Thor Annual #15
Can Terminus Be Far Behind?
This story continues from Iron Man Annual #15…
Thor and Hercules have been summoned to San Francisco after a call from Iron Man regarding the threat posed by the Termini, rapidly evolving metallic creatures both he and Captain America have recently encountered. With Machine Man damaged in the most recent battle, Iron Man — as Tony Stark — has to stay behind to help repair the robot hence the call for help.[1] Thor has since deduced that these Termini might have some connection to the planetary threat known as Terminus, who was recently ejected into space by Quasar. This comes as a surprise to Hercules, who is convinced he slew Terminus in the Savage Land recently.[2] Regardless of what the truth is, Thor figures they’ll find answers in space and heads out to find Terminus while Hercules searches for the Termini on Earth.
Not far away, the Blackrock Nuclear Power Planet is in the process of being shut down thanks, in part, to the efforts of environmental protests and the fear of an earthquake causing a nuclear disaster. Inside, technicians are in the process of preparing nuclear waste for transport when, suddenly, the evolved form the Termini — having transformed into mechanical animals such as wolves, eagles, and fish — come crashing into the facility. They slaughter the technicians and shatter a container containing radioactive waste and begin feeding on the highly toxic materials.
At that same moment, Hercules as stopped his search to sign his autograph for a police officer when reports about the incident at Blackrock come in on the police band. Realizing that these metallic animals are the Termini, the Olympian has the officers race him to the scene. By the time they arrive, the Termini have evolved into humanoid forms capable of rudimentary speech. When the Termini start attacking, Hercules gets between the metallic monsters when they try to attack the officers.
Meanwhile, in deep space, Thor finds the massive form of Terminus. When he arrives, the massive alien tries to attack him. Annoyed over being swatted around like a fly, the son of Odin charges toward Terminus and strikes his chest with sufficient force to pierce his armor. Inside, he finds a swirling mass of technorganic materials containing all the resources that the alien has plundered from other worlds.[3] Suddenly, Thor is bombarded by a mental attack from Terminus, which the world destroyer uses to reveal his origins.
Thor suddenly can see events on an alien world many millennia ago. This unknown race of aliens goals of cosmic conquest earned them the enmity of the Celestials who came to destroy their world. With no way to survive this onslaught, the aliens came up with an alternative solution: They created microscopic organisms that would eventually evolve into a massive being that would seek out and destroy all worlds that the Celestials deemed worth as revenge for their soon-to-be-dead race. So distracted by wiping out their foes, the Celestials did not notice when a space shuttle carrying the organisms was shot into space. It eventually crash landed on a baren alien world where the microbes multiplied and evolved eventually becoming the entity now known as Terminus. It went from world to world destroying everything in its path until it reached Earth. There, it was defeated by Mister Fantastic who trapped Terminus in the Earth’s core with a gravity device. Trying to dig his way to the surface, Terminus was only able to reach the subterranean domain of a Deviant named Jorro. Finding kindship in their mutual hatred of the Celestials, Terminus had Jorror construct a suit of armor and pose as him in order to go up to the surface and recover the cosmic lance that Terminus lost on the surface of the planet. While Jorro was on his doomed mission, Terminus prepared a back-up plan by creating more Termini micro-organisms which he planned to unleash upon the Earth. When Jorro failed to return to him, Terminus was finally able to dig his way to the surface where he was ultimately jettisoned into space by Quasar.
With that, Terminus severs the mental link with Thor, just as the anti-bodies in his body have arrived to try and eliminate the thunder god. While Thor manages to fight the creatures off, Terminus ejects the hero from his body while also absorbing Mjolnir into himself. With the mystical enchantments now at his command, Terminus is able to recover his power lance and leave Thor stranded in space.
Back on Earth, Hercules is defeated in battle with the humanoid Termini. Once they believe him defeated, the creatures them begin fighting among themselves. The victors of each fight then absorbs those it defeated, increasing in mass. Eventually, only one Termini remains and it grows to giant-size taking on a similar appearance to Terminus himself. Moments after the Termini breaks free from the Blackrock nuclear plant, he is soon joined by its progenitor, the original Terminus.
… This story continues in Avengers West Coast Annual #5.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Hercules, Terminus, Terminii
Continuity Notes
Captain America fought the Termini in Captain America Annual #9, while Iron Man and Machine Man fought the creatures in Iron Man Annual #15.
The whole situation with Terminus is somewhat complicated and will be explained later in this issue. See, Terminus first came to Earth back in Fantastic Four #269-270. He was defeated Mister Fantastic who used a gravitational device to trap him in the center of the Earth. An entity resembling Terminus was killed fighting Hercules in Avengers #256-257. This is later revealed to be a Deviant named Jorro, as we’ll learn later this issue. The real Terminus finally got free and jettisoned into space in Quasar #7.
Thor likens this experience to when he ventured inside the body of Atum/Demogorge. This happened in Thor Annual #14.
Topical References
While the Blackrock Nuclear Powerplant featured in this story is fictional, the reasons for it being shut down are not. The narration cites the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear disasters are reasons for the shutdown of Blackrock. References to these disasters being recent in the context of the story should be considered topical as Three Mile Island happened in 1978 and Chernobyl in 1986. A sign hanging outside the Blackrock plant states its closure date will happen in August 10, 1990. The year in question should be considered topical as well.
