Things Ain’t What They Used to Be!

Thor and Sif have returned to the High Evolutionary’s underground lab hidden beneath New York City. There they are cleaning the place up in preparation for the geneticist’s return. Sif takes this time to tell Thor how much she is enjoying being on Earth this time around and the two have some fun while they work.

This tender scene is being observed by Lorelei in Hel. She is instantly jealous of Thor and Sif’s romance and wishes to get revenge upon them. She has a mysterious benefactor working with her and he suggests that they employ one of Lorelei’s old magical love potions to use against the two lovers.[1] Lorelei still has one such potion stashed away in her old apartment. However, there is only one problem — since they are dead, neither Lorelei nor her co-conspirator can get to it themselves and need a suitable proxy.

That’s when they see the Ben Grimm, aka the Thing of the Fantastic Four, is also helping Thor and Sif.[2] This is to repay Thor and the Godpack for previously assisting the Fantastic Four on one of their missions.[3] Lorelei and her companion decide that the Thing is the perfect dupe to use in their plan. They wait until Grimm is alone and Lorelei appears to him in a vision. She tells him that she has come seeking to help Thor and Sif attain true love. However, she is confined and cannot do it herself. She manages to seduce the Thing into going to her old apartment to retrieve the love potion. Ben complies, forcing his way into Lorelei’s old apartment and getting the potion from her bedroom closet.

However, when he returns to the High Evolutionary’s underground lab, her companion — revealing himself to be Malekith the Accursed — takes control of the situation.[4] Posing as Lorelei, Malekith convinces the Thing to drink the love potion instead of giving it to Thor. This puts Ben Grimm under “Lorelei’s” control. “She” convinces the Thing that Thor and Sif were responsible for Lorelei’s death and demands that he avenge her death.[5] When Ben attacks Thor he quickly deduces that he is under some kind of mind control, similar to when he was recently attacked by War Machine.[6]

Before the fight broke out, Sif had gone out to get some groceries and is on her way back when suddenly, Thor and the Thing come smashing their way up into the street from the underground lab. Although Grimm doesn’t usually fight women, he is compelled to due so due to the potent love spell he is under. Seeing his beloved get injured puts Thor into a rage and he barrels into the Thing. He eventually subdues the mortal and holds him still until he can shake off the effects of the love potion. When Thing is back in his right mind he has no memory of what happened, but believes it when Thor and Sif explain what happened. They then send Ben home, promising to clear things up with the authorities when they arrive. They can’t understand why he was attacking them on behalf of Lorelei since she has long since been dead, and Thor wonders if this is yet another attack orchestrated by Loki.

Back in Hel, Malekith can’t believe his pawn failed but isn’t willing to give up just yet. He decides that in order to defeat Thor he is going to have to use a more powerful pawn. He finds just such a being living in the home of Heimdall, the enchanted warrior known as Kurse.[7]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Thing, Sif, Lorelei, Malekith, Kurse

Continuity Notes

1. Lorelei once used such a love potion against Thor. This story cite Thor #339. That was the story where this scheme was hatched. Lorelei doesn’t actually succeed in tricking Thor into drinking her love potion until Thor #359. He broke free from its control in that same issue. Lorelei states that more of the potion can be found in her old apartment. This would be a penthouse that overlooked Central Park that she moved into in Thor #432.

2. Here, the right side of the Thing’s face is healing from some kind of wound. This story comes after the events of Fantastic Four #374, where Ben had his face slashed by Wolverine. These scars will remain until they are healed in Fantastic Four #409.

3. The Godpack assisted the FF in Fantastic Four Unlimited #9.

4. A footnote cites to readers Thor #344 through 368 when Malekith reveals himself, but without any context. Issue #344 was Malekith’s first appearance. Issue #368 was the issue where he died at the hands of Kurse, who snapped the Dark Elf’s neck while he was posing as Balder. This is kind of a sloppy footnote since Malekith didn’t appear in all the issues in between. He actually only appeared form issue #344-349 where her attempted to open the Casket of Ancient Winters and issues #366-368 when he posed as Balder and got murdered.

5. Actually, Lorelei was seriously injured during Seth’s invasion of Asgard in Thor #398-400 eventually succumbing from her wounds in issue #402.

6. That was last issue, however in that instance War Machine was possessed by Loki.

7. Here, Malekith refers to Kurse by his former name Algrim the Elf. This was his name before he seemingly perished in battle fighting the thunder god in Thor #347-348. However, he was resurrected by the powerful Beyonder into Kurse in Secret Wars II #4. He eventually became an ally of Asgard, and he moved in with Heimdall in Thor #368.