Thor #375
Shadows of the Past
Asgard
Loki is furious that his recent attempts at claiming the Asgardian throne have been thwarted by his step-brother, Thor.[1] Observing Thor on Earth, he sees that the thunder gone has gone to the west coast…
Los Angeles
Thor has sought out his old friend Tony Stark for some help. After being cursed with brittle bones that will never heal, the thunder god suffered a broken arm in a recent battle.[2]
Stark uses his inventive genius to build a mechanical exo-skeleton for Thor’s broken arm that will compensate for his injury. After a test run, Thor is satisfied that this will do the job.
Asgard
Witnessing this through a crystal ball, Loki decides to travel to Hel to question Hela and learn the full story. Hearing how she cursed Thor, Loki is impressed and tells her that the thunder god may be in her embrace sooner than she thought. After Loki departs, Hela remains impressed that her father’s hatred surpasses her own as he is willing to sacrifice his own children to seek the destruction of his enemies.[3]
Rocky Mountains
Thor is heading back east when he flies over the city that appears to be under attack by his old foe the Man-Beast.[4] Despite the fact that his bones are now incredibly brittle, Thor leaps into battle to fight the creature.
Asgard
Mick and Kevin — two mortal boys adopted by Volstagg — are passing the time playing football with their adopted siblings. However, when Kevin and begins to cry, Hildy tells her siblings that they need to be gentler to the pair since they are mortals and not as strong and durable as they are. This is overheard by Fandral and Hogun who tell the children that there might be a way they can toughen the boys up so they can survive in Asgard. The two warriors lead the mortal children away, promising them that soon they will be strong enough to make Volstagg’s children wary of them.[5]
Rocky Mountains
The battle between Thor and the Man-Wolf comes to an abrupt end when the monster suddenly collapses to the ground and suddenly reverts into an old man. Realizing that he was fighting a mortal horrifies Thor. When officers arrive on the scene they identify the old man by the clothes he is wearing as Howie Bridger, the local milk man. However, Howie was twenty-four years old and seeing him withered to an old husk makes them feel sick. Realizing that something is amiss, Thor takes off for New York so he can warn his fellow Avengers.
Asgard
The Enchantress has sequestered herself in her home to mourn the loss of the Executioner and refuses to leave.[6] She is visited by Heimdall who has decided that Amora has spent too much time sulking and needs to go out and re-experience life. When the Enchantress refuses, Heimdall picks her up and carries her outside despite her protests.
Outside, they run into Balder who has returned to the kingdom after seeking out the Norns to resurrect Hugin, one of Odin’s ravens.[7] Seeing Amora’s plight, Balder asks if she needs any assistance and she quietly declines. Amused by this situation, Balder then heads off to oversee the construction of a massive scabbard that will be used to contain the Twilight Sword.
Oberlin, Ohio
Thor’s trip back east is interrupted when he witnesses a flash of light in Oberlin that was similar to the one that heralded the arrival of the fake Man-Beast in the Rockies. This time, it appears that the Wrecker has appeared and is going on a rampage. Thor isn’t sure if he’s fighting his actual foe or another transformed mortal since the Wrecker can speak and remembers their past battles. However, like the battle with the “Man-Beast”, this “Wrecker” suddenly keels over in the middle of battle and reverts into a mortal who has been aged to death.
Asgard
Loki has ventured into Jotunheim to see the Frost Giants, who are still recovering after Balder used his power of light to reduce their sizes.[8] Loki promises to bring them enough bitter cold to restore their diminished size so that they can attack Asgard once more. The giants are interested but concerned about being opposed by Thor. Loki assures them that the thunder god will be dealt with and proves this by tossing a rune into a nearby lake allowing them to observe Thor’s activities on Earth.
Thor has finally returned to his adopted him and discovers that the Absorbing Man is on the rampage. He believes that this is another mortal transformed into the image of one of his old foes, little knowing that Loki actually summoned the real Absorbing Man. This bait-and-switch was done so that Thor — thinking he is fighting a mortal — will hold back allowing Crusher Creel to destroy the hated thunder god.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Absorbing Man, Loki, Tony Stark, Fandral, Hogun, Heimdall, Enchantress, Balder, Hela, Kevin Mortensen, Mick Mortensen, Hildy, Hugin, Munin, Silverhoof
Continuity Notes
After the alleged death of Odin in Thor #352, Loki has sought to claim the throne of Asgard. He lost this bid when Thor nominated Balder in issue #366.
Hela wanted revenge after Thor humiliated her in issue #361. The curse and his broken arm happened in Thor #373-374. This curse will remain until issue #383.
During this exchange Loki and Hela refer to themselves as father and daughter and make reference to a brother. This is all… very complicated. Allow me to explain:
In Norse mythology, Hela is the daughter of Loki and Angerboda. This alleged origin has been mentioned in the Marvel Universe proper, notably in the Hela profile in Dark Reign Files #1. However, the narrative here states that this based on Norse mythology as well. The same mythology tells that the Fenris wolf is Loki’s brother.
The “role” that Hela’s alleged brother has is part of the Ragnarok prophecy which, in Norse mythology the wolf is slain in the final battle before the fall as Asgard. This was depicted as happening in the previous Ragnarok cycle in Thor #293.
In reality, Hela is not apparently not the daughter of Loki, at least not in the traditional sense. Years after this story, a de-aged version of Loki had befriended a girl named Leah, who was at the time the shield maiden of Tyr. They had a number of adventures but Loki sacrificed her to restore Hela’s amputated hand. It’s a long story but basically check out Journey into Mystery #624-641. Later, Loki wove a new Leah into history and was later forced to banish her into Asgard’s distant past circa Journey into Mystery #642-645. After which, Hela implied that she was the adult Leah.
Here, Thor recounts how the Man-Beast was a hyper-evolved wolf that was created by the High Evolutionary. This story was told in Thor #134-135.
Mick and Kevin were orphaned when their mother was murdered by the Zaniac. They were subsequently adopted by Volstagg. See Thor #371-372. The Zaniac profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #13 reveals that their last names are Mortensen.
The Executioner sacrificed himself so Thor and his allies could escape from Hel after his battle with Hela. See Thor #362.
Hugin was killed by Surtur in Thor #342 and resurrected last issue.
For more on the Frost Giant’s defeat at the hands of Balder, see Balder the Brave #1-4.
Topical References
The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered topical as the towers were destroyed in a terror attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.