two of the Allfather’s most hated enemies, even feeding Skagg additional power from Asgard. Interestingly, despite having fought Thor and caused trouble before, Loki freely lives within Asgard and Odin even seeks his advice, which shows just how deep Loki’s machinations go as Thor is well aware of his half-brother’s untrustworthy nature. Skagg and Surtur make for an incredibly formidable duo…on paper, at least. As a storm giant, Skagg causes whirlwinds and destructive typhoons by focusing his power through his massive club, even when it’s shattered, his powers somewhat akin to Thor’s ability to conjure thunderstorms with Mjölnir. This immediately gives Thor the advantage against Skagg and he easily powers through the storm to stun the vengeful giant, who’s quickly and easily drained of his energy by Odin (who, I might add, also would’ve quickly subdued Skagg had Surtur not rescued him from sinking). Surtur is a prideful and spiteful demon in this second story, hesitating to rescue or work alongside Skagg as he wants the glory of destroying the Asgardians all for himself and immediately endangering the Earth with worldwide destruction as recompense for Odin’s actions. Surtur briefly proves his power by blasting Mjölnir with a firebolt and knocking Thor from the sky, but we don’t see him fight with his full power as he’s more concerned with melting the ice caps. Once again, Surtur’s greatest weakness is Odin’s all-powerful sword, which Thor can conveniently also wield and easily uses to send Surtur hurtling into another galaxy and magnetically bind him to an asteroid. Thus, “Giants Walk the Earth!” is more a tale of Loki’s scheming and Odin’s adventures with his sons than a showcase of how dangerous and terrifying Surtur can be. I still have no idea what his motivations are beyond revenge, what the extent of his power is, and didn’t get to see him in battle, making for a disappointingly throwaway first appearance for Thor’s demonic adversary.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

What did you think to Surtur’s first appearances in Journey into Mystery? Were you also disappointed that we didn’t learn or see much of him? Did you enjoy seeing Odin team up with Thor and Balder? What are some of your favourite Surtur moments from the comics and beyond? Do you have a favourite character, story, or era in Thor’s publication history? How are you celebrating Thor’s debut this month? Share your thoughts on Surtur and Thor in the comments, check out my other Thor content across the site, and donate to my Ko-Fi to see more!