Thor (vol. 2) #13
The Work of Odin
The Dark Gods have been vanquished and Odin has been restored as rule of Asgard.[1] The All-Father has gathered his people to celebrator their liberator, Thor the god of thunder. It’s such a celebration that even grim Hogun can’t help but smile. In the crowd are Hercules and the Destroyer armor, which is possessed by the soul of Colonel Preston Case. Case is impatient to get back into his physical body, but Herc tells him to bask in their victory for a moment.[2] Odin is overjoyed with the discovery that his son is alive after believing he had been dead for months.[3]
As reward for his dedication to Asgard, Odin offers to grant him whatever he so desires. Odin expects his son to ask to be freed of his mortal guise of Jake Olson. However, Thor asks that Asgard be restored to its former glory instead. The All-Father is touched by his son’s selfless request and decrees that Asgard will be rebuilt. Still, Odin wishes to reward his son and takes him to a forge where he repairs the damage done to Mjolnir during the war with the Dark Gods, making it stronger than ever before.[4]
That’s when Heimdall detects that they are being spied upon and points to the sky. This intruder turns out to be Marnot the entity that was responsible for Thor’s new double-identity. Odin is unimpressed by Marnot’s flippant attitude. Thor explains how Marnot saved him from death, but had to take over the life of Jake Olson — a mortal killed in the battle — in return and that this allowed him to defeat the Dark Gods.[5] Hearing that the Destroyer had a hand in this, the Asgardians get mad, but Hercules reminds them how the Destroyer made up for his past crime by helping liberate them all.
Getting fed up with Marnot’s insults and prattling, Odin demands to know who he is and what his end goal is. That’s when Marnot reveals that he was carrying out Odin’s orders and reveals his true form to them all. As it turns out, Marnot was Odin’s raven Hescamar. It explains that after the first war with the Dark Gods centuries earlier, Odin charged Hescamar with carrying out a contingency plan in case of their return.[6] When the Asgardians were captured by the Dark Gods, Odin’s plan came into effect. Hescamar was endowed with some of Odin’s power and transformed into Marnot and began working to assist Thor in rescuing his people. As it turns out, Odin also wiped his own memories of this contingency plan so their enemies would never learn about it.
With explanations out of the way, Thor asks Odin to free Preston Case’s soul from the Destroyer. Odin uses his scepter to pull the mortal’s spirit from the Destroyer and sends Thor to Earth with it. He appears in Preston’s hospital room where Jane Foster is trying to think of something to keep Preston’s mortal shell from dying. Thor then jabs the scepter into Preston’s body, transfering his soul back into his body and restoring him to life. Jane is not happy to hear that Odin had a hand in all of this, as the All-Father messed with her life in the past. She reminds Thor that he has to do something about Hannah Fairmont, Jake Olson’s fiancée before her life is ruined in the same way.[7] Thor promises to do something about it soon and teleports back to Asgard.
There, the people of Asgard are having a celebratory feast. There, Thor asks Odin for permission to return to Earth to sort out his Jake Olson problem. As he is still indebted to Thor for saving the kingdom, Odin allows for it, but first they all raise a glass to celebrate Thor once more.
Back on Earth, Detective Brady O’Neil is investigating the theft of drugs from the hospital where Jake Olson works. Obtaining a warrant, O’Neil and a team of officers search Jake’s apartment. There, they find a stash of drugs hidden in the toilet tank. This is the last bit of evidence O’Neil needs to finally bust Jake Olson.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Hescamar, Odin, Hercules, Destroyer, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Sif, Heimdall, Preston Case, Jane Foster, Brady O’Neil
Continuity Notes
The Dark Gods had captured the Asgardians in Journey into Mystery #513. Thor had defeated them and freed his people in Thor (vol. 2) #10-12.
Preston Case found his soul trapped inside the Destroyer armor in Thor (vol. 2) #1-2. More powerful than ever, Thor was unable to stop the Destroyer and was forced to banish it into space before he could free Case’s soul. Thor later convinced Preston to help fight against the Dark Gods in exchange for his freedom in Thor (vol. 2) #11.
Thor was believed to have died alongside the Avengers and Fantastic Four in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they were transported to a pocket dimension where they lived reimagined lives. They were found and rescued in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. The Asgardians were unaware of this because they were already prisoners of the Dark Gods at that time.
Thor’s hammer was broken by Perrikus in Thor (vol. 2) #10. Although Thor fused it back together in the following issue it was still cracked and scarred.
The death of Jake Olson and Thor taking over his life happened in Thor (vol. 2) #1-2.
As revealed in Thor (vol. 2) #9, the Dark Gods waged war with Asgard thousands of years ago. Although they lost the war, the battle claimed many lives. Odin then erased everyone’s memory so they would not live with the horror of what happened.
The relationship between Thor and Jane Foster and how it affected her life (usually for the worse) is quite complicated:
Thor’s first mortal identity was that of Donald Blake which he used from Journey into Mystery #83 to Thor #339. He had an will-they-or-won’t-they relationship with Jane starting in Journey into Mystery #84.
He revealed his true identity to her in Journey into Mystery #124. Thor petitioned Odin to allow them to be married and Odin tested her to see if she was worthy of being a god. She flubbed the test in Thor #136 and was banished to Earth with no memory of her past with Don Blake.
This wasn’t the only time that Thor disrupted her life. After nearly taking her life by the Dweller-in-Darkness in Thor #229, she later was merged with Sif in order to save her life in Thor #236. Eventually, she was trapped in the Runestaff of Kamo Tharn and had to be rescued in Thor #335.
Although she married Keith Kincaid in Thor #336, marital problems led to a brief separation. She was then kidnapped by the Man-Beast and dragged back into Thor’s life from Thor #475 to 489.
Before his death, Jake Olson was engaged to Hannah Fairmont, making Thor’s time taking over his life much more complicated.
