Thor #442
The Day of His Return!
Eric Masterson has just been informed that Doctor Donald Blake has returned and agreed to treat Susan Austin’s injuries that have left her in a coma for weeks.[1] Eric can hardly believe this and races to the hospital as Thor. Up to this point the idea of Blake returning was preposterous as he was a made up identity for Thor early in his adventures in the present day. However, Eric wonders if this is what happened to the real Thor when Heimdall banished him,[2] then perhaps its just a matter of making Don Blake remember who he really is. Eric really hopes he can do it because his double-life as Thor has been a negative impact to his personal life.[3]
Changing back into his mortal guise, Eric Masterson goes downstairs and meets with Jerry Sapristi and Leena Moran who also heard the news about Susan and came right away. Little does any of them know that Leena is secretly the Enchantress in disguise, who also wonders if Don Blake is secretly Thor in disguise and what this might do to her cover.[4] That’s when Susan’s doctor Gary Patersky comes in and introduces them all to Don Blake. Both Eric and “Leena” are shocked that this is the exact same Don Blake that Thor once used as a secret identity. The Enchantress decides to take off before her illusion is exposed. Eric, meanwhile, asks Blake where he has been all this time. Don tells them that the stress and politics of being a surgeon led him to take a break from his practice for a while. He offhandedly mentions how he’s spent a lot of his time vacationing in Norway, but admits that he has no explanation for why he is so interested in that country. To Eric, this is proof that Blake is the real Thor and doesn’t remember who he is, just like the last time he was banished.
Soon, Don Blake heads into surgery to treat Susan’s injuries. Eric watches from the operating theater, and is impressed by Blake’s surgical skill. He makes up his mind that once Susan’s life is saved he is going to do whatever it takes to remind Blake of who he really is.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Enchantress, Mephisto, Jerry Sapristi, Gary Patertsky, Susan Austin
Continuity Notes
Susan Austin was struck by one of Loki’s mystical blasts in Thor #432 and has been in a coma ever since.
Also in issue #432. In reality, Thor wasn’t sent someplace else, but had his entire personality subdued within Masterson as we’ll learn in Thor #456-459. Don Blake was a mortal identity created to teach Thor humility. After learning his lesson, Thor his Don Blake guise as a secret identity for years before the enchantment that allowed for it was transferred to Beta Ray Bill’s Stormbreaker hammer. See Journey into Mystery #83, Thor #159, and #339.
Eric Masterson’s personal life had suffered since he merged with Thor in issue #408. During that time he lost custody of his son in Thor #421. His friends began believing he has a secret drinking problem in Thor #429-430. His business has also started to suffer since he became the new Thor in issue #432. His most recent loss was the destruction of his apartment in Thor #438.
The Enchantress started posing as Leena Moran back in Thor #422 and moved in with Susan. Her true identity was revealed in Thor #431.
The Trial of Beta Ray Bill
Sif and Balder are on a quest to find the exiled Thor. Using the Norn Stones to follow the trail of the thunder god’s essence. After a dead end in Niffelheim,[1] the pair are next transported to the alien world where the Korbinites have settled on after losing their home world.[2] The locals react to the two Asgardians with fear, thinking they have come to threaten their new world. Soon a mob forms and tries to attack them. However, lives are put in risk when one of the aliens accidentally hits a switch that lets loose a crane load of metal paneling that begins to fall on an innocent woman and her child. Luckily, Beta Ray Bill arrives and saves their lives.
Sif is pleased to see her old friend, Beta Ray Bill, but Balder questions what her true feelings are for the alien cyborg. Sif scolds him for thinking that she has some kind of romantic relationship with Bill, explaining that she only considers him a close friend.[3] Although the immediate danger is over, the suspicious Korbinites take great issue with Beta Ray Bill’s friendship with these alien visitors. It turns out that his people considers Bill a freak of nature and resent his appearance and power, despite the fact that he sacrificed everything to find a new home for his people. With no other choice, Bill is forced to use Stormbreaker to create a powerful wind to blow away the angry mob before someone gets hurt.
