In Mortal Guise

It’s a quiet night in New York City, and Thor and the Enchantress decide to have a romantic meal high above the city thanks to Amora’s magical skill. Thor marvels at the mortals below them living their lives blissfully unaware of how close they were from destruction by Price’s WorldEngine. Thor believes that this is all the reward he needs for the job he does.[1] If it were up to Amora, she would have them all beat themselves as a sign of gratitude, but she figures this attitude is why she never became an Avenger. She then decides to reward him another way, with some romance.

Meanwhile, Victor Prazniki, the head of the Machinists Union, is awoken in the middle of the night a phone call. He is warned that if he doesn’t give up what the caller wants not only will he be dead, but so will his family, saying they know everything about them. After making their threats, the caller hangs up, leaving Prazniki to panic over what to do.[2]

The next morning, Thor and the Enchantress wake up and discover that they are no longer in the air, but in the middle of Central Park. Amora tries to conjure up a spell but discovers her magic powers are now gone. Thor also discovers that even Mjolnir has lost its enchantments.[3] As they are making these discoveries, a trio of thugs try to mug the pair, seeing them as easy marks. Without skipping a beat in conversation, the two de-powered Asgardians easily fight off their attackers, as — even without their powers — they are still capable fighters.

As Thor and Amora head back to their apartment at the Ash Hotel, they are spotted by a group of men who are out looking for Victor Prazniki’s daughter Anna in order to kidnap the girl and force her father to give up what their boss wants from him.

When the two Asgardians get back up to their apartment, Amora is shocked to discover that her servants were freed from her enchantments and to get her back for years of slavery have cleaned out her whole apartment. As Amora discovers the thoroughness of the theft, Thor decides to take the time to call Avengers Mansion and check in with Jarvis. The Avengers butler tells him that the young Tony Stark is recovering well but the team is off on a mission.[3] Thor ends the call after leaving Jarvis with information on where the Avengers might find him should they need him.

That’s when Amora’s land lord, Philip Flemming comes knocking and says that the rent is coming due. Thor learns that Flemming has mistaken the Enchantress for the Scarlet Witch when he gushes about how big a fan he is of the Avengers. When Thor tells Amora of Phillip’s visit he realizes that the two of them are going to have to find work if they are going to keep this apartment. Thor figures that he can get a job at a construction site since he has had experience in the filed in the past.[5]

Later that day, Anna Prazniki is heading home from school and she decides to cut through a construction site to get home. It’s here that the men hired to kidnap her ambush the teen. Luckily for her, Thor had arrived at the construction site on his job search. Although he doesn’t have any powers, the former thunder god comes to her aid and can hold his own against the gang of thugs. Unfortunately, he forgets that his hammer will no longer return to him when he throws it and is forced to run after it. This allows the crooks to nab Anna and force her into their getaway car. This doesn’t stop Thor, who leaps onto the roof of the vehicle, uses Mjolnir to smash the wind shield and yank the driver out. This causes the car to swerve out of control onto the other side of the road and into oncoming traffic. Before there can be a head on collision, Thor grabs Anna and leaps to safety, landing in a pile of garbage on the side of the road.

That’s when Giant-Man and Black Widow arrive on the scene. They had gotten Thor’s message from Jarvis and they have come to ask the thunder god if he would be interested in rejoining the team.[6] When Thor explains that he no longer has his powers, the Black Widow points out that Thor was able to rescue Anna without any and that he’ll do.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Enchantress, Victor Prazniki, Anna Prazniki, Sylvia Prazniki, Giant-Man, Black Widow, Edwin Jarvis, Philip Flemming

Continuity Notes

1. Price used the WorldEngine to trick Yggdrasil the World Ash Tree that Ragnarok had already occurred. He was later stopped and killed and the WorldEngine apparently stopped as seen in Thor #491-494. What Thor and Amora don’t know is that this was all part of a larger plot by Seth, the Egyptian god of death, to wipe out all life in the universe. He will continue to try and make this happen until he is stopped in Journey into Mystery #513.

2. As explained in Thor #497-499 that the caller wants an ancient sword called Raven’s Eye, it was created by Odin and was lost to history. The man who wants it is apparently the Mad Think, however his reason for wanting it are never clearly explained.

3. This power loss is another side effect of the faked Ragnarok caused by the World Engine. In Journey into Mystery #503-513 we learn that this affected every Asgardian. They were all stripped of their powers, banished from Asgard to Earth where they were turned into mortals with no memories of their past. However, Thor and Amora will regain their powers in Thor #500.

4. This story takes place shortly after the Crossing event, wherein “Kang the Conqueror” (really Immortus in disguise) manipulated the Avengers into thinking Iron Man was a sleeper agent for Kang the entire time. To defeat the rogue Tony Stark, the Avengers went back in time and pulled his teenage self forward to help defeat his future self. Young Tony’s heart was seriously injured and the adult Tony died. See Avengers: The Crossing #1, Avengers #391-395, Force Works #16-20, Iron Man #320-325, War Machine #20-23, Avengers: Timeslide #1, and Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1. This will remain the status quo until after Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1 when the adult Tony Stark is restored (it’s a long story, see Avengers Annual 2001 for the details)

5. When Thor was in need of a new civilian identity, SHIELD helped create one for him in Thor #341. As Sigurd Jarlson, he worked as a construction worker intermittently. However, his duties as Thor took up much of his time and this alter-ego suffered. He ultimately abandoned it circa Thor #393.

6. Thor hasn’t been actively a member of the Avengers since Avengers #331, or issue #356 if you count the time Eric Masterson was Thor as an appearance by the true Thor since he was trapped inside Masterson’s subconscious mind.