Saddles Ablaze, Conclusion

Texas, 1875[1]

Loki, the Norse god of mischief, is seeking out the Golden Apples of Idunn, which have been lost on Earth. Learning that they are in the cargo car of a passing train, the trickster and his posse attack railroad security in order to get aboard.

Not far away Thor races to catch up with the train as well. Along with him are the gunslinger known as Sundance as well as the time displaced Everett Ross.[2] Thor tells the two mortal that recovering the apples is vital for the survival of the Asgardian race as eating the enchanted fruit maintains their youth and vitality.[3] As the thunder god is explaining this, Loki has dropped his mortal disguise and begun eating one of the apples, restoring his youth.

Thor and his allies are soon joined on the trail by time displaced Black Panther (T’Challa), as well as the outlaw heroes the Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, and Two-Gun Kid. The group decides that Loki won’t leave the area until he has the opportunity to defeat Thor in battle and set up camp near the town of Buzzard Gulch, the train’s final destination.[4] To pass the time, Kid Colt plays cards with Sundance and as he continues to lose he is convinced Sundance is cheating somehow. Sundance tells him that he’s not cheating, he’s using a magic deck of cards that were given him to Loki earlier. The trickster had given them to him as an advance for stealing the luggage ticket for Idunn’s apples. He explains that the enchanted deck not only ensure he never loses a game, but it also makes him impervious to harm and heals any injury. Meanwhile, Thor and the Black Panther hold private council. The thunder god fears that they might lose the battle ahead and laments that with the gods in their current state, not even Odin will be able to return the Panther and his allies to their proper time. T’Challa is the one who takes the blame, saying that he has failed the thunder god instead. As for getting back home, the King of Wakanda is certain that fate will sort all of that out once this is all over. Thor then drops his mortal disguise and rides his winged horse to confront his step brother.

When Sundance realizes that all this talk about gods was true, he realizes how his involvement in events were wrong. He did it all for a set of magic cards and tosses them away in disgust. That’s when the mortals are ambushed by Loki who has used his magic to make the locomotive he robbed fly. With an army of Trolls and outlaws aboard the train, the trickster attempts to run over Black Panther and the others. Having learned that his step-father Odin is destined to die in the future, Loki proclaims that he will become the new king of Asgard once he eliminates the old gods.[5] T’Challa and the three Kids manage to jump onto the train where they find that Loki has captured the other T’Challa.[6]

Loki then rides the train across the dimensional void to Asgard where he assumes the royal throne. When the Black Panther and his allies confront Loki, T’Challa offers the trickster one chance to surrender, saying that this is his final warning. Loki responds by having the heroes restrained and taken down to the a Troll cavern for execution. While they are waiting to be tossed on a vat of boiling hot metal, the Black Panther deduces that Sundance will be the one to help them get out of this fix. This is because he is protected by his enchanted playing cards. When Sundance reminds them at he tossed away the magic deck, nobody believes him. He admits that he actually tossed away a normal deck and has been secretly hiding the real deal. They then toss Sundance into the vat, causing the molten metal to splash into their executioner. As the Troll screams from the burns, the two Black Panthers leap down and take him out.

As the heroes are freeing themselves, Loki has gone to the chamber where Odin slumbers in the Odinsleep. Munching on another one of Idunn’s apples, the trickster gloats at his step-father’s impending death and his victory. That’s when the heroes arrive. They manage to get the partially eaten apple out of Loki’s hand. Passing it to Sundance and Everett, they are told to bring the apple to Thor, who had collapsed from age nearby. When the thunder god eats the apple he is instantly restored to his full vitality. With his powers restored, Thor is able to quickly defeat Loki. With the battle now over, Thor thanks his allies for defending Asgard. He promises that when Odin is awoken, the All-Father will return them to their own time and use his magics to erase all knowledge of their presence in this era in order to preserve the timeline. Exhausted after this entire ordeal, Everett wonders how the Black Panther is going to sop all this.

Recurring Characters

Black Panther (616 & 1145), Everett Ross, Sundance, Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, Thor, Loki, Queen Divine Justice, Monica Lynn, Henry Gyrich

Continuity Notes

1. This story takes place during the events of Thor #370, which was set during the year 1875. However, the arrival of Black Panther and his entourage creates a divergent reality. This alternate version of events takes place in this as Reality-86870, per Thor: Asgard’s Avenger #1.

2. Ross and his allies ended up in the days of the American Frontier thanks to the King Solomon’s Frogs in Black Panther (vol. 3) #45. Here, Ross complains about being mistaken for Sundance and needed to be rescued from jail as a result. That happened last issue.

3. The restorative properties of Idunna’s apples was first explored in Journey into Mystery #100.

4. Rawhide Kid states that he trusts the Black Panther even though they haven’t met because his telegram mentioned the Avengers, whom the outlaw heroes have met in the past. The first recorded encounter happened in Avengers #142-143/Avengers Forever #6.

5. This story takes place after the events of Thor (vol. 2) #40, when Odin perished fighting Surtur. This led to Thor taking up the throne of Asgard for a time. Odin will later be resurrected in Thor #618. Loki discovered this by reading the mind of the Black Panther of Reality-1145 last issue.

Topical References

• When Everett asks the Black Panther what sort of master plan he has to stop Loki, he says the word “Shazam!” This is the magic word that Billy Batson says to transform into Captain Marvel over at DC Comics. Since there is a level of awareness between the Marvel and DC Universes, this wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference.

• Everett asks Two-Gun Kid if their Troll captor reminds him of Regis. He is referring to the late Regis Philbin. At the time this story was published (2002), Philbin was best known for his long running daytime TV show Live! as well as the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? This should be considered a topical reference as Philbin died in 2020 and the reference to him can be replaced with a more contemporary example.

Additional Material

• The first page of this issue pays homage to John Buscema who was a long time artist at Marvel Comics who had recently died when this issue was first published. He was best known for his work on Avengers, Conan the Barbarian, the Silver Surfer, and Thor. In fact, the Thor story this is based on was originally drawn by Buscema.