Thor (vol. 2) #2
Deal with the Devil
The Destroyer armor has been possessed by the soul of Colonel Preston Case, who has been rampaging across the docks of New York City to get back at the military which has disrespected him his entire career. The Avengers responded to stop the Destroyer,[1] but in the ensuing battle Thor was apparently killed when Preston unleashed the full power of the Destroyer upon the thunder god.[2]
While Captain America, Iron Man, and Hawkeye counter-attack, the Scarlet Witch attempts to revive Thor with her hex powers. However, she is caught by the Destroyer who blasts her and Thor’s lifeless body off the pier and into the river.
Thor’s spirit awakens in Hel before its ruler, Hela and Volla the blind prophet who predicted that Thor would soon come to them. However, the thunder god refuses to accept Hela’s embrace. They are soon joined by an enigmatic being calling himself Marnot.[3] He has come to prevent Thor from dying and offers to resurrect him. However, this will not come without a price. Marnot explains that a mortal ambulance driver named Jake Olson was killed in the battle while trying to save lives, saying that his death is the result of Thor’s relentless battle with the Destroyer. As such, in order to restore the thunderer to life, he must be bonded to Olson.[4]
As Marnot is explaining all of this, Jake’s partner Demitrius Collins heads to the apartment of Olson’s fiancée, Hannah Fairmont. He tells her that Jake was killed in the line of duty, devastating Hannah as she hoped that she and Jake were to get married.
Hela protests Thor’s resurrection, insisting that his soul is hers for all time. However, Marnot is able to overpower her. Getting a closer look at the enigmatic being Hela still doesn’t know who he really is, but knows he has the power to oppose her and relents. With that, Thor’s spirit is cast back to Midgard.
By this time, the Destroyer has defeated the Avengers and taken Cap’s shield, Iron Man’s uni-beam, and Thor’s cape as trophies to wear. That’s when Thor — alive and well — comes smashing out from under the pier. Catching the Destroy off guard, Thor knows that he cannot defeat it with brute strength. Instead, he uses Mjolnir to teleport the Destroyer into the endless void of space.[5] With the battle over, Thor frees his comrades but when they ask how he managed to cheat death, the thunder god explains that he’ll explain everything to them later as he has other matters to attend to.
Thor finds himself being pulled by a compulsion that takes him to a strange apartment. There he can’t stop himself from rapping Mjolnir on the ground and triggering a transformation. Outside, Hannah Fairmont has come to Jake’s apartment in SoHo. She thinks this is a bad idea since Jake just died, but she can’t help herself. When she goes inside she is shocked to see Jake Olson — alive and well — coming out of the shower. Not having any of Olson’s memories, Thor asks who she is.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Jake Olson, Destroyer, Preston Case, Demitrius Collins, Hannah Fairmont, Hela, Volla, Marnot, Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch)
Continuity Notes
Here, Captain America is carrying a triangular shield that is a replica of his original shield from Captain America Comics #1. At the time of this story, Cap’s trademark circular shield, used since Captain America Comics #2, was lost at sea in Captain America (vol. 3) #2. Cap recovers that weapon in issue #22 of that series.
Thor was killed by the Destroyer last issue.
Marnot is secretly one of Odin’s ravens named Hescamar as revealed in Thor (vol. 2) #12.
Thor doesn’t get bonded to the real Jake Olson, but a construct of Jake. The real Olson was a criminal who gets cast to the netherworld until he is resurrected in Thor (vol. 2) #19.
The Destroyer will be lost in space until Thor recruits Preston Case to help him liberate the Asgardians from the clutches of the Dark Gods. See Thor (vol. 2) #11-13.