What’s a God to Do?

Thor is dreaming about his childhood. In this dream he remembers the time he caught Loki playing around in the rafters above the palace. The young god is shocked to discover his step brother is spying on Odin and the other warriors of the realm as they meet in the Hall of War. Thor sees this as a great transgression that will surely get them punished. Loki, on the other hand, insists that it is his business to know what their elders are planning. When Thor continues to protest about this invasion of privacy, the trickster ends up knocking Thor down onto the ground. However, rather than rat his step-brother out, Thor takes full responsibility for spying. Instead of being punished, Odin decides that his son has the right to know of the threat facing Asgard that could potentially wipe them all out.[1]

However, before Odin can reveal who or what this threat is, Thor wakes up in the apartment he lives in under the mortal guise of Jake Olson. He is shocked to discover that he does not remember the events that he just dreamed about, nor can he recall anything Odin said after. That’s when Marnot appears before him and reminds Thor that he has promised to carry on Jake Olson’s life after the paramedic died during the thunder god’s battle with the Destroyer, as penance for failing to save Jake’s life.[2] Today is also a very important day since Jake Olson is being awarded for saving the life of a woman trapped in a wrecked car during that very battle. Changing into Thor, the thunder god races to the hospital so he can make it to the ceremony on time.

There, Jake Olson’s partner Dimitrius Collins, his fiancée Hannah Fairmont, and her daughter Amanda are all waiting for him “Jake” to show up. When Thor does arrive in a nearby alley and changes back to his mortal form, he remembers he forgot to get dressed before leaving and races inside the hospital locker room to put on his spare uniform. He’s just finishing up when Dimitrius comes in looking for him and to tell him everyone’s waiting outside. He also tells “Jake” that they got a special guest to give him the paramedic of the year award. When “Jake” heads outside, he is disheartened to see that the person handing out the award is his fellow Avenger, Captain America. When “Olson” takes to the stage, he shocks everybody by saying that he doesn’t deserve the award being given to him. Captain America understands his position and complies with his wishes. Thomas Ryan, the hospital administrator and Jake Olson’s boss on the other hand, is not happy with this at all and berates “Jake” for turning it down.

Hannah is also concerned about “Jake’s” actions and checks to make sure that he isn’t coming down with a fever or something. Amanda takes this opportunity to express her dislike of “Jake”.[3] Hoping to make peace with the young girl, “Olson” asks her how he can make it up to her and she tells him that she’d like him to take her out to see a pro football game that Sunday. “Jake” originally mistakes New York’s pro team for Frost Giants and then passes it off as a joke, which everyone finds odd. Overhearing this exchange is Jane Foster who is already suspicious of Jake Olson.[4] She catches up to “Jake” to talk to him, saying that she was impressed by his ability to perform a cricothyrotomy on a patient but, since he wasn’t properly licensed to do so, she decided to keep it off the records so it wouldn’t cost him his job. She is also surprised to hear he knows Don Blake and she tells him that if they ever met to pass a message along to Thor that Colonel Preston Case — the man whose soul possessed the Destroyer armor most recently — is still in a coma at the hospital.

That evening, Hercules is having a night on the town, showing off his strength to all the women in the club. That’s when Thor arrives and asks to speak to his old friend about the situation in Asgard. However, all Hercules wants to do is drink and party. When Thor declines this offer, he offends the Olympian and a fight breaks out between the two. The brawl takes them out into the street, but as Thor explains that Asgard is in ruins and its people missing and needs help, Hercules stops fighting and agrees to help his friend. Thor hopes to go to Olympus and petition the Greek gods for help and Hercules is more than happy to return home even though he has been stripped of his godly heritage.[5]

With that, Thor uses Mjolnir to open a dimensional vortex to bring the pair to Olympus. When they arrive, they are shocked to discover it too is in ruins after some titanic battle.[6]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Jake Olson, Hercules, Captain America, Marnot, Jane Foster, Hannah Fairmont, Amanda Fairmont, Demitrus Collins, Thomas Ryan

Continuity Notes

1. Odin is talking about the Dark Gods, who attempted to invade Asgard centuries ago and failed. As there were many casualties during the conflict, Odin chose to erase everyone’s memories of the conflict including Thor. We’ll learn all of this in Thor (vol. 2) #9.

2. Jake Olson was killed in the line of duty during the Avengers battle with the Destroyer. Thor was fatally injured as well and accepted Marnot’s offer to resurrect him under the promise that he’d carry on Olson’s life, as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #1-2. What Thor doesn’t know is that Marnot is actually one of Odin’s ravens named Hescamar, whose true intentions of hiding Thor in the identity of Jake Olson is to render him invisible of detection by the Dark Gods, as will be explained in Thor (vol. 2) #13.

3. Amanda’s dislike of Jake Olson is not unwarranted as Thor (vol. 2) #15 reveals that prior to his death, the real Jake was stealing drugs from the hospital to sell on the streets.

4. Jane Foster has been suspicious of “Jake Olson” since last issue. She has had a long history with Thor that dates back to Journey into Mystery #84. She’ll eventually figure out that “Olson” is actually a new mortal identity for Thor by issue #12.

5. When Hercules discovered that his girlfriend, Taylor Madison, was merely a mystical construct created to catch his step-mother Hera breaking Olympian law that forbade contact with Earth, Hercules was really upset and denounced his father. This led to Hercules being stripped of his immortality in Avengers #384. This will remain the status quo until Ares #1-5.

6. As we’ll learn next issue, Olympus was attacked by the Dark Gods however through illusion they framed the Asgardians.

Topical References

• Amanda Fairmont compares “Jake Olson’s” strange behavior to characters from the classic science fiction story of the same name. The story is about alien pods that are slowly replacing humans and conquer the Earth. Written by Jack Finley in 1955, it has been adapted into film four times. 1958’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers,1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1993’s Body Snatchers, and 2007’s The Invasion. Yet another film has been in development since 2017 so yeah. This story has been so influential that it has endured in popular culture decades after the story’s first publication. It’s reference here therefore might not be considered topical.

• Amanda wants “Jake” to take her to see a New York Giants game at the Meadowlands. This should absolutely be considered a topical reference. Firstly, because the Giants are a real-life sports team and real life teams can become defunct or move to other markets, as unlikely as it is that New York would lose its NFL team, you never know. References to the Meadowlands should also be considered topical. The Giants played here from 1976 to 2010. This stadium was later demolished in the summer of that year. The team has played at the MetLife Stadium ever since, as of this writing in June, 2022.

• One of the women at the bar quips that “Hercules can have Xena” as she finds Thor more attractive. This is a reference to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1999) and its spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001). At the time this comic was published these shows were at the height of their popularity. Their references here should be considered topical.