Putting on the Bear Shirt

Onslaught continues from Wolverine (vol. 2) #105…

Onslaught has taken over New York City and the city’s defenders have been pushed back to a refuge set up along the Jersey Shore.[1] There he meets with his ally Red Norvell to discuss their next moves. Thor has decided to try and induce the Warrior’s Strength, which will put him in a mindless berserker state and boost his strength tenfold. He figures that this may be the only hope in defeating Onslaught. However, try as he might, he cannot attain this state of mind and figures it might have to do with his recent time as an ordinary human.[2]

This prompts Red to ask if Thor was ever really human in the past, like he was before he became Thor.[3] Thor confirms that he was indeed mortal for a long time, but not quite like Red though. Thor explains how he was trapped in the mortal form of Donald Blake, a man with a lame leg who became a doctor so he could heal the sick. During his career, he met and fell in love with Jane Foster but feared that she could never love a man with a limp, so he tried to bury his feelings by getting lost in his work. Outside of his career, Blake was also obsessed with his Scandinavian heritage and would often read up about his ancestral homeland. Eventually, Don Blake decided to go on vacation to Norway and — much to his surprise — Jane accompanied him. Losing his way while on a hike, Don wandered into a cave and found an ancient walking stick with runes carved into it. When he struck it on the ground, it triggered his transformation into Thor. With his rediscovered power, Thor became a defender of Earth. Eventually, he learned that his past as Donald Blake was all a fabrication created by Odin and that he was banished form Asgard to learn a lesson in humility. Still, his time as Don Blake had an impact on his life as he still loved Jane Foster and petitioned Odin to allow them to be married. Unfortuantely, Jane did not pass the test and was sent away.[4]

This reminds Thor how much Odin has changed since then, looking over at his father now — who now a drunken bum calling himself Wad — Thor is saddened to watch his father pluck a bug out of the air and eat it.[5] Thor once again asks his father how he got this way. Although his mind is addled by his years of drinking, Wad explains that he saw that Asgard was dying and knew that Ragnarok was coming. With his people disappearing every day, Odin transferred all his memories of Asgard into the Raven’s Eye sword and threw it off the Bifrost Bridge into the swirling chaos below.[6] Eventually, Asgard would become a deserted ruin with Odin as its only occupant. Weary from his ordeals, the All-Father fell asleep and when he woke up he found himself in an alley in New York City, stripped of all his power and godly armor. He wandered around completely alone with nobody to worship him. When he tried to tell the mortals who he really was, he was dismissed as a crackpot. He could only find the most menial work to do. Eventually, he gave into despair and found solace in the bottle and began drinking himself into oblivion.

Thor is surprised to learn that his father was thrown decades into the past and wonders why his father never sought him out to prevent this catastrophe from happening.[7] Red points out that he too was sent back in time and didn’t seek out Thor out of shame, which was probably the same reason Odin didn’t look for him either.[8] Now that Thor is back up to speed, Red asks why he doesn’t just return to Asgard. Thor points out that the Bifrost bridge had been destroyed making return a difficult and lengthy task. He is also concerned that the Enchantress is trapped there for the time being.[9] That’s when Red notices a group of frogs have started to gather around them.[10]

Somewhere in Asgard,[11] the Enchantress has been taken prisoner by two Ice Giants named Pyllar and Mroht, who have been salvaging the ruins of Asgard for scrap and weapons to sell. Injured during the Ice Giant’s battle with Thor, Amora has been stricken with amnesia and no longer remembers who she is.

Back on Earth, Thor is reminiscing on the past, remembering the time when he and his step-brother Loki were children. During a period where a roving gang of Ice Giants were looting the countryside, the pair had laid a trap for them. When they returned home victorious, they got a scolding from Odin himself, who had just brokered peace with the Ice Giants recently and their actions could have upset the delicate balance of this truce. Although he and Loki were heavily punished, Thor thinks back to that moment and recalls that it was one of the happiest of his childhood.

By this time, the frogs are all over Thor, prompting Red to ask once again what is up with these frogs. The thunder god explains that these creatures were displaced by Onslaught as well and that they have come to say goodbye to him. Red can bring himself to believe that Thor can actually talk to frogs. Suddenly, the amphibians all flee the scene as Jane Foster shows up. She has been working at the refugee camp helping those who have been injured by Onslaught’s take over of New York. Given a moment alone, Jane learns that the situation is bad and she she admits that she never wanted their relationship to end the way they did. This leads to a moment of awkward silence as the former lovers try to figure out what to say next.

This is interrupted when a young girl brings her father to the camp for some help after he was seriously injured in a car accident trying to flee the city. The man needs immediate surgery to stop the bleeding and Jane convinces Thor to use his medical skills honed as Don Blake to save them. It has been a long time since Thor used his hands to heal, but he finds that he still remembers his long honed skills and finds that using this old skill feels good.[13] Together, he and Jane save the man’s life, but he will need to be taken to the hospital immediately. As luck would have it, an ambulance shows up and Jane decides to help them load their patient in and see how she can help out.

