Thor Corps #2
Gather Chaos —!
Dargo Ktor, the Thor of the 24th Century, has had his wife kidnapped by his foe Demonstaff.[1] The villain is using Salla as a means to force Dargo to rescue Demonstaff’s long lost wife Ellenne from another dimension. To help him in this quest, Dargo has recruited the present day heroes Beta Ray Bill and Thunderstrike.
Unfortunately, their mission is learned by Kargul, the Warlord of Elsewhen, who has taken Ellenne as his consort. Not wishing to lose the woman, Kargul has used his magic to banish the so-called Thor Corps to another place in time and space…
The trio of heroes find themselves on an American shipyard circa 1942. Mistaken for Nazi saboteurs, the Thor Corps are attacked by the Invaders — Captain America, Bucky, the Human Torch, Toro, and the Sub-Mariner. While Dargo deals with the Torches,[2] Beta Ray Bill fights Namor, leaving Thunderstrike to deal with Captain America and Bucky.[3] Thunderstrike is caught off guard because he confuses this era's Captain America with the one he knows from his own time period. While, at the same time, Dargo summons a storm that puts out the Torch and Toro’s flames. Unfortunately, this rain also gives the Sub-Mariner a boost in strength, making him more than a match for Beta Ray Bill.
Detecting Kargul’s interference, Demonstaff uses his new powers to hijack the Warlord’s seeing pool. He promises that he will take Hellenne back. Ending communication, Demonstaff gloats over Kargul’s fears that he cannot control the dimensional force he now controls. Kargul’s concerns are valid, however Demonstaff wants to intentionally break down the barriers between realities.
Elsewhere in the future, Dunbar — the COO of Adcorp — has just survived an attack by Demonstaff. Seeing him as a threat to his company, Dunbar has recruited a team of commandos and tells them of the threat posed by Demonstaff. Ordered to eliminate the villain no matter what, the soldiers promise Dunbar that they will not fail.
Back in 1942, the battle with the Invaders is going nowhere fast. Luckily, Beta Ray Bill has been able to make his enchanted hammer, Stormbringer, key into the dimensional energies that brought them there. He then opens a portal that will get them out of this time period. That’s when Captain America tosses his shield. It hits Thunderstrike in the back hard enough to knock him through the portal. Thunderstrike then finds himself transported to another future where that era’s Machine Man and his Midnight Wreckers are battling Iron Man and his Ironbots.[4] Thunderstrike evades the flying bullets and manages to blast this era’s Iron Man before Beta Ray Bill yanks him back through the portal.
Thunderstrike finds himself and his allies in a corridor between time and space. Here, Beta Ray Bill points out that the barriers between realities are starting to crack and that they need to complete their mission before they completely crumble. Before they can leave, they are attacked by another individual in a futuristic suit of armor. Not wanting another fight so soon, the three Thors depart through another portal. Their attacker pauses and removes his helmet, revealing himself to be a teenaged Franklin Richards.[5] Franklin finds the intruders strange, as they remind him of his grandfather’s stories about ancient Earth.
The three Thors soon find themselves in Elsewhen where they quickly find Warlord Kargul addressing his legions of followers. He is warning his people that Demonstaff is causing reality to crumble around them and they must gear up for interdimensional war. From their vantage point, Beta Ray Bill spots Ellene and tells the others to follow him.
Back in the 24th century, Citizen Dunbar is frantically packing a bag so he can flee the city and, hopefully, Demonstaff’s wrath. However, Demonstaff teleports into his room and tells Dunbar that he hasn’t come for retribution, but in fact, has a little surprise for him.
In Elsewhen, the Thor Corps smashes their way into the bed chambers where Ellene is staying. Fighting their way through the guards and her personal security detail, Beta Ray Bill tells Ellene that they have come to rescue her and return her to her husband. Ellene surprises them by pulling out a gun and shooting Bill. As she flees from the room she tells them that she refuses to return to Earth with them because her former husband wants to see her dead.
While in the 24th century, Kargul opens a portal so that he and his invasion force can attack the Earth. As this is happening, the squad of commandos that Dunbar hired to eliminate Demonstaff have been traversing through the sewers and are getting close to their target. Not far away, along the river, a man wearing Demonstaff’s costume wakes up confused and disorientated. As he gets up, Kargul and his warriors arrive to eliminate Demonstaff at the same time the commandos arrive. The man in the costume tries to convince them that they got the wrong person but this falls on deaf ears and he is soon gunned down from all sides. When Kargul removes “Demonstaff’s” mask, they discover that their foe put Citizen Dunbar in his costume as a decoy and that they killed the wrong man.
Meanwhile, the real Demonstaff has returned to the rooftop where he is keeping Salla Ktor hostage. He revels in the chaos going on in the street below. When Salla calls him a madman and asks him to stop. He relishes in the title, telling her that destroying the universe is well worth the price if he can’t get his beloved Ellene back.
Back in Elsewhen, the Thors have fought their way through the guards and pursue after Ellene, thinking they have her cornered. However, the woman is far from helpless and, as they approach, she opens three portals under their feet. Dargo finds himself transported to the year 2099 where he is ambushed by that era’s Spider-Man, while Beta Ray Bill end up in the 31st century where he is attacked by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Lastly, Thunderstrike finds himself in the days of the American Frontier surrounded by the Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, and Rawhide Kid![6]
Recurring Characters
Thor Corps (Beta Ray Bill, Dargo Ktor, Thunderstrike), Demonstaff, Warlord Kargul, Invaders (Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, Bucky, Toro), Midnight Wreckers (Machine Man 2020, Brain, Slick, Hassle), Iron Man 2020, Psi-Lord Ellene Gorko, Salla Ktor, Spider-Man 2099, Guardians of the Galaxy (Major Victory, Aleta, Talon, Charlie-27, Nikki), Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt
Continuity Notes
Dargo Ktor’s future timeline exists in Reality-8710 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3.
Dargo mistakes this Human Torch for Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four. This one is the android also known as Jim Hammond who was created in 1939, per Marvel Comics #1. Johnny Storm got his powers in the Modern Age circa Fantastic Four #1. Per Fantastic Four #126, Johnny named himself the Human Torch to honor the original.
Captain America won’t go on to meet Eric Masterson until well into the Modern Age, as seen in Thor #433.
This future timeline has been identified as Reality-8410 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1. Iron Man and Machine Man’s war with one another was first chronicled in Machine Man (vol. 2) #1-4.
This teenaged version of Franklin Richards came to be when his grandfather Nathaniel kidnapped him from the modern age and raised him in the distant future where he becomes the teenaged Psi-Lord. His appearance here is prior to his return to the present day. He will arrive on present day Earth in Fantastic Four #376 and will remain in that era until a temporal anomaly in Fantastic Four #413 replaces Psi-Lord with his younger self.
Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1, Dargo Ktor has found himself in Reality-928 while Beta Ray Bill is in Reality-691.
Topical References
References to the present day taking place in the 20th century should be considered topical. The Sliding Timescale has pushed the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time enough that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st century.
Machine Man and Iron Man’s timeline is stated as taking place in the year 2020. However, this should now be considered a topical reference as the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe has been pushed forward that it has now taken place during (and will eventually surpass) the year 2020. Modern readers should interpret this timeline as always existing roughly 27 years into the future of the Modern Age. Iron Man calling himself “Iron Man 2020” could instead refer to the model number of his armor instead of the year he exists in.
