MENAGERIE
of RIMTHUSAR
MENAGERIE
of RIMTHUSAR
Membership: Borna, Fairgold, Grult, Kyrie, Slithgarn
Purpose: Adventure;
formerly serving Rimthursar
Affiliations:
Jolena, Odin, Thor,
Uthar;
formerly
Rimthusar/Farbauti/Cruel Striker
Enemies: Rimthursar, Wolflings
Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
formerly Donald Blake's Chicago Clinic
the
Silver Chalice
Asgard
First Appearance: Thor I#320 (June, 1982)
History:
(Thor I#320 (fb)) - In Asgard, long before Thor's birth, the grim god Rimthursar
collected the ursine Borna, the mermaid Fairgold, the bovine Grult, the
falconine Kyrie, and the serpentine Slithgarn, keeping them caged as his
Menagerie.
(Thor I#320 (fb) - BTS) - Borna and Grult maintained a fierce enmity.
(Thor I#320 (fb)) - Rimthursar became ambitious and sought to use his Menagerie against Odin himself. When they refused to act as his quislings, Rimthursar slew them all in a rage. Sealing their souls each in a single drop of blood, Rimthursar then stained the bottom of his Silver Chalice with the five droplets, freezing the Menagerie within the drinking vessel.
(Thor I#320 (fb) - BTS) - In a final pique of fury, Rimthursar cast the Silver Chalice down to Earth.
(Thor I#321 (fb) - BTS) - In the form of a hawk, Rimthursar flew to the waterfall maiden Freya, telling (lying to) her that Odin had died, causing her to weep tears of gold. Changing to his true form, Rimthursar offered to dry her eyes, pocketing the golden droplets for his own later use. Rimthursar then went to the Dwarves of the Mound, bidding them to fetch serpents, threatening to kill them if they refused. He then sacrificed a bear atop the Mound and had the Dwarves lay the living serpents atop the blood-soaked Mound. As the serpents squirmed, Rimthursar sprinkled the golden tears over them, bidding them to bind the mound; this they did, meshing over the whole of the mound and locking it in the grip of his sorcery. With his magic sword and many oaths of sorcery he then sliced the Mound from its foundation, destroying the Dwarves' home forever. Rimthursar harnessed the Mound to a six-legged bull and had it haul it to a mountaintop closer to the sun. There the Mound melted as he dropped feather's from his own hawk-guise onto the remaining components. These combined elements formed a spell to grant the Menagerie new forms by taking human hosts.
(Thor I#320 (fb) - BTS) - Rimthursar's Silver Chalice was placed on display in Viking Exhibit, which eventually came to Chicago's Field Museum.
(Thor I#320) - The Silver Chalice was observed by Drs. Shawna Lynde and Don Blake, and Blake's association with the Asgardian Thor triggered Rimthursar's spell, with images of the Menagerie briefly flickering on the Chalice's surface as they left.
(Thor I#320) - Rimthursar's magic followed Lynde and Blake back to Blake's new office, eventually transforming Lynde and several other mortals in her vicinity into incarnations of the Menagerie. Lynde became Kyrie, while Nurse Stevens became Fairgold, patient Thorne Kirby became Grult, and a pair of movers became Borna (host) and Slithgarn (host). Grult and Borna soon came to blows, creating a disturbance that drew Blake's landlord, Mr. Lynx. Blake concealed their presence, brought them back to his new apartment, and then tried to convince the Menagerie to leave their hosts, but after their lengthy imprisonment in the Chalice, they were reluctant to give up their freedom. Shortly thereafter, Fairgold used one of her scales to drug Blake's water, causing him to pass out so they--all except Fairgold--could head out into town, where they soon got into a series of brawls with humans who disrespected them. Upon reviving, Blake turned into Thor, tracked them down, and subdued them. Convincing the Menagerie that Earth was to fragile, he brought them all to the Museum, intending to take the Silver Chalice to Asgard where it could restore them. Instead, a beam of energy shot forth from Mjolnir, which passed through the Chalice and into Borna, sending him into a violent rage. After a short struggle, Thor dropped Borna, and he then decided that the Chalice had been sabotaged, and figured that Loki had been the perpetrator.
A beam of energy from the Chalice sent Borna into a rage until Thor subdued him and the madness faded. Thor incorrectly assumed Loki to be the cause of these events.
