Reckless!

Thor is on patrol in the city when he witnesses a cab driver running a red light, almost hitting a woman crossing the street in the process. Thor decides to teach the cabbie a lesson by putting his cab onto a rooftop. Begging for forgiveness, the driver is then brought back down onto the street and made to apologize to the woman. She thanks Thor, but admits that if she was killed it wouldn’t mean much because she has no family to speak of. Thor tells her that all lives are important and have value. As he departs, Thor’s act of kindness reinforces his decision to return to Midgard as there is much he can do to help mortals.

Ducking into a nearby alley, Thor changes into his mortal guise of Doctor Donald Blake so he can make an appointment at a West Side medical clinic so he can re-establish himself in the mortal world after a long absence from it.[1] The administrator, Lionel Jeffries, finds it strange that such a prolific doctor could allow his medical practice to lapse but needs skilled people to meet the demands on his clinic. He reluctantly hires Don, but warns him that he will remain skeptical until Blake proves himself.

As Don is given the tour of his new place of employment, a guard at Ryker’s Island is shown around the room where various weapons and equipment confiscated from super-villains are stored. He is warned not to touch anything because it is dangerous. Left alone, the guard disobeys this warning by trying to straighten up the disorganized stockpile. When he touches the Wrecker’s enchanted crowbar he suddenly finds himself compelled to return the weapon to its owner. In his cell, the Wrecker is pleased that his efforts have paid off. Touching his weapon, the Wrecker’s powers and costumes are restored. Taking the guard hostage, he then breaks out of his cell and frees the other members of the Wrecking Crew. Touching the crowbar together also restores their powers as well.[2] The Wrecking Crew then commandeer a boat and head back to Manhattan where the Wrecker wants to get revenge against Thor.

The pair clear out a MacDonalds so they can have a meal and figure out a plan to draw the thunder god out. Thunderball recommends that they trash the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and the Wrecker likes that idea. Soon, the Wrecking Crew arrive at their destination and begin wrecking the place. As they hope, this draws out Thor who is back out on patrol. Although they have superior numbers, the Wrecking Crew cannot defeat Thor. Soon, Piledriver and Bulldozer are defeated and, seeing how the tide of battle is going, Thunderball decides to flee.

With his plan falling apart, the Wrecker shatters some glass and tries to spray Thor with the broken shards. The thunder god ducks and, tragically, the jagged glass strikes a crowd of people behind him, killing man. Thor is horrified to see that the woman he saved earlier was one of the victims and charges at the Wrecker in a rage. Since the Wrecker wanted power, Thor decides to give him all he can handle by channeling the power of Mjolnir into his foe. This proves to be too much that the Wrecker is jolted into unconsciousness.

This is a hollow victory for Thor, who mourns the loss of the Wrecker’s victims. He hopes that that the woman he saved earlier did come to enjoy her life and wherever her spirit has gone it knows that she managed to touch the heart of a god.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Thunderball, Piledriver, Bulldozer), Lionel Jeffries

Continuity Notes

1. The idea of working at this clinic was recommended to Don back in Thor #267.

2. Mention is made about how the Wrecker’s crowbar was given magical powers by mistake. This was done by Karnilla the Norn Queen who mistook the Wrecker for Loki back in Thor #148. He later shared a portion of his power with the Wrecking Crew for the first time back in Defenders #17.

Love’s Labors Lost

Karnilla the Norn Queen has finally tracked down Balder following the resurrection of everyone in Asgard.[1] She hopes that she and Balder can rekindle their romance, however Balder’s experience with death has left him a changed man. Balder spent many months in the afterlife while his body was kept in a stasis between life and death during the last threat of Ragnarok.[2] His time in the afterlife in a realm conquered by Hela was a horrific one that turned his hair white. The experience also led to him renouncing the way of the warrior and sew for peace. He also now sees that Karnilla is truly evil and has only fought on the side of Asgard in the past because it suited her own ends. As a result, he has no interest in marrying her.

Angered by this rejection, Karnilla summons the Barbaric, her most loyal warrior and orders him to kill Balder. The massive brute begins attacking Balder but he does nothing to defend himself. Balder is also protected by the enchantment that protects him from harm so he feels nothing. Growing more enraged, Karnilla hands Barbaric some mistletoe — Balder’s one weakness — and orders him to use it to slay him.[3] When Barbaric moves to stab Balder in the heart with the mistletoe, he refuses to defend himself as he will not raise a hand against an enemy even if his own life is at risk.

Realizing that Balder means it, Karnilla banishes Barberic and tries to convince him that she does really love him because she spared his life. Balder points out that his life was in danger after her rejected her and tried to kill him, proving his point over her own and asks her to leave him alone. Karnilla leaves without another word but vows to do whatever it takes to make Balder to begging to be hers.

Recurring Characters

Balder, Karnilla

Continuity Notes

1. The people of Asgard were all sacrificed to try and stop the Celestials in Thor #300. They were later resurrected by Thor using borrowed energy from the other pantheons of Earth in the following issue.

2. This Ragnarok was thwarted thanks to the machinations of Odin, although Balder was left in a death-like state until the resurrection of the gods. See Thor #273-278.

3. Here, Karnilla states that Frigga — Odin’s wife — was responsible for casting a spell of invulnerability on Balder. This is another instance of characters citing Norse mythology rather than what has happened in Marvel Continuity. Per Journey into Mystery #106, Balder was given this gift by Odin. Thor: God of Thunder #3 explains that Asgardians have limitations to memory retention due to the fact that they are immortal, thus older memories are either forgotten or mistaken. One could assume that Karnilla — who wasn’t present when Odin made Balder invincible — heard an incorrect account of those events. Balder doesn’t correct her here because this is an emotionally tense scene and it’s not exactly an “Um, actually…” moment or, perhaps, his memory is shit just like everyone else in Asgard and he just accepts her story at face value because it sounds correct enough.