Journey into Mystery #512
Hold Back the Night
Time is running out for the Lost Gods. Having just rescued Odin from the clutches of Seth, he is still ruled by mind of his mortal form, that of a homeless drunk named Wad.[1] Confused by the entire experience, he cowers away from his rescuers thinking that they might harm him. While the Grand Vizier and Freda Barker pledge to try and get Wad to snap out of it and help, Ericka Velez wants to go back into Seth’s domain to rescue the other Lost Gods who are still trapped there.
In that same realm, Seth gloats over his victory against Loki. Having turned the trickster into a statue made out of wood, Seth intends to make Loki watch as he destroys the Yggdrasil, the World Ash tree, and wipe out all life in the universe.
Elsewhere in the fortress, Red Norvell — Seth’s pawn — fights with the remaining members Lost Gods, Donald Velez and Tyrone Hammer, as well as their ally the Ulik the Rock Troll. The brave warriors have just freed the Ice Giants Mroht and Pyllar but are pinned down by eneny fire. That’s when the Grand Vizier arrives with Ericka and Freddie Moyer and pull the allies back to Earth. Watching them escape, Red figures that Seth isn’t going to be happy to hear about this.
With everyone crammed into Ericka’s apartment, they start planning their final assault on Seth when Ericka notices that Freda and Wad aren’t present.[2] That’s because Freda has brought Wad up to the roof to make him look down upon the city of New York so he can understand what is at stake. She tells Wad that the fate of everybody is in his hands, but Wad can’t see how a useless old drunk can make a difference and nothing that Freda can say can convince him otherwise.
Back in Seth’s domain, the death god is furious to learn that the Lost Gods escaped his grasp. Deciding to push forward with his plans to destroy Yggdrasil, Seth orders Red to go to Thor’s Hammer, a limestone deposit in Utah that is hiding the power to restore the gods of Asgard. He intends to have them returned to normal just as he destroys the World Ash so he can revel in their destruction.
By this point, the Lost Gods are loading up with guns for the final battle. Surprisingly, the Enchantress pledges to fight by their side. This surprises Ericka, who has spent most of her time arguing with the sorceress. The Enchantress explains that she wants to fight to avenge her sister, Lorelei, who was just as much a victim of Seth as they all have been.[3]
In the ruins of Asgard, King Geirrodur is wondering what has become of Ulik when suddenly, his new kingdom is attacked by Seth and his legions.
At the same time, Vincent Starwit and his family are throwing a barbeque for everyone who has shown up at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah to see the Thor’s Hammer monument. As Vince cooks up some burgers, his wife Gerty sees a storm cloud forming over the momument and alerts her husband. Suspecting there will be danger, Vince tells his wife to gather up the children.
Simultaneously, the majority of the Lost Gods arrive in Asgard to fight off Seth and his invaders. In the ensuing melee, Seth grows to titanic size so he can destroy Yggdrasil. At that same moment, Red Norvell arrives at Bryce Canyon where he is ambushed by Ulik, the Grand Vizier, Vincent, Freddie, and Tyrone. However, they are too late to stop Norvell from striking the monument. This unleashes a wave of energy that travels across the dimensions. Suddenly, Vince, Fred and Tye are restored to their true forms, that of Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun, aka the Warriors Three! They aren’t the only ones affected as those who gathered in Utah and all over the world are restored to their godly forms. The wave also reaches Asgard changing Barry, Howie, Don, and Ericka into Balder, Hermod, Heimdall, and Sif. Lastly, Wad and Freda are restored to their true identities of Odin and his wife Frigga.
With his powers fully restored, Odin uses them to increase his own size to match that as Seth. However, the death god figures that Odin will be an easy defeat because, despite the fact that he has all his godly powers, he still retains the mind of a mortal and this will lead to his downfall.
Recurring Characters
Ericka Velez, Wad, Howie Barker, Barry Landers, Freddie Moyer, Donald Velez, Tyrone Hammer, Vincent Starwit, Grand Vizier, Loki, the Enchantress, Ulik, Mroht, Pyllar, Seth, Red Norvell, Geirrodur,
Continuity Notes
When the WorldEngine was used to fake Ragnarok, Odin used this opportunity to protect his people by hiding them on Earth in mortal identities with no memories of their past. Odin was also banished and lived out decades of life on Earth as a drunken homeless man before he was found. See Thor #491-494, 497-498, and Journey into Mystery #511 for the details.
Here, Freddie is surprised to hear that Tso Zhung was actually Loki. Zhung was the trickster’s mortal guise on Earth starting in Journey into Mystery #503. He was freed from this form by Seth himself in issue #509.
Lorelei was fatally injured during Seth’s previous conflict with Asgard circa Thor #398-400 and died in issue #402. Seth resurrected her as one of his pawn in Journey into Mystery #508 alongside Red Norvell, who was murdered in issue #504. Last issue, the Enchantress was forced to kill her sister all over again. Lorelei’s demise won’t last very long as she is resurrected sometime after Asgard is restored circa Thor (vol. 2) #12. She’ll pop up again in Defenders (vol. 2) #1-4.
