Ravaged by Reality!

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 Ellene from another dimension. To help him in this quest, Dargo has recruited the present day heroes Beta Ray Bill and Thunderstrike.

While on their mission, Demonstaff remains in the 24th century where he has decided that if he cannot get his Ellene back he will collapse the entire multiverse. His helpless prisoner, Salla decides to try reasoning with the madman. She points out that with all of his power he should be trying to win Ellene back.

Meanwhile, the three Thors had ventured to Elsewhen to rescue Ellene from Warlord Kargul. There, they discovered that Ellene is living there willingly. Rather than being forcibly returned to her former husband, Ellene has banished the trio to different points in time and space.

Beta Ray Bill finds himself transported aboard the headquarters of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the 31st century.[2] At first, the Guardians mistake him for an attacker until the cosmically aware Aleta arrives and tells the others to cease their hostilities.[3]

At the same time, Dargo Ktor is transported to Nueva York circa 2099 AD.[4] His arrival is witnessed by this era’s Spider-Man, who had just recently encountered a phony Thor recently and thinks this is more of the same.[5] When he attacks Dargo, he quickly discovers that this is no mere impostor when Ktor uses Mjolnir to summon a powerful storm.

Lastly, Thunderstrike finds himself in the days of the American Frontier and happens upon a stage coach robbery. With his enchanted mace, Thunderstrike makes short work of the robbers and sends the coach on its way to fetch the local sheriff. Once it is gone, the outlaw heroes known as Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid, and Kid Colt all get the drop on him and demand to know what’s going on. Thunderstrike is surprised to see the trio as they were heroes of his when he was growing up.

Meanwhile, Salla has convinced Demonstaff to use his powers to go back to the day of the accident and prevent it from happening. He arrives at the moment when Dunbar was about to sabotage his dimensional machine. Filled with rage, Demonstaff fires wildly and misses and ends up hitting his past self, creating the very accident that he was trying to stop. Returning to Salla, Demonstaff tells her how he failed and completely loses what little sanity he has left. Frustrated that life is too chaotic he now looks forward to collapsing the multiverse in order to end it all for everybody. Salla tries pleading with him but he won’t hear it. He then removes his mask to revealing that the accident didn’t horribly scar him as people thought, but transformed him into a being of pure dimensional energy. He then begins attacking the barriers that separate the myriad dimensions and timelines of the multiverse.

These attacks cause the cosmic being known as Eternity to writhe in agony. Across time and space, realities and times begin bleeding into one another. In Germany, circa 1916, fighter pilot Karl Kaufman — aka the Phantom Eagle — is suddenly chased off by modern day fighter jets. In the Hybroean era, Conan the Barbarian has just finished slaughtering his foes when suddenly a modern day astronaut appears before him. While years earlier, the fledgling X-Men are in the middle of a training session when they a medieval knight suddenly appears in the Danger Room.[6]

The eras that the three Thors have been trapped in have also likewise been affected. The Guardians of the Galaxy quickly ignore Beta Ray Bill when Roman Centurions appear on their ship. This allows Bill to use his enchanted hammer — Stormbreaker — to open a portal back to where he came from. In the American Frontier, Thunderstrike and the three gunslingers flee from a stampede of dinosaurs,[7] Spotting a dimensional portal opening in the sky, Thunderstrike sees that as his ticket home and flies into it.

Thunderstrike arrives in the corridors between time and space where he is reunited with Beta Ray Bill and Dargo Ktor. Seeing the barriers between realities breaking, Bill suggests that they combine the power of their enchanted weapons to summon the real Thor to their side. Thunderstrike is reluctant to go through with this plan as he had heard that Thor had gone mad recently.[8] However, he finally agrees to the plan when Bill points out that they don’t have any other choice. Combining their powers together, the trio are relieved when the Thor they summon is completely sane.[9]

Thor happily greets his old friend Thunderstrike and Beta Ray Bill. Dargo — this being his first time meeting the true thunder god — bows before him. Thor tells Tkor to rise to his feet as they are equals. Seeing Dargo treat Thor with such reverence makes Thunderstrike realize how lucky he has been to know the thunder god personally. He hopes that Thor’s added power will help them win the day before he loses his son Kevin forever. With introductions out of the way, Thor tells his comrades to prepare for the final battle.

Recurring Characters

Thor Corps (Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Dargo Ktor, Thunderstrike), Demonstaff, Spider-Man 2099, Guardians of the Galaxy (Vance Astro, Aleta, Talon, Charlie-27, Nikki, Yellowjacket), Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Salla Ktor, Ellene Gorko, Eternity, Phantom Eagle, Conan the Barbarian, X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast, Angel)

Continuity Notes

1. Dargo Ktor’s future timeline exists in Reality-8710 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3. Salla was kidnapped in Thor Corps #1.

2. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1, Beta Ray Bill is in Reality-691.

3. Yellowjacket also recognizes Beta Ray Bill. This is because she originates from the Modern Age of Earth-616 and found herself transported to the Guardians universe in Guardians of the Galaxy #28.

4. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1, Dargo Ktor is in Reality-928.

5. Spider-Man had recently encountered phony Asgardian gods created by Alchemax. See Spider-Man 2099 #15-16, Ravage 2099 #15, X-Men 2099 #5, Doom 2099 #14, and Punisher 2099 #13.

6. Per the Marvel Chronology Project, the X-Men appear here following the events X-Men #3. Per the Sliding Timescale, that places the X-Men’s appearance as happening roughly 8 years in the past from the present day events of this story.

7. Rawhide and his buddies don’t recognize dinosaurs because Thunderstrike’s appearance here predate their later encounter with them when the trio fought Kang the Conqueror alongside the Avengers as seen in Avengers Forever #4, 6 and Avengers #141-143.

8. At the time of this story, Thor had been stricken by the Warrior Madness brought on by an identity crisis. This madness will run from Thor #460 to 471.

9. As of this writing in January, 2023, the Marvel Chronology Project places Thor appearing here between Thor #468 and Warlock Chronicles #6. However, Thor would have still been going through the Warrior Madness. As such, it’s my position that the thunder god was plucked out of time after Thor #471, the story where he is cured of that affliction.

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.