Thor #374
Fires of the Night!
New York
Investigating the massacre of the Morlocks in the tunnels below New York City, Thor has discovered Angel of X-Factor pinned to a wall.[1] Driving off his attackers, Thor is ambushed moments later by the Marauders known as Harpoon, Vertigo, and Blockbuster. Thor is able to hold his own against the evil mutants until Vertigo uses her powers to disorientate him. Needing to drive his foes off, Thor summons lightning from Mjolnir, heating up the tunnel to the point where the mutants can’t stand the heat and flee.
With his attackers having fled, Thor checks on Angel and discovers that he is still alive, but his wings were gravely wounded. As he removes the harpoons pinning Angel to the wall, the mutant wakes up and begins asking about his young friend, Artie Maddicks who is lost somewhere in the tunnels.[2]
With Angel needing immediate medical attention and the tunnels compromised from battle, Thor picks up the wounded hero and carries him away.
Asgard
Balder the Brave has gone on a quest with Munin, one of Odin’s all seeing ravens. They have ventured into the endless deserts outside of the kingdom where Balder summons Wyrd of the Norns to appear before him. She appears before him in the form of a Sand Devil, but when the brave warrior doesn’t shy away in fear, she reverts to human form. Having passed her test, Wyrd gives him a vial of the waters from the Well of Life which he pours on a single raven feather. This resurrected Hugin, another one of Odin’s ravens, which was killed some time earlier by the demon Surtur. With his mission a success, Balder rides back to Asgard with Hugin and Munin in tow.[3]
New York
Back in the Morlock tunnels, Harpoon and Blockbuster have met up with their teammate, Sabretooth. Hearing how Thor beat them in a fight, Sabretooth’s mocking words humiliate Blockbuster who wanders off to prove that he is stronger than the god of thunder.
Thor, meanwhile, is still trying to find a way out of the tunnels so he can get Angel medical attention. Along the way he finds Artie Maddicks, a young mutant who communicates by projecting images from his mind. Assuring the youth that Angel is still alive and that they are getting out of the tunnels, Thor is ambushed by Blockbuster.
Thor is caught off guard and is shocked when Blockbuster manages to break his arm, something that should be impossible for a mortal to accomplish. Before Blockbuster can defeat Thor, Angel wakes up long enough to jump to his aid. This does little but allow the Marauder to further injure Angel’s wings. However, Thor manages to recover in this time and strikes the evil mutant in the head with Mjolnir so hard that it kills him.[4] With the battle over, Artie summons the images of Cyclops and Marvel Girl, who he believes can help Angel. Thor agrees to help look for them, finding the two heroes to be vaguely familiar as Angel is.
Asgard
Volstagg continues to help two mortal children — Mick and Kevin — adjust to their new life and come to terms with the fact that their mother is dead.[5] The two children are deeply upset by this news and Volstagg tries to cheer them up by introducing them to their new adopted family. Volstagg’s children — particularly Hildy — finds the mortals fascinating and their excitement cheers up Kevin and Mick, much to the delight of Volstagg and his wife Hildegund.
New York
Eventually, Thor, Angel and Artie run into Cyclops and Marvel Girl who have been searching for their friends in the sewers for hours. Seeing how seriously Warren has been injured, Jean uses her telekinetic powers to carry him further. It’s then that Thor finally recognizes the others as members of the original X-Men, recalling the time he and the Avengers helped them battle the threat of Lucifer.[6]
Learning that Thor broke his arm in battle, Cyclops and Marvel Girl fashion a crude cast to keep the bone in place. After this is done, Thor decides that the slain Morlocks need a proper burial and asks that Cyclops and the others leave right away so he can carry out this grisly task. Thor then wanders the tunnels and determines that only he and the dead remain in the tunnels. He is then visited by Hela, who tells Thor that the reason he broke his arm is because she has cursed him as revenge for her previous defeat at his hands.[7] She explains that she has made Thor’s bones incredibly brittle and incapable of healing and that he will suffer for all eternity because she will deny him the mercy of death. With that Hela vanishes, leaving Thor to stew over this recent revelation. Thor then summons lightning and uses it to flood the tunnels and incinerate the dead Morlocks as per Viking tradition.[8]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Marauders (Blockbuster, Harpoon, Sabretooth, Vertigo), Hela, X-Factor (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel), Artie Maddicks, Wyrd, Hildegund, Hildy, Alaric, Rolfe, Gudrun, Flosi, Kevin Mortensen, Mick Mortensen, Hugin, Munin, Silverhoof
Continuity Notes
Angel was captured by the Marauders in X-Factor #10 and was found by Thor last issue. What’s not explained here is why the Marauders are slaughtering all the Morlocks. Cable #28 reveals that Mister Sinister ordered the Morlocks terminated because they were created using her genetic theories by the Dark Beast, a refugee from another reality who was tutored by his world’s version of Sinister.
Warren laments that he can’t do anything right anymore. He is referring to his role in forming X-Factor, which comprises of the original X-Men masquerading as mutant hunters since X-Factor #1. Since then, Warren had been caught in a love triangle between himself, Jean Grey, and Scott Summers (long story) which came to a foot when his girlfriend, Candy Southern, discovered him in a compromising situation with Jean. On top of this, his connection to X-Factor was leaked to the media by Freedom Force. See X-Factor #9-10.
Lots going on here all at once:
This is not the last we see of Blockbuster, as he will turn up seemingly alive again in Uncanny X-Men #240. It’s later explained in X-Men (vol. 2) #32 that Mister Sinister creates clones of the deceased members of the Marauders.
Mick and Kevin’s mother, Ruby Mortensen, was murdered by the Zaniac, see Thor #371-372. Their last name, Mortensen, isn’t identified until the Zaniac profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #13.
Thor is recalling an incident from way back in X-Men #9. Technically speaking, Thor encountered the original X-Men a time after that in X-Men: First Class #5 (if you accept it as part of continuity like I do) The omission here is due to the fact the First Class was published decades after this story. Since Thor had a hard time placing Cyclops and the others you could chalk it up to the Asgardian’s issues with memory that was explained in Thor: God of Thunder #3.
Thor defeated Hela in Thor #360-362 and she put her curse in place last issue. She is forced to undo her spell and restore Thor in Thor #382.