As it turns out, the people turning against Beta Ray Bill are all due to the machinations of a Korbinite named Dar Mal Goth, who has aspirations to make Bill’s power his own. He races to the palace of the Imperial Leader and tells him how Bill attacked innocent people. This prompts the Imperial Leader to summon Beta Ray Bill for an important talk. He has decided that Bill has completed his service to his people and that he must relinquish Stormbreaker so it can be given to someone new. Bill refuses to give up his power, explaining that it was a gift given to him by the Asgardians for helping them in the past. However, Dar Mal Goth begins muckraking convincing the assembled people that Bill lose the right to wield the enchanted hammer when he allowed their fleet to suffer losses during an encounter with Ego the Living Planet.[4] Sif tries to defend Bill, but he tells her to let him handle it.
Seeing that he can’t get through to his people, Bill agrees to relinquish Stormbreaker to his people so they can select his successor. However, before he does so he taps the enchanted weapon on the ground, changing himself back to his mortal form and the hammer into a simple walking stick. Soon, Korbinites line up and begin trying to activate the weapon by tapping it on the ground. Unfortunately, none who have tried have proven worthy to access its power.[5]
Sif apologizes to Bill for what has happened, however the Korbinite warrior looks forward to living a normal life for a while. He wishes he could join Sif and Balder on their mission, but he has a society to build. Sif bids him farewell and she and Balder use the Norn Stones to teleport away to their next destination in their quest.
Recurring Characters
Beta Ray Bill, Sif, Balder, Imperial Leader
Continuity Notes
Sif and Balder have been searching for Thor for some time. Their time in Niffelheim was chronicled in Thor #437-441.
The Korbinites had been searching for a new world after their home planet was destroyed by Surtur’s fire demons. See Thor #337-339.
Sif formed a close relationship with Bill and briefly considered joining him on his mission to find a new world for his people. See Thor #354-355, 357-360, 367, and 372.
Ego attempted to consume the Korbinite fleet back in Thor Annual #16. Although Bill defeated the living planet, the fleet suffered the loss of thousands of his own people.
Despite being stripped of his power here, Beta Ray Bill is shown back in possession of Stormbreaker again in Thor #461. Unsurprisingly, nobody else can lift Bill’s hammer and he just takes it back.
A Hero…. No More!
With the return of Don Blake, Eric Masterson thinks about how little time he had being Thor’s replacement.[1] Looking around his wrecked apartment, he figures it is just as well since being the thunder god had proven so destructive to his personal life. He figures he messed up being Thor so bad that it’s time for someone more responsible to use the power properly. He has decides to stop procrastinating and head down to Don Blake’s office and get things over with.
Eric heads down to Don Blake’s medical practice where he asks his nurses to meet with him. He’s was expecting Jane Foster to be working behind he desk, but figures that would have been too freaky.[2]
Meeting with Don, Eric Masterson asks him to keep an open mind over what he is about to tell him. Eric then explains how Don Blake how he is really Thor, the god of thunder, and how many years earlier Odin banished him to Earth and created the Blake persona to teach him a lesson in humility. He then explains how, more recently, Thor slew Loki and was banished once again as punishment and that he is once again trapped in the body of Don Blake. Eric concludes by saying that he took over as Thor, but has come to return his power to him.
Holding the walking stick that transforming into Mjolnir in his hand, Blake admits that it all seems so familiar. He then taps the stick on the ground triggering a transformation. However, instead of turning into Thor, Don Blake transforms into Mephisto. As it turns out, this was all part of a ruse to trick Masterson into handing over Thor’s hammer. Thanking Eric for falling for his trick, the Lord of Lies returns to his netherworld domain. Angry at himself for being so easily tricked, Eric vows to not fail Thor again and travel to bowels of Hell itself to recover Mjolnir.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Mephisto
Continuity Notes
Eric Masterson thinks of all the different encounters he has had since becoming the new Thor. These include: His clash with Ulik, Annihilus, and Absorbing Man and his associations with Sif, Balder, Heimdall, and Captain America. This is generally recounting the events of Thor #433-437. Eric’s thoughts here were witnessed by Dargo Ktor in Thor #441.
Jane Foster worked for Don Blake from Journey into Mystery #84 until Thor #136. She was forced to forget her time with Blake after she learned he was Thor, and flubbed a test to prove if she was worthy of becoming a goddess. When we last saw Jane, in Thor #335-336, she had married Keith Kincaid, the doctor she went to work for after Blake. Foster won’t be seen again until Thor #375. In the time in-between this time she’ll have been raising a family with Kincaid.