The Fateful Decision!

Having successfully freed Hercules and the High Evolutionary from the Black Galaxy, Thor and his allies return to the Citadel of Science on Wundagore Mountain. There, Thor has a stern warning for the Evolutionary, telling him not to toy with humanity’s natural evolution.[1] The master geneticist promises he won’t as he is now going to focus his attention on observing the Bio-Verse that exists within the Black Galaxy to learn its secrets.[2] Observing this exchange from the rafters is the Mongoose who vows to get revenge against Thor for interfering with his plans.

Meanwhile, in Asgard, Odin refuses to enter the Odinsleep even though he is becoming incredibly weak. He insists on waiting until Thor has made his decision on returning home. This greatly concerns the Grand Vizier as travel between Asgard and Earth will become impossible as the domain drifts further into the Negative Zone.[3]

Back on Earth, Thor shaves the beard that he grew on their mission in space, much to the dismay of Hercules, who thinks it is a good look. Thor suddenly feels faint and accidentally cuts himself shaving. However, when Eric asks if Thor is okay, the thunder god dismisses it as nothing while privately worrying that this might be a sign that he must leave Earth forever.[4] As they are distracted, one of the New Men takes the shavings and a sample of Thor’s blood to Count Tagar, giving him a wealth of Asgardian DNA so he can create a new race of gods.

Unaware of this duplicity, Thor soon departs the Citadel of Science with Eric and Hercules on atomic steeds provided to them by the High Evolutionary. After they leave the facility, it blasts off into space so the Evolutionary can begin exploring the Black Galaxy.[5] No sooner is the Citadel of Science gone that the trio are attacked by the Mongoose who ambushes them in a Asteroid Blaster ship. Thor shatters the vehicle with Mjolnir, but Mongoose is able to hold his own against the thunder god thanks to his incredible speed and arsenal of weapons which include a laser weapon used for drilling rock.

Watching from the sidelines, Eric Masterson leaps down to help his friend. Without thinking, Eric grabs Mjolnir just as Thor summons it back into his grasp. Although Masterson is surprisingly able to lift the enchanted hammer it is pulled out of his grasp as the Mongoose blasts him with the laser, mortally wounding him. That’s when Hercules finally catches up and realizing that he is outmatched, the Mongoose escapes.

With Eric clinging to life, Thor uses the power Odin gave him to return home to contact his father and plead for him to save Masterson’s life. Realizing that his son wishes to give up his only way back home to save a mere mortal, Odin decides to grant his son’s wish. Telling Thor that he may never return to Asgard ever again, Odin uses his magic to heal Eric. Soon after, Odin tells the Grand Vizier of Thor’s final decision and fears that Asgard has lost the greatest warrior it has ever seen.

Sometime later, Eric Masterson returns home to his son Kevin and his assistant Susan Austin who are glad to have him home safe and sound. Coming home with him is Hercules, whom Eric introduces as “Harry Cleese” and says that he has come to live with them for a while. That’s when Kevin notices that his father is using an old walking stick and asks what happened to Thor. Unfortunately, neither man has an answer for the boy.

A few hours later, alone on his balcony, Eric tries to make sense of everything that happened since they left Wundagore Mountain. Hercules decides to retire for the night in order to leave Eric alone with his thoughts. Soon after Herc is gone, Eric taps his walking stick on the ground and he is suddenly transformed into Thor. As it turns out, in order to save Masterson’s life, Odin had merged him with Thor and they now live a shared existence. Despite this massive change to his life, the thunder god vows to do whatever he can to defend truth and justice on planet Earth.[6]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Mongoose, Odin, Grand Vizier, Hercules, High Evolutionary, Count Tagar, Eric Masterson, Kevin Masterson, Susan Austin

Continuity Notes

1. The High Evolutionary tried to jump start humanity’s evolution ending with him and Hercules being hyper evolved into discorporate beings until they were rescued by Thor last issue. See X-Factor Annual #3, Punisher Annual #1, Silver Surfer Annual #1, New Mutants Annual #4, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 , Fantastic Four Annual #21, Uncanny X-Men Annual #12, Web of Spider-Man Annual #4, West Coast Avengers Annual #3, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8, and Avengers Annual #17.

2. The High Evolutionary’s exploration into the Bio-Verse will be chronicled in Thor #419-425.

3. Asgard was unmoored from its cosmic axis when the Bifrost Bridge was destroyed by Surter in Thor #351. It drifted into the Negative Zone in issue #404. It will remain there until Odin finally restores the bridge in issue #426.

4. These dizzy spells are being caused by a connection with Loki. See, Loki gave Thor a portion of his power during his battle with Seth in Thor #398. This created a connection in which Loki has been using to slowly weaken his half-brother. Thor will eventually learn the truth in Thor #413.

5. Thor suspected that this is what the Evolutionary was going to do because it is the exact same thing that happened after their encounter in Thor #134-135.

6. Thor and Eric Masterson’s shared existence will endure more-or-less until they are finally separated in Thor #457, with a few twists and turns along the way.

There Dwells a Monster

Thor has been captured by the Rock Trolls who bring him into the tunnels below Asgard and present him to their leader, King Grundar. However, as it turns out, Thor only allowed himself to be captured as the Trolls have been causing a lot of trouble on the surface and he wanted to stop them in their own domain.

However, King Rundar explains that his people have been forced to steal food from the surface because they had been forced out of their kingdom by a powerful threat. If Thor eliminates this threat, Grundar promises to stop plundering the surface. The thunder god agrees to help and Grundar leads him to the Rock Troll’s former home. There he is met face-to-face with the threat, Uroc a massive troll whose body is comprised of Uru, the same mystical metal to create Mjolnir.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Uroc, Grundar