Taking Charge, Part 3

When his recent round of cancer treatment failed, Dale Krogstad decided to do the one thing he has always wanted to do: Visit New York City. Stepping out of Grand Central Station, Dale is completely floored by the sight of the massive city. He is so awestruck he wanders into the middle of the road. He is almost hit by a taxi if not for Thor Girl, who swoops down from the sky and smashes the cab with her hammer while pushing Dale out of harms way.

The cab driver is furious with her because she didn’t need to smash his car in order to save Dale. Krogstad, on the other hand, is grateful for the save and can hardly believe he is talking to one of New York’s fabled superheroes, although he admittedly is unfamiliar with Thor Girl. At first, he confuses her with the true thunder god, and she quickly corrects his him. However, as she tries to fly away, she is struck by an axe in mid-air and comes crashing down. The weapon then flies back to its owner, Skurge the Executioner!

Meanwhile, Thor has finally claimed throne of Asgard following the death of Odin. When Loki comes to see him, Thor admits that he he thought Odin was still alive because he didn’t feel the Odinpower transfer to him. However, now he feels it slowly empowering him and now there is no doubt that their father is dead. He tells Loki how he went to Orikal for confirmation.[1] Loki then suggests there is one last person to check with, Hela, the goddess of death. This conversation is then interrupted by an Asgardian named Thialfi who comes to tell Thor that there that Tarene — aka Thor Girl — is in grave danger on Midgard.[2]

In Hel, the prophet known as Volla warns Hela that her current schemes against Thor will turn out badly and to back out now while there is still a chance. These warnings fall on deaf ears, as Hela is eager to claim Thor’s life now, before he full gains the Odinpower and is out of her grasp.[3]

Back on Earth, Jake Olson — Thor’s mortal half — arrives at the apartment of his EMT partner Christine Carpenter. When she doesn’t answer the door he invites himself in and is surprised to see that she has been chained up and gagged. Freeing her, she explains how she was restrained by the Executioner who is jealous of her love for him. Jake has no idea what she is talking about, so she decides to walk through her enchanted mirror and reveal he true identity to him, that of Amora the Enchantress.[4] Once in her true form she kisses a stunned Jake Olson.

Across town, the Executioner continues pummeling Thor Girl. Unwilling to just stand by and do nothing, Dale Krogstad leaps on Skurge’s back and tries to stop him. However, he is easily batted away like a fly. He then begins blasting Tarene with mystical bolts from his Bloodaxe. That is until Thor arrives and pulls the axe away. With the Odinpower now coursing through his system, Thor knows the truth about the Executioner. He quickly teleports himself, Skurge, Thor Girl, and Dale to Hel domain. There he announces to Hela that he knows of her scheme and uses the Odinpower to revert the “Executioner” to his true form, that of a demonic cypher who was merely posing as the fallen warrior.[5] Thor has decided to keep the Bloodaxe, and now that the Odinpower is fully his, he sees that there is no need to ask her if Odin is still alive. With that, he teleports back to Midgard to bring Dale Krogstad back home. As they depart, he tells Tarene that there is a funeral they must prepare for. Once they are gone, Hela tells Volla that they may have just witnessed the beginning of the end.[5]

While on a distant world, the Dark Gods are under attack from Desak, he God Slayer. However, before their leader Perrikus can be slain, Adva manages to break Odin’s enchantment and access the gateway, which allows the pair to teleport away. As Desak makes sense of what just happened, he is approached by the time traveler known as Zarrko the Tomorrow Man. He warns Desak that he must turn his attentions to an even greater threat, the one posed by Thor, the new ruler of Asgard![6]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Jake Olson, Thor Girl, Thialfi, Enchantress, “Executioner”, Loki, Hela, Volla, Desak, Perrikus, Adva, Zarrko the Tomorrow Man

Continuity Notes

1. Odin died battling Surtur in Thor (vol. 2) #40. Thor had Orikal confirm this last issue. He will remain among the deceased until Thor #618.

2. If your wondering who Thialfi is, don’t worry, you haven’t missed an issue as this is his first appearance. Thor (vol. 2) #52 explains that Thialfi was once a mortal child who was left orphaned when some Vikings slew his family. Odin took the boy back to Asgard to live among the gods. Odin intended Thialfi to become Thor’s advisor on the affairs of mortal once he assumed the throne.

3. Hela has been plotting against Thor ever since he managed to save Hogun from death’s door in Thor (vol. 2) #29. To that end, she dispatched her cypher (disguised as the Executioner) to Earth to take possession of Keith Kincaid’s body as seen in issue #35. What happens to Keith Kincaid is not clearly explained in this story, see below for more.

4. As revealed in Thor (vol. 2) #35, the Enchantress has been posing as Christine Carpenter since issue #26. She has done so in order to be close enough to Thor and make him fall in love with her.

5. The true Executioner sacrificed his life so that a team of Asgardians who had ventured into Hela’s domain could escape. See Thor #360-362. He will remain among the deceased until Asgardians of the Galaxy #1.

6. Hela is referring to the Reigning, a dark future where Thor rules over both Asgard and Earth with an iron fist. This future will come to pass in the pages of Thor (vol. 2) #67-79. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, this nightmare future takes place in Reality-3515.

7. Zarrko has been trying to prevent the Reigning from happening since Thor (vol. 2) #34-35.

Topical References

• It is stated here that Dale Krogstad was undergoing chemotherapy to treat his cancer. While this is still currently a method for treading most forms of cancer, it should be considered a topical reference as advanced in medical science might replace it with better treatments.

• When the “Executioner” attack Thor Girl we see a billboard for Coke and a man wearing a Nike t-shirt. These should be considered topical as these are real world brands.

• Dale is depicted crashing into a phone booth, which were fairly common in New York around the time this comic was originally published in 2002. However, thanks to the proliferation of cell phones the need for pay phones. The city of New York has removed its last public payphone in May of 2022. They have since been replaced with wifi transmitters. As such, this should be considered a topical reference. Modern readers could assume that Dale is tossed into one of these transmitters or some other common streetside object.

So What the Hel Happened to Keith Kincaid?

As you may remember, in Thor (vol. 2) #26, Keith Kincaid was put in a coma by the Absorbing Man. When Hela enlisted her cypher to pose as the Executioner she sent it to Earth where it took possession of Kincaid. We haven’t seen Keith since issue #40 when the cypher “revealed” itself to be the Executioner. In fact, this is the last time we see Keith (time of this writing in June, 2023). But passing mentions have been made, but we’ll get into that later.

Not sure if this was always the plan, but it feels to me like there were other plans that were quickly aborted as Jurgens pivoted to doing The Reigning. That said, it’s never clearly explained what happened to Keith. My assumption is that Kincaid was freed when the Executioner used Amora’s mirror to reveal himself in issue #40.

Keith’s fate is left unrevealed until Thor (vol. 3) #8, in that story it is stated that Keith and Jane Foster divorced because he could tell that she still loved Thor. He was later said to have died in a car accident in Mighty Thor #704. As of this writing (June, 2023) this status has not changed.