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Thor and the Rigelian Recorder return to Asgard after stopping Thanos from wiping out all life in the universe.[1] Waiting at the Bifrost Bridge is Heimdall, who forever stands guard. When Thor notices that Heimdall is bothered by something he asks what’s wrong, Heimdall says it is not his place to say, forcing Thor to race into the city to find out what peril the kingdom of Asgard now faces.

Outside Odin’s bedchamber, Thor finds his mother Frigga, Balder and Sif waiting outside. Frigga tells her son that Odin was so weakened by Tarakis’ poison that he needs to undergo the Odinsleep in order to replenish his might. When Thor races into his father’s chambers, the All-Father tells his son that it is true. When Thor promises to watch over the kingdom while he slumbers, Odin tells him that Thor is to focus on protecting Midgard as he always does and then enters his deep slumber. When Thor asks who was chosen to rule in Odin’s stead, Sif reveals that she was the one who was given the Odinring and put in charge while the All-Father slumbers. Although Thor is disappointed that his father did not ask him to watch over the kingdom, he believes that Sif will be a worthy replacement until the Odinsleep is over and returns to Earth.

Meanwhile, in a seedy part of New York City, the Absorbing Man (Carl “Crusher” Creel) returns to the slum apartment where he and his wife Titania (Mary “Skeeter” MacPherran) live. Mary has been sick for some time. Unfortunately, they have been living on the lam for sometime. Mary believes she is going to die unless Crusher gets her to a hospital she will die. However, with no money and on the run from the law, he can’t do that. The best he can do is steal her some over-the-counter pain killers. However, when his wife begins coughing up blood, Carl promises her that he’ll get her the help she needs no matter what.

By this time, Thor has returned to Midgard, and upon landing in New York City he changes back to his mortal guise of Jake Olson. He then heads down to the hospital to try and get his old job at an EMT back. His boss, Thomas Ryan, is reluctant to do so after the whole ordeal with Jake’s “brother” stealing his identity in order to rip off drugs from the hospital and sell them on the streets.[2] That’s when Dimitrius Collins — Jake’s former partner who was really an undercover cop — convinces Ryan to hire Jake back on, particularly since his sister Christine needs a new partner.[3]

While at Memorial Hospital, Jane Foster and her husband Keith Kincaid are looking forward to a romantic evening out together that evening.[4] it’s then that the Absorbing Man arrives at the front desk and tells Hannah Fairmont to get him somebody in charge. When Hannah tells him that they don’t do house calls and to bring his wife to the hospital, Creel says that won’t cut it. Crusher pulls out his ball and chain and smashes the front desk. He then grabs Jane as she is the closest doctor to him. When her husband tries to stop Absorbing Man from taking her, Crusher smashes him in the face with his weapon, seriously injuring Keith. Hannah then sends out a desperate call to the EMT garage. Jake Olson and Christine are the first to hear it and Jake races off to help even though they haven’t been assigned to the job. He sends Christine up into the hospital to treat Keith Kincaid, while Jake races to an alleyway to change into Thor.

However, before Jake can slam his fist on the ground to the ground, he is knocked as the Absorbing Man runs by with Jane. When Jake gets up and tries to stop Creel from escaping he is struck with a powerful blow hat knocks him out.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Absorbing Man, Heimdall, Frigga, Balder, Sif, Odin, Recorder, “Christine Collins”, Keith Kincaid, Jane Foster, Hannah Fairmont, Titania, Thomas Ryan

Continuity Notes

1. Wow, did you not pay attention to literally the last five issues? Also, that wasn’t really Thanos, but one of the Thanosi clones that the big T created to carry out various goo-gahs on his behalf, as you’d learn if you bothered reading Infinity Abyss #1-6.

2. Thor had taken over the life of Jake Olson after Jake was killed during a battle with the Destroyer in Thor (vol. 2) #1. Over the next 18 issues, it was discovered that Jake was stealing drugs from the hospital to sell on the streets. To further complicate his life, Loki resurrected the soul of Jake Olson to commit more crimes. When Thor was tipped off of this plot, he used this to sell the idea that Jake Olson had an evil twin brother. See Thor Annual 2000.

3. Christine Collins is actually the Enchantress in disguise as will be revealed in Thor (vol. 2) #35. It’s not really clear if there ever was a real Christine Collins or not. However subsequent Marvel handbooks and Indexes seem to suggest that there was not.

4. Did you forget that Jane Foster was married to Keith Kincaid? Yeah that happened back in Thor #336.