The Mighty Thor #446 (April 1992)

The Marvel Universe does have its fair share of crazy stuff. Advanced alien life forms, monsters that go bump in the night, human beings born with powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. However, that does not mean that people in the Marvel Universe do not have to live with the issues that plague people here, including war. 

The Earth of the Marvel Universe, much like our own, was no stranger to war. But unlike our world, Earth has been dragged into intergalactic wars, most notably the Kree-Skrull War. In 1992, the Marvel Universe Earth had gotten caught up in another interstellar war: one between the Kree and the bird-like aliens known as the Shi'ar. This would become known as Operation: Galactic Storm. I've talked about Operation: Galactic Storm in the past, most notably in my reviews of Quasar #32 (March 1992), Captain America #400 (May 1992), and Captain America #398 (March 1992). I freakin' love this crossover. I think it's one of the more underrated events that Marvel has put out in its long history. So for this week, I thought I'd take a look at another comic from this crossover, one that focuses on a certain Thunder God. 

Well, sort of. You see, at this time, Eric Masterson was using the hammer of Thor. That was because of the events of Thor #408 (October 1989). As a mortal architect posing as the God of Thunder, interstellar cosmic adventure was still a bit new to him. But despite that, Earth still needed him to keep the events of Operation: Galactic Storm from causing problems for Earth? So, was he a help? Let's find out in The Mighty Thor #446!

The cover is a Ron Frenz and Al Milgrom piece. I think it's pretty good. We have the group of Kree heroes known as the Starforce facing off against the Shi'ar's superdefenders known as the Imperial Guard. And the Avengers are right in the middle, just swept up into the whole thing. I like this cover because it's really encapsulates Operation: Galactic Storm in cover form: the Kree and Shi'ar are duking it out, and the Avengers are caught in the middle of it.

"Operation Galactic Storm, Part 14: Now Strikes the Starforce!"
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciler: Pat Olliffe

Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Gina Going
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins on the Shi'ar throneworld known as Chandilar. A group of Avengers [Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Wonder Man, Living Lightning, and Monica Rambeau (going by Captain Marvel at the time)] are being escorted to meet Lilandra, the head of the Shi'ar Empire. Among the Avengers there are Eric Masterson, who currently has been wielding the hammer of Thor. 

This team-up is going to be friggin' awkward...

We get a little bit of character stuff here, Imperial Guard member Hussar grumbling about her teammate Hardball, Thor and Smasher being snippy with each other, and a conversation between her fellow Guardswoman Astra and the Avenger Starfox.

No, not that Starfox, the Eternal. If you ever saw the film Eternals, he made a cameo in that movie, portrayed by Harry Styles. The group meet up with Lilandra.

Monica asks Lilandra to find a peaceful resolution to the war between the Shi'ar and the Kree. The Shi'ar have been using stargates positioned near Earth's sun to transport men, equipment, and supplies. Problem is, those stargates have been causing Sol (Earth's sun) to flare up, which can endanger Earth. Lilandra's retainer, Araki, scoffs at this. As far as he's concerned, Earth is nothing more than a backwater world. Basically, he sees Earthlings as space rednecks. Nobody's going to care if they get wiped out. Heck, as far as he's concerned, the universe's collective IQ would only improve if Earthlings were gone. And I admit, in some ways, I can see why he thinks that. 

Smasher points out that Thor had brawled with Gladiator earlier, in Thor #445. Eric notes that Gladiator attacked the Avengers without provocation. Starfox and Living Lightning try to hold Eric back from introducing the alien superhero's head to his hammer. Lilandra's basically tired of this, saying "GET OUT!"

She would end up regretting asking the Avengers to leave, as it's then that the Kree Starforce shows up.

"We're here to kill Lilandra and chew bubblegum. And we have no bubblegum."

If you wanted the film Captain Marvel, you may be familiar with the Starforce. That version is a bit different from the comics. From left to right, you got Korath the Pursuer, Supremor (basically a robot that is guided by the Supreme Intelligence, Ronan the Accuser, Ultimus (a Kree Eternal. Yes, the Kree have Eternals in the comics), and the cyborg Shatterax.

They're here to kill Lilandra in retaliation for her sister Deathbird taking out the leaders of the Kree in Avengers #346. Meanwhile, the Avengers are being led to their room, where Monica blasts Eric for only using his muscles and mouth instead of his head. She points out that for a being as powerful as he is, it can get someone killed. She is not wrong.

