Thor #154
… To Wake the Mangog!
After Odin split up a fight between Thor and Loki, the thunder god suspects that his father was troubled by something. However, since there appears to be no immediate danger, he decides to return to the hospital to check on Sif. She has just come out of surgery and based on the medical records she is expected to survive. That’s when Thor is visited by Hela, the goddess of death. Although Thor rejected her embrace earlier, she has given him another chance to cross over the mortal coil and live a life of endless battle in Valhalla.[1] Not even an appeal by Harokin can convince Thor to surrender to Death’s embrace.[2] Eventually, Hela gives up and goes away.
The cause for Hela’s appearance before Thor has to do with events that happened earlier. Ulik had crawled into a cave with strange glowing rocks. Finding a strange tombstone warning people not to disturb what is buried under it, Ulik realizes that he has found the legendary Odin-Cave. Digging up the grave, Ulik inadvertedly unleashes a massive horned monster named Mangog. Mangog, the creation of an alien race wiped out by Odin for a failed invasion of Asgard is determined to destroy all of Asgard.[3] Ulik suggest an alliance, but Mangog is much more powerful and tramples the the troll on his way out of the cave.
Back on Earth, Thor changes back to Don Blake so he can apply his medical skill to check on Sif’s condition. When she wakes up from her coma, Don is happy to see that she is going to be all right. Telling her to rest, Don turns into Thor again and then continues his search for Loki who is still lurking somewhere on Earth. However, Loki has had his fill of the mortal plane and decides to flee back to Asgard. There, he discovers that Odin has entered the Odin-Sleep, leaving the throne empty.[4] Without Thor around to oppose him, Loki sits on Odin’s throne and takes charge.
Meanwhile, Thor is fucking the dog on Earth while waiting for Odin to page him. He stops a gang of crooks who are members of Muggers, Incorporated and turns them over to the police. He then bumps into a trio of hippies who complain that Thor is part of the “system, man!” Thor, ever the authoritarian summons a storm to frighten these guys that “dropping out” is really uncool. Anyway, once this heavy handed social commentary is done, Thor continues to fritter his time.
Back in Asgard, Karnilla is still trying to throw herself at Balder the Brave. Balder continues to refuse but since she won’t take no for an answer, she shows him the “Legion of the Lost” a group of other warriors who turned down Karnilla and were turned into statues. When he once again refuses to be her consort, Karnilla reanimates her prisoners and has them attack Balder.
Not far away, Mangog finally crawls out of the Odin-Cave with Ulik. The Rock Troll realizes that he has bitten off more than he can chew and runs off to find a place to survive the comming battle. Finally free, Mangog vows to destroy Asgard and bring about Ragnarok. Still completely clueless, Thor wonders why Odin isn’t answering his summons.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Mangog, Odin, Sif, Balder, Karnilla, Loki, Hela, Harokin, Toag
Continuity Notes
Hela appeared before Thor during his life-or-death battle with the Wrecker in Thor #150.
Thor encountered Harokin in the Tales of Asgard back-up stories in Thor #129-133.
Mangog goes on and on about how Odin slaughtered his people and he is the personification of their rage or whatever (he loves saying “a billion billion”) but we’ll later discover in Thor #157, Mangog is an amalgam of the entire race created by one of Odin’s spell. While every other encounter with Mangog states that this alien race attacked Asgard, Mighty Thor #701 suggests that they may have simply offended Odin. Considering how much of a dick Odin can be sometimes, this isn’t entirely impossible.
It is stated that Odin needs to go into the Odin-Sleep once a year. The last time he did so was in Journey into Mystery #118. Per the Sliding Timescale this is just barely been a year between that story and this one.