Journey into Mystery #510
Lest Despair Doth Claim Thee!
The Lost Gods have been captured by Red Norvell, who has been resurrected from the dead and now serves their enemy Seth, the Egyptian god of death.[1] With the others shackled to the walls, Red takes pleasure in torturing Ericka Velez by dunking her head head in a cauldron of green liquid. When Ulik calls him a coward for torturing his prisoners, Norvell jolts him with some lightning from his hammer. He’s not the only one having fun with the prisoners either, as Lorelei torments her sister the Enchantress, promising to make her suffer as well.[2]
Outside the fortress is Howie Barker, one of the Last Gods who has remained uncaptured. As he is trying to figure out a plan to rescue his friends, he is caught by Seth’s army. He is able to run circles around them thanks to the headband that gives him super-human speed. After knocking them out, he heads to the castle to free his friends.
In another part of the structure, Seth has Wad and Pietro Vizarri held prisoner as well. After restoring Loki to his godly stature, the pair watch as one of the guards tortures Wad. Loki finds himself disorientated by his revival and his memory of events aren’t quite clear and asks Seth to help fill in the blanks. The death god explains that he has been trying to wipe out all life in the universe. Part of this plan involved the creation of the WorldEngine, a device that would weaken Yggdrasil, the World Ash tree. Somehow, Odin learned of his efforts and rather than try to stop him he exploited the situation by making Yggdrasil believe Ragnarok had already passed. As a result the gods of Asgard were all banished to Earth in mortal guises with no memories of their past, to lay in wait for the time Odin could restore them all. For Loki, he was cast into the life of Tso Zhung, a ruthless businessman. Recently, Odin’s replacement for Thor, Red Norvell, had been charged with finding these Lost Gods and reviving them somehow.[3]
After hearing all of this, Loki asks Seth what he wants of him. Seth admits that Loki is always amusing to have around, but in reality he wants the trickster to use his magic to probe Wad’s mind and learn how he intends to restore the Asgardians so they can prevent that from happening. In exchange for this, Seth promises to spare Loki when he snuffs out all life in existence.
Back in the dungeon, Red and Lorelei begin to grow bored torturing their prisoners and decide to go off and have some fun together. However, before they go, the use their powers to vaporize the Asgardian artifacts that give the Lost Gods some of their godly abilities back.[4] While the mortals are about ready to give up, Ulik encourages them to keep fighting and they are begin working together by pitting their strength against the chains that bind them in the hopes that they’ll give under the strain. While outside, Howie Barker distracts the guards at the front gate so he can slip inside the castle and start looking for his friends. However, the place is crawling with guards, forcing him to be stealthy.
On Earth, Freda Barker and Freddie Moyer are still waiting for word back from the others. Freddie continues to pace the room, upset that he couldn’t go along with the rest of the team.[5] Freda has been passing the time by reading books on Norse mythology in the hopes of finding some vital clue that can help them on their quest. They know that it will somehow involve the hammer of Thor, but Freddie isn’t very confident that they’ll find anything in some dusty old text books.[6]
Meanwhile at Vincent Starwit and his family have traveled to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, seemingly on a whim. Upon their discovery they discovered that the park has experienced a huge influx of visitors who all want to see a limestone formation dubbed “Thor’s Hammer”. Nearly everyone they have spoken with just showed up as though they were drawn to this location and had no idea it even existed. Vince and his wife Gerty are more than the little concerned over this and wonders if Thor’s Hammer has any connection with the Lost Gods.[7]
While in Seth’s domain, Red Norvell comes back to finish torturing Ericka. Not far away, Howie runs into some guards, but a trunk full of spears provides him with weapons to defend himself. While he makes short work of the guards, he is quickly incapacitated by Lorelei’s magic. While in the next chamber, the guards continue to torture Wad. Loki, still making up his mind about joining forces with Seth, decides to magically look in on the others to see how they are faring. He witnesses Red seemingly drowning Ericka, much to the horror of her brother Don. That’s when Lorelei arrives with Howie as her prisoner. To further demoralize the others, she removes the teen’s headband and incinerates. She and Red then leave the others to stew over what happened and leave them wondering who will be next and when. Once they are gone, Ericka sits upright as she was merely playing possum and encourages everyone to keep trying to break free. Through her own strength, she is able to break free from her bonds. The others are able to do the same moments later. Howie wonders how they’re going to defeat Seth and his army without their powers. However Ericka believes that their power were never in the weapons but inside them the whole time.
While in the next chamber over, Loki has apparently decided to take Seth up on his offer. Seeing that Loki has joined forces with the man trying to kill them all, Wad now believes that all is lost.
Recurring Characters
Ericka Velez, Donald Velez, Barry Landers, Howie Barker, Wad, Pietro Vizarri, Tyrone Hammer, Freddie Moyer, Freda Barker, Vincent Starwit, Gerty Starwit, Loki, the Enchantress, Ulik, Seth, Red Norvell, Lorelei
Continuity Notes
Norvell died in Journey into Mystery #504 and was resurrected in issue #508.
Lorelei also mentions her resurrection at the hands of Seth in issue #508. She was gravely injured during an earlier invasion of Asgard in Thor #398-400 and died of her injuries in issue #402.
The WorldEngine was used against the World Ash in Thor #491-494. That the gods of Asgard were banished to Earth wasn’t revealed until issue #497-500. The Lost Gods have been coming together since Journey into Mystery #503. Ericka, Donald, Barry, Howie, Wad, Pietro, Tyrone, Freddie, Freda, Vincet, and Gerty are Sif, Heimdall, Balder, Hermod, Odin, the Grand Vizier, Fandral, Frigga, Volstagg, and Hildegund respectively. Loki was restored last issue, the Grand Vizier’s identity is revealed in the next, while everyone else’s true identity is revealed in issue #512.
Red makes off hand comments about his relationship with Ericka, or more specifically her Asgardian alter-ego, Sif. When Red first gained the powers of Thor in Thor #276-278, he did so in an attempt to win Sif’s affections. This didn’t pan out the way he wanted and he later died. Odin later resurrected him to be a stand-in for Thor again in issue #478. More recently, in Thor #482, the pair agreed to be friends.
Freddie was injured by Seth in Journey into Mystery #507.
One of the books “The Secrets of Asgard” is listed as being written by Jack Kirby and featuring a forward by Stan Lee. This is a nod to Stan and Jack who were responsible for co-creating many of the characters in the Marvel Universe, including Thor. Their run on the character (give or take the odd issue) was from Journey into Mystery #83-125 and Thor #126-176.
Vincent and Gerty met some of their fellow Lost Gods back in Journey into Mystery #504-505. However, they refused to join them on their quest, fearing that their children would be put in danger. They went on their impromptu camping trip in issue #509. In issue #512 it’s revealed that the Thor’s Hammer monument is where Odin stashed the magic needed to restore the Asgardians to normal.
