Trapped in Doomsland

In order to free Professor Lafarge from Latveria, Thor had tricked Doctor Doom into thinking Don Blake could heal the monarch’s scarred face.[1] Escaping Doom’s dungeon, Thor finds himself chased by a missile. With a village below in danger from the missile, Thor uses Mjolnir to create a vortex to throw the missile high into the air. The resulting explosion separates Thor from his hammer. When the enchanted weapon doesn’t come back and sixty seconds elapses, Thor reverts back to his mortal identity of Donald Blake. Vulnerable without his weapon, Blake goes searching for it before Doom or his security forces can find him.

Unfortunately, Doctor Doom finds Thor’s hammer first. However, when he tries lifting Mjolnir, the enchantment that prevents the unworthy from carrying the weapon kicks in. Frustrated at being denied such a powerful weapon, Doom then seals it in a force field so nobody can get at it. Returning to his castle, Doom then programs his Silent Stalker robot to hunt down Don Blake and eliminate him.

Watching this from Asgard, Sif pleads with Odin to do something as she fears for Thor’s safety. However, the All-Father refuses to act. He reminds Sif that Thor is the son of Odin and if he is worthy of the royal blood that flows through his veins, he will find a way out of this perdicament.

Meanwhile, Don Blake has broken into the lab where Professor LaFarge is working. He tries to convince the French scientist to help him. However, LaFarge is afraid for his life and figures Blake’s presence is a test of his loyalty to Doctor Doom. Realizing that LaFarge is too afraid to be of any use, Don plays along so he can get away without LaFarge raising the alarm.

Blake quickly comes up with a solution to get his hammer back. Getting a shovel he begins to dig a hole beside the force field that is keeping him from Mjolnir allowing the noise of his digging to rouse some nearby guards. Hiding in a nearby tree, Blake leaves his jacket near the hole. This leads the guards to believe that Don is trying to dig out the hammer. Believing he is still in the hole, the guards blast it and assume that the doctor has been atomized. After they leave, Blake ducks into the hole again, made larger by the guard’s blasters and manages to dug up under the force field. Upon touching Mjolnir, Blake transforms into Thor once again.

Confronting Doctor Doom in his castle, the mad monarch threatens to launch his missiles all over the world if the thunder god doesn’t hand over his enchanted hammer. Thor complies and the enchantment prevents Doom from wielding it. Thor uses this distraction to smash the control panel. Although he is temporarily stunned by the immobilizer built into Doom’s armor, Thor manages to recover his weapon and flee. As he leaves the castle he destroys the missiles before going to Professor LaFarge to try and rescue him. In the lab, Thor discovers that LaFarge was not the unwilling participant his daughter thought he was. As it turns out, Doom promised to pay LaFarge hansomly for his work. Consumed by greed, the Professor refuses to let Thor interfere and tries shooting the thunder god with a gun. Spinning his hammer, Thor deflects the bullets, but one bounces back and kills LaFarge.

With LaFarge dead and the missiles destroyed, Thor heads back to the United States trying to think of a way to explain to Cossette how her father died. When meets with the woman, Thor tells her that he father died a hero trying to stop Doctor Doom’s mad scheme and that his final words were of his daughter. Although this is an outright lie, Thor sees that this gives Cossette come comfort. With his Earthly mission complete, Thor heads back to Asgard to face the menace of the World Beyond.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Doctor Doom, Odin, Balder, Sif, Francis Lafarge, Cosette Lafarge

Continuity Notes

1. Professor LaFarge’s first name is unrevealed here. The France entry in Marvel Atlas #1 identifies him as Francis LaFarge.