Fantastic Four #537
The Hammer Falls: Part 2
Victor von Doom explains to Reed and Sue how he escaped from Hell, having been trapped there by the Hazareth Three: while battling against a horde of demons, an interdimensional rift created by the "final pitched battle of the Asgardians" rends "the very fabric of Hell itself," and Doom dives into the rift, nearly catching Thor's hammer Mjolnir before they are both ejected back on Earth.
In Latveria, ten days later, the Prime Minister discusses plans to repurpose Doom's army of Doombots before Doom announces his presence by killing the Prime Minister, then orders a pair of cabinet members to find the object that came out of the rift with him.
At the research installation, Doom approaches Mjolnir as Reed and Sue fight off the advancing battalion of Doombots; Grimm attempts to intercept Doom and keep him away from the hammer, but Doom overpowers the Fantastic Four and lays his hand on the hammer, igniting a massive detonation of energy. He is unable to lift Mjolnir, however, and resigns himself to failure, summoning his jet to escape the scene. Reed hypothesizes that the energy blast may have been "a signal of some kind," while Grimm also attempts and fails to lift the hammer, "just in case."
Elsewhere, during a driving rainstorm, a man purchases a bus ticket while listening to a news broadcast announcing the energy blast and subsequent blackout over most of Oklahoma.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Doctor Doom, Donald Blake
Continuity Notes
Doctor Doom has been trapped in Hell since Fantastic Four #507.
The strange armor that Doom is wearing in hell was made of the skin of his childhood love, Valeria. Doom skinned her alive and used her flesh to make his armor in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #67.
The vision of Asgard falling happened in Thor Vol 2 #80-85.
In the flashback in this story, Doom's "replacement" states that Doom had been gone for two years. This is actually a measurement of time between publications from Fantastic Four #507 to this issue. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, the length of time has actually been a few months.
The man buying the bus ticket is Donald Blake, the mystically created alter-ego of Thor. His relationship to Thor is actually quite complex:
For the longest time, it was believed that Odin created the Don Blake identity as a mystical construct, as per Thor #159. It’s a lot more complicated than that.
First of all, Don Blake was actually a real guy, as revealed in Thor #479. Thor was merged with him until the moment he taped the enchanted walking stick to first transform into Thor. The real Don Blake was then transported to a secret cavern within Wundagore Mountain where he was to remain in suspended animation. Odin kept this all a secret. It is later explained that Keith Kincaid wasn’t a template, but Odin’s second choice to play host to Thor.
Shortly after this, as explained in Thor #483, Sigyn found Blake and tried to kidnap him to use as blackmail against Odin to avenger her husband Loki. She accidentally killed Blake and replaced a construct instead.
According to Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Thor and Thor (vol. 3) #1, the real Don Blake ended up in a “shattering void” and all of Thor’s experiences as Don Blake were later transferred to him when Thor was briefly killed off circa Thor (vol. 2) #85 and entered that same void. When Thor died he entered the shattering void was merged with Blake again.
