Thor #280 (February 1979)

Back in 2017, I took a look at the 1985 Squadron Supreme miniseries, which was considered the late Mark Gruenwald's magnum opus, and one of the first superhero deconstructions. But the group was pre-established earlier on, in Avengers #85-86 (February-March 1971). This comic we're looking at here is the group's last appearance of the 1970s. Not quite their last appearance before the 1985 mini-series, but pretty close. Let's look at Thor #280!

The cover is a Joe Sinnott piece. I like it. It depicts our title hero in a brawl with Hyperion. 

"Crisis on Twin Earths!"
Writers: Don and Maggie Thompson (Plot), Roy Thomas (Script)
Penciler: Wayne Boring
Inker: Tom Palmer
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editors: Roy Thomas, Jim Shooter, Mark Gruenwald
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Thor witnessing a brawl between the Squadron Supreme and...Hyperion? 

Well, we're getting ahead of ourselves here. The story actually begins with Thor taking a nice stroll in New York City. The Thunder God thinks he should do this more often in his mortal identity as Dr. Donald Blake. Despite that, he is starting to feel less affinity for the identity due to using it less over the last few months. Unseen by the Asgardian, a figure in a fedora and a trenchcoat is following our man around like a lost puppy. A portal opens up, revealing a figure that Thor is familiar with.

"Oh Odin's Beard, doth he think I owe him coin again?!" 

This Hyperion immediately attacks our hero, making Thor think this is the evil Hyperion that first appeared in Avengers #69 (October 1969), not the heroic Hyperion of Earth-712's Squadron Supreme. The two engage in a brawl.

Thor demands to know what is going on here. Why did Hyperion attack him? Hyperion reveals that he wanted to test the Thunder God, see if he is the real deal and not some nut in a costume. Once the Superman analogue is satisfied that Thor is the real deal, he tells Thor that he wants to offer the man...a role in a movie. 

You know Hype, you have just asked. Either way, Thor is not interested. Hyperion also wants to talk to the Avengers about it. You see, on his Earth, a movie is being made about the life of the Argonian Avenger...at least, the parts the public know about. A part of the film will be tackling the events of Avengers #148. Thor's role will only be a cameo, as he was not on the team at the time. Thor agrees to take Hyperion to the Avengers to discuss it. They may want to appear as the film's proceeds will go to a charity to aid children. A worthy cause if I say so myself. 

The figure following Thor leaps into the portal, revealing himself to be...

"Wait, this isn't Alburquerque!"

...another Hyperion?!

Remember the evil Hyperion I mentioned earlier? This is him. He comes from a subatomic world that was accidentally destroyed by scientists on Earth-616, and he's been seeking revenge since. Remember my review of Avengers Annual #8 (1978)? Same Hyperion. God, I miss George Perez. 

He finds himself in a satellite that clearly is meant to homage Superman's Fortress of Solitude. He realizes he's not on his native Earth, but he can practice wrecking this one until he gets to return to Earth-616. He spots Thor and Hyperion-712 at the satellite. It turns out the Avengers were out, so Hyperion-712 wants to make it up to the Thunder God by giving him a tour of his world. The two superheroes teleport down to Earth, where they meet another native of Earth-712.

"Hype, that actress is going nuts again!" 

Meet L.L. Burbank, filmmaker extraordinaire. He's a legend on this Earth, right up there with the likes of Spielberg and Scorsese. Hype makes the introductions and heads back to his Satellite of Aloneness to check on some things. He ends up ambushed and sent into space by Hyperion-616. Hype-616 returns to the Earth, and ends up encountering another significant figure in his counterpart's life.

Thor doesn't understand Earth-712 humor.

Meet Lonni Lattimer. She's the Lois Lane to Hyperion's Clark Kent. She's a columnist, while he draws comic strips. You know, I can imagine Hyperion-712 sharing stories about drawing comics with Captain America as Steve Rogers worked as an artist for a comic book company in the comics. Wait, is that a comic-ception?

And then another supervillain attacks.

Meet Emil Burbank. You may remember him from the Squadron Supreme miniseries. Basically, he's the Lex Luthor to Hyperion-712's Superman. Hyperion-616 grabs Emil and flies off with him, but Lonni is confused about something. She's unaware of the switch that Hyperion-616 pulled, so she wonders why Hyperion seems to be unaware who Burbank is. After all, the two have been fighting for years. Emil is equally confused. He's tried to kill Hyperion about 300 times. Why does this malevolent genius hate Hyperion? Well, he blames Hyperion for his uncontrollable hair growth. 

Allow me to explain. This is another Superman reference. You see, back in the Silver/Bronze Age, Superman and Lex Luthor's enmity started when they were teenagers. The then-teenage Superboy managed to rescue the young genius from a lab accident, but it resulted in Luthor losing his hair. Luthor swore he would dedicate his life to killing Superboy, later Superman. This is the inverse of that. Instead of losing his hair, Emil's is growing at a presumably accelerated rate. Anyway, Hyperion-616 is all like, "Hey, I'm a bad guy Hyperion. Let's team up to wreak some havoc!" and lets Burbank in on his plan.

Meanwhile, Thor saves Lonni from a falling light, and a fighting-mad Hyperion-712 returns with the Squadron Supreme behind him.

*Andrew W.K.'s "Party Hard" intensifies*

Thor calms the situation by swinging Mjolnir at the Squadron. He doesn't hit them with the hammer, he uses the aerial backlash it creates to knock them over. That's actually pretty clever, he should do that more often.

Hyperion-712 apologizes for the aggression. Evidently, the group is still a bit out of it from the events of Avengers #147-148. Meanwhile, Hyperion-616 helps Emil Burbank build a giant robot, and then they attack Thor and the Squadron Supreme. The Thunder God brings down the robot easily with Mjolnir, and the heroes capture Burbank. However, the robot makes off with Hyperion-616, but the Squadron will catch up to them. L.L. is thrilled. He shot the fight, and now he's got enough footage to make a bunch of films.

With that, the story ends with the Squadron preparing to bring Thor back to his home Earth. 

This story has its flaws, but it's not the worst story in the world. I liked that we got to explore the Squadron Supreme's Earth a little bit. It does make sense that a character like Hyperion that basically is a pastiche/homage of Superman would have his own versions of Lois Lane. I admit, Emil Burbank's motivation for his villainy made me chuckle. It was very Silver Age, and a nice nod/inversion of Silver/Bronze Age-era Luthor's. The story does feel a bit jarring, but that's mainly because one of my first real exposures to the Squadron Supreme was the 1985-86 miniseries. That miniseries was meant to be more of a darker deconstruction. Wayne Boring and Tom Palmer's works are a great combination. Boring was most well-known for his work on Superman back in the 1940s to the 1960s (before Curt Swan took over), so it's rather appropriate that he do the pencil work for a comic in which the main character is a Superman pastiche. I'm assuming Roy Thomas had something to do with that.   

If you want to read this for yourself, I suggest tracking down the 2006 trade paperback Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe or the 2023 trade paperback Thor Epic Collection Vol. 9: Even an Immortal Can Die. Thanks for reading this blog entry!