— To Rise Again!

Stripped of his godly might, Thor finds himself up against the Destroyer.[1] Little does he know is that it contains the soul of Sif, who used it to save her lover from the Wrecker. Unable to communicate, Sif finds herself being attacked by Thor. Resisting the urge to fight back becomes harder as the Destroyer armor begins overriding her personality.

Watching this from Asgard is Loki and Karnilla, the Norn Queen. They hope that the Destroyer will kill Thor, relishing the idea of Thor’s lover being his destroyer. That’s when Balder the Brave is brought in after he was captured by Karnilla’s loyal trolls. Karnilla is instantly taken by Balder’s handsom looks and tries to convince him to be her consort. When he refuses, their conversation is interrupted when one of the trolls throws a sword between the two.

Back on Earth, Thor begins growing tired as the Destroyer’s attacks become more and more powerful. In despiration, Thor begins praying to his father to restore his powers before the Destroyer kills him. By this time, one of Odin’s advisors have replaced the viewing crystal stolen by Loki. Seeing Thor’s plight, Odin has decided that the thunder god has learned a lesson in humility and finally restores his powers. At that moment, the Destroyer manages to wrest Mjolnir from Thor’s graps. Suddenly, the hammer pulls free and returns to Thor’s hands making him realize that his powers have returned. Pummeled with Thor’s full power, Sif is powerless to stop the Destroyer from lowering its visor to fire its disintigration ray.

While in Karnilla’s domain, the troll who threw the sword turns out to be Ulik, who has decided his people will no longer be loyal to the Norn Queen. Karnilla tries to immulate Ulik with a fire spell, but the troll easily withstands the attack. Surprisingly, Balder offers to battle Ulik on Karnilla’s behalf. While on Earth, Thor evades the disintigraiton beam by running down an alley. However, this turns out to be a dead end forcing Thor to stand his ground.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Destroyer, Sif, Odin, Balder, Loki, Karnilla, Ulik

Continuity Notes

1. Odin stripped Thor’s power back in Thor #145.

Inhuman at Large

While exploring the outside world, Triton of the Inhumans has been captured by a film crew who intends to bring him back to the mainland and make a fortune off his spectacle. As they approach Manhattan, Triton finds the tranquilizers in his system have worn off and manages to break out of the water filled tank he has been locked up in. When the boat crew tries to contain him, Triton easily overpowers them and then wrecks their ship.

Diving back into the water, Triton has deemed the humans to be prone to violence and hate. He decides to investigate things further by swiming to shore and seeing how face advanced the humans have become so that his people can be ready for any future conflict.[1]

Recurring Characters

Triton

Continuity Notes

1. Per What If? #29, this story takes place in the 1950s.