The Wild Hunt!

New York

Roger Willis has been sent to New York City to recover the Casket of Ancient Winters before it can be recovered by Malekith the Dark Elf. He has been careful not to be tailed but is confident that his time in the military has given him the skills he needs to defend himself. Suddenly, he is attacked by some men under Malekith’s control and quickly fights them off before fleeing in a nearby taxi.

Meanwhile, at the law office of Strother and Martin, Thor meets with the lawyer in charge of the estate of Eric Willis, Roger’s father. With Eric possibly dead, the lawyer has contacted Thor per Eric’s last will to inform him of the situation involving the Casket. Thor thanks the lawyer for contacting him and after taking a photo of Eric, Thor sets out looking for him.

While at a bar on the west end, Lorelei is enjoying herself by turning down the men who have come up to try and pick her up, telling them that she belongs to someone already. When one of the patrons says he saw Thor fly by overhead, Lorelei boasts that she could get Thor to do whatever she pleases.[1] At least, she thinks to herself, that she will once she gets him to drink her golden mead. One of the patrons overhears this and decides that his master might want to know about it and rushes to a nearby payphone.

As Roger Willis emerges from a subway station on 8th and 23rd, Thor arrives at the police station where his father was taken after being arrested. There, the officers seem friendly and compliant enough and they offer Thor some cookies while they go to fetch Willis. However, this is all a trick as the cookies are tainted in such a way that the consumer gets possessed by one of Malekith’s faeries. Eating one instantly makes Thor feel sick and the possessed police officers begin boasting how he will soon be under their control. However, the Asgardian’s constitution proves stronger than the enchanted food and he succeeds in fighting off the possession through sheer force of will. Thor renders the officers unconscious with a bolt of lightning from Mjolnir and vows to free them from Malekith’s control once his dark plot is put to an end.[2]

By this time, Roger has recovered the Casket of Ancient Winters from its hiding place beneath a section of the West Side Highway. In order to carry the ancient artifact through New York without attracting attention, Roger removes it from its leather bag and stashes it in one of a popular New York department store. Moments after Roger departs, Malekith arrives to claim the Casket for himself. Discovering the empty leather bag, the Dark Elf realizes that he is too late. Pulling a massive horn from he side pouch, Malekith blows into it, calling for the Wild Hunt to scour the city and find the artifact.

Back at the police station, Thor is trying to figure out how he will find Roger Willis when suddenly he hears the sound of the Wild Hunt being called and races outside.

By this time, Roger has been crossing the city by hopping in various cabs. Unfortunately, this plan hits a snag when he gets caught in midtown traffic while trying to cross the Queensborough Bridge. It’s here that the Wild Hunt — a swarm of demonic hounds — appears in the sky overhead. Realizing he’s in big trouble, Roger tries to make a run for it across the bridge. Knowing that the faerie creatures are vulnerable to iron, Roger pulls his gun and begins shooting the hounds that get too close. However, he is soon ambushed behind by one of the Masters of Hounds who arrives astride a demonic horse.

Asgard

Balder has wandered into the endless desert outside the kingdom in the hopes of ending his life.[3] He is about to accept his fate when suddenly he hears a woman cry for help. Seeing that she is being chased by a massive Sand Devil, Balder picks up a the nearest weapon — a log — and rushes to the damsel’s aid. Watching from a nearby dune is Agnar of Vanaheim who doesn’t understand why Balder would face such a menace with such a weak weapon as it would surely mean his death.

New York

Thor arrives on the scene, blasting the Master of the Hounds with a bolt of lighting. This sears off the attacker’s armor revealing him to be none other than Malekith. Leaping to Roger’s side, the pair begin working together to repel the seemingly endless stream of demonic hounds.

Elsewhere Beyond the Fields we Know

Surtur has completed constructing Twilight, the sword that will bring about the end of Asgard. Amassing his armies he tells them that their time has finally come and that all who live will soon hear their battle cry and despair.

New York

The battle on the Queensborough Bridge continues onward but things are starting to look bleak as the hounds keep coming and Roger is running out of bullets. That’s when they notice that the creatures are not attacking in their full numbers. That’s when they realize that the hounds are naturally afraid of approaching the bridge, which is constructed out of iron. Believing that he has already won, Malekith boasts how he will be taking the Casket of Ancient Winters back to his domain located in the Cotswolds of England. However, Thor quickly breaks away from the battle to rip free an iron girder from the side of the bridge and throws it at the dark elf. It strikes Malekith’s shoulder, wounding him and prompting the elf to make a hasty retreat with his Wild Hunt following not far behind. However, Thor knows that this is only a temporary reprieve and that they must quickly find cover before Malekith and his forces have a chance to regroup.

Malekith meanwhile, has retreated to the penthouse apartment of Lorelei as he has heard about her mission on Earth and they can assist with his schemes.

Back on the bridge, Thor and Roger compare notes on the Casket of Ancient Winters. Thor confirms Roger’s fears, that his father Eric has died. The two then begin trying to figure out where to hide the Casket where it cannot be found. Thor comes up with the ideal place but it will involve revealing his civilian identity of Sigurd Jarlson to Roger, a necessary compromise given the gravity of the situation.

He takes her to Lorelei’s apartment, although Thor only knows her as Melodi, a woman he recently saved. There she welcomes Sigurd and Roger inside and recommends they have a drink. Sigurd is quite parched and accepts a glass of golden mead. Drinking it, Thor falls madly in love with Lorelei as per her plan. However, when he kisses the woman he thinks is “Melodie” he can tell she is an impostor. Sure enough, “Melodie” turns out to be an enchanted trunk of wood made to look like her. Reverting back to its original form, the enchanted wood tells Thor that Melodie is a prisoner of Malekith and if he wants to see her alive again he will surrender the Casket of Ancient Winters. Now obsessively in love with Melodie, Thor vows to track down Malekith and make him pay for kidnapping his beloved.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Malekith, Roger Willis, Balder, Agnar, Surtur, Lorelei, Urd

Continuity Notes

1. Lorelei has been on Earth attempting to make Thor her love slave since Thor #340 and entered his personal life as “Melodie” after he saved her from Fafnir in the following issue.

2. Thor later learns that the souls of the possessed police officers have been taken into Hela’s domain and embarks on a quest to liberated them in Thor #360-362.

3. Balder’s suicidal attitude is the result of a complex situation: He had a brush with death from Thor #274 through 301 in which his soul witnessed unspeakable horrors in Hel. When he returned to life, Balder swore to become a pacifist. However, he was forced to compromise his mortals to defend himself in Thor #344 leading to the decapitation of Loki. Horrified by what he had done, Balder ventured into the desert to end his life. Agnar has been following Balder since Thor #338 because he wishes to fight to the death to prove his prowess as a warrior.

Topical References

• In this story, Roger Willis states that he fought in the Korean War. This should be considered a topical reference as it would drastically age the character.

• This story states that the Casket of Ancient Winters was hidden under an abandoned section of the West Side Highway. At the time of this story, the WSH had been abandoned due to neglect and disrepair in 1979. It was later dismantled in 1989. A new highway was built in its place that completed construction in 2001. As such references to the highway being abandoned should be considered topical.

• Roger stashes the Casket of Ancient Winters in a Macy’s shopping bag. This should be considered topical because Macy’s is a real world department store.

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should also be considered topical because they were destroyed in a terror attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.