Even the mighty God of Thunder, Thor, has his limits, and it became painfully clear when he had to face the most Metal villains to ever appear in Marvel’s comics: a band of zombie Vikings. Thanks to his strong ties with Norse mythology, Thor was already Marvel’s most Metal character, but one Thor comic pushed it to a whole other level.
Thor has always been one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. As one of the strongest Asgardian “gods”, Thor always stood out compared to his fellow heroes on Earth, including the Avengers. The God of Thunder is considered the powerhouse of the team, and he is the one the Avengers and other heroes rely upon to contain the most powerful threats, such as Hulk or Thanos. Thor’s most recent upgrade even puts him past Sentry, Marvel’s Superman. He is rarely outclassed in a fight, and when this happens it is usually because he is facing some superior creature in Marvel’s cosmic hierarchy, such as the Celestials. However, one story showed that even the mighty son of Odin can be humiliated by the most unlikely, but awesome, villains.
Thor: Vikings, is a miniseries published under Marvel’s MAX imprint which is full of their most R-Rated stories. It is written by Garth Ennis, with art by Glenn Fabry and Paul Mounts. Ennis’ comics are famous for their depictions of ultra-violence and a provocative approach, such as Preacher and The Boys, and he surely did not disappoint in Thor: Vikings, which is one of the most violent and gory Marvel books around. The story begins in Norway, in the year 1003 A.D. A cruel and bloodthirsty band of Viking raiders gets cursed by the last survivor of a village they razed to “Sail for a thousand years“. The man, however, dies while casting the spell, making it more powerful than intended. The Vikings sail for a thousand years and arrive in modern-day New York as a band of zombies that cannot be harmed due to the spell’s magic. When Thor arrives on the scene, he discovers rather painfully that his mighty blows have no effect on the invaders, their invulnerability being even stronger than the enchanted Uru of Mjolnir. In a gruesome scene, Thor breaks his hands and is mercilessly beaten by the Viking leader, Harald Jaekelsson. This is a very rare occurrence, as Thor is almost never depicted in this way.
Thor is the son of Odin, who wields one of the Marvel Universe’s strongest weapons in Mjolnir. He can command the power of storm and lightning. Seeing Thor crawling on the ground with his face a mask of blood and his limbs broken is something that will likely never happen again, especially now that Marvel seems set on making him as powerful as possible (Thor recently became the new Allfather of Asgard and inherited his father’s Odinforce, making this the strongest version of the character in decades).
In the end, Thor defeats Harald and his men with the help of Doctor Strange’s magic. The final battle is epic as can be expected from a Garth Ennis comic, with Thor literally punching the immortal villain into Earth’s orbit to get rid of him. It makes sense why Marvel is bringing Enis back for a new Punisher comic given the unique energy he brings to Marvel’s properties. The MAX comics are not considered canon for Marvel’s continuity and Thor will likely never get such a beating again, but Harald Jaekelsson and his band of Viking raiders will leave their mark in history as the most Metal group of villains that Marvel ever introduced.
