Thor (vol. 2) #38
Cometh the Storm
At a small fishing village on the coast of Norway, some newly weds arrive to visit family. When they arrive they discover the town has been decimated by what appears to be an earthquake. As they try to make sense of what happened and where the people went, they are attacked by something.
In Asgard, Odin finds himself deciding between the fate of his son and the fate of the universe. On Midgard, Thor is fighting for his life against the Destroyer, which has been reanimated with the spirit of Tarene, the Designate. As the battle rages, the Watcher came to Odin to show him two possible futures. One where Tarene achieves her destiny and ushers the universe to its next phase of evolution. The other, is a nightmare future called the Reigning, where Thor becomes a tyrant.[1] If Odin intervenes he will have to choose between Tarene or Thor, and unfortunately, he cannot make up his mind.
At that moment, Thor has just been defeated by the Destroyer. Although Tarene’s a helpless prisoner inside the Destroyer, she can at least stop it from landing the killing blow. Unfortunately, all this does is make the Destroyer turn its destructive urges toward the bystanders in the street. Having been separated from Mjolnir for over a minute, Thor reverts back to his mortal form of Jake Olson. Despite the fact that he has been stripped of his powers, Jake refuses to stand by and do something. He gets up and begins making his way to the Destroyer.
This is seen by the Amora the Enchantress — who has been posing as Jake Olson’s partner, Christine Collins — who decides that if nobody will stop this carnage, she will. Odin has also seen enough and decides to step in as well, despite the consequences. The battle is also being watched by Loki and Karnilla, who are responsible for unleashing the Destroyer on Thor. Karnilla fears that Odin might step in to interfere and they decide to look on him. As she suspected, Odin is about to travel the dimensional gulf between Asgard and Earth. While Loki cannot stop his father from going to Midgard, Loki can at least slow him down long enough to make sure that he arrives too late. Using his magic, Loki summons a a Jutefisok in the dimensional void between the two realms to block Odin’s way.
Back on Earth, the Enchantress makes herself invisible and gets close enough to touch the Destroyer so she might learn who was responsible for reviving it and whose soul inhabits the armor. With this information, she teleports away. Second later, Jake Olson drives a car into the Destroyer, but it doesn’t do more than stagger the unstoppable juggernaut. At that same moment, Amora appears in Karnilla’s domain and finds the lifeless body of Tarene, aka Thor Girl. Seeing that she wields a magic hammer of her own, the Enchantress takes it in the hopes it can allow Jake Olson to change back into Thor.
When Amora returns to Earth, Jake has been knocked to the ground, but is saved by Sif. However, when the Enchantress hands over Tarene’s hammer, Jake takes it and nothing happens. Luckily, Odin appears moments later and apologizes to his son for not acting sooner. The All-Father then uses his magic to change Jake Olson back into Thor. The restored thunder god leaps into battle with the Destroyer and with Tarene’s hammer he has the power to wrest Mjolnir away from the menace. While the Destroyer is distracted, Odin is able to get close enough to cast a spell that frees Tarene’s soul from its housing. When Thor Girl awakens she leaves Karnilla’s domain, promising the sorceress and Loki that they will pay for their crimes. In the aftermath of the battle, Odin admits that he made an error in punishing his son, and promises that no matter what, he will always be there for the god of thunder.
Watching all of this is the Uatu the Watcher. He is convinced that the tragedy he hoped to avoid will now come to pass.
While in Norway, the people there have all been transformed into beings of flame. Now have just completed a ceremony that allows fire demon known as Surtur to manifest on Earth!
Recurring Characters
Thor, Odin, Sif, Enchantress, Thor Girl, Destroyer, Loki, Karnilla, Surtur, Keith Kincaid/”Executioner”, Watcher
Continuity Notes
Odin was shown these two possible futures by Uatu last issue. They were:
Per the Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Thor this possible future where Tarene reaches her destiny has been designated to Reality-53937. For more on Tarene’s role in the future see Thor (vol. 2) #21-25.
The Reigning is a possible future in which Thor had taken over the Earth. These events are chronicles in Thor (vol. 2) #67-79. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2 that timeline exists in Reality-3515.
