Strange Alliances

Titania is in the middle of a brazen armed car robbery. When the cops show up, she uses her titanic strength to toss the vehicle at them in order to cover her escape. With stolen money in hand, Titania revels in the thrill.

Meanwhile, her boyfriend Carl Creel — aka the Absorbing Man — has returned to their apartment to discover that Titania is not home. Suspicious that she might be out robbing again, despite promising to go straight, he goes digging through her dresser and finds stolen jewelry. Fearing that Titania might get caught and land herself in jail, Creel decides to contact the on man he thinks can help him.[1]

At Avengers Headquarters, Eric Masterson is settling into his new digs, thankful that the Avengers have a place for him to stay after being evicted from his apartment.[2] Watching the day’s football game, Eric has to scramble to change into Thor when Jarvis, the Avengers butler, comes knocking at the door. He tells Thor that there is a call from him from someone asking for “Sparky the Lightning Kid!”[3]

Meanwhile, Code: Blue has been dispatched to investigate the scene of Titania’s robbery. Spider-Man is also happening by and the web-slinger decides to stop and offer his assistance. Marcus Stone isn’t interested in having the wall-crawler involved. After Spidey identifies Titania based on the eye-witness descriptions, the web-head is told to get lost. Knowing when he’s not wanted, Spider-Man takes off, wishing the officers the best of luck since Titania and her boyfriend the Absorbing Man are tough customers.

Elsewhere in the city, Thor meets up with the Absorbing Man at a local diner. There, Creel explains how Titania is committing robberies again and he wants to scare her back into going straight again before she can be arrested. He has come up with the perfect plan as well, suggesting that he stage a fake robbery of a golden bull statue from the Guggenheim Museum.[4] Thor is to show up and catch them in the act at 8 pm that evening in the hopes of scaring Titania straight. With that, Creel takes off, leaving Thor with the bill. Thor races back to Avengers Headquarters where he interrupts Captain America’s training session to get his advice.[5] However, Eric decides against it when the interruption leads to another lecture.

While in Asgard, Hogun and Volstagg have been sent out to investigate a rash of attacks on the border lands of the kingdom. Inspecting the ruins the dup are suddenly ambushed by Uroc and a pair of Rime Giants named Kai-Ra and Glump. While in the city itself, Heimdall worries that he might not be enough to lead the warriors of Asgard to victory and suggests that they wake Odin up from the Odinsleep. The Grand Vizier warns that this would be catastrophic and that Odin must be allowed to fully rest.[6]

Back on Earth, Spider-Man is heading back home after developing some photos at the Daily Bugle, looking forward to spending time alone with Mary Jane.[7] However, he happens to pass by the Guggenheim and spots Absorbing Man, Titania, and Thor at the scene. Seeing Creel and Thor exchange silent gestures, the wall-crawler mistakenly assumes that the new Thor is helping the criminal couple rob the museum. Inside, when Absorbing Man and Titania attempt to steal the golden statue, Thor arrives to stop them. Unfortunately, he lets slip that Creel set this whole thing up, much to Titania’s shock and dismay. To make matters worse, Spider-Man attacks Thor thinking he is part of the robbery, leading to a brawl between the two heroes.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Spider-Man, Captain America, Black Knight, Hogun, Volstagg, Grand Vizier, “Odin”, Absorbing Man, Titania, Uroc, Kai-Ra, Glump, Edwin Jarvis, Code: Blue (Marcus Stone, Rigger Ruiz, Mother Majowski)

Continuity Notes

1. The Absorbing Man and Titania swore to go straight back in Thor #436.

2. Eric’s apartment was trashed by Stellaris in Thor #438. This led to his landlord evicting him in issue #443.

3. Eric also mentions the recently completed Operation: Galactic Storm storyline wherein the Avengers got in the middle of a galactic war between the Kree and the Shi’ar. See Captain America #398, Avengers West Coast #80, Quasar #32, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7, Avengers #345, Iron Man #278, Thor #445, Captain America #399, Avengers West Coast #81, Quasar #33, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #8, Avengers #346, Iron Man #279, Thor #446, Captain America #400, Avengers West Coast #82, Quasar #34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9, Avengers #347, Captain America #401, Quasar #35

4. If that golden bull is familiar to you, that’s because it was the same one the Circus of Crime tried to trick the real Thor into stealing way back in Thor #145-146.

5. Captain America points out that Eric’s predecessor also had the annoying habit of waltzing in on a live training session. See Thor #427.

6. Odin had gone into the Odinsleep back in Thor #426 and left Heimdall in charge while he slumbered. What nobody suspects is that Odin’s body has been possessed by Loki at the time of this story. This will be revealed and Odin saved in Thor #450-455.

7. Here, Peter Parker refers to his wife Mary Jane as his wife. At the time of this story the couple were married since Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, years after this story, the pair enter a pact with Mephisto to save Aunt May’s life that alters reality so they were never married to begin with. In the new timeline, Peter and Mary Jane are no longer married but are still engaged and in a long term relationship. See Amazing Spider-Man #545 and 638-641.

Topical References

• Eric’s bedroom in Avengers Mansion has a massive CRT television. This should be considered a topical reference as these types of TVs are now obsolete.

If This Be War!

Hogun and Volstagg were investigating the ruins of an Asgardian town on the outskirts of the kingdom when they are ambushed by Uroc, Kai-ra, and Glump. The trio explain that the enemies of Asgard are forming a united front to liberate themselves from what they view as the tyrannical rule of Odin. Uroc and his compatriots defeat Hogun and Volstagg, the first victory of many that Uroc predicts they will have.

Meanwhile, back in Asgard, the scent of war is in the air and in order for the kingdom to face this threat, Heimdall has called in Karnilla to secure the support of Nornheim. At first, the evil sorceress refuses to lift a finger to help her enemies. Heimdall then appeals to her love for Balder the Brave, saying that if Asgard falls he too will die. Karnilla reluctantly agrees to join forces, prompting Heimdall to ask if she has seen Balder recently.

This is because Balder and Sif have been gone for some time on a mission to locate the exiled Thor. Using the enchanted Norn Stones to travel to locations where Thor’s essence is strongest, their quest have taken them across dimensions but so far they have come up empty handed.[1] The pair next materialize aboard the spaceship Wundagore II. There they are ambushed by the New Immortals — Nobilus, Juvan, and Zon — who believe that the two intruders have something to do with the disappearance of their master, the High Evolutionary.[2]

Recurring Characters

Hogun, Volstagg, Heimdall, Grand Vizier, Odin, Balder, Sif, Karnilla, New Immortals (Nobilus, Juvan, Zon), Uroc, Kai-Ra, Glump

Continuity Notes

1. Thor was banished for seemingly slaying Loki in Thor #432. While everyone believes that Thor was banished to some other plane of existence, in reality his personality was submerged deep within Eric Masterson, as we’ll learn in issue #457. In the meantime, Sif and Balder have been on a quest to find the thunder god since Thor #437.

2. When last we saw the High Evolutionary, the guy had his brain fried trying to collect information during the birth of a Celestial, as seen in Thor #419-424. Next issue we’ll see that the addled Evolutionary is out mucking about with the same Celestial again, because he’s a slow learner for someone apparently so smart.