(Thor I#321) - Thor brought the Menagerie to Asgard, but was forced to leave them on Bifrost as they had taken mortal form and were forbidden to enter Asgard. While Thor entered into Asgard, Rimthursar appeared above Bifrost and transported the Menagerie to the Chicago's Field Museum. The Menagerie refused to serve Rimthursar, but he simply reactivated his old spell and took command of them. He sent them in to Museum to obtain the Chalice, and he left a message taunting Thor with his intent. Returning to Earth, Thor fought the Menagerie, and Rimthursar flew into the museum and claimed the giant Chalice himself. Thor allowed Rimthursar to escape the museum to avoid a fight there that would damage its priceless treasures. Thor followed Rimthursar to Chicago's yacht basin and confronted him there, but the Menagerie--who had followed them both--then ambushed Thor. Still, Thor managed to summon a lightning bolt that shattered the Silver Chalice, and the Menagerie collapsed to the ground. Thor defeated Rimthursar and was then pleased to see the Menagerie revive, but was still frustrated that they were in the animal forms even after the Chalice had been shattered.
(Thor I#322) - Thor forced the Menagerie to accept that they had no right to usurp the forms of the mortals who hosted them. He then brought Rimthursar and the Menagerie to Bifrost, and he bade Heimdall to summon the jailers to take the still unconscious Rimthursar into charge. Heimdall initially refused to allow the Menagerie to enter, but he quickly relented, refusing to fight his friend Thor over this. Thor brought the Menagerie to Odin, and they helped him to expose the Wolflings as having engineered a war between the forces of Jolena and Uthar in hopes of disgracing Odin over his continued affection for his old lover Jolena. In return Odin used his scepter to transform the Menagerie from creatures of magic back into mortals of noble sacrifice. Odin then erased their memories of their possessions and transformations, and Thor brought them back to Blake's office and placed them back where they had been before the transformations. The five humans regained consciousness and went about their business.
COMMENTS: Created by Doug Moench, Keith Pollard, and Stone & Tartag.
It's hard to believe that Odin would have allowed the Menagerie to languish in limbo. Who knows what their fate is with the most recent Ragnarok (Thor II#85).
For anyone who finds Mermaids sexy, I have one word for you:
cloaca.
Look it up.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
A bear creature, he was long the enemy of Grult. He was briefly driven into a rage by Rimthursar's Silver Chalice, and he later worked with the others in defeating and exposing the Wolflings. He was quick to anger, and was more than ready to brawl at the drop of the hat.
He had superhuman strength (Class 25-50), durability, etc.
Borna's host was an unnamed mover, working alongside the man who became Slithgarn.
--Thor I#320 (320 (fb), 321(fb) - BTS, 320, 321, 322
A mermaid, she spent almost all of her time in a bathtub, fountain, river, etc. She also thought Thor was dreamy and made every effort to seduce him. She drugged Blake so that the Menagerie could escape from his office, and she also used her power to stun the Wolflings.
Though she obviously preferred (and possibly required) almost constant contact with water, she could breathe in air, and presumably under water, as well. Her golden scales could have a number of effects, such as creating a sleeping potion or stunning anyone in contact with water. She likely had some degree of superhuman physical abilities.
Fairgold's host was Nurse Stevens.
--Thor I#320 (320 (fb), 321(fb) - BTS, 320, 321, 322
Nurse Stevens was also in Thor I#327 (and maybe #329), 330,
331, and 354/2.
I don't feel like summarizing all of her stuff right now, so I'll have to come
back to her at some point.
A bull creature, he had a long-running enmity with Borna, though he later worked with Borna and the others in defeating and exposing the Wolflings. He was quick to anger, and was more than ready to brawl at the drop of the hat.
He had superhuman strength (Class 25-50), durability (bulletproof), etc.
His human host was Thorne Kirby, who thought an M.D. was a better choice than a psychiatrist to see for treatment of being unable to assert himself.
--Thor I#320 (320 (fb), 321(fb) - BTS, 320, 321, 322
A hawk creature, she remained the closest to her human host in personality and was the most rational of the bunch.
She could fly, though she was limited in that her wings were underneath her arms, and she was unable to fully use her arms while flying. She likely had some degree of superhuman physical abilities.
Her human host was Dr. Shawna Lynde.
--Thor I#320 (320 (fb), 321(fb) - BTS, 320, 321, 322
A serpent creature, he was somewhat mischievous.
He likely had some degree of superhuman physical abilities, and he could also extend his tongue to use to lasso, trip, or bind others.
Slithgarn's host was an unnamed mover, working alongside the man who became Borna.
--Thor I#320 (320 (fb), 321(fb) - BTS, 320, 321, 322
images:
Thor I#320, p5, panel 1 (Fairgold)
panel 6
(Kirby)
p7, panel 4 (Slithgarn)
p21, panel 1 (Borna)
#322, pg. 2, panel 1-5 (Grult, Fairgold,
Borna + host, Slithgarn + host, Kyrie)
p13, panel 5 (Grult)
p17, panel 1 (Kyrie)
p19, panel 5 (Menagerie)
Thor I#321 (July, 1982) - Doug Moench (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Chic Stone, etc. (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Thor I#322 (August, 1982) - Doug Moench (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Jim Mooney, etc. (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
First Posted: 05/10/2005
Last updated: 05/10/2005
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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