Thor #490
Against the Dying Light
This story continues from Thunderstrike #24…
Thunderstrike, aka Eric Masterson, is dead. Mourning the loss of his close friend, Thor has come to confront Odin over his death as he believes that All-Father could have done something to prevent it from happening.[1] However, since Thor has turned his back on Asgard, he is not a welcome visitor and has to fight his way through the royal guard in order to get to the palace.[2]
Watching this is the Grand Vizier who pleads with Odin to stop this senseless violence and just speak with his son. Odin, however, refuses to do any such thing reminding his advisor that it was Thor’s decision to renounce Asgard.
When Thor pushes through the guards he is then confronted by the Warriors Three. They don’t want to fight their friend, but they cannot disobey direct orders from the All-Father himself. However, before a fight can break out, Odin finally comes outside. Ordering Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg to stand down, Odin asks if Thor has finally come to apologize and return to Asgard for good. Thor refuses to do this, going so far as cowardly. This insults Odin to the point where he forcibly banished Thor from Asgard with his power. The thunder god is sent away from such force he crash lands on Earth. Odin then turns to the Warriors Three and tells them that from no on nobody is to even utter Thor’s name in the future or they will face stiff punishment. Despite this edict, Hogun musters up the bravery to suggest that perhaps this feud between Odin and Thor is just wasting precious time together, suggesting that the animosity can be resolved not with harsh words or punishments but a casual gesture or a loving glance. This gives Odin a lot to think about and he turns his eyes to Midgard to see what Thor will do next.
While unconscious, Thor dreams about his friendship with Eric Masterson. He remembers the first time they met at a construction site when Thor still operated under his civilian identity of Sigurd Jarlson. He remembers how when the construction site was later attacked. Eric risked his life to save an imperiled construction worker, and his act of bravery led to a leg injury that forced him to walk with a cane from then on.[3] Despite being mortal, Eric was willing to show great courage alongside Thor when he faced cosmic level threats.[4] Later, after Eric was mortally injured, Thor petitioned Odin to save his life, merging the two together.[5] From there they lived a shared life until they were briefly separated again.[6] When Thor seemingly slew Loki and was banished, Eric picked up the slack and became the god of thunder and fought in Thor’s place until he was freed once again.[7] As reward for his service, Masterson was given an enchanted mace that he used to continue fighting crime as Thunderstrike.[8] Tragically, Eric fell under the power of a deadly curse and was consumed by evil, forcing Thor to battle him to the death.[9]
When Thor wakes up, he still feels that Masterson’s death was a waste and could have been prevented had Odin only intervened. He decides to visit Eric’s grave site where he spots the Absorbing Man hanging around there. This leads to a fight between the two as Thor believes he is there for some kind of nefarious purpose.
While in Asgard, Sif mourns for Eric Masterson as she cared about him in her own way. Seeing how sullen she is, Balder suggests that they honor Eric by celebrating him like a god. Sif nixes that idea, saying that Masterson was always one thing — a mortal — and despite this, he refused to allow that to hamper his bravery.[10]
Creel explains that he came to show his respects because — unlike the real Thor — Eric, or Sparky the Lightning Kid as Carl called him, at least gave him a fair shake. When the Absorbing Man wanted to go straight, Eric encouraged him to do so and steered him away from a toxic relationship with Titania who continued to tempt him with crime.[11] Thor doesn’t buy any of this until he sees that Creel actually left flowers and a card at Eric’s tombstone. Thor quickly ends the fight and apologizes for starting one without thinking. The Absorbing Man has a piece of advice for Thor: Instead of being dwelling on somebody’s death, he’d make better use of his time by celebrating their lives. With that, Creel decides to go without further incident — out of respect for Eric — but warns Thor that the next time they cross paths things might be different.
Thor eventually gets on his knees and pleads with his father to bring Thunderstrike back to life. Odin appears before him and explains that while it is within his power to do so, he must think of the cost such an action will have. He reminds his son that Eric was a strong spirit with a free will and that his decisions in life where his own and he accepted the consequences for his actions. To bring him back from the dead would be to deny him the right to make choices and he cannot take that away from such a brave man. With that Odin departs and what he said gets through to Thor. When he looks down at Eric’s tombstone the inscription on it reads “The World Still Needs Heroes” seeing this makes Thor smile and he leaves soon after.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Absorbing Man, Odin, Grand Vizier, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Sif, Balder
Continuity Notes
In case the first sentence of this summary didn’t already inform you, Thunderstrike died in issue #24 of his series.
Thor turned his back on Asgard back in Thor #472, creating an ever widening rift between him and Odin.
Thor first met Eric Masterson in Thor #391, this was the same story where Masterson injured his leg. The Sigurd Jarlson identity was fabricated for Thor by SHIELD back in Thor #341. Thor ultimately abandoned the identity after the events of Thor #392.
The panel shows Thor in space with Masterson who is wearing a space suit in this panel. This was from when the pair ventured into the bio-verse in the heart of the Black Galaxy circa Thor #407.
Thor and Eric were merged together in Thor #408 after Eric was seriously injured by the Mongoose.
This was during the birth of a new Celestial and another Ragnarok threat. See Thor #419-425. The two were merged back together after that.
Thor seemingly slew Loki in Thor #432, leading to him being banished inside Masterson’s subconscious mind. Eric took over as Thor for a time. Eventually the real Thor was freed in issue #457.
Eric continued as Thor until Odin created the Thunderstrike mace in Thor #459, Eric rebranded himself in Thunderstrike #1.
In order to defeat the Egyptian death god Seth, Thunderstrike increased his power with the Executioner’s axe. This unfortunately led to him getting tainted by its evil and drive him into madness, ultimately leading to his death. See Thunderstrike #22-24.
Sif had a complicated relationship with Eric during his time as Thor. When he first took over the mantle, Sif despised him. However, she developed strong feelings for him after he rescued her from Mephisto’s realm in Thor #453. However, she pushed away those feelings and told Eric they could only be friends in issue #457. Later, in Thor #482 she realized that the only reason she was ever attracted to Eric was because he had the essence of Thor.
Eric, as Thor decided to give Absorbing Man and Titania a chance to go straight back in Thor #436, the same issue where he came up with Eric’s nickname of Sparky. However he didn’t always stay out of trouble as seen in Thor #447-448 and Thunderstrike #16, among other stories. Although Absorbing Man states that he and Titania are on the outs here, the two will get back together and get married in Avengers Unplugged #3-4.
