Thor (vol. 2) #32
Forever Kursed
Malekith the Dark Elf has used the Cask of Ancient Winters to freeze Asgard with extreme cold. Thor has returned to his homeland to liberate his friends only to be attacked by Kurse, who has allied himself with Malekith for some unknown reason.[1]
While Thor fights for his life, Malekith forces Sif to watch. He also taunts her with the fact that once the thunder god is dead, he will use the Cask to turn Asgard into a frozen wasteland. However, he promises to spare the Golden Realm if Sif agrees to become his servant queen.[2] The Cask has begun to spread its unrelenting cold across the Nine Realms of Asgard.
This also includes the domain of Hel, ruled by Hela. Seeing the tormented souls of this hellscape frozen in ice worries Volla, the prophet who councils Hela. However, the death goddess is unconcerned about the current situation because she is confident that Thor will save the day, as he always does. This belief is shared by another loyal servant to Hela. This being tells Volla to stop worrying as well and bows to his queen.[3]
Back in the kingdom, Thor is still pinned to the frozen ground by Kurse. Unable to get push himself up to freedom, Thor instead uses Mjolnir’s magic to blast a escape tunnel through the ice. As Thor dumps Kurse into the pit he has created, Thor flies off saying that he is going to obtain a powerful artifact he calls the Gem of Infinite Suns. Hearing this, Malekith orders Sif to tell him where he can find this gem so he can prevent the thunder god from obtaining it. He then turns his attention to Kurse, who is climbing out of the hole. Bellowing at his minion to follow after Thor, Malekith doesn’t notice Sif slipping away. She ends up running into what appears to be her old ally Beta Ray Bill, but its’ actually Malekith in disguise. He quickly drops his disguise, then knocks Sif out with a single punch.
Sif’s cry of pain is heard by the real Beta Ray Bill, who is fighting off the Dark Elf invasion alongside Balder and the Warrior Three (Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg). Bill vows that he will make Malekith pay for harming his friend. He fights past Pentigaar — the embodiment of winter itself — and stops the Dark Elf from running Sif through with his sword. However, Malekith isn’t so easily defeated. He uses the Cask of Ancient Winters to increase Pentigaar’s strength and size. However, while he was doing so, Sif managed to escape from him yet again.
While this is all happening, Thor enters Odin’s bedchambers where his father still slumbers. He takes out the two guard dogs that Malekith put at his side. He hopes that Sif is creating a distraction while he retrieves the Gem of Infinite Suns from a secret compartment hidden in the All-Father’s bed.
Indeed, Sif is leading Malekith on a wild goose chase. She lures him down into the Hall of Lost Souls, a place where Asgard honors those who have died in far away lands whose bodies were never recovered. While she is busy battling him, Thor takes the Gem to where Beta Ray Bill and the others are fighting Pentigaar and uses its power to melt him into a puddle. He then uses the object to free Kurse from Malekith’s control. The thunderer next uses the gems power to thaw out all of Asgard and its people frozen in ice. With his power over the Nine Worlds failing, Malekith tries to reclaim that Cask of Ancient Winters. Unfortunately for him, Thor manages to nab the powerful artifact and uses the Gem of Infinite Suns to prevent the Cask from being used ever again, before using Mjolnir to create a vortex to banish the Cask to a far away dimension.[4] With their foe powerless, Thor decides to leave Malekith’s fate to Sif, who is more than happy to punch him out. The strength of her blow surprises Thor and the others.[5]
Later, Thor and Beta Ray Bill return to Midgard.[6] Appearing back in his New York apartment, Thor resumes his mortal guise of ambulance driver Jake Olson. That’s when Olson’s mother — who has come on a surprise visit to see her son — comes walking into the room. The sight of Beta Ray Bill causes her to fain. Bill is confused to hear the woman refer to herself as Jake’s mother.[7]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Kurse, Malekith, Sif, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Balder, Beta Ray Bill, Hela, Volla, Odin, Pentigaar, Jake Olson’s mother
Continuity Notes
Thor can’t understand why Kurse is working with Malekith. He was once known as Algrim the Strong, a Dark Elf that was dropped into lava during a battle with Thor in Thor #347. He was later transformed into Kurse by the Beyonder in Secret Wars II #4. Kurse eventually became an ally of Thor and at one point managed to kill Malekith in Thor #367. Malekith managed to cheat death in X-Force Annual 1997.
At the time of this story, Sif had been put in charge of Asgard because Odin went into the Odinsleep in Thor (vol. 2) #26. This will remain the status quo until issue #35.
This character is initially intended to be the Executioner, but is later revealed to be one of Hela’s cyphers posing as Skurge, as revealed in Thor (vol. 2) #43.
The Cask of Ancient Winters will remain lost until it is recovered and used in Krona and the Grandmaster’s contest in JLA/Avengers #1-4.
We won’t see Malekith again until Incredible Hercules #132-136.
The events of Thor Annual 2001 occur behind the scenes after Malekith’s defeat and before Thor and Bill return to Earth.
Jake Olson was a real person who died helping evacuate people during an attack by the Destroyer. Thor petitioned Odin to spare his life, but in reality Thor only took over Olson’s life, while Jake’s soul ended up in Mephisto’s Hell until it was sent to a better reward by Odin. See Thor (vol. 2) #1 and Annual 2000.
Supplement Material
Like all 100 Page Monsters published during this period, this story includes reprints of the following stories: