Hel and High Water

In order to stop a rampage caused by former foes who had died, Thor agreed to return to Hela back to her domain. Worse, his allies — the High Evolutionary’s Godpack, Sif, Balder, Beta Ray, Bill, and the Warriors Three — have all pledged not to try and rescue him either. When all seems lost, the Hulk suddenly arrives and offers to rescue Thor in their place as he didn’t make the same promise.[1]

Meanwhile, in Hel itself, Hela forces Thor to pledge his allegiance to her over and over, much to her delight. She is pleased that she now has the god of thunder to protect her domain on top of her giant wolf, Garm. Thor confirms that he will remain in her domain until at least Ragnarok.

Elsewhere, Hulk is led into Hel by Balder the Brave who knows a secret way in after his time spent in the world of the dead.[2] They are soon found by Garm who attacks, forcing Balder to keep the wolf at bay long enough for Hulk to sneak inside. Once in Hel itself, the Hulk is quickly spotted by Hela and Thor. The thunder god tells the gamma-spawned monster to return from where he came. Unfortunately, the Hulk refuses to leave, prompting Hela to order Thor to expel the intruder by force. Soon a huge brawl breaks out between the Hulk and Thor, which begins wrecking Hela’s castle — much to her dismay. As he is getting knocked about, Hulk reminds himself to keep his temper in check since getting angry will cause him to revert back into Bruce Banner and get himself killed.[3]

Back on Earth, the Godpack and their Asgardian allies decide to spent their time waiting for the Hulk to return with Thor by hunting down Malekith hoping that by recapturing the Dark Elf it will convince Hela to let the thunder god go free.[4] That’s when the Riger’s enhanced senses detects that Jane Foster doesn’t have a heartbeat. With his illusion exposed, Malekith drops his disguise and makes quick escape. As the battle between Thor and Hulk rages on in Hel,[5] Malekith makes the mistake of running into Kurse who finally gets the drop on him. Kurse pummels the Dark Elf into submission just as Sif and the others find him. Sif then pleads with Kruse to let them bring Malekith back to Hela so Thor can be let free. After some convincing, Kurse agrees to return his eternal enemy to the queen of Hel.

The battle between Thor and the Hulk is still going on with no end in sight when Kurse returns to Hel with Malekith. Not only does the warrior offer to return the Dark Elf, he also offers himself in exchange for Thor’s freedom. Impressed by Kurse’s strength and determination, Hela agrees and tells Thor to cease fighting. She then tells the thunder god and the Hulk that they can leave before she changes her mind. On their way out, they save Balder by knocking out Garm and return to Earth. As the Asgardians prepare to return home, Sif tells Thor that she has had a change of heart and has decided to return to Asgard after all. When she asks Thor to come with him, he tells her that he still wishes to remain on Earth as this is his home now.[6] Thor also bids farewell to Jane Foster and the Godpack as where he goes now he must go alone.[7] The Hulk can tell that Thor is on a mission to find himself and tells him that sometimes that such journey’s are like a needle in a haystack.

As the thunder god and Hulk head off, Odin watches from his view screen in Asgard and sheds tears for the son that still will not come home.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Hulk, Hela, High Evolutionary, Godpack (Blitziana, Loga, Anak, Riger), Sif, Balder, Hogun, Volstagg, Kurse, Garm, Malekith, Jane Foster, Beta Ray Bill, Odin

Continuity Notes

1. Hulk mentions how he barely made it out of Hel the last time he visited. This is in reference to Incredible Hulk #421-423, when he ventured to Asgard to learn the secret of the Pantheon’s leader Agamemnon.

2. Balder spent an extended period of time in Hel from Thor #274 to 301 as his body hovered between life and death following a failed attempt at triggering Ragnarok.

3. At the time of this story, whenever the Hulk gets angry he turns back into Bruce Banner. This will be his status quo from Incredible Hulk #425 to 437.

4. Malekith escaped from Hel in Thor #486 and escaped capture last issue.

5. Speaking of Hulk changing back into Bruce Banner, the Hulk muses that their roles have been reversed. In some of Hulk’s earliest fights with Thor, namely Avengers #3, Thor couldn’t be separated from Mjolnir for more than 60 seconds, otherwise he would revert back into his mortal form of Don Blake. In fact, when this brawl was later expanded upon in Journey into Mystery #112, Thor petitioned Odin to temporarily suspend this enchantment so he could put his strength to he test against the Hulk. Down the line, Thor eventually lost the enchantment to change into Blake circa Thor #339.

6. Thor had decided to renounce Asgard and live on Earth back in Thor #472. Later, he convinced Sif to join him in Thor #483.

7. This is the last we’ll ever see of the Godpack, at least at the time of this writing in June, 2022. When the High Evolutionary is seen again in Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1, he has completely abandoned the Godpack in favor of making more New Men. Jane will be seen again in Thor #502, using her nursing skills to help those injured during Onslaught’s assault on New York City.