Thor Annual #16 — Nick Peron

May 30

May 30 Thor Annual #16

The Origin of the Once and Future Thor!

In the distant future the Age of Governments had come to an end and the world is now run by corporations. This has led to a growing unrest between the working class and their corporate overlords. One such group of dissatisfied workers had recovered an artifact, the hammer of Thor, which had been imbedded in rock sometime near the end of the Age of Heroes. They worshiped it and formed a religion around Mjolnir, hoping that one day Thor will return and liberate the people. Followers would all make attempts to lift the enchanted hammer, but none proved worthy.

That all changed the day that Dargo Ktor came to one of the religious sects secret meetings. When it was attacked by the corporations, Ktor instinctively reached out for the hammer to use as a weapon. Suddenly, he was transformed into Thor and used his newfound power to liberate his people. From that moment on, he decided to use his newfound powers as a champion for good and as the Thor of the year 2591![1]

Recurring Characters

Thor-8710

Continuity Notes

This is an abridged retelling of Dargo Ktor’s origins as they were originally told in Thor #384. Per All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11, Dargo’s future takes place in Reality-8710.

The Korvac Quest

… This story continues from Fantastic Four Annual #24.

April 23, 2591 AD

A pair of thieves have stolen a transport ship carrying a valuable Vibranium istope, leading to a clash with corporate law enforcement. They are about to get away with it too, until Thor arrives and wrecks their ship with Mjolnir. He is surprised that he is going out of his way to help the corporations, since he fought against them in the past, but his previous rebellion helped install more beneficent corporations into power. As Dargo Ktor reverts back to his mortal identity, he reminds himself that he is only carrying the mantle of Thor until he can find the true thunder god and return Mjolnir to him.

Dargo then returns to his day job where a co-worker named Varley is on the rampage after some of the others interrupt a mail robot’s delivery. Varley is sick of dealing with hackers who have no respect for the corporate structure. When Dargo stops to help pick up the mail, Varley tells him that he can handle it himself, not trusting anyone else to do the job properly. With a sigh of exasperation, Ktor reports to his button pushing job for another grueling day of work.

Meanwhile, outside of Earth’s orbit, the Guardians of the Galaxy’s Drydock space station appears in this time period.[1] The group is following the powers of Korvac as it moves forward in time through his ancestors in the hopes of stopping it from reaching him in the 30th century.[2] Aboard the vessel the Guardians — Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Nikki, Martinex, Starhawk, and Yondu — are training in preparation for the upcoming battle. Checking the ship’s scanners, Martinex determines that they have arrived ahead of Korvac’s powers, now all they need to do is wait.

When Korvac’s power arrives in this era it grafts itself to his descendant in this era. This happens to be Varley, who is knocked off his work bench. When a robot drone orders him to get back to work he instinctively blasts it to bits with his new found power. Realizing what has happened, Varley then decides to use his power to run the company his own way. When he goes up to the boss’s office, Varley is ambushed by the Guardians of the Galaxy, but his quickly subdues them with his newfound power.

At that moment, Dargo is having lunch with his wife, Salla and she expresses her concern about the danger he puts himself in every time he becomes Thor. He insists that it is necessary to make the world a better place. Salla understands this and tells Dargo to be careful. That’s when Varley sends out a company wide communication informing everyone that he has taken over the company. Seeing Varley for the cosmic level threat he is, Dargo changes into Thor and confronts him at work. Although Thor manages to free the Guardians of the Galaxy, Varley is able to shrug off their attacks and then uses his power to seal the entire city in a massive dome. The heroes try to regroup in a nearby subway station, but Varley uses his power to flood it and capture the group.

However, Thor manages to break himself and the Guardians of the Galaxy free. However, nothing they seem to throw at Varley seems to harm him. Thor then uses Mjolnir to open a portal that redirects Varley’s power back at him. This fatally wounds Varley, who then crumbles to dust. With the Korvac power having leapt forward in time, the Guardians of the Galaxy thank Thor for their help. When he offers to join them, they decline, wanting to deal with Korvac on their won. With that, Thor wishes them the best of luck on their mission.

… This story is continued in Silver Surfer Annual #3.

Recurring Characters

Thor-8710, Guardians of the Galaxy (Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Marintex, Nikki, Starhawk, Yondu), Salla Ktor, Korvac

Continuity Notes

The Guardians of the Galaxy just came from the Modern Age, see Fantastic Four Annual #24. This power remained following Korvac’s destruction. About that….
Korvac originally went back in time and obtained god-like powers until he was stopped by the combined effort of the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy as seen in Avengers #167-177. Also, per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1, the Guardian’s future exists in Reality-691.

Fly Like a Skyhawk!

Business man Lawrence K. Covey has decided to end it all and attempts suicide by jumping off the roof of an office building. However, he is rescued in midair by Skyhawk of the Earth Force who carries him safely back onto the rooftop. The hero inquires why a man like Covey would try to end his life. Lawrence explains that he decided to kill himself because he nearly ended the life of his best friend.

His friend, a man Lawrence refers to as “Billy Boy”, were college roommates. While they had a strong friendship, Lawrence envied Billy’s greater success in everything they did together: women, school, politics, sports, no matter the competition, Billy always seemed to prove the better of the two. After graduating, both men went to work in the corporate world where Billy continued to excel. Growing more and more jealous, Lawrence tried every dirty trick in the book to try and finally beat Billy. When the pair were competing on a bid, Lawrence hired someone to steal Billy’s proposal so he could pass it off as his own. When he learned the truth, Billy furiously confronted his friend and suffered a heart attack.

