Thor #391

May 1988 · Marvel · 0.75 USD; 0.95 CAD; 0.50 GBP

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“The Madness of Mongoose!”

★ 1st appearance — Eric Masterson★ 1st appearance — Thor★ 1st appearance — Thunderstrike

About this Issue

Thor #391 is the debut issue of Eric Masterson, the mortal architect who would eventually merge with Thor, assume his full mantle, and graduate into the solo hero Thunderstrike — one of the more sustained Thor-legacy experiments of the early 1990s. The issue simultaneously delivers the first full appearance of Mongoose as a recurring antagonist, establishing a villain whose repeated clashes with Masterson would drive some of the most consequential plot beats of the DeFalco/Frenz run. It also marks Thor's re-establishment of his 'Sigurd Jarlson' Earth identity after a prolonged cosmic arc, grounding the series in street-level New York drama — with Spider-Man's guest appearance underlining how deliberately DeFalco and Frenz were reaching across the Marvel Universe to re-energize the title. Together these debut and relaunch elements make the issue a compact pivot point for everything the Thor series would explore through the early 1990s.

In "The Madness of Mongoose!", Thor returns to Earth seeking a quiet life, only to be caught in a sudden and violent ambush by the unpredictable villain Mongoose. With Ron Frenz’s dynamic art and Brett Breeding’s sharp inks bringing the clash to life, this 1988 issue delivers a high-stakes showdown that tests Thor’s resolve—just as a familiar web-slinger steps in to help.

writer Tom DeFalco · artist Ron Frenz · inker Brett Breeding · colorist Christie Scheele · letterer Joe Rosen · cover Ron Frenz, Brett Breeding

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (VF) $7

CGC 9.8 · 34 in census $80

CGC 9.6 · 25 in census $49

CGC 9.4 · 10 in census $33

CGC 9.2 · 11 in census $25

CGC 9.0 · 13 in census $21

CGC 8.5 · 6 in census $21

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CGC 8.0 · 3 in census $21*

CGC 7.5 · 4 in census $21*

CGC 7.0 · 3 in census $21

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CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $20*

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More listings for this title

FINE $2.59 VF $2.99 VF · Newsstand $2.99 VG $3 FINE $3 FN $3.8 F/VF $4 Newsstand $4.75

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History

Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz arrived on Thor with issue #383 in 1987, taking over from Walter Simonson's celebrated run; the pairing came together through a somewhat accidental editorial reshuffle after they had previously been pushed off Amazing Spider-Man together. By the time they reached #391, they had finished an outer space Celestials arc and used this issue to reset Thor on Earth under his civilian alias, re-populating his supporting cast with new characters. DeFalco was simultaneously serving as Marvel's Editor-in-Chief during this period, making Thor one of the notable examples of a sitting EIC writing a flagship title. The issue was edited by Ralph Macchio and inked by Brett Breeding, with Christie Scheele on colors — the same tight production unit that would carry the run for years.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Eric Masterson, the divorced architect who would later merge with Thor (Thor #408), assume the Thor identity solo (Thor #432–#459), and finally become the independent hero Thunderstrike in his own 24-issue series beginning June 1993.
First full appearance of Mongoose, the half-human, half-mongoose villain who attacks Thor on the New York construction site and whose repeated conflicts with Masterson would become a recurring thread of the DeFalco/Frenz run.
First appearance of Aloysius R. Jamesly — widely recognized as a satirical stand-in for editor Christopher Priest (then James Owsley), the editor who had removed DeFalco and Frenz from Amazing Spider-Man; the character appeared briefly before being phased out.
Spider-Man guest-stars in the issue, helping Thor hold up a building after Mongoose destroys the support pillars — a crossover cameo that DeFalco and Frenz, both alumns of Amazing Spider-Man, used pointedly as they re-launched Thor's Earth-based status quo.
Written by Tom DeFalco (also Marvel's Editor-in-Chief at the time); penciled by Ron Frenz; inked by Brett Breeding; colored by Christie Scheele; lettered by Joe Rosen; edited by Ralph Macchio.
The story title is 'The Madness of Mongoose' / 'Call Him Mayhem! Call Him Mongoose!'; Thor operates under his civilian alias Sigurd Jarlson as a construction worker, a character identity DeFalco and Frenz had maintained since re-establishing it early in their run.
Asgardian supporting cast (Balder, the Warriors Three — Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg — and the Grand Vizier) appear in a parallel Asgard subplot, with the Grand Vizier dispatching Hogun to Earth to check on Thor's fate.
Cover date: May 1988; both a Direct Edition and a Newsstand Edition were released; the issue is available digitally via Marvel Unlimited.