After saving this life, Thor realizes that if he had succeeded in triggering the Warrior’s Strength, he would not have been able to save the injured man’s life and comes to the realization that perhaps he was not meant to have such power. Suddenly, the nearby Hudson River begins to bubble and Hela, the goddess of death emerges from the waters. Although she doesn’t speak a single word, Thor explains to Red that she has come to convince Thor to accept her embrace because he is destined to die tomorrow and completely cease to exist.[14] Thor refuses this offer and Hela teleports away. He and Red then sit down by the campfire for a meal. When Red asks him if he could do it all over again, Thor says he wouldn’t change a thing.

… Onslaught continues in X-Men (vol. 2) #56. This title continues in Journey into Mystery #503.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Red Norvell, Jane Foster, Hela, Pyllar, Mroht, Wad, the Enchantress, (in flashback) Loki

Continuity Notes

1. The combined efforts of the X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four had just been driven back from New York after Onslaught unleashed a powerful psychic pulse across the city. See Uncanny X-Men #366.

2. In Thor #491-494, the WorldEngine tricked Yggdrasil into thinking that Ragnarok had already passed. This stripped Thor of his powers in issue #495, however he just had them recently restored in Thor #500.

3. Red Norvell was tricked into obtaining the power of Thor some years back to be sacrificed during a Ragnarok level event circa Thor #276-278. More recently, the real Thor turned his back on Asgard in Thor #472, prompting Odin to go to Valhalla and resurrect Red as a replacement Thor in issue #478.

4. This retelling of Thor’s origins glosses over a lot of things, omits other important facts, and gets some things incorrect. I’ll stick to the facts here and posit my theory on these inconsistencies below.

   • This story recounts the events of Don Blake’s first transformation into Thor circa Journey into Mystery #83.

   • It incorrectly states that Jane Foster accompanied him on this trip, when that is not the case as seen in Journey into Mystery #84, which shows that Jane stayed in New York when Don went on his vacation to Norway. Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Thor states that the statement about Jane going on vacation with him was indeed an error. This story also omits Don Blake’s encounter this the Kronans, aka the Stone Men From Saturn during this trip which was the reason he ended up finding Mjolnir in the cave. Instead, it states that Don got lost on a walk.

   • This story also sticks to the explanation that Don Blake was a construct created to teach Thor humility, which was originally revealed in Thor #159.

   • This ignores the more recent revelation in Thor #479 that revealed that Don Blake was actually a real person and that Odin actually stashed Thor away to try and prevent his prophesized death during Ragnarok.

   • Thor petitioned Odin to allow him to marry Jane Foster in Thor #136. The All-Father would only allow this if she could prove to worthy of being a goddess. She failed and the two were more-or-less finished from there. Jane would go on to marry Keith Kincaid in Thor #336, having a child with him following issue #372 but ultimately split up with him prior to Thor #475. She was last seen in Thor #489.

5. In Thor #491-494, the WorldEngine was used to trick Yggdrasil to think Ragnarok had already passed, part of a larger scheme by Seth, the Egyptian death god, to extinguish all life in the universe, as revealed in Journey into Mystery #505. In Journey into Mystery #511, it is revealed that Odin took advantage of this to save his people by having them exiled to Earth and hidden in mortal guises with no memories of their past. This also included Odin himself who was also sent back in time where he lived as a drunken bum for years until Thor found him in Thor #497.

6. Raven’s Eye ended up getting lost in time, ending up in the ancient past. It would exchange hands until it ended up in the possession of a union boss named Victor Prazniki. When Victor was targeted by the Mad Thinker, he hired Thor to protect his family. This led to the sword eventually getting into Thor’s hands and restoring his lost powers. See Thor #498-500.

7. The fact that Odin was sent back in time after his exile from Asgard was hinted at in Thor #498, when Officer Kim Gaunt stated that Wad had been known in the neighborhood for years.

8. Last issue we learned that when Red was banished from Asgard he was sent back in time by about a year.

9. Amora is indeed trapped in Asgard. She was buried alive during Thor’s battle with the Ice Giants and was left behind, as seen in Thor #500.

10. These frogs originate from Central Park. When Thor was turned into a frog (yes, really) he assisted these frogs in defending their territory from the local rat population. See Thor #364-366.

11. The narration here refers to Asgard as somewhere “beyond the fields we know”, which was a turn of phrase used during Walt Simonson’s run on Thor from issue #337 to 382.

12. Although stricken with amnesia here, she gets over this affliction very quickly as she is back to normal when she appears next in Journey into Mystery #503.

