The Forsaken

With his wife Titania (Mary “Skeeter” MacPherran) ill and dying, the Absorbing Man (Carl “Crusher” Creel) has kidnapped Doctor Jane Foster to treat her. When the authorities arrive to stop him, Creel changes into metal to deflect their bullets. However, smashing through the cops is going to take too much time, so Creel decides to flee into the sewers. For her part, Jane tries to convince the Absorbing Man that his best chance is to bring Titania to the hospital, but he explains that he can’t because they have no insurance and are on the run from the law. Jane realizes that she is going to have to do what Creel says until someone can save her. However, she can’t help but think how Crusher seriously injured her husband during the kidnappning.[1]

Meanwhile, Jake Olson — Thor’s mortal alter-ego — is revived by his new partner, Christine Collins and is updated on the situation.[2] Pretending that he is going to treat the police officers that were injured during the Absorbing Man’s escape, Jake runs into a deserted alley to change into Thor. The thunder god then learns how Creel fled into the sewers. Using Mjolnir, Thor blasts a hole in the street so he can follow after his foe. However, the trail quickly runs cold when the thunderer discovers that the tunnel splits off into multiple directions.

In the meantime, Absorbing Man has brought Jane to the run down apartment he and his wife have been hiding out in. When Jane gets a look at Titania’s emaciated body she insists that the best thing to do is to take Mary to the hospital right away. However, Creel is too afraid of getting her the proper help, so Jane has no choice but to try her best.

Meanwhile, Thor has gone to Avengers Mansion where he has Iron Man help him try to find Jane Foster. Iron Man builds a device that will allow Thor to track Jane by her mobile device. With the device, Thor ignores Iron Man’s offer of further assistance and flies off to find Jane

At that moment, Jane has come up with a list of medicals supplies she will need to help Titania. She also gives Creel money to buy the supplies since she doesn’t want him to steal anything. Crusher agrees to go, but bends a radiator into the shape of a shackle to keep Foster from fleeing while he is gone. It’s then that Jane notices that someone is pinging her mobile device and wonders who could be trying to reach her at a time like this.

It is Thor, who tracks the signal to the Absorbing Man’s run down apartment building. Seeing the villain outside, Thor amushes him from above. The two begin pummeling one another, paying little attention to the collateral damage they are causing to the street around them. That is until the apartment building where Jane is treating Titania is damaged and on the verge of collapse. Absorbing Man takes on the properties of concrete and pleads with Thor to save his wife. While the thunder god complies, he is too late to stop the building from collapsing. Both men fear the worst until Titania emerges from the rubble. Despite her frail health, she had enough strength to shield Jane from harm as the building collapsed around them.

Thor then grabs the remaining debris as Mary’s strength gives out. Jane tells Crusher that her cancer is a side effect of the radiations that were used to give Titania her powers and that there is no way to save her life without taking her to a hospital.[3] Carl is still reluctant to do so until Thor assures him that it is the best and only way to save Mary’s life. Creel relents and allows Thor to rush her to the hospital right away.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Absorbing Man, Jane Foster, Demetrius Collins, “Christine Collins”, Iron Man, Titania

Continuity Notes

1. Keith Kincaid was seriously injured last issue.

2. Christin Collins is actually the Enchantress as disguise, as we’ll learn in Thor (vol. 2) #36.

3. Titania was given her powers by Doctor Doom back in Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #3. While Titania goes to the hospital for medical treatment here, she will actually be cured using Asgardian medicine as we’ll see in Thor (vol. 2) #55-56.

Topical References

• The tracking device that Iron Man builds is said to be able to track a pager by calling it directly. At the time this story was published, pagers were still very common place in society, especially among medical professionals. While doctors still use pagers because they are more reliable than a cell phone, this should still be considered a topical reference as this technology has fallen out of favor and is well on its way to obsolescence as I write this in May, 2023.