Thor Annual 1999
Tears of a God
Now
Thor has been summoned to the headquarters of the Fantastic Four. There, the heroes throw a surprise party for the thunder god. This is in order to thank Thor for saving Franklin Richards — son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman — when they were all escaping from Franklin’s pocket dimension.[1] Franklin even bought a gift for Thor. As they recount their perilous escape from Franklin’s pocket dimension, the Reed notes that while everyone else made it back together, Thor was missing for some time.[2] Richards even built a massive device to try and find the thunder god but had no luck in doing so.
When he asks Thor what happened, all the thunder god remembers is falling through the vortex and then appearing in the ruins of Asgard some time later, with no memory of what happened in between.
Then
After falling into the dimensional void, Thor ended up on a world called Balatraan. Here he was found and nursed back to health by a woman named Ceranda. Thor thanks her for her hospitality, but insists that he must return to his home. However, when he tries to get up and leave, the thunder god becomes dizzy and collapses again.
Elsewhere in the planet, Doctor Doom also survived, but his armor was heavily damaged in the process. Finding a highly advanced city, Doom sneaked inside to get the equipment he needed to repair his scanners. With his onboard computer back on-line, Doom discovers that Thor is stranded on this alien world as well. The Latverian monarch’s presence is detected by the city guards who come and try to apprehend him. Doom decides that the best course of action for now is to claim that he comes in peace and surrender.
Later, Thor wakes up and Ceranda tells him a bit about her world and how she lives in exile as she continues to practice the forbidden black arts. Thor isn’t overly interested as he still wants to return home. Going outside, the thunderer attempts to open a dimensional vortex with Mjolnir, however this causes a burst of energy that knocks him off his feet. He is shocked that his enchanted hammer is no longer able to traverse the dimensions.
Meanwhile, Doctor Doom is being led by the guards. Seeing an opening to attack, Doom grabs an energy cable and uses it to rapidly recharge his armor. He then uses the blasters built into his gauntlets to vaporize his captors. Now at his full fighting capacity, the mad dictator begins planning to deal with Thor so he can force the thunder god to return him home.
Doom tracks down Thor and observes him over the next few days. He observes as the thunder god begins helping Ceranda with chores around her domicile. Over time, Thor and Ceranda become close and a romance begins to blossom.
Days later, Doctor Doom completes the repairs on his armor and then heads to the chambers of this world’s ruling council. Doom then obliterates them and takes control of Balatraan. He then forms an army and heads out into the desert to confront Thor. Doom reveals that he has built a massive biological weapon that will unleash a deadly gas that can kill the entire population of the planet. He threatens to unleash it unless Thor agrees to return them home. Instead, the thunder god fights through Doom’s forces and disables the doomsday weapon. When he comes back to deal with Doom, he discovers the man he was fighting was an impostor planted by the real Doctor Doom.
That’s when a gravely injured Ceranda emerges from the hut having been attacked by the real Doctor Doom. Doom appears before him as a hologram and reveals that Ceranda was his real target because he figured out that she was the reason why Thor could not leave Balatraan. Doom explains that as a practitioner of magic, Ceranda was able to see them fighting it out in the dimensional void and used her power to bring them both to her world. Ceranda wanted to have Thor as a companion and used her magic to prevent him from leaving her world. Thor refuses to believe this, but Doom reminds him that he has no reason to lie. Regardless, Doctor Doom was able to strip Ceranda of the magic he needed to return home and teleports away.[3]
Dying in his arms, Ceranda admits that Doom was telling the truth and that the only reason why she forced Thor to stay was because she was incredibly lonely. Seeing how she has wronged Thor, she has enough energy to cast one final spell, one of forgetfulness that will kick in the moment he returns home. With that, Ceranda dies and Thor mourns her loss.[4]
Now
The Fantastic Four have noticed that Thor has spaced out for a moment and get him to snap out of it. That’s when Thor opens the gift given to him by Franklin. It’s a hammer branded with the Fantastic Four’s logo and an inscription which reads “whoever holdeth this hammer is a true and valued friend of Franklin Richards and the Fantastic Four!” Delighted by the gift, Thor decides to take Franklin out flying as thanks.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Doctor Doom, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Ceranda
Continuity Notes
When the Avengers and the Fantastic Four seemingly perished during Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, they were actually transported to a pocket dimension by Franklin in order to save their lives. There, they lived reimagined versions of their past until they were found and rescued by Franklin in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. As they were making their voyage back to their proper dimension, Doctor Doom attempted to kidnap Franklin to exploit his power. Thor came to the boy’s rescue and Thor and Doom were lost in the dimensional void.
Thor would turn back up in Avengers (vol. 3) #1.
Doom doesn’t end up returning to the Prime Marvel Universe after this. Instead he goes back to Franklin Richard’s Counter-Earth, as we’ll see in Heroes Reborn: Doomsday #1.
This isn’t really the end of Ceranda’s life, at least not technically. She becomes a pawn of the Enchanter known as Enrakt who also takes possession of Mjolnir in secret in this story. See Thor (vol. 2) #14, 16, and 20 for all the details.
