Thor #451 — Nick Peron

May 30

May 30 Thor #451

Beware the Bloodaxe!

War has been averted in Asgard, and with Heimdall exposed as the traitor in their midst has been banished to another dimension by Odin.[1] With the crisis over, Eric Masterson — Thor’s replacement — asks for an audience with Odin. Tricked into believing Heimdall was a traitor, Masterson tells the All-Father that he believes the true Thor’s soul is trapped in Mephisto’s realm and asks permission to rescue him.[2] This raises Odin’s suspicions, however he tells Eric that many preparations must be made before they can enter the devil’s realm and orders him to return to Earth until he is summoned again. Having private counsel with Karnilla, the pair agree that Masterson isn’t the fool they made him out to be and make a note to watch him more closely.

Confused by his audience with Odin, Thor still does what he is ordered. He soon gathers up his allies in the NYPD’s Code: Blue division and prepares to return them to Earth.

In New York, Jerry Sapristi and arrive at the hospital to visit Susan Austin at the hospital where she is still recovering from a recent coma. This is just as a number of injured teens who were caught in a crossfire after a drug deal went bad. In Susan’s room, they find Jackie Lukus had arrived before them and the two women. The two women were talking about the wounded kids and their hope that someone does something about the violence on the streets.

At that same moment, Thor and Code: Blue return to the city. The officers thank Thor for all their help before heading back to their ordinary lives. With nothing but time while he waits for Odin to call him back to Asgard, Thor decides to get a bite to eat, visit his son, and see what the Avengers are up to. Suddenly, Sif and Balder teleport before him on their continued quest to find the true Thor. Sif is getting frustrated as the Norn Stones were supposed to bring her to her beloved, but all they have been doing is taking them to those who had been in close contact with the thunderer instead.[3]

Back at the hospital, one of Susan Austin’s visitors goes down to the locker rooms. Deciding to do something about the recent shooting they retrieve their enchanted axe and transform into Bloodaxe once more.[4]

At that same moment, Thor has brought Sif and Balder to a local pizzeria so they can figure compare notes and figure out a way to save Thor from Mephisto’s realm. Sif’s increased obsession with freeing her beloved has started to bother Balder, who warns her that the lack of proper concern could lead to calamity for themselves and the thunder god.

Meanwhile, Bloodaxe arrives at the scene of the shooting where the police have the drug dealers surrounded. Deciding to take matters into their own hands, Bloodaxe leaps past the cordon and when the cops try to stop them, uses the elemental powers of their enchanted axe to blow the cops away. Bloodaxe then shrugs off the bullets from the drug dealers enters the building and begins slaughtering them.

The Asgardian magic unleashed is seen by Balder at the pizza shop and he and Thor decide to investigate. Sif, however, is desperate to find rescue Thor takes the Norn Stones and teleports herself into Mephisto’s realm before they can stop her. Once there, Sif is confronted by Mephisto and his horde of demons. The Lord of Lies is amused that the Asgardian has come into her domain alone and tells her that in order to free the soul in his custody, a price must be paid.

Soon, Thor and Balder arrive at the scene of the police stand-off and are horrified to discover the drug dealers have been slaughtered. As they try to comprehend who could do something so horrifically violent they are ambushed by Bloodaxe!

Recurring Characters

Thor, Bloodaxe, “Odin”, Heimdall, Code: Blue (Marcus Stone, Rigger Ruiz, Mad Dog Rossitano, Fireworks Feldstein, Jock Jackson), Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Balder, Sif, Karnilla, Mephisto, Jerry Sapristi, Ed Marrero, Susan Austin

Continuity Notes

There is kind of a lot going on all at once here. So let’s break it down:
- The enemies of Asgard had been gearing up for war since issue #447, but it was put to an end last issue.
- Odin had also woken up from the Odinsleep that he’s been in since issue #426. What nobody knows and won’t be revealed until issue #454 is that this is not truly Odin. His body is actually being possessed by Loki who did so in order to cheat death back in issue #432. The true Odin’s soul has been trapped in Mephisto’s realm ever since.
- Loki, while posing as Odin, banished Heimdall last issue. However, he will be freed by the true Odin in Thor #456.
Eric became aware of the fact that Mephisto had a captured soul back in Thor #442-443. However, he has been led to believe that it’s Thor’s soul trapped inside after the thunder god was banished for smiting Loki in issue #432.
Sif and Balder have been on their quest to track down the true Thor since Thor #437. Instead of finding the real Thor they instead were brought to individuals that are strongly connected to him. These included:
- The Destroyer armor in Thor #437-441. This is because Thor once used the Destroyer to attack Hela’s domain in Thor #381-382.
- Beta Ray Bill in Thor #442. They were drawn to Bill because he proved worthy enough to life Mjolnir in the past and was given his own enchanted hammer and powers similar to Thor by Odin as seen in Thor #337-339.
- Lastly, Nobilus in Thor #447-450. Nobilus was created in Thor #422 using DNA stolen from Thor back in issue #408.
- Eric Masterson: is strongly connected to Thor as the pair were merged together in issue #408. Later, when Thor was banished in Thor #432, Eric obtained his powers.
This individual obtained the Executioner’s enchanted axe in Thor #449 and became Bloodaxe the following issue. Their true identity is kept secret until Thunderstrike #22, which reveals that Bloodaxe is actually Jackie Lukus.

Topical References

Upon their return to Earth, Fireworks Feldstein suggests Code: Blue celebrate their victory. When Marcus points out that Feldstein should probably clear the idea with his wife first he quips “Dan Quayle has more hope in a remedial spelling class!” Quayle was Vice President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. This is in reference to a political gaffe that Quayle experience in 1992. See he was filmed insisting to a 12 year old child that the word potato had an e at the end. Since I had explain all this to you, you can understand why this would be considered a topical reference. Man, I miss the days when politics was just stupid shit about misspelling words instead of you know, insurrections.

Enter the Nameless Dimension

In the dungeon deep below the palace of Asgard, the Enchantress has been taken prisoner following the failed war against the kingdom. She is visited by Karnilla that she is being held because she helped the traitor Heimdall and that Odin will soon decide her final fate. She leaves Amor in the care of Ismalda, an expert in the art of torture. As Ismalda threatens to burn the Enchantress’ face, she tries to maintain her composure long enough to enthrall the troll guarding her cell and make him attack her tormentor.

Meanwhile, Karnilla reports back to Odin and believes that unless they under estimated her, the Enchantress will likely escape and try and rescue Heimdall. This is all expected and Odin is confident that she won’t survive the experience.

Amora uses her magics to enter the dimension that Odin banished Heimdall. It the dream dimension and she quickly finds Heimdall being tormented by demons. Fighting them off with her magics, Amora tries to get the petrified Heimdall to move. However, before they can escape they are ambushed by Nightmare, the ruler of this dreamscape.