Graviton

Thor has come to Avengers Mansion to get some exercising in with the equipment there. Joining him is the Wasp who asks if she can spend some time with Thor’s mortal identity of Donald Blake.[1] The thunder god obliges and reverts back to his mortal form. Janet immediately embarrasses herself by asking how an attractive doctor like Don Blake could not be married yet.[2] The pair hit it off and Don spends much of the evening discussing the unique differences between himself and Thor.[3]

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, the villain Graviton appears in the city after being trapped in a gravimetric dimension for months. After restoring his costume he tracks down Judy Parks in another attempt to force her into a relationship with him. However, he discovers that Judy has married one of their co-workers and pregnant with his child.[4] It finally sinks into Graviton’s head that Judy is not interested in him and so the master of gravity decides to find another woman suitable to be his queen. The problem is that Graviton has no idea where to even begin looking and so he goes to a nearby bar to drown his sorrows. When he tells the bartender his plight, the bartender suggests that Graviton go to where the women are at — naming off a number of high end luxury stores that New York is famous for. This gives Graviton a sudden burst of inspiration.

By this time, Don Blake and the Wasp have wrapped up their conversation. In order to get back home to Chicago, Blake goes outside and changes into Thor so he can fly back on his own. As he soars across the city, the thunder god comes across a strange sight: One of the city’s most expensive shopping centers has been lifted into the air. This, of course, has been caused by Graviton. Inside, he tells the women shopping that he will be selecting the most beautiful among them to be his queen, saying the winner will get the entire contents of the store as a prize.

When Thor tries to attack Graviton, the villain uses his gravity powers to separate the thunder god from Mjolnir and tosses both outside. As a result, Thor is separated from his hammer for more than 60 seconds and reverts back to Don Blake. Plummeting to the street below, Don manages to snatch his walking stick out of the air. With no way to break his fall, Blake manages to strike his walking stick on impact with the pavement triggering a transformation back into Thor saving his life. However, the thunder god isn’t finished with his alter-ego just yet and reverts back to Don Blake in order to make a quick stop at a nearby pharmacy.

When Thor returns to the department store he is armed with a syringe of sodium pentothal. He gets close enough to Graviton to inject him with the sedative. When Thor explains what he has done, Graviton agrees to lower the building before he blacks out in order to spare the women inside the store from dying in the fall. This gambit pays off but the women are upset that Thor would gamble their lives like that. He then shows them that he had a second needle full of a stimulant to use on Graviton, just in case his original plan failed.

With the danger over, Thor realizes that Graviton is too powerful to be contained in any prison on Earth and so he teleports to a dimensional void where his powers are useless.[5] With Graviton dealt with, Thor returns to Earth and makes his way back home to Chicago.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Graviton, Wasp, Judy Parks

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, the Wasp had recently learned of Thor’s alter-ego in Avengers #220.

2. Janet mentions how she is recently single. She had divorced her long time husband, Hank Pym, after he hit her in Avengers #213.

3. Blake states here that he was created by Odin as a mortal guise for Thor. This was first detailed in Thor #159. While Blake doesn’t go into detail about why he and Thor are so different, Thor (vol. 3) #1 reveals that Don was a mystical entity that has its own unique persona separate from Thor.

4. Here, Graviton’s origins are recounted from Avengers #158-159 and his most recent defeat in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One Annual #4.

5. This is not the end of Graivton who will return to Earth in West Coast Avengers #2.

Topical References

• This story makes a number of references to some of New York’s most iconic high end department stores: Bloomingdales and Sak’s Fifth Avenue. Part of the story even takes place in Bloomingdales. These should be considered topical references since they are real world businesses.

A Gathering of Evil

In far off Asgard, Odin pays a visit to Jolena, a warrior queen and once his lover. Although Odin still has deep feelings for Jolena, he has come to tell her that they can never be together again as he is now married to Frigga. Jolena understands and tells Odin that she will cherish their past love forever.[1]

Little do they know that they are being spied upon by Loki through the window. Although he cannot hear what they are saying, the trickster believes that his step-father is being unfaithful to his wife and decides to use this to his advantage. He returns to Asgard to spread the news about Odin’s “infidelity” to the masses. When Odin returns home, Frigga has heard the rumors. He assures his wife that he has remained faithful to her and that the rumors are unfounded.

Meanwhile, Loki has convinced Tyr to join force with him against the nation of Asgard. The war god is eager to join Loki because he has frequently been overshadowed by Thor over the years. He suggests that they capture the goddess Idunn, severing the people of Asgard from the golden apples they need to maintain their immortality. Loki agrees with this plan and they set about gathering allies. While the Storm Giants and Sons of Surtur all agree to join, they find that Hela has no interest in joining their side.[2] Still, they find more allies from the Norn Queen Karnilla and the Wolfling Warriors who recently suffered defeat at Odin’s hands.

Recurring Characters

Odin, Heimdall, Jolena, Loki, Frigga, Tyr, Karnilla

Continuity Notes

1. The whole plotline involving Jolena and her kingdom was covered in Thor #320-322. The whole with with the Wolfling Warriors happened then as well.

2. Hela states that she made peace with Odin. Recently, Hela had annexed Valhalla into her realm leading Odin to reform the Valkyrie and liberate it. This happened in Thor #311-314.