Survival of the Fiercest!

The High Evolutionary and his latest creations, the Godlings, have arrived at the site of his former headquarters on Mount Wundagore in the nation of Transia.[1] Thor, who has forsaken Asgard to find his own place on Earth, has agreed to join them so that the Godlings might learn from him. Upon their arrival, the Evolutionary sees that much of his abandoned equipment is still intact.

But, before they can begin offloading their ship, soldiers representing the Transian government ambush them. The Godlings — Blitizana, Loga, Luminor, and Bellam — defend themselves and easily take down the soldiers.[2] Thor stops begins questioning the commanding officer to find out why they were attacked. The soldier explains that the local government has been extra protective of their borders in light of recent political instability in the region and sought to claim the complex technology abandoned here years earlier to help defend their nation from potential invasion. When Bellam tries to slay the man, Thor stays his hand and the High Evolutionary orders the soldiers locked up in the facility below. Seeing all this, Thor wonders if the High Evolutionary’s plan to create gods out of ordinary men is doomed to failure.

Soon, the reconstruction of the Citadel of Science is completed and the High Evolutionary gets to work creating more of his Goldings. The first of these new creations is a massive powerhouse that is named Anak. Thor welcomes the newly created Godling when, suddenly, Blitziana expresses her dislike of the name and suggests that they be called the Godpack instead.

Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Odin has asked the Grand Vizier to keep tabs on his son on Earth. Unfortunately, the moment that Thor entered the region of Wundagore Mountain, a force field has been erected that prevents him from prying any closer to see what the thunder god is doing there. When he reports this news to Odin, it gives the All-Father a lot to think about.

Later, the High Evolutionary creates yet another member of the Godpack, a woman with super-speed he names Zefra. Upon her awakening, she tries to make a run for it before Thor catches her and calms her down.

Back in New York, Karvinore has gathered the Animutants and the last of the New Men on Earth and has them fight to the death in order to determine who is fit enough to join him in his revenge scheme against the High Evolutionary. When he sees one New Man named Equius spare his opponent, Karnivore slays him. Satisfied that only the best of the New Men/Animutants have survived, he begins planning an assault on Wundagore Mountain.[3]

At that same moment, another Godling is created, this one is called Riger due to his enhanced senses. With his team now complete, he introduces the newcomer to the rest of the group: Bellam, Luminor, Blitziana, Anak, Loga, Zefra, and Thor. After introductions are done, Thor is impressed that the High Evolutionary was able to take a bunch of dead prisoners and turn them into a new race of gods. However, he still finds that he cannot really fit in with this group as with anywhere else on Earth and wanders off to contemplate his place in the world. Lost in thought, he leans against a cave wall and is surprised when it suddenly gives way revealing a secret tunnel. Curious, Thor decides to investigate it to see where it goes and is led to a chamber where he is shocked to find the body of his former alter-ego, Donald Blake, frozen in place inside the cave.[4]

Thor thinks back to the past and recalls how he was trapped in the mortal form of Don Blake by his father Odin, who sought to teach him a lesson in humility. He recalls how, as Blake, he worked his way through medical school where he opened up a practice where he worked and fell in love with Jane Foster.[5] Then, one faithful day, on a trip to Norway, Blake found a walking stick hidden in a cave. When he struck it against the wall he was transformed into Thor for the first time. The fact that he is seeing Blake here defies all explanation since he’s always been led to believe that Blake was merely a construct based on somebody else.[6] Upon closer examination, Blake appears to be in the same position at the moment he struck the walking stick against the cave wall, triggering his transformation into Thor for the first time since he was turned into Donald Blake.

Rapping Mjolnir against the cave wall suddenly causes Don Blake to stir to life. Confused and disorientated by where he is, he tries to make sense of his situation but can’t remember how he got there or even why he thought to go to Norway to begin with. As Thor introduces himself and prepares to explain everything he knows to Blake the cave suddenly begins to shake. The thunder god then grabs the mortal and yanks him out of the tunnel before it collapses. Outside, Thor is shocked to see that the Animutants have arrived and are attacking the Godpack under the command of Karnivore. Putting Don Blake some place safe, Thor then joins the battle.