Media Watch
This story continues from Iron Man Annual #15…
The regular broadcast on channel 7 is interrupted by a special news bulletin. In the channel 7 news room, anchorwoman Lisa Mason reports of a super-human battle happening at the Blackrock nuclear plant. She then turns things over to her colleague, Hector Redondo, who is live on the scene. He shows them footage of the Termini in their beast forms attacking the nuclear plant and how Thor and Hercules were seen in the city earlier that day. As Hector reports how Hercules went to the Blackrock facility to fight the Termini he captures the moment where the creature grows to titanic size and Terminus shows up. Suddenly, the live feed cuts out. Lisa Mason tells viewers that they are experiencing technical difficulties and they will provide further updates as they receive more information.
… This story continues in Avengers West Coast Annual #5.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Hercules, Terminii
The Return of the Thermal Man
In the frozen wastelands of the Arctic Circle, a team of Chinese soldiers and scientists are testing out a neutron bomb by detonating it below the surface of the ice. While the experiment goes off without a hitch, they inadvertedly revive the Thermal Man, a deadly robot that has been trapped in the arctic ice for years.[1] As the robot smashes through their soldiers and heads for civilization, word is quickly sent back to the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, in far away Asgard, the soldier returns to the royal palace to inform Odin that an invasion force of Frost Giants are forming at the border of Jotunheim and they are planning an attack on the kingdom. The Grand Vizier suggests to the All-Father that they summon Thor to assist them in repelling the invaders. Odin turns this idea down, reminding the Vizier that his son has chosen to remain on Earth, and that he is confident that they can stave off the invasion with the thunder god’s assistance.
Back on Earth, in New York City, Thor is on patrol when he spots an apartment fire and assists fire crews in rescuing the people trapped inside. Once the fire is under control, he spots the cause of the blaze — the Thermal Man — who is on the rampage in the streets.
As Thor clashes with the robot, the Chinese government holds an emergency meeting. The officials all agree that they must stop the Thermal Man before he can cause an international incident. The leader of the country demands the scientist who created the robot be brought to him. When he is told that the scientist — Professor Chen — has been a political prisoner for years, the President orders his release. When Chen is brought before the government, he admits that at one time he once served the Mandarin, but his creation of the Thermal Man was to help their nation by creating a fully automated workforce that would revolutionize the world.[2] However, the government soon imprisoned him and confiscated his Thermal Man prototype to use it as a weapon of war. The Chinese government offers to suspend Chen’s sentence and give him an generous pension if he can develop a way to stop the Thermal Man. The scientist is then given a lab and equipment to work with to accomplish this task.
Meanwhile, Thor is doing the best he can to contain the Thermal Man, but to no avail. After digging himself out of the rubble of a collapsed building, the thunder god is visited by the astral projection of the Grand Vizier. He tells Thor about the threat posed by the Frost Giant and pleads with him to return to Asgard and help repel the invaders. The Vizier is upset when Thor refuses to return home until the Thremal Man has been dealt with. Annoyed that Thor’s obsession with mortals may lead to there doom, the Grand Vizier blesses Balder before the coming battle and sends him off to lead the force of Asgard.
When Thor rejoins the battle it is just as the US military has subdued the Thermal Man with a particle beam and contained it in a force field. This is just as Professor Chen has finished a remote control device that will allow him to seize control of the robot at close range. With that, Chen is quickly smuggled into the United States.
At that same moment, the Thermal Man reactivates and breaks free from the force field and continues its rampage. The robot once more proves too powerful for the thunder god. When Chen arrives he tries to take control of the Thermal Man with his remote, but the robot incinerates him before he has the chance. Horrified by this baseless murder, Thor decides to rid the world of the Thermal Man by spinning Mjolnir enough to open a vortex that sucks the Thermal Man into another dimension. Moments later, the Thermal Man appears in Jotunheim where it drives off the Frost Giant’s invasion force.[3] Seeing that Thor helped them out after all, Balder and the Warriors Three head back to Asgard to report their victory to Odin.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Thermal Man, Odin, Grand Vizier, Balder, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg)
Continuity Notes
The Thermal Man was whisked away into the ocean by Thor following his rampage through America back in Thor #168-170.
Here, Professor Chen states that he helped create the Mandarin’s giant android, Ultimo. The Mandarin claimed to have created Ultimo himself when the android first appeared in Tales of Suspense #76. However, it is later revealed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #24 that Ultimo actually came from outer space. Presumably, Professor Chen came on board after the Mandarin’s discovery of Ultimo and believed the lie that he had created the android.
The Thermal Man will continue to plague the Frost Giants until Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #9.
Topical References
The leader of the Chinese government is referred to as Chairman here. This should be considered a topical reference as this term was retired in 2012. Now the sitting ruler of China is referred to as the President. As such, references to his being a “Chairman” here should be considered topical.
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 topical as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.
Professor Chen states here that he developed the Thermal Man and was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution. This was a period 1966 and 1976 in which saw the Chinese government purge all capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. Its reference here should be considered topical due to the Sliding Timescale. Rather than a specific historical event, modern readers should instead interpret this as a unrelated political upheaval that occurred 14 to 24 years prior to this story.
Supplementary Material
This issue features pin-ups of Ulik and Loki
