Thor #290: Eternal Grudge Match

Thor (Vol. 1) #290
“Ring Around the Red Bull”
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas
Artist: Arvell Jones
Inker: Chic Stone
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Consulting Editor: Jim Shooter
Released: Sept. 11, 1979

With the Eternals, Jack Kirby melded science fiction and mythology, positing the Celestials and their creations – the Eternals and Deviants – were the source of many stories and belief systems in the world. Despite a few nods to other Marvel properties, he apparently wanted to keep the story more or less self-contained.

A couple years after his run ended, Marvel began to integrate the Eternals into the rest of its shared universe in the pages of Thor. Asgardian mythology, politics, family secrets and more played a role.

With multiple epics and pantheons involved, the only thing missing was – you guessed it – luchadores.

Thor #290 is an odd change of pace in the sprawling story referred to as either the Eternals Saga or Celestial Saga. But it is nevertheless a chapter in the tale and one of those stories that could only take place in comics.

Cast out of Asgard while trying to learn what his father Odin actually knows about the Eternals and Celestials, Thor opens the issue plummeting toward Earth. He finds himself flying over Los Angeles, first crashing the set of the “Incredible Hulk” TV show, then sharing airspace with Batman.

Actually it's a costumed wrestler who goes by Vampiro and is rising to fame in the U.S. after starting out as a luchador in Mexico. Turns out he originally hails from Olympia, home of the Eternals.

Yep, Vampiro is part of the group of immortals in whose affairs Thor has recently found himself embroiled. He's fleeing after a vicious encounter with another wrestler, El Toro Rojo (the Red Bull), who gored him in the ring with horns that weren't part of a costume. El Toro Rojo is a Deviant, and Thor has flown right into the midst of an unlikely front in their long-running war.

Thor helps Vampiro back to the home he shares with his mortal wife. Vampiro explains that he learned of Thor's encounters with his fellow Eternals when summoned for the ritual of the Uni-Mind (where the Eternals meld into one powerful big brain; I'll be shocked if it's not in the movie), but his new ring rival attempted to stop him from joining up.

El Toro Rojo comes crashing through the wall and engages the thunder god in combat. He can't lift Mjolnir of course, but he does use his powerful horns to deflect Thor's hammer as it's returning to his hand. The ensuing melee keeps Thor away from Mjolnir for a full minute which, back in these days, means he reverts to the human form of Dr. Don Blake.

Blake is no match for the Deviant bruiser, who steals his walking stick (aka the hammer, apparently quite liftable in this form) and heads off to his next match, planning to finish Vampiro later. Blake takes a taxi to the arena and climbs into the ring where El Toro Rojo has mercilessly defeated a human competitor. He grabs the walking stick which Toro angrily slams down, triggering Blake's transformation back into Thor.

Thor uses his cape to play matador, then files down Toro's horns with his spinning hammer. This has the same effect as cutting Samson's hair, and Thor clobbers the bully before heading back to Olympia to try and talk the Eternals out of forming the Uni-Mind to attack the Celestials, who, oh yeah, plan to decide in a few years whether or not to destroy the Earth.

It's an offbeat tale that seems out of place in the cosmic scale of the rest of the story, but it does further ingrain the Eternals/Deviants concept in the Marvel Universe while being a fun read. The world is in peril, Thor's been exiled from his home, a secret society of immortals walks among us and... Thor's caught in a grudge match between professional wrestlers? Yes, please.

Thomas had to be having fun writing this, but he plays the story straight, without the winking tone you might expect today. Or maybe he was taking it as seriously as the characters were. Either way, the story works on both levels, and while I got a few chuckles out of some of the material, I could still take the issue at face value.

I don't recall seeing Vampiro in any of the subsequent Eternals reading I did until the 2008-9 series that followed Neil Gaiman's reboot of the characters. After the Eternals had forgotten who they were, Vampiro was among those awakened by Druig, Ikaris' nefarious cousin (think Loki without the sense of humor). He battled Ikaris briefly before they all united against a common enemy and Vampiro quickly died. (Yes, Eternals can die. And come back. Many times.)

From Eternals (2008) #8, art by Eric Nguyen

I doubt we'll see Vampiro or El Toro Rojo in the movie, but the Whizzer made it onto Netflix, so anything's possible.