Thor #403
When the Executioner Calls!
Seeking to regain her humanity, Quicksand has attacked Thor in part of a deal with the Mongoose, a mutual foe of the thunder god. Although she had the element of surprise, Thor is quickly turning the tide, making her wonder where he partner is. At that moment, the Mongoose and his master are observing the battle from a craft in the sky.[1] They have tricked Quicksand into working with them so they can steal a tissue sample from Thor so they can create a new race of gods from the gathered genetic material. While Thor is distracted in battle, Mongoose is ordered to prepare the Vivistector.
Meanwhile, the Enchantress has arrived on Earth with the Executioner’s enchanted ax in order to find herself a new champion. Appearing near the construction site where the battle between Thor and Quicksand rages on, she overhears the workers talk about an earlier attack on their boss — Jerry Sapristi — by a disgruntled former employee named Brute Benhurst. Intrigued, Amora believes that this might be just the man she had been looking for.
Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Odin collapses due to weakness because he is due to go into the Odinsleep. The Grand Vizier rushes to his aid and tells Odin that he must rest. However, the All-Father refuses to do so until Thor returns home to defend the golden realm while he slumbers as it could take many years to regain his vitality. The Vizier finds wonders how he can tell Odin that Thor refused to answer the summons back home. As he struggles on how to tell Odin the truth, a strange cocoon drifting by in the dimensional void attaches itself to the bottom of Asgard’s floating landmass. Inside, something begins to stir, something that is hungry.
Back on Earth, the police have had a hard time locking up Brute Benhurst who is still fighting mad after his arrest, much to the annoyance of Detective Marcus Stone. Meanwhile, Benhurst bellows from his cell, warning them all that he’ll get even with them. That’s when the Enchantress appears in his cell and offers him the Executioner’s ax, which will give him the power he needs to get revenge. Benhurst accepts the offer without a second thought.
By this time, the Mongoose has finished preparing the Vivisector and he and his master use the device to extract a tissue sample from Thor’s arm. Figuring that she has been betrayed, Quicksand takes Thor’s suddenly faintness to retreat.[2] That’s when Thor is ambushed by Brute Benhurst who has been transformed into the new Executioner.[3] As Thor defends himself from this new attacker, the Enchantress watches from the sidelines, cloaked by a spell of invisibility.
As the fight rages, Eric Masterson begins evacuating everyone from the construction site when he notices that his son Kevin has disappeared. By this time, the new Executioner has used his ax to pull freezing cold from the North Pole to trap Thor in a block of ice. That’s when Kevin Masterson rushes up and begins hitting Benhurst with his toy replica of Mjolnir. The Executioner swats the boy aside, angering Thor and making him realize that this is not the man he once knew as Skurge would never strike a child like a coward. Thor breaks free from his icy prison and then pummels the Executioner into defeat.
It’s at that moment, that Odin learns that Thor had refused his summons and grows furious. Meanwhile, Thor thanks Kevin for his help and creates a link between Mjolnir and Kevin’s toy replica by tapping the two together. While the thunder god is distracted, the Enchantress considers Benhurst a failure and absconds with the Executioner’s ax, leaving Brute to face the authorities on his own.
That’s when Odin appears in the sky and angrily demands that Thor answer his summons. When Thor tries to explain himself, Odin refuse to hear any excuses and teleports the thunder god back to Asgard. Witnessing this, Kevin asks his father if they’ll ever see Thor again, a question Eric is unsure if he can answer.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Enchantress, Executioner, Odin, Grand Vizier, Sif, Eric Masterson, Count Tagar (unidentified), Quicksand, Mongoose, Loki, Kevin Masterson, Marcus Stone, Jerry Sapristi
Continuity Notes
Moongoose’s mysterious master is Count Tagar, as we’ll learn in Thor #406.
Thor’s sudden weakness is not from the vivisection device, but because of the machinations of Loki. When Loki gave Thor a portion of his power in Thor #398, it gave the trickster the ability to affect Thor from afar. Thor will discover the truth in issue #413.
Multiple mentions are made how the original Executioner, Skurge, is dead. He sacrificed his life so Thor and his allies could escape Hel. See Thor #360-362.
The Wolves of Ravenswood!
The wolves of Ravenswood have been attacking the sheep flocks of Asgard, prompting its greatest warriors to gather a hunting party together. Young Thor wishes to join the party, but he is ordered to stay behind because he is inexperienced as a warrior. Watching his brother getting left behind, Loki tricks the thunder god into going out on his own to try and find the wolves. Loki agrees to accompany him, only so he can witness Thor get eaten alive after his enchanted sword shatters in battle.
Soon after they being their search, Thor and Loki find the wolves who have cornered a young girl named Sif on some rocks.[1] Although the girl valiantly defends herself, Thor rushes to her aid since she is greatly outnumbered. However, when Thor tries to use his sword it shatters on the first blow. Quick thinking, Sif tosses him her staff to defend himself. Sif also helps keep the wolves at bay by throwing rocks at them.
However, things soon look bleak but before the wolves can devour them, the hunting party arrives and slaughters the wolves. Seeing his hated step-brother get saved, Loki rides back to the kingdom alone, vowing that he will destroy his hated brother some day.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Sif, Loki, Haakun
Continuity Notes
Here, Sif is depicted with black hair, which contradicts previously established continuity. In Norse mythology, Sif was originally a blonde with golden hair. Jealous of her beauty, Loki cut off all her hair. When he was discovered he was forced to go to replace it. The new hair that was fashioned was black as night. This was first depicted in the Marvel Universe in Thor Annual #11, which states that these events happened around the time Thor was about 20 years old. Many other stories have contradicted this, and we’ll go into it in more detail below. For more on the inconsistencies of Norse mythology in the Marvel Universe, go here.
Sif’s Hair
As stated above, this story depicts Sif as having black hair years, which contradicts Norse mythology as describe above and as depicted in the aforementioned Thor Annual #11. This doesn’t appear to be coloring error but an intentional choice if the Tales of Asgard story about Glimda from last issue is any indication. I can’t say with any certainty, but it looks like writer Tom DeFalco was trying to retcon the story about Sif’s hair. I have no fathomable idea since it really doesn’t add anything other than a case for why retcons don’t fucking work in the Marvel Universe.
Since this story, there have been many stories that have played it fast and loose as to when Sif traded in her golden locks for the black hair she is best known for having. Prior to this story, in Thor Annual #5, there is a scene that shows Sif as a child and in that tale she is depicted with golden hair. Journey into Mystery #102 also features a story of an adult Sif with golden hair. As stated above, Thor Annual #11 states that Sif’s hair was cut off and replace around the time Thor was 20 years old.
However, later tales depict this as happening earlier. For example, Avengers Origins: Thor #1, states that Sif’s hair was cut off around the time Odin first enchanted Mjolnir when Thor was still a boy. The series Thor: Son of Asgard, which chronicles Thor’s adventures as a teenager, depicts Sif with black hair, also suggesting that her impromptu hair cropping happened at an earlier period than described in Thor Annual #11.
As usual, all of these differing accounts could be chalked up to the scapegoat provided in Thor: God of Thunder #3. In that issue, it’s stated that one of the issues with immortality is that the Asgardians have a limited capacity for memories and that over the years old memories are either overwritten or become dimmer than more recent memories. These differencing accounts could all be chalked up to the fact that Thor and the people of Asgard all have very shitty memory.
