Thor #178
Death is a Stranger
Odin has reclaimed the throne of Asgard and his people celebrate his return and the defeat of Surtur the fire demon. However, despite the festivities, Thor has a feeling of foreboding that something strange is afoot that evening.
At that same moment, the Abomination is returned to the Stranger’s prison world after his failed battle with the Silver Surfer.[1] Appearing outside the Stranger’s citadel, the Abomination decides to get revenge against his captor. Inside, the Stranger is looking for his next specimen to capture and teleports away. Using the Stranger’s computer, the Abomination inadvertently teleports Thor to the citadel. The gamma-spawned monstrosity convinces Thor that he and the Stranger’s other captives are being held against their will. Thor then assists the Abomination in freeing the other prisoners. Detecting the jailbreak, the Stranger returns to see who is responsible, prompting his prisoners to flee. Thor then clashes with the Stranger and discovers that the cosmic being is very powerful. After the Stranger creates three duplicates of himself, the thunder god decides to flee in order to figure out a better strategy.
While back in Asgard, Sif is concerned about Thor’s sudden disappearance and seeks permission from Odin to go looking for him.
Meanwhile, Thor decides to gather more information by looking around in his mortal form of Doctor Donald Blake. He quickly finds the Abomination rallying an army to fight back against the Stranger and discovers that all of the captives are actually evil. Blake is quickly found and has his walking stick taken away. Luckily, Don manages to break free and escape and the Abomination decides to ignore the lame doctor to focus on his attack on the Stranger. As Don searches for his walking stick, it is found and returned to him by Sif who was able to track him down.
Changing back into Thor, the thunder god attacks the Abomination’s army and easily defeated them. That’s when the Stranger arrives and prepares to attack Thor again. Realizing that the cosmic being could be a threat to Asgard, Thor decides to take a different approach. Instead of fighting the Stranger, he travels back in time to the moment the Abomination brought him to the Stranger’s world. There, he quickly subdues the Abomination and locks him in a cell, preventing the jailbreak from ever happening. He then returns to Asgard where he finds Sif waiting for him. The two share a kiss before heading off to spend the evening together.[2]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Abomination, Stranger, Odin, Balder, Sif
Continuity Notes
The Abomination was imprisoned by the Stranger following his battle with the Hulk in Tales to Astonish #90-91. He was returned to Earth by a coven of witches to battle the Silver Surfer in Silver Surfer #12.
Thor’s time travel trick causes the timeline to diverge. Earth-616 continues on without the Abomination staging the breakout on the Stranger’s world, while an alternate reality continues on where he did. This divergent timeline is designated Reality-70766 per Abomination entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1.
