Thor #438
The Thor War Part 1 of 4: Yesterday Must Die!
September 25, 2591
A cube shaped ship has appeared over North American Urban Center #5. Atop the vessel is a robot calling itself Servitor. It demands that this era’s Thor be delivered to them or suffer the consequences. The corporations in charge of this era send a group of drones to deal with the lawbreakers, but Servitor easily destroys them with his own weaponry which are centuries ahead of what exists in this era. Watching from the ground is Dargo Ktor and his wife Salla. Dargo is this era’s Thor and insists on confronting this threat. Although she doesn’t like the way Dargo risks his life, Salla knows he has a duty to protect their world and allows him to leave. Ktor races back to his apartment where he stores a walking stick in a supply closet. Tapping this stick on the ground, Dargo is transformed into Thor and the stick into his enchanted hammer Mjolnir.[1]
By the time Thor arrives on the scene, the corporations have sent human soldiers to try and stop Servitor, but they are no more effective than the drones. Thor then confronts the robot, who hasn’t come to fight but to bring Thor to his master. Brought inside the ship, Thor is astonished to discover that it is much larger on the inside, something that should be impossible. The Servitor explains that they are inside a time ship and that its interior of the ship actually exists in trans-temporal space. Thor soon meets Servitor’s master, Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, who explains that he has come to this era to help Dargo out.[2]
The Present
Eric Masterson and his son Kevin are visiting Susan Austin, Eric’s assistant who was seriously injured and is in a coma.[3] Also present is Eric’s ex-wife Marcy, who is suddenly acting very cold toward him again for some unknown reason. Sending the boy off with his mother, Eric heads back to his apartment.[4] There he is confronted by Marcy’s new husband, Bobby Steele, who has been trying to track Eric down for days so they can talk.[5]
Meanwhile, a ship arrives on Earth from deep space. The occupant is Stellaris, who has finished a long period of recovery since her last encounter with Thor. Now entering planetary orbit, she intends to hunt Thor down and kill him.[6]
By this time, Eric Masterson has invited Bobby Steele inside to talk. Eric didn’t recognize him at first, but now remembers that Steele is a quarterback for the New York Smashers football team. Offering a diet soda, Masterson asks what Bobby has come to talk to him about. Steele comes right out with it and says that he intends to adopt Kevin as his own son, believing that the boy needs a proper father figure since Eric is absent all the time. This insults Eric and he angrily takes a swing at Steele. The punch, however, doesn’t do anything more than hurt Eric’s hand. Acting as though nothing happened, Bobby tells Eric to think about what’s best for Kevin and leaves, thanking him for the soda. Still angry at Steele’s audacity, Eric races upstairs to the roof of his building and changes into Thor then uses Mjolnir to summon a localized storm over Bobby’s convertible, rapidly filling it up with water. Masterson admits that this is a petty thing to do, but it has made him feel better.
Eric is spotted by Stellaris, who had been searching for Thor and ambushes him. She is furious with him for leaving her behind in the Black Galaxy. Thor tries to explain that that wasn’t the case, but she attacks him with her blasters before he can explain himself.
The Timestream
Zarrko is taking the Thor of the 26th century back in time on an important mission. He explains that Eric Masterson a “cunning criminal” stole Mjolnir from Thor in the distant past but died before the true thunder god could recover it. The self-styled Tomorrow Man theorizes that this is how the enchanted weapon ultimately ended up in the hands of Dargo in the future. Zarrko then tells Dargo that a time virus has been loosed that will allow Masterson to form a relationship with an alien being. If this happens, it will radically alter the timeline and Dargo’s future and everyone he knows will be erased from existence.
The Present
Masterson’s battle with Stellaris rages on across the city and putting lives at risk the longer it carries on. Unfortunately, before Eric can stop the alien being, Dargo Ktor arrives in this era and attacks him as well. In order to save his loved ones back home, Dargo proclaims that the “false” Thor must die. Both he and Stellaris then charge at Eric from either side.
