Thor (vol. 2) #34
Man of Tomorrow
A man claiming to be a Daily Bugle reporter named Cal Kramer comes knocking at the front door of Avengers Mansion. When Jarvis answers, the reporter asks to speak with Thor for an story about Norse mythology. The dutiful butler tells Kramer that Thor is not in presently. Cal agrees that Thor isn’t there and leaves before Jarvis can find out how he could know that. Cal Kramer promises to himself that when he does track down the thunder god, he’s dead.
Meanwhile, Thor was just assisted in stopping a robot’s rampage by Tarene, the Designate who is supposed to usher in a new stage of evolution to the universe. She has come to Earth and — as Thor Girl — intends to become a superhero. Thor is against this because of the risks to her life, but Tarene refuses to give up on her new direction in life and attacks the thunderer to prove that she can defend herself. After being targeted in the past, she decided to become Thor Girl — inspired by the Asgardian’s warrior spirits — to not only defend herself, but to protect the innocent.[1]
The thunder and lightning of created during this battle is seen by Cal Kramer. Using his telescopic vision, Kramer confirms that Thor is present. Cal then flies to that location and witnesses as Tarene manages to knock the wind out of Thor with her own hammer. The thunder god decides that there is no dissuading Tarene. He decides that if Tarene is to learn to be a hero she must first ground herself and learn what it is like to live as the mortals she wishes to protect, just as he assumes the guise of Jake Olson. The two transform into mortals, however Jake realizes that Tarene cannot stay with him since the real Olson’s mother is currently visiting.[2] However, Jake knows where she can stay, provided an old friend can do him a favor. The two then hop in a taxi, unaware that Cal Kramer is following them.
Meanwhile, in Asgard, the Trolls have run out of game and their people are starving. Ulik is petitioned to do something. Ulik knows that Odin would have made more game for them to hunt, but since Sif has taken over the throne they have been ignored.[3] Ulik decides to gather an army to storm the gates of Asgard in order to show her that she is doing so at her peril.
Back on Earth, Jake and Tarene arrive at Memorial Hospital. There, Hannah Fairmont is at work, with her daughter Amanda. Jake has come to ask Hannah a favor. He introduces Tarene as his cousin and says that she needs a place to stay while visiting New York CIty. Hannah thinks this is a good idea since her daughter could use a friend because she is having a hard time right now. That’s when Amanda tells Jake that it’s his fault by calling off his engagement to her mother.[4] When Jake tries to come up with an explanation, his partner Christine Collins enters the lobby. When she boldly kisses Jake on the lips, this angers Amanda who storms off. Jake tries to go after her to explain that this is not what it looks like, but Amanda runs off. While Tarene thinks this means she’ll have to find some other place to stay, Hannah tells her that she won’t hear of it. She assures her that Amanda will get over her upset. When she mentions that she didn’t know that Jake and Christine were an item, Christine smiles and tells Hannah that there is a lot about her nobody knows.[5]
This scene is being observed by Karnilla, the Norn Queen, from an enchanted looking glass in Nornheim. She finds something familiar about Christine Collins. However, before she can figure out who she really is, her thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of her beloved, Balder the Brave. Balder has come to seek aid as the Trolls are amassing an army to attack Asgard.
Meanwhile, Jake Olson continues to chase after Amanda Fairmont, to try and explain what just happened. Amanda runs into an alleyway and right into Cal Kramer. When Jake enters the alleyway, Kramer tosses Amanda aside as he no longer needs to use her as bait. Deactivating an image inducer, “Cal Kramer” reveals that he is really the Shi’ar Imperial Guardsman known as the Gladiator.[6] Blasted with Gladiator’s heat vision, Jake realizes that his foe knows his true identity. While Amanda isn’t looking, Jake quickly changes into Thor sends his foe crashing into a nearby building.
While Gladiator is distracted, Thor helps Amanda to her feet and tells her to run. When Gladiator emerges from the rubble, the two titans continue their brawl. However, the Shi’ar manages to kick Thor’s hammer all the way to LaGuardia airport. Before the thunder god can summon it back, Gladiator hits him as hard as possible, sending Thor flying into the air, stunning him from the blow. Amanda then watches as Thor’s body crashes through the roof of a transport trailer. This is just as the sixty second enchantment kicks in that forces Thor to revert back into Jake Olson once he and Mjolnir have been separated for more than a minute. When Amanda opens the trailer door to see if Thor is ok, she is shocked to see the burning body of Jake Olson unconscious inside!
Recurring Characters
Thor, Thor Girl, Gladiator, Hannah Fairmont, Amanda Fairmont, “Christine Collins”, Sif, Balder, Ulik, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
The Designate is a powerful being that is supposed to usher the universe to its next stage of evolution. She was previously targeted by a Thanosi clone in Thor (vol. 2) #21-25.
The real Jake Olson died saving lives during an attack by the Destroy in Thor (vol. 2) #1. Thor petitioned Odin to spare his life and the two were merged together. However, as we learned in Thor Annual 2000, Thor only took over Jake’s mortal body, his soul ended up going to the afterlife. Olson’s mother showed up for a visit in Thor (vol. 2) #32.
Odin entered the Odinsleep back in Thor (vol. 2) #26, he will remain in this state until issue #35. Before going to sleep, he chose Sif to rule the kingdom in his absence.
When Thor took over Jake Olson’s life, it was just as Jake had proposed to Hannah Fairmont. Eventually, when Loki tried to use the real Jake to frame Thor for crimes, Thor used the opportunity to convince everyone that Jake had a twin brother who stole his identity. With this convenient explanation, Thor was able to break off the engagement. See Thor Annual 2000 again.
Christine is actually the Enchantress in disguise, as we’ll learn in Thor (vol. 2) #35.
As revealed last issue, this is not the Gladiator of Reality-616, but from the future. He is working with Zarrko the Tomorrow Man to prevent the future timeline of the Reigning, where Thor rules over Earth, as will be chronicled in Thor (vol. 2) #67-79. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2 that timeline exists in Reality-3515. Per Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Thor, it states that Zarrko and Gladiator hale from that reality, which is not exactly accurate. See last issue for my comments on that.
Topical References
In this story, whenever Tarene disguises herself as a mortal, she uses a lot of slang that was commonly used by teenage girls in the early 2000s. These terms should be considered topical as the slang used here is no longer commonly used by that demographic.
