Thor #301: Where Shang-Chi and the Eternals Intersect

Thor (Vol. 1) #301
“For the Life of Asgard”
Writers: Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio
Artists: Keith Pollard and Chic Stone
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: George Roussos
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Released: Aug. 12, 1980

I was planning to do a Shang-Chi related post, but procrastinated despite having not settled on one of a trio of possibilities. One was my first encounter with Shang-Chi in the pages of X-Men. Another was his inclusion in the 2000 Marvel Knights series, which I would have used as an excuse to go through the whole series again. The third, which I was leaning toward, hits so close to home on one of the movie's plot points I decided not to use it for now.

But a chance discovery on Twitter showed me the next installment of my ongoing dive into the history of the Eternals provided an opportunity to link two of the most unlikely entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - which also happen to be coming out back to back.

After reading the original series, I jumped into the so-called Eternals Saga in Thor, which placed Jack Kirby's very squarely in the Marvel Universe proper. Starting in Thor #283, it spans a year-and-a-half's worth of comics.

The plot gets wrapped up in Asgardian history and politics, and the second half sees the Eternals virtually disappear as Thor battles his father Odin's missing eye (comics!) to find out why he saw a vision of Odin kneeling before the gargantuan Celestials that created the Eternals and Deviants. The result is a multi-issue tale reminiscent of “How I Met Your Mother” in the detours it takes to getting to the supposed point. There's multiple writers, fairy tale elements, death, rebirth, Roy Thomas adaptations of Wagner operas and very few Eternals.

It all culminates in the epic Thor #300, where the thunder god is almost reduced to a bystander as Odin infuses the Destroyer armor with the life force of all Asgardians in an effort to stop the Celestials' pending judgment of the Earth. With the Eternals' Uni-Mind at his side, he (40-plus-year-old spoiler warning) succeeds in maybe irritating them. A little. However, Thor's mother – literally Mother Earth – reveals herself and sends the Celestials packing by delivering to them a dozen beings known as the Young Gods.

Issue 301 opens with Mother Earth healing Thor after he nearly gave his life to defend the planet from the Celestials' judgment. She breaks the news to him that Odin and Asgard perished in the battle, but says there may be a way to bring them back if the other pantheons agree to give up a portion of their life force.

En route to his quest, Thor stops to say goodbye to the Eternals, making their first non-recap appearance in the title for several issues (300 included a distant group shot as the Uni-Mind was dismantled). Their leader, Zuras, has also perished, and Ikaris informs Thor that since they aren't really deities, his quest cannot bring back the fallen Eternal.

So Thor, who only recently learned of many of these other pantheons, goes on a tour of the various god hangouts, asking if they can spare some cosmic mojo to bring back his dad and fellow Asgardians.

His third stop – as the Back in the Bronze Age Twitter account so helpfully pointed out – is Ta-Lo. It's described in the comic as “the highest of the 36 heavens of the gods of Chinese legend.” Movie-goers may recognize it as Shang-Chi's mom's hometown.

Shang-Chi does not make an appearance. A quick glance at the Marvel Fandom wiki indicates this is one of the only times Ta-Lo shows up in the comics (the others appear to be reference issues). With the apparent popularity of the movie though, I wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up in the current Shang-Chi series, or elsewhere, before long.

Oh, yeah, Thor gets life force donations from all but one pantheon, then has a knockdown, drag-out fight with Shiva to get the full set.

I've never been a fan of full-on Thor stories, unconnected with contemporary Earth elements. That's why I enjoyed the earlier parts of the Eternals Saga more, but the latter section had its moments, particularly issue 300 and the way 301 tied in elements of the character's history from many years past.