Recurring Characters
Thor-616, Thor-8710, Stellaris, Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, Servitor, Susan Austin, Kevin Masterson, Bobby Steele, Marcy Steele, Salla Ktor, Gary Patertsky
Continuity Notes
Dargo mentions here how he is only Thor temporarily. He gained the power when he proved worthy enough to life Mjolnir back in Thor #384. Per All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11, Dargo’s future is a divergent timeline that exists in Reality-8710.
Incidentally enough, Zarrko actually comes from an earlier time period, having been born in the 22nd century, as seen back in Journey into Mystery #86. All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #12 states that Zarrko’s future is a divergent timeline that exists in Reality-6297.
Susan was struck by one of Loki’s mystical bolts back in Thor #432. She will remain in a coma until she undergoes surgery in issue #442.
Eric contemplates tracking down Keith Kincaid, recalling how Thor’s Don Blake identity was based off him. This was revealed in Thor #415.
Bobby has been trying to meet with Eric since Thor #435.
Stellaris has a huge hatred toward the Celestials for allegedly destroying her entire race. She attempted to thwart the birthing of a new Celestial. This led to a conflict with Thor. In the end, the Celestial was birthed and Stellaris seemingly perished in the creation. See Thor #419-424. Stellaris back story has been called into question in Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files #1, however as of this writing (June, 2022) her claims have neither been confirmed nor denied.
Topical References
All references to the present day portions of this story as happening in the 20th century should be considered topical. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe has been pushed forward in time to the point that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st century.
Eric Masterson is depicted as having a CRT television and a VCR in his apartment. This should be considered topical as these are obsolete technologies.
The Hel-Hounds and the Heroes
Sif and Blader are on a quest to find the exiled Thor.[1] Using the Norn Stones to track the thunder god’s essence, the pair find themselves in Niffleheim. There they discover that someone has taken possession of the Destroyer armor and taken over the realm of the undead and is now determined to kill them both as well. The Destroyer is much to powerful for them to tackle on their own, so the pair use the a Norn Stone to make themselves invisible so they can escape the Destroyer and figure out a plan.
As they head deeper into Hel, they find Garm — the wolf that guards the gates to the nether realm — has been partially transformed into stone by the Destroyer. Garm explains that the armor was brought here by Thor when he sought revenge against Hela for cursing him with brittle bones. Defeating Hela and forcing her to undo the curse, he left the Destroyer armor behind encased in crystal as a reminder of what will happen if she ever crossed the thunder god again.[2] Garm doesn’t know whose soul now pilots the Destroyer now, but they were able to trap Hela in crystal herself.
Based on Garm’s story, Sif believes that the Destroyer must be piloted by Thor.[3] Garm then tells them that the only way to remove the soul piloting the Destroyer is to free Hela from her crystalline prison. In order to do that, they will need to travel to the realm of Midhogg — where domain reserved for oath breakers, murderers, and monsters — and recover a magic sword that can free her.
As the two warriors are learning all of this, the Destroyer continues rampaging through Nifflehim, vowing that once they destroy everyone in the realm of the dead, they will turn their power against the living.
Recurring Characters
Sif, Balder, Garm, Hela, Lorelei
Continuity Notes
After Thor seemingly slew Loki, he was banished for the crime of killing a fellow immortal in Thor #432. Loki actually cheated death as we’ll see in Thor #450-455. We will also learn that Thor wasn’t banished someplace else, but had his identity buried deep within his human host, Eric Masterson, as explained in Thor #456-459.
Hela had previously cursed Thor with brittle bones that would never heal back in Thor #373. In order to force her to remove this curse, Thor piloted the Destroyer armor leading to their clash in Thor #381-382.
Sif’s guess would prove to be incorrect, as we’ll learn in Thor #440, the Destroyer is actually being piloted by the spirit of Lorelei who has been dead since Thor #402.