However, Karnivore planned for this and reveals that he has kidnapped Jane Foster-Kincaid and threatens to kill her if the thunder god doesn’t surrender. Jane, refusing to be made a pawn, throws herself off of Karvinore’s ship. Luckily, Thor is able to catch her and takes her to the spot she stashed Don Blake. She, like Thor is just as shocked to see Blake in the flesh as well. Thor then rejoins the battle and comes to the High Evolutionary’s aid as he begins losing his fight with his former creation. The former Man-Beast realizes that this is a losing battle and flees the scene in an escape pod. When Thor tries to follow, a thick cloud of exhaust obscures his ability to see, allowing Karnivore to get away.

With the battle over, Jane begins to panic and searches the Animutant’s ship and is relieved to find her son, Jimmy, is safe and sound. When Thor inquires about Jane’s husband — Keith Kincaid — she tells him that she and Keith are separated.[7] She is about to ask how Don Blake and Thor be both in the same place at the same time when she is interrupted by the High Evolutionary. In the aftermath of the battle he has come to realize that abandoning the Animutants was a bad idea. This also convinces Thor that his place is by the side of the Godpack and to train them to become suitable gods.

With his costume in tatters, Thor then uses the magic of Mjolnir to fashion himself a new outfit to represent the new direction his life is taking. Meanwhile, the High Evolutionary apologizes to the Animutants and promises to make things right with them and then congratulates the Godpack for a job well done. Still there is one outstanding mystery left: Figuring out what happened to Don Blake and how he ended up hidden deep below Wundagore Mountain.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Odin, Sif, Grand Vizier, High Evolutionary, Godpack (Anak, Bellam, Blitziana, Loga, Luminor, Riger, Zefra), Ani-Mutants (Karnivore, Tontaro, Urson-Wells), Don Blake, Jane Foster, Jimmy Kincaid

Continuity Notes

1. This is the site of the High Evolutionary’s original Citadel of Science. He abandoned the location on two occasions: The first after his first encounter with Thor in Thor #134-135 and a second time after Thor #406-408.

2. Here, the High Evolutionary rehashes his creation of the Godlings and the Animutants. As explained in Thor #472-473, the are the next level of evolution in the High Evolutionary’s New Men and New Immortal races. The HE abandoned the Animutants as inferior in issue #473 though. It’s later revealed in Thor #482 that he created both as a means of defending himself from the New Immortals who had gone rogue.

3. The Man-Beast was one of the first New Men created back in Thor #134-135. He has been a constant foil to the High Evolutionary and his plans. He recruited the Animutants to his cause in Thor #473.

4. For the longest time, circa Thor #129, everyone was led to believe that Donald Blake was merely a fabricated identity for Thor during a period when Odin wished to teach him humility. It’s a lot more complicated than that:

   • Thor #479 reveals that Don Blake was actually a real guy and that Odin merged the two men together until they found the enchanted walking stick that hid Mjolnir in Journey into Mystery #83. When he first transformed into Thor, the real Don Blake was put in a suspended state and hidden away in Wundagore Mountain by Odin and kept secret for years.

   • However, the man that Thor found here is not the real Don Blake. Back when Odin stashed Blake, Sigyn — Loki’s wife — attempted to take him to blackmail Odin into freeing her husband. She accidentally killed Blake and in order to cover this up she created a mystical construct to take his place if he was ever freed. See Thor #483.

   • According to Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Thor and Thor (vol. 3) #1, the real Blake ended up in a “shattered realm”. He will remain there for years an obtain the memories of Thor’s time as Don Blake after Thor’s death in Thor (vol. 2) #85.

5. As Blake, Thor fell in love with Jane Foster and their relationship evolved over time from Journey into Mystery #83 until he revealed his true identity to her issue #124. An attempt to marry her was rejected by Odin when she failed a test to prove worthy of being a goddess in Thor #136.

6. This of course was first hinted at in Thor Annual #11. Later, in Thor #415 it was suggested that Keith Kincaid — another doctor — served as a template for Thor.

7. After being banished from Asgard, Jane started working for Keith Kincaid. The two fell in love and eventually got married in Thor #336. When last we saw the pair together in Thor #471-472, Jane was pregnant with Jimmy. Per the Sliding Timescale, that would make Jimmy about 3 years old in this story.

Topical References

• The commanding officer of the Transian military specifically cites the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia as his reason for Trania being protective of its autonomy. At the time this story had published the nation of Yugoslavia had dissolved into five separate states. These states would be in a state of perpetual warfare well into the year 2017. Reference to Yugoslavia in this story should be considered topical. Modern readers should interpret this to be an unspecified European conflict rather than any real world incident.