By Fire Born, Part II of V

When the a group of Frost Giants attempt to leave their domain of Nifflehiem, Thor leads a war party that includes Balder and the Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg) to prevent them from crossing into Asgard proper. This leads to battle that Thor has been longing for ever since he took over as the ruler of Asgard.[1]

Meanwhile, in New York City, Jake Olson arrives at an emergency call at PS 189. There fire crews are evacuating the school which has somehow been turned into stone. He asks the fire captain what the emergency is. He is then told how the Grey Gargoyle fought with Thor Girl on the roof and turned her into stone, stole her hammer, and smashed her into pieces. He also runs into Amanda Fairmont, who has been living with Thor Girl’s mortal identity of Tara Olson, Jakes “cousin”. When they go up to the roof, Jake assesses the damage and asks Amanda to help him pick up the pieces. When the fire chief asks what the point is, Jake says that the very least they can do is give her a proper funeral if they can’t save her.

Meanwhile, the Grey Gargoyle (Paul Duval) has returned to his hideout with Thor Girl’s hammer, thinking it will be the key to granting him immortality.[2][3] Unsure if he has achieved immortality, the Gargoyle leaps out the window and falls many stories to the street below. Although he is unharmed, he could always survive a fall from that height in his stone form. He isn’t sure the hammer is doing anything until he is able to make it fire a bolt of energy and blow up a street vendor’s hot dog cart. This convinces him that he has achieved immortality and he flies away.

By this time, Jake Olson has gathered up all the pieces of Thor Girl and taken them to Avengers Mansion to try and get some help. However, since Jarvis — the Avengers butler — has never met Thor’s mortal alter-ego, he’s unable to believe Jake’s story. Going back to his ambulance, he remembers about the Enchantress and decides to head to the apartment where she lived as Christine Collins.[4] Her apartment is deserted but the enchanted mirror that allowed her to change her appearance is still there. When Jake puts his hand against the mirror’s surface, it sinks through it as though it is made of liquid. Suddenly, his reflection changes into the image of Thor as he was before he became the Lord of Asgard. Walking into the mirror, Jake Olson is transformed into the Thor of old.

This has an adverse affect on the real Thor, who is still battling the Frost Giants in Niffleheim. Up to this point he had been holding the invaders back with the Odinpower, but once Olson uses the mirror on Earth, Thor suddenly begins feeling weak. While back at the royal palace, Amora the Enchantress senses that someone is using her mirror back on Earth. Going to the Flame of Truth, it reveals to her what Jake Olson has done. It also warns her that Desak, the God Slayer, has returned to Earth.[5] The Enchantress then goes to the battle in Niffleheim and uses an illusion to distract the Frost Giant. She then tries to convince Thor to leave the battle and regain his powers, but he refuses to abandon his men even though the Frost Giants can now fight back against him.

Back on Earth, Jake Olson — as Thor — tries to use his version of Mjolnir to open a portal back to Asgard. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tries, nothing works. That’s when he overhears a police bulletin about the Grey Gargoyle and decides to find the villain and see if he can restore Thor Girl to normal. When he confronts his foe, Jake tries to blast him with mystical energies. However, with Tarene’s hammer, the Grey Gargoyle has been rendered impervious to attack. Before an all out brawl can begin, Desak arrives and orders “Thor” to bring him the Designate so he can kill them both.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Volstagg, Jake Olson, Amanda Fairmont, Thor Girl, Edwin Jarvis, Enchantress, Grey Gargoyle, Desak, Widowind

Continuity Notes

1. Odin died battling Surtur in Thor (vol. 2) #40, leading Thor to taking the throne in issue #42. Odin will remain among the deceased until Thor #618.

2. The Grey Gargoyle seeking immortality from an enchanted hammer is a deep cut reference that dates back to his first appearance in Journey into Mystery #107. Back then, he got it in his head that Mjolnir was the source of Thor’s immortality and many of their early clashes were attempts to steal the legendary weapon. In reality, the Asgardians aren’t truly immortal. However, they live long lives thanks to the Golden Apples of Idunn, as per Journey into Mystery #100.

3. Jake Olson states here that he remember the Grey Gargoyle from the past. This is because Jake is actually Thor’s mortal form, separated from his body in Thor (vol. 2) #39 and will remain the status quo until issue #79.

4. Jake was paired off with Christine Collins in Thor (vol. 2) #26, In Thor (vol. 2) #36 we discovered that she was actually the Enchantress in disguise. She completely abandoned this disguise in issue #43.

5. Desak was given power by a mysterious gem after his daughter was sacrificed to the gods of his world. His mission in life is to kill all gods. See Thor Annual 2001 for more details. For more on Tarene/Thor Girl’s role as the Designate, see Thor (vol. 2) #21-25.