Elsewhere, Lilandra is thinking about the war. Araki tells her the Shi'ar need her strength, courage, and conviction to win the war. But she is tired. The Nega-Bomb they sent will likely kill billions of Kree. It would end the war, but the victory will be pyrrhic at best, considering how many Shi'ar have died already. She considers recalling the bomb and suing for peace. Araki's reaction is...interesting.

"I cannot wait to show her this sweet dagger I got!" 

However, Lilandra is unknowingly saved by the Imperial Guardsman known as Earthquake. He's got watch duties over her tonight. Elsewhere, the Avengers pick up the sounds of a fight.

You can guess who is brawling.

"I'll make you pay for tripping me!"

Yup, it's a donnybrook between the Shi'ar Imperial Guard and the Kree Starforce. Mr. Regal, I think you know the perfect way they can settle this.

Starfox will check on Lilandra. After all, he always preferred being in the company of a beautiful woman over being in a fight. But before we see the fight, we look in on Wonder Man and the Vision, who have ended up inside a Nega-Bomb, a powerful Shi'ar weapon meant to be detonated in the heart of the Kree Empire. The Nega-Bomb is basically a big fat space nuke. The Vision notices that a new force has taken control of the bomb.

"🎵Doo do doo, movin' the bomb, doo do doo...🎵"

Skrulls?! It actually does make a bizarre bit of sense. As anyone who knows about the Kree-Skrull War will tell you, the Kree and the Skrulls do not like each other. The two races had been fighting for a very long time in-universe, so I can imagine the Skrulls will be all too happy to outright help the Shi'ar blow the Kree into space atoms.

Back to the Shi'ar throneworld! The Avengers jump into the brawl between the Kree Starforce and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. Lilandra watches the brawl, and Starfox notices that Araki is sneaking off. The Starforce member known as Ultimus tries to kill Empress Lilandra. Starfox tries to stop him using his mental powers, but it has no effect, as Ultimus is an Eternal himself.

Scarlet Witch and Astra take down Korath, while Living Lightning teams up with Hussar to take down Supremor. Hardball and Captain Marvel defeat Shatterax, and finally, Ronan the Accuser himself is defeated by a team-up of, well...Eric Masterson and Smasher of all people. 

"What does shabby mean?"

I get the feeling Smasher would have gotten along better with Thor Odinson. As for Ultimus himself? Well, he's able to beat Starfox (after all, unlike Eros, Ultimus is more of a warrior), but he gets taken down by Lilandra herself.

"They forgot I keep a BFG in my cape."

Yeah, Lilandra may be regarded as one of the nicer Shi'ar monarchs (at least from the persepective of Earth's superheroes), but that does not make her soft. In a bit of a mix of heartwarming and awesomeness, she tells Starfox that his courage in facing Ultimus makes her feel ashamed...but is also inspiring. She agrees to recall the Nega-Bomb and sue for peace. However, there's one problem: The Nega-Bomb is already nearly at the stargate to enter Kree space. And when it does, well...Kablooie goes the Kree.

I enjoyed this comic. We get some action, a light bit of humor, and some political intrigue. I liked the little interactions between the Avengers and the Imperial Guard. For one, I think it helps show that the Guard, who really tend to not get a lot of spotlight on their own, aren't just generic aliens created strictly for the purpose of giving the X-Men or whoever someone to fight. They actually are characters in their own right. And that's really cool. I would have loved to have written an Imperial Guard miniseries set right after the events of Galactic Storm, seeing how they think about the Shi'ar conquest of the Kree.

The only real complaint I have is the art. Now, Pat Olliffe is not a bad artist. I'm more familiar with his work on Untold Tales of Spider-Man, and I like his art on that book. I'm thinking that maybe it was because he was more polished as an artist by Untold Tales (which started in 1995). Olliffe's art here feels rougher. However, it's not terrible. I have seen far worse.

If you want to read this for yourself, I suggest tracking down the 2006 trade paperback Avengers: Galactic Storm Vol. 2. It's also been collected in the 2017 (reprinted in 2022) trade paperback Avengers Epic Collection Vol. 22: Operation Galactic Storm. Either way, this crossover is really underrated and deserves a lot more love. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!