Thor #189 — Nick Peron

May 2

May 2 Thor #189

The Icy Touch of Death!

21 21 05 02 %h 01 06 bkhze.png — Credits

With Infinity destroyed, Odin warns that the mastermind behind it — Hela the Goddess of Death — will now seek to take the life of Thor. Unfortunately, there is nothing Odin can do to stop death itself and tells Thor that his best chance of survival is to hide on Earth in his mortal guise of Donald Blake. Sif, fearing for her beloved’s life, insists on going with him. However, Odin denies this request, saying where Thor goes, he must go alone. Odin then teleports Thor away.

Meanwhile, in Hela’s realm, the death goddess wonders why people fear her embrace as death is the natural order of things. She sees death as a gift that cures all illness and ends all suffering. As she ponders the situation she is visited by Loki. Although the trickster god is afraid for his own life, he convinces Hela to spare him by revealing that Thor is hiding on Earth.

As Loki is betraying his step-brother, Balder has gotten an audience with Karnilla the Norn Queen. She only agrees to help save the life of Thor if Balder renounces his loyalty to Odin and pledge allegiance to her. At first, Balder refuses and fights her army of trolls. However, she eventually convinces Balder that he has no choice and he reluctantly accepts her terms. She then teleports Balder to Hela’s domain to stop him from telling Hela how to find the thunder god. This leads to a clash between Balder and Loki, leaving Balder seriously injured. Finding the battle distasteful, Hela teleports the two combatants away to Asgard. Fearing reprisal for openly attacking Balder, Loki drops his weapon and flees. Ignoring his injuries, Balder goes to Odin to tell him what has transpired. Odin is well aware that Balder has pledged allegiance to Karnilla and understands Balder’s noble sacrifice. The All-Father uses his power to heal Balder and then puts him to rest in a bed.

With Thor’s hiding place compromised, Odin sends Volstagg to Earth to warn Donald Blake that Hela will be looking for him. Odin and his Vizier then use their magic to create illusions of Thor on other parts of the world in order to distract Hela. This buys Volstagg the time he needs to make his way to the office of Doctor Donald Blake, and warn Thor’s alter-ego that Hela is on Earth searching for him. Unfortunately, Don has no choice but to change back into Thor when he hears a radio report about some firefighters who are rapidly aging at the scene of an apartment fire.

Thor arrives on the scene and uses his powers to help rescue the people trapped inside the burning building. Hela then appears before the thunder god and gives him an ultimatum: Surrender his life to her, or she will continue aging the firefighters until they die of old age. Realizing that he has no other choice, Thor surrenders to Hela.