Let There be Life!

Deep in the heart of the Black Galaxy, the Celestials have arrived to witness the birth of the newest member of their race. Observing from the starship Wundagore II, the High Evolutionary, Count Tagar, and the New Immortal named Zon watch in awe. The Evolutionary is desperate to learn their secrets of creation as he hopes it will be the key to pushing humanity beyond its current evolutionary limits.

On a nearby planetoid, Thor and his allies Eric Masterson, the Analyzer, Juvan as well as his foes Stellaris and Nobilus watch as a Celestial is being assembled piece by piece. Soon, a container that contains Hercules moves towards the joining mass building the new Celestial’s outer armor.[1] Thor tries to stop this from happening, but he is easily knocked back to the ground by the living Celestial watching over the birthing process. That’s when the High Evolutionary and his companions arrive. He begins hooking up monitoring devices to the Analyzer to collect all the data on the Celestial birth. Suddenly, the Celestials abduct Eric Masterson in a flash of light. This angers the High Evolutionary, as he believed he’d be the one taken, given he was previously abducted by the enigmatic beings before. The Analyzer then explains that while an individual can reach an evolutionary dead end, the human race itself has no such limits. Realizing the error in his theories the High Evolutionary is stunned into disbelief.

Thor, on the other hand, refuses to let his friends become helpless pawns of the Celestials. Despite being denied his perceived destiny, the High Evolutionary refuses to allow any interference and orders Nobilus to prevent the thunder god from interrupting the birthing process. He is soon joined by his fellow New Immortals, Juvan and Zon, who see Nobilus’ loyalty to their creator as a sign that he is not truly mad after all.[2] While Thor is busy, Stellaris — who wants to destroy the Celestials for wiping out her own people — decides that this is her opportunity to slay the new Celestial before it is born.[3] Bulking up her high tech armor as much as possible, Stellaris takes to the air and flies toward the rapidly forming Celestial. Triggering her suit’s implosion device she strikes the new Celestial at full speed.[4]

Suddenly, there is a blinding white light the emanates from the newborn Celestial that begins expanding outward at incredible speed. It soon envelopes the entire Black Galaxy. It soon retracts and the once gone, the entire bio-verse of the Black Galaxy has been absorbed into the new born Celestial. The collection of data proves to be too much for the High Evolutionary, who has been reduced to a catatonic state from the unimaginable amount of knowledge collected.[5] The Analyzer also reports that all the data it gathered regarding the birth of the Celestial had been corrupted and therefor useless.

In the aftermath of the birthing process, Thor wants vengeance for the apparent demise of his friends. However, the newborn Celestial delivers a container left over from the creation process before flying off to join its brethren as they fly out into the vast universe. Thor breaks open the massive container and is delighted to see his friends Hercules and Eric Masterson are inside, safe and sound. While outside the planetoid’s orbit, the local Watcher has seen everything he has come to see and departs, having other important things to catalogue.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Eric Masterson, Hercules, High Evolutionary, Count Tagar, New Immortals (Nobilus, Juvan, Zon), Analyzer, Sir Lepard, Thor-8710, Gammenon the Gatherer, Ziran the Tester, Red Celestial, Blue Celestial

Continuity Notes

1. After being hyper-evolved both Hercules and the High Evolutionary were abducted by the Celestials for the preliminary part of this Celestial birthing process. See Avengers Annual #17 and Thor #406-408.

2. Nobilus’ sanity has been called into question due to the source of the DNA that was used to create him. See during the War of the Gods (circa Thor #395-400), Thor was given a portion of Loki’s magic to increase his strength. This tainted the thunder god allowing Loki to weaken him from afar. During this period, the High Evolutionary stole a hair sample from Thor in issue #408. Thor later purged Loki’s influence in Thor #413. Nobilus was created in Thor #422 with this allegedly tainted DNA after the fact.

3. Stellaris’ claims have not been independently verified and were later called into question in Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files #1. The real truth has yet to be revealed as of this writing (June, 2022).

4. Although Stellaris appears to die here, she survives her encounter with the Celestials and will turn up alive again in Thor #438.

5. The High Evolutionary will be reduced to a madman as we’ll see in Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch #2-3 and Thor #448-450. He will eventually be back to normal when he appears in Thor #472, and the story of how he regained his sanity being told in the following issue.

The Great Deception

Ymir has been resurrected and has been making his way to Asgard in order to destroy the gods and bring about Ragnarok. At Odin’s command, every able bodied warrior has been sent to the front lines to fend off the monster. With their defenses crumbling, Balder the Brave helps an injured soldier named Arko get to safety. They soon reach a trench where Heimdall and the Warriors Three are recovering from their own injuries as well. However, they all vow that if Ymir reaches them they will fight back with all their strength even if it costs them their lives.

Meanwhile, back in Asgard, the Grand Vizier has been freed after being imprisoned for a time by Odin, who has been possessed by some demonic force. Now the time has come for the Endless Circle and Odin allows the presence — which he intentionally allowed to possess him — to finally take full control of his body. Suddenly, the All-Father transforms into Surtur the fire demon. Once reborn, Surtur fires a flare into the night sky signaling to Ymir that he is waiting for their final battle. He then charges into battle, intending to fulfill a prophecy that Asgard and the universe will be destroyed in both fire and ice.[1]

Recurring Characters

Odin, Surtur, Ymir, Balder, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Heimdall, Arko, Grand Vizier

Continuity Notes

1. Odin allowed himself to become possessed by Surtur back in Thor #418. As we’ll learn next issue, Odin intentionally allowed the prophecy of the Endless Circle to happen in order to stop Ymir and Surtur from causing Ragnarok.