Thor #429
This World is Mine!
Thor and Excalibur — Nightcrawler, Captain Britain, Shadowcat, Meggan, Phoenix, and Lockheed — have been captured the the Juggernaut, who has taken over an alien world after Thor banished him into deep space.[1] However, before the heroes can be executed, they are rescued by rebel fighters led by the deposed Prince Zalaski who seeks to regain his lost kingdom.
Back on Earth, the Wrecking Crew are regrouping after being defeated by our heroes. With Bulldozer in police custody, Piledriver insists that they free him right away. When he starts a fistfight with Thunderball, the Wrecker breaks it up. The Wrecker explains that they’ll bust their friend out when he is transported to prison.
At that same moment, at a local police station, Bulldozer is being guarded by Mad Dog Rossitano of Code: Blue, the NYPD’s special operations team that deals with superhuman threats. Soon, Rigger Ruiz enters the room and tells Rossitano that they are going to be moving Bulldozer soon. The route they will be taking will take them through Cypress Hills cemetery the location of the motorcycle riding vigilante the media is calling the Ghost Rider.
Meanwhile, Thor and Excalibur have been taken to the underground hideout of the resistance trying to overthrow the Juggernaut. Prince Zalaski wants the Earthlings help in restoring him to the throne. Zalaski is not any better than the Juggernaut as he too was a tyrant. However, seeing that there is no choice, Thor agrees to provide aid and even goes so far as to promise that he will not turn against Zalaski once the Juggernaut has been dealt with. Excalibur is left behind as collateral as Thor heads back to the royal palace to battle the Juggernaut one-on-one. While everyone is distracted, Shadowcat uses this opportunity to use her phasing powers to free herself and her comrades.
At the scene of the battle, the Juggernaut brags about how the source of his invincibility comes from the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak.[2] With this, Thor uses Mjolnir to create a vortex around the palace that cuts off all mystical energies, cutting the Juggernaut off from his source of power. The pair then slug it out and although the thunder god manages to crack open the Juggernaut’s helmet, he is forced to summon his hammer back before the 60 second enchantment has him revert back to Eric Masterson. Seeing how powerful Thor’s hammer really is, the Juggernaut decides that he is going to take it for his own as it would give him even greater power.
Back on Earth, Code: Blue is transporting Bulldozer across the city. As they pass Cypress Hills cemetery they are ambushed by the Wrecking Crew. The commotion from the attack attracts the attention of Danny Ketch who races to his motorcycle and touches the mystical symbol on its gas cap, triggering his transformation into the Ghost Rider. The so-called Spirit of Vengeance then races to the scene and ambushes the Wrecking Crew.
While on the alien world, the Juggernaut knocks Mjolnir out of Thor’s hands and tries to pick the weapon off the ground. Unfortunately for him the enchantment that only allows the worthy to pick up the hammer prevents him from lifting it. Recovering his weapon, Thor then decides to use it to catapult the Juggernaut off to a distant meteor that is streaking by in the sky, ending his threat. The return trip of Thor’s hammer takes longer than 60 seconds and he reverts back to Eric Masterson. As the people celebrate their liberation, he tells them not to allow Prince Zalaski to resume his rule telling them to lead themselves. After making his impassioned speech, Masterson catches Mjolnir on its return and changes back into Thor. Since it was Eric Masterson who spoke against Zalaski, Thor technically did not violate his oath. While in space, the Juggernaut holds onto the meteor for dear life, but vows that somehow he’ll get back to Earth and get his revenge against Thor![3]
On Earth, the battle between the Ghost Rider and the Wrecking Crew rages on. It comes to an abrupt end when the Wrecker blasts Ghost Rider with mystical energy channeled through his enchanted crowbar. This summons the demon Mephisto to Earth frightening the villains away. The Ghost Rider finds Mephisto familiar but cannot explan why.[4] The summoning of Mephisto is detected by Loki from his office tower headquarters. He is furious that the Wrecker has attracted unwanted attention from the Lord of Lies and decides that something needs to be done about the Wrecking Crew before they spoil his carefully laid plans.[5]
Eventually, Eric Masterson returns home and finds his assistant Susan Austin and colleague Jerry Sapristi waiting for him. They have grown incredibly worried about Eric’s frequent absences and have decided to stage an intervention. Jerry tells Masterson that he has figured out his secret, shocking Eric who fears that they now know that he shares his life with Thor![6]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Juggernaut, Excalibur (Captain Britain, Nightcrawler, Meggan, Shadowcat, Phoenix), Mad Dog Rossitano, Rigger Ruiz, Ghost Rider, Loki, Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Thunderball, Piledriver, Bulldozer), Mephisto, Eric Masterson Susan Austin, Jerry Sapristi
Continuity Notes
How we got to here is a little bit complicated. Juggernaut was defeated by Excalibur and locked up in Crossmoore Prison in Excalibur #3. During the Acts of Vengeance event, has was freed by Loki to battle Thor. The thunder god defeated Juggs by banishing him to a distant asteroid, as seen in Thor #411-412. Wanting to learn what happened to Juggernaut, Excalibur were sent to the USA to interview Thor leading to this moment, as seen in Thor #427-428.
At least Tom DeFalco isn’t accidentally calling the Juggernaut a mutant again. Indeed he got his power from the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak as seen in X-Men #12.
According to X-Men Legacy #219, Juggernaut spent about a year lost in space before he returned to Earth. His next appearance was in X-Force #2-5 and Spider-Man #16. Published a year after this Thor story, chronologically speaking Juggs would have been stranded in space for only a few months, not a year. One could assume that it felt like a year to Juggernaut due to time dilatation associated with traveling deep space. As for a rematch with Thor, that won’t come until some time later in Thor (vol. 2) #17, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #11, Juggernaut: The Eighth Day #1, and Avengers (vol. 3) #24-25.
The reason why Mephisto finds Mephisto familiar is because the Spirit of Vengeance that is bonded to Danny Ketch was once his ancestor Noble Kale. Kale was tricked by Mephisto and his soul was transformed into the Ghost Rider spirit that possesses Danny here. A spell of forgetfulness has made Noble forget all of this. See Ghost Rider (vol. 3) #92.
From here, Loki is briefly abducted by Zarrko the Tomorrow Man who brings him forward in time. There, Loki learns about his fate in the near future and from here on begins conspiring to make everything turn up Loki. See Thor #440-441 and 454 for all the details.
Yeah but no. Next issue, Jerry states that he thinks Eric has a drinking problem.
Topical References
Bulldozer states that when his buddies come to break him out, it is going to look like a scene out of the movie Terminator. This 1984 science fiction film does have a scene where the titular Terminator — a robot on a mission to the past to eliminate the mother of the human resistance before he was born — does rampage through a police station in the film. That said, references to the film here should be considered topical since this is now a dated pop-culture reference.
