The Shape of Things to Kill!

For nine days the people of Asgard have been celebrating their recent resurrections.[1] It’s during this time that Thor wins a bet with Tyr by being able to lift a table carrying a number of Asgardians. Willfully accepting defeat, Tyr pays Thor for losing the bet. Not everyone is enjoying the festivities however. Loki is annoyed that he continues to be shackled to his wife, Sigyn, for his crimes against the kingdom. While Balder, having been resurrected after months in a death-like state finds no joy in these celebrations.[2] When Fandral suggests that Balder join them on an adventure, he angrily tells the Warriors Three to leave him alone and storms off. Concerned for his friend, Thor follows Balder to the Avenue of Heroes and asks him what’s wrong. Balder explains that while his body was kept in stasis his soul wandered the halls of Valhalla. He tells Thor that the domain has since been conquered by Hela and the souls there tormented. So horrific were his experiences, Balder has been changed by them. Removing his helmet, Balder reveals that the experience turned his hair white. He also no longer wishes to fight anyone, let alone take a life, lest they suffer the same horrors. Balder now wonders what place he has in Asgard now that he will no longer fight. Thor tells Balder that he is brave despite his new vow of non-violence and that he will always view Balder as a brother due to them any times that Balder saved his life in the past.[3]

Leaving Balder with his thoughts, Thor is soon joined by Sif who hopes that the current calm in Asgard will allow the pair to finally get married. While Thor looks forward to this day finally coming he has much to think about. When he retired to his castle, Thrudvangar, he thinks about how he is connected to Earth just as must as he is Asgard due to his dual nature. He has has conflicting feelings about his mortal love, Jane Foster. He thinks about how Sif merged her self with Jane in order to save the mortal woman’s life. While he was with Jane for some time, Jane transformed into Sif after grasping her sword and has not been seen since. This bothers Thor and he wonders if Jane is still buried somewhere inside Sif’s dominant persona.[4]

The following morning, Thor and Sif are having breakfast together and he tells her his desire to return to Midgard. Sif doesn’t like this idea but Thor insists that he must have a connection with his other home, telling her to at least try living in the mortal world after he has re-established a life for his mortal form, Doctor Donald Blake. That’s when the Warriors Three come bursting into the room and ask for Thor’s aid in quelling some Storm Giants that are causing trouble in Jotunheim. Thor tells them that he can’t because he is returning to Midgard, and is confident that the Warriors Three can handle themselves. They can hardly understand why Thor is so attached to the world of mortals. He explains that he has learned to appreciate their fraility and mortal struggles and enjoys healing the sick as Don Blake as much as he loves going into battle as Thor. After getting Odin’s permission to return to Earth, Thor teleports himself to New York City.

There, he resumes his mortal form for the first time in a long while and gets to work re-establishing himself.[5] Blake goes to the bank to withdraw some money from his account. However, because his account had become inactive he is asked to speak with a bank manager and provide a reference in case they had an questions about his whereabouts and financial affairs. Don gives Tony Stark as a reference which is more than enough to satisfy the bank.[6]

That’s when the outer wall of the bank is blown open by a massive geometric cone of red energy. Through the hole comes an unassuming man with balding hair and glasses. He quickly traps the bank staff and patrons behind a barrier wall with a wave of his hand. He tells them not to panic as he has just come to steal money and not harm anyone. That’s when the owner of the bank, Mister Hennicut comes out and demands to know what all the commotion is. He recognizes the man robbing the place as Aaron Verne, a former teller he fired recently. Verne restrains Mister Hennicut with his powers. As he heads to the bank vault he explains what happened. Aaron was obsessed with geometry but was unable to afford college and had to accept regular jobs, the last being working for the bank. Unfortunately, Verne had a habit of daydreaming about his obsession on the job and was fired for not being focused on his tasks. Returning to his run down apartment, Aaron once again fantasized about the perfection of geometric shapes when suddenly the objects he was thinking of began to materialize before his eyes. Somehow, he managed to tap into some ability to manifest these shapes into reality. Seeking to get revenge, he decided to go back to his former employer and rob them. Sealing a large sum of money in a rectangular cube, Verne tells them to call him Locus the Geometric Man, and departs.

While nobody is looking, Don Blake slips into a maintenance closet where he can tap his cane on the floor and transform back into Thor. He confronts Locus outside where police are forced to stand down because their bullets bounce off Locus’ geometric constructs. The Geometric Man manages to hold his own against Thor’s hammer, but with every blow to his objects there is feedback that Aaron can feel in his mind. Deducing that Thor’s power must come from Mjolnir, Locus tries separating them by trapping both the hammer and the thunder god in separate cubic prisons. Thor wills his hammer to return before the 60 second time limit kicks in an reverts him back to Don Blake. Despite his efforts, Locus cannot prevent the enchantment that ensure Mjolnir returns to its master after being thrown as the hammer literally pushes through his shapes to get back into Thor’s hand.

Seeing how powerful Thor’s weapon is, Locus decides to try and claim it for himself by taking a hostage and threatening to kill her if the thunder god doesn’t surrender his weapon. Thor complies and Locus uses his powers to lift the hammer up into the air where he is suspended so he can bend down and pick it up. He doesn’t anticipate the enchantment that prevents anyone who is unworthy from lifting the hammer and Locus is violently pulled to the ground. Thor chooses to save the hostage, leaving Aaron Verne to hit the ground hard. Recovering his hammer, Thor sees that Locus needs immediate medical attention. He then slips away to change back into Don Blake, who offers to treat the defeated Verne until an ambulance finally arrives.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Odin, Tyr, Loki, Frigga, Sigyn, Balder, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Sif, Hermod

Continuity Notes

1. Odin sacrificed everyone to try and destroy the Celestials and failed. Thor later got the help of all of Earth’s others pantheons to resurrect the Asgardians after the Celestials were convinced to spare Earth. See Thor #300-301.

2. Loki’s punishment and Balder’s near death experience all happened during one of the most recent threats of Ragnarok on Asgard which was chronicled in Thor #273-278.

3. Here, Thor and Balder state that while they are not blood relatives, they respect each other like brothers. Little do they know that Balder is actually Thor’s half-brother. This is kept secret until the truth is revealed to them in Thor (vol. 3) #10.

4. Jane made a failed attempt at suicide after being compelled to do so by the unknown in Thor #230-231. In order to save her life, Sif used the Runestaff of Kamo-Tharn to merge their essences together in Thor #236. Jane remained the dominant form until touching Sif’s sword in Thor #249. It’s later revealed that the two didn’t so much merge as Jane’s physical form was trapped inside the Runestaff. When Thor and Sif learn the truth they assist Keith Kincaid on a rescue mission in Thor #334-335.

5. Readers are reminded that the last time Thor was active as Don Blake was in Thor #267, minus an instance or two when Thor was forced back to his mortal form in battle, like in issue #291.

6. At the time of this story, Thor and Iron Man are aware of each others secret identities. They figured it out in Avengers #113.