13. Thor abandoned his Don Blake identity in Thor #339 when the enchantment that allowed him to switch into this identity was transferred to Beta Ray Bill’s hammer, Stormbreaker.

14. What Hela is foreseeing is that Thor will sacrifice his life to stop Onslaught in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, alongside his fellow Avengers and the Fantastic Four. However, Hela’s prediction that Thor will cease to exist proves to be incorrect. In reality, these heroes will be transported to a pocket dimension by Franklin Richards, where they will relive new lives that are somewhat based on the old ones, starting in Heroes Reborn #½. Thor himself will be absent from this pocket universe for some time, not arriving there until Avengers (vol. 2) #9.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as these buildings were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.

• This story implies that Odin was sent back in time to the late 1960s, early 1970s, judging from the way people are dressed and how a cop calls him a hippie. References to a specific time period should be considered topical due to the Sliding Timescale. Modern readers should interpret this as meaning that Odin was sent back in time roughly 30 years prior to this story, or about 21 years prior to the start of the Modern Age.

Onslaught Reading Order

Onslaught: X-Men #1, Uncanny X-Men #335, X-Factor #125, Excalibur #99-100, Cable #34, Incredible Hulk #444, Wolverine (vol. 2) #104, X-Men Unlimited #11, Avengers #401, Fantastic Four #415, Generation X #18, X-Men Unlimited #12, X-Men (vol. 2) #55, Green Goblin #12, Amazing Spider-Man #415, Spider-Man #72, X-Man #18, X-Force #57, Excalibur #101, X-Factor #126, Uncanny X-Men #336, Cable #35, X-Force #58, Generation X #19, X-Man #19, Punisher (vol. 3) #11, Incredible Hulk #445, Iron Man #332, Avengers #402, Fantastic Four #416, Wolverine (vol. 2) #105, Thor #502, X-Men (vol. 2) #56, Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1

Theory: Thor’s Incorrect Memories

As stated above, when Thor is recounting his origins — particularly Don Blake’s trip to Norway in Journey into Mystery #83 — has a few glaring errors in it. The biggest one being the assertion that Jane Foster went on the trip with Don, when it is clearly documented that he went on this trip alone. The other issue is that when Thor details finding the cave where the walking stick/Mjolnir was hidden it completely omits his encounter with the Kronans, aka the Stone Men of Saturn. Instead it states that Don got lost on a hike and wandered into the cave.

I think these errors are a combination of a number of things: In an interview about his time on Thor, writer William Mesner-Loebs states that Thor was abruptly canceled during his tenure on the book and that he had to rush to get issue #502, which was slated to be the final issue, completed before the deadline. Not only did he have to try and tie up as many loose ends from his run as possible, but he also had to do a bit of a send off for the god of thunder to celebrate his 30+ years of history at that time. Unlike the celebration issues that Fantastic Four #416 and Avengers #400 got, this final issue of Thor had to wrap things up in the standard 20 pages. So

I think Mesner-Loebs had to truncate a lot of events to their core elements. So yeah, the Stone Men from Saturn were a huge part of Thor’s origins, but in the context of this story — Thor explaining his life as Don Blake before being restored as Thor — the Stone Men element weren’t as important. I think that’s why a lot of things were glossed over or omitted from the retelling of things.

The other issue that sticks out is that Thor states that Don Blake was a construct created by Odin, as opposed to the revelation in Thor #479 that revealed that Don Blake was actually a real guy. It’s interesting to note because not only does Thor not mention it here, but he’s retelling this all to Red Norvell, who was present in Thor #479 when Odin revealed the truth about Blake.

So how do you explain all of these glaring errors with an in universe explanation? Because Marvel probably isn’t going to go back and explain all these discrepancies nearly 30 years after the fact.

My best guess is that both Thor and Red have been greatly affected by the WorldEngine’s phony Ragnarok. Thor was stripped of his powers and was sick for a while and it even affected his mind to the point where he lost his Asgardian affectation. Perhaps it also affected his memory for a time, which wouldn’t be that outlandish. This whole thing made him talk completely different, the idea that it’d scramble a few memories doesn’t seem impossible.

As for Red, I think we can say the same thing about him here. His mind was scrambled when he was exiled form Asgard. In fact, throughout the course of the Journey into Mystery run that follows this issue scrambled memories is a recurring issue with the Asgardians as they are made to remember who they used to be. Combine this with the fact that Red was sent a year into the past and developed a drinking problem, perhaps we can be forgiving of his inability to remember the truth about a bunch of this stuff.

From Here….

Following Thor #502, Thor loses his title for a few years. In the meantime, this title is renamed Journey into Mystery, those issues are covered here. Thor will primarily appear in Avengers (vol. 2) #1 through (vol. 3) #6. It’s at this point that a second volume of Thor is started up.