Thor #309
Beware the Bombardiers!
In the middle of the night, the Bombardiers race up New York’s Upper West Side in their rocket car toward the Savoy Hotel. Hired to demolish the building, they ram their building and knock it down with no regard for the people still living inside. Among the victims is an old man named Max Yadow, who is buried under the rubble. His faithful cat, Amos, is unscathed and remains by his master’s side.
Yadow and the other victims of the attack are all rushed to the Westside Medical Center, pushing the small facility to its limits. Among the doctors treating the injured is Doctor Donald Blake, Thor’s mortal identity. He is checking on Max Yadow who dies from his injuries while trying to explain what happened. Amos takes an instant liking to Don Blake and latches onto him when his master dies.
That’s when Don’s boss, Lionel Jeffries, invites him back into his office to speak with Lieutenant Nathaniel Byrd, aka Blackbyrd, who is investigating the incident for the 24th Precinct. Blackbyrd explains that this is the latest in a series of similar low rent housing that have been demolished under mysterious circumstances. The Lieutenant believes that this is the work of a crooked landlord who is trying to get rid of his tenants and collect on the insurance and profit from redevelopment so they can make more money off their property. Don is disturbed to learn that someone would treat human life so callously to make an extra buck and asks Byrd to call him should there be any new leads on the case.
The next day, after digging through the housing and real estate records, Blackbyrd determines that the next target is likely the Belnord Arms located on the corner of 367 West and 112th Street. Don quickly runs to the roof to change into Thor. He is followed by Amos and the cat leaps into the thunder god’s arms, apparently wanting to come along and avenge his master. Thor decides to take the cat with him. When Thor arrives it’s just as the Bombadiers are about to ram the Belord Arms. Thor deflects the rocket car with a blow from Mjolnir, but the vehicle is undamaged because it is constructed out of Adamantium.[1] Although their car is invincible, the Bombadiers decide to attack Thor directly. Emerging from the vehicle, they swoop down at Thor in wing suits and try to blow up the building with their wrist mounted rocket launchers. Thor deflects these projectiles with his hammer but is soon snared in their wrap-around rockets.
This doesn’t keep Thor restrained for long and the battle prompts one of the tenants to call the police. Blackbyrd receives the call and races to the scene and begins exchanging gunfire with the pinned down Bombadiers.[2] The leader of the Bombadiers decides to make a run for it and tries to take off in their rocket car. Thor grabs the vehicle and tries to hold it still while the driver cranks up the rocket thruster to full blast. Blackbyrd then begins shooting at the windshield since it is not as invulnerable as the rest of the car. This shatters the glass and Amos the cat leaps inside. The cat claws the drivers eyes causing him to fall back into a control panel where he is electrocuted on impact. The rocket car meanwhile, takes off into the air. Thor follows after it and rescues Amos moments before the vehicle shorts out and explodes.
When Thor returns to the ground, Blackbyrd and his men have arrested the landlord and are bringing him in. When Blackbyrd explains that this is going to be an open and shut case, Thor reveals the interesting twist — the part of the story about a cat avenging the death of its owner.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Blackbyrd, Lionel Jeffries, Dexter Quentin
Continuity Notes
Thor recounts how his old foe Ultron is also constructed out of the neigh invincible metal Adamantium. This has been the status quo since Avengers #66-68.
Here, Blackbyrd states that he just recently returned to the police force. in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #22, Byrd alleged that he was forced to quit the NYPD or be fired due to a hostile relationship with his superiors. Up until this issue of Thor Blackbyrd operated as a private investigator. Why and how he rejoined the NYPD is not really explained.
Topical References
Blackbyrd asks Don if he is is an amateur Hardy Boy in his spare time. The Hardy Boys was once a popular book series about boy detectives. The series heyday was in the early 20th Century. A popular series for young readers it kind of fizzled out in the 1990s. It still saw print and a half-assed internet search shows that they were still putting out books in 2013 but the franchise is not what it once was. At the time of this writing (October 2021) there is internet chatter about how the Hardy Boys may make an appearance in the new Nancy Drew television series. Nancy Drew was a companion series for girls that has seen a recent revival on TV. Anyway, if I had to explain all of this to you then that’s why this should be considered a topical reference as the Hardy Boys are not really part of the cultural zeitgeist anymore. That could change but this is still an old-as-fuck reference.
Another dated thing in this story is that everybody in this story uses rotary phones. Those are obsolete, I shouldn’t have to explain why. They were kind of out of date around the time this story was written since touch tone phones were quickly becoming the norm, but I digress.
Lastly, one of the Bombadiers states that it is the year 1981. This should be considered topical as that was the year this story was published.
