Like a Bat Out of Hell!

Thor has defeated Hela in battle and won the right to reclaim the souls of mortals that she had stolen.[1] Making their way out of Hel, Thor and his army come upon Naglfar, a massive ship being constructed from the finger nails of the damned. With his face horribly scarred during his battle with Hela, Thor has wrapped the remains of his cape around his face to bind his wounds.

As they make their way to the Gjallerbru Bridge, the gatway out of Hel, they are once again confronted by Hela. She reveals that they have left one of their own behind — the Executioner. Teleporting Skurge before them, they discover that he is has been tempted by a woman who appears to be the Enchantress. Balder warns Skruge that he is being manipulated by Hela. Knowing that Balder doesn’t lie, the Executioner attacks his “lover” with his enchanted ax. This shatters the illusion revealing that the “Enchantress” was actually a woman named Mordonna in disguise. Furious over this deception, the Executioner takes out his frustrations on Hela by using his ax to destroy Naglfar.

Blaming Thor for this, Hela once again attacks the intruders in her domain. As Thor and the others attempt to retreat from Hela’s domain, the death goddess summons an army of the damned to stop them. However, the Einherjar are ready for this as they have armed themselves with automatic weapons they obtained during their recent stay in Midgard.[2] Hela’s legions are ill prepared to deal with the machine guns and Thor leads his fellow soldiers through their ranks. Smashing through a wall of soldiers, Thor and the others quickly cross Gjallerbru, facing no opposition from Modgud — the bridge’s guardian — who abandons her post for the first time in centuries.

On the opposite side of the bridge, Thor dismounts from his chariot and tells Balder to lead the others out of the caverns while he holds back Hela’s legions. However, the Executioner has other ideas and knocks Thor out so he can take his place. Without the love of the Enchantress, Skruge intends to die a warrior’s death. Balder and the others leave him with a bunch of guns to defend himself. With a machine gun in each hand, Skurge the Executioner begins mowing down his opponents. Once the ammunition runs dry, Skurge uses the spent gun as a club until he is completely swarmed, dying in a blaze of glory.[3]

The trek through the underground caverns out of Hel proves to be faster than going in and on the opposite side they have the giant wolf Garn blocking their path. With Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder pulling his chariot, Thor knocks out the massive wolf, allowing his comrades to pass unmolested. On the opposite side, Thor is congratulated by Balder succeeding in their mission. With Loki poised to try and seize the Asgardian throne, Thor tells the others that he will be back to the kingdom as soon as he returns the stolen souls to Midgard. After promising to toast Skurge’s sacrifice with Balder when he gets back, Thor vows that he will never forget the Executioner for his sacrifice. With that, Thor uses Mjolnir to open a vortex to Earth so he can complete the last leg of his mission alone.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Executioner, Hela, Balder, Harokin, Agnar, Mordonna, Garm, Modgund, Magma, Toothgnasher, Toothgrinder

Continuity Notes

1. These mortals had their bodies hijacked by Dark Elves during the course of Thor #345-348. In one panel we have a brief glimpse of Magma of the New Mutants wandering around in Hela’s domain, unseen by Thor and his allies. Her appearance here occurs during her time in Asgard seen in New Mutants Special Edition #1.

2. Harokin and the Einherjar traded with the US military to obtain these guns back in Thor #360.

3. Skurge is one of those characters who remain dead over the years but that won’t keep him out of the action. At the time of this writing (October 2021), he has been made regular appearances in Thor (vol. 5), Asgardians of the Galaxy, and most recently in Beta Ray Bill (vol. 2). Not bad for a dead guy.