Although Billy eventually recovered, Lawrence never forgave himself and began drinking heavily. Ultimately, his proposal was rejected and he decided that he was an utter failure and gave up his will to live.

Hearing all of this, Skyhawk tells Lawrence that this is no reason to give it all up and have hope that things will turn around for him. He then shows Lawrence a side of the city — which he always viewed as a cess pool of crime and corruption — that he has never seen before: families going on walks, people helping the sick and poor. This convinces Lawrence that there is something worth living for. Before departing, Skyhawk says that he is not Lawrence’s guardian angel and he won’t be back, telling Covey to make the most of his life as it is the only one he has.

Skyhawk then returns to his apartment where he looks at an old tennis trophy. As it turns out Hawkhawk, aka Winston Manchester, was Lawrence’s old friend “Billy Boy”. He hopes that Lawrence will turn his life around and make him proud.

Recurring Characters

Skyhawk

Child’s Play!

In Central Park, a woman is out taking an infant child for a walk. Suddenly, some men attack her bodyguards and nabs her baby. This is witnessed by Pamela Shaw, who activates her powers and transform into the Wind Warrior. As she is doing so, not far away, he friend Kyle Brock has stopped by Pam’s apartment. Her landlord tells Brock that she just went on a walk and he heads out to find her.

Meanwhile, Wind Warrior chases the kidnappers, catching up with them as they hand the baby over to their employer, Silver Sable. By this time, Brock has arrived and seeing the commotion changes into Earth Lord. Wind Warrior tells Earth Lord to hold back as he may put the baby at risk.

Holding the child at gunpoint, Sable explains that the child is the offspring of a local crime boss who took the baby from its biological mother and that her organization, Silver Sable International, was hired to get the baby back. To prove that she is telling the truth, Sable then tosses the gun at Wind Warrior who discovers that it was a fake weapon and the baby wasn’t in any real danger. This convinces Wind Warrior that Sable is on the level. Silver Sable is impressed with Wind Warrior and tries to offer her a job.[1]

Recurring Characters

Wind Warrior, Earth Lord, Silver Sable

Continuity Notes

Despite the job offer, Wind Warrior does not join up with Silver Sable’s organization. She is still a member of Earth Force when she appears next in Thor #456.

World Gone Mad!

Beta Ray Bill is awoken from his hibernation by Scuttlebutt, the lead ship escorting his people on their search for a new homeworld.[1] The ship’s computer has awoken him because the convoy has drifted into a strange cloud. Bill questions why he wasn’t awoken earlier, and the computer explains that a recent encounter with a comet seems to have affected its warning systems. No sure what is happening to the rest of the fleet, Bill transforms into Beta Ray Thor to investigate.

On the other side of the cloud, he discovers that his convoy has been caught in the gravitational pull of Ego the Living Planet, who is trying to destroy the aliens for daring to venture to close. With ships being destroyed and lives being lost, Bill flies to the Ego’s north pole and unleashes a powerful lightning storm that forces the living planet to stop his attack.

When Bill demands to know why Ego has attacked his fleet, the massive entity agrees to tell his story. Ego explains that for centuries he lived undisturbed in the bio-verse a unique organic section of the universe that existed within the Black Galaxy.[2] However, over time he had to deal with various invaders, such as the thunder god Thor, and later Galactus who tried to consume him. In the ensuing clash, a propulsion unit was attached to Ego’s south pole that shot him out of the Black Galaxy and left him adrift in space.[3] This unit drew energy from Ego himself, constantly making him hungry and he attacked anything in his reach for sustenance. When he detected Bill’s fleet he used his vast power to lure them close enough to be consumed.

Learning that Ego could sustain himself independently if the propulsion unit was destroyed, Bill uses the Korbinite fleet to blow it up. Grateful for Bill’s assistance, Ego offers the Korbinites a home on his surface, as he has for others in the past.[4] Beta Ray Bill refuses, pointing out that he just killed thousands of his people, something the Korbinites will not forgive. Ego takes insult to this and tries to attack them once more, destroying more of the Korbinite ships. In a desperate bid to save his people, Beta Ray Bill teleports away and brings back the comet that Ego used to trap them and forces it to smash into the giant planet. This takes out all Ego’s fight and Bill points out that his act of violence ensured that he will live out the rest of his existence alone in the void of space. With that, Bill and his fleet depart, leaving Ego to dwell on his mistake.

Recurring Characters

Beta Ray Bill, Ego the Living Planet

Continuity Notes

The Korbinites lost their home when it was destroyed by Surtur’s fire demons. They have been on a voyage to find a new home planet ever since. See Thor #337-340.
Ego’s initial encounter with Thor occurred in Thor #132-133. However, the propulsion unit wasn’t installed until a later encounter with both Thor and Galactus in Thor #226-228.
Ego’s battle with Galactus and his exile from the bio-verse happened in Thor #160-161.
Ego is referring to the Wanderers, survivors of the many worlds consumed by Galactus. Ego gave them a home in Thor #161. However, what he doesn’t mention here is that shortly after the Wanderers settled on his surface, Ego consumed them all. Their grisly fate was revealed in Fantastic Four #235.