The Return of Zarrko the Tomorrow Man!

After Odin once again denied permission to marry Jane Foster, Thor has been venting his frustrations about New York City. The people of the city give the thunder god wide birth. His temper tantrum is witnessed by a colony of ants that relay this information back to Hank Pym who, as Giant-Man, is Thor’s teammate on the Avengers.[1] Hank and his girlfriend Janet Van Dyne are worried about Thor’s well being. After contacting Iron Man the pair change into Giant-Man and the Wasp and head out to confront their teammate. Their message is received by Iron Man’s alter-ego, Tony Stark, who promptly puts on his armor and heads out to rendezvous with the others.

They catch up to Thor just as he is crossing the street in front of an oncoming truck. Noticing the approaching vehicle, Thor angrily smashes its front end with Mjolnir and keeps going. After Iron Man compensates the driver for damages, the three Avengers confront their teammate about his behavior. However, Thor doesn’t want to talk about his problems because these mere mortals could not understand. Seeing that they won’t be getting through to him, Iron Man suggests to the others to leave Thor to sort things out on his own.

In Asgard, Loki shows Odin that Thor continues to lament over Jane Foster, disobeying Odin’s decree that he forgets about the mortal woman. Odin is furious about this and decides that Thor needs to be punished and decrees that Thor’s strength will be decreased,[2] he will not have control over the storms, and he will be banished from Asgard until he finally renounces his love for Jane Foster.[3] Moments later, Thor arrives outside of Asgard but is stopped at the Bifrost Bridge by Heimdall. Thor refuses to be stopped from seeing his father and attacks Heimdall. When he is unable to get past the guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, Thor calls out to his father to speak to him. Although it pains his heart to do so, Odin does not oblige.

Watching Thor slowly turn back, Loki decides the time is ripe to destroy his enemy once and for all. He goes to visit the Norn Hag and get access to her Well of the Centuries. With it, he peers into the future of the 23rd century to find Zarrko the Tomorrow Man.[4] Loki then uses his magic to restore Zarrko’s memory. Furious over being forced to work as a lowly clerk following his defeat Zarrko vows to get revenge against Thor. Racing back to his lab, Zarrko constructs a new time ship as well and brings a powerful mining robot with him as he goes back in time.

Appearing in modern-day New York, Zarrko appears in the middle of the city and emerges from his time ship. When police confront him, he has his mining robot to use its eye beams to melt their handguns. After, Zarrko has the robot go on a rampage, destroying everything in sight. Don Blake learns of the attack from the TV news and promptly changes into Thor. Even though his strength has been halved he intends to stop Zarrko and his robot from the future. When Thor tries to fight the robot he discovers just how weak he has become when Mjolnir can hardly shatter a building or even stagger the robot. He gains a brief advantage when he channels magnetic energy through his hammer, but Thor is eventually stunned when the robot blasts him with its eye beams. With Thor soundly defeated, Zarrko forces the thunder god to promise to return to the 23rd Century and do Zarrko’s bidding there. With no other choice, Thor agrees in order to prevent the robot from causing even more destruction.

Thor joins Zarrko and his robot aboard the time ship and it soon heads back to the future. Watching from Asgard, Odin can hardly believe that his son is doing the bidding of a mortal. Loki hopes that if Thor helps Zarrko conquer the 23rd century an act that will be unforgivable in the eyes of Odin.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, Avengers (Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp), Odin Heimdall, Loki

Continuity Notes

1. This story takes place shortly after Thor joined the group in Avengers #1.

2. Other than being briefly mentioned next issue, Thor’s loss of power is not mentioned again. Since he later appears to have all of his powers again, one could assume that Odin restored Thor’s powers at the end of next issue. I make comments about it there.

3. Odin originally refused to let Thor marry Jane back in Journey into Mystery #97. He changed his mind as long as Jane proved she was worthy of becoming an immortal in issue #99. However, last issue he changed his mind yet again when Jane Foster interfered with Thor’s battle with Mister Hyde, unaware that she was doing so because she thought she was protecting his alter-ego, Don Blake.

4. The Norn Hag’s real name is later revealed to be Haag (believe it or not) in Thor #165. Zarrko the Tomorrow Man previously fought Thor in Journey into Mystery #86 and was left with amnesia after he was defeated. Zarrko’s future is actually an alternate reality. It was designated Reality-6297 in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12.

Topical References

• Zarrko refers to Thor’s era as the 20th Century. This should be considered topical because the Sliding Timescale has pushed the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward to a point where it does not begin until after the start of the 21st Century.

• A police officer is depicted calling for back-up by using a call box attached to a lamp post. This should be considered topical as advances in radio technology made such devices obsolete.

• Donald Blake is depicted as watching the news on an old black-and-white television. I shouldn’t have to explain why this should be considered topical as well.

The Invasion of Asgard

Once upon a time, when Thor was a boy, he heard that the forces of evil were plotting to invade Asgard. Getting a sword and shield, Thor then tried to convince Heimdall to allow him to help defend the kingdom at the Bifrost Bridge. However, Heimdall refuses Thor’s aid, telling the boy that the battle ahead is a man’s work. Seeing this, Loki then tempts Thor by offering to show him a means of finally lifting Mjolnir.[1] He shows a hole in the defensive wall around the kingdom and suggests that if Thor defends it he will become worthy enough to wield Mjolnir. Thor does this very thing unaware that Loki was the one who made the hole in the hopes of destroying his brother as he wants the mystical hammer for himself.

Moments later, Thor finds himself defending the hole in the wall from an invasion force which includes the Norn Hag, Ulfrin the Dragon, the last of the Ice Giants, the wolf gods known as Skoll and Hati as well as Geirrodur the troll. Thor manages to hold his own for a few moments until he gets exposed to the enchanted breath of Ulfin causing Thor to start turning into a tree. Luckily, Odin and the other warriors of Asgard have heard the sound of battle and arrive to stave Thor. Soon the invasion is fought off and Odin praises his son for his bravery in the face of impossible odds. Later, Thor tries lifting Mjolnir and discovers he can lift it halfway. He figures that it is only a matter of time before he has won the right to claim Mjolnir. Loki watches from behind, plotting on ways of preventing this from happening.[2]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Ulfrin the Dragon, Skoll, Hati, Geirrodur

Continuity Notes

1. Back Journey into Mystery #83 only the worthy can wield the power of Mjolnir. Last issue we saw Odin tell a young Thor that with each noble task he will be able to lift the Mjolnir higher until he is finally worthy enough to wield the weapon.

2. The events of this story are recounted again in Thor #252 and Thor Annual #11.