Thor (vol. 2) #61
The Spiral, Part 2: Sons of the Father
Jake Olson finds himself waiting out a disciplinary meeting after he amputated the limb of a young boy in order to save his life. He is in trouble because he is neither cleared to perform such a drastic surgery, nor did he have the permission of his mother, a worshiper at the Church of Thor who believed the thunder god would save the boy’s life. Complicating matters further is the fact that Sif showed up moments after the amputation and took the boy to Asgard to be healed.[1]
When Thomas Ryan and the hospital lawyer emerge from the meeting they inform Jake that he will be suspended until further notice. When Jake tries to protest this, the lawyer reminds him that the boy could have died. Thomas then speaks with Jake privately about the matter. He apologizes for having to suspend him, saying that the decision was a political one in order to avoid lawsuits. Ryan admits that had he been in Jake’s position he would have done the same thing. Jake is annoyed and wonders why, if the Asgardians are supposed to make life better for everyone, he’s the one who is out of a job.
Meanwhile, in Asgard, Thor has summoned Volstagg of the Warriors Three to assign him with an important task. Tarene, the Designate foretold to usher humanity to its next step of evolution, is still living on Earth in mortal guise.[2] Due to her brash behavior, she will need someone to keep an eye on her and has decided that Volstagg should be the one to watch. Eager to please his lord and friend, the rotound Volstagg accepts his new assignment without question.
The other two members of the Warriors Three — Fandral and Hogun — are with Balder taking the prisoners up for their daily exercise. Among them is Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, who had recently been apprehended by Thor after a failed assassination attempt.[3] Zarrko tries to warn Balder and his friends of the nightmare that Thor is about to unleash upon the world, but his warnings fall on deaf ears.
Later, members of the Council of Godheads — Zeus, Osiris,[4] Yu Huang, Brahma, and Shiva — have gathered at their usual meeting place to welcome their newest member: Thor, the new Lord of Asgard. While the others believe that Thor’s membership is his birthright, Shiva demands that Thor prove his worthiness by undergoing the Koronkakkta. While the others apologize for any possible insult this might make, Thor agrees to take Shiva’s challenge and prove his worthiness to them.
When the test begins, Thor finds himself transported to a frozen wasteland. There he is attacked by massive wooly creature with six arms and a stone axe. Thor tries to reason with the beast, but it attacks him intensely. Looking around for a reason for the attack, the thunderer spies a number of young cubs in a nearby cave. Thor realizes that he is being attacked by their mother, who is just defending her children. Thor is then transported to the second test. This time he is on a beach at night. He hears voices crying out for help but sees nobody around. That’s when he notices that every time he steps on the sand, stars in the night sky begin winking out of existence, revealing that they are connected somehow.
Back on Midgard, Tarene and Amanda Fairmont are on their way to school with their new bodyguard, Volstagg. So eager to do his job properly, he rushes out into the street to forcibly stop a city bus so they can cross. This embarrasses Tarene, and she has to explain to him how a crosswalk works. When Amanda asks how Tarene managed to score herself an Asgardian protector, Volstagg almost blows her cover. Tarene quickly interrupts him and explains that the protection was added in case the Grey Gargoyle tries to attack her again.[5] When Volstagg is distracted by a hot dog vendor, Amanda asks Tarene if she has issues with the Asgardians calling themselves gods. To her, they don’t seem any different than superheroes or mutants, and worries that they might take things too far — like dictating what music and TV shows are allowed.
When the two girls arrive home, they find Jake Olson waiting for Tarene. When Amanda goes inside, they are joined by Volstagg. Jake explains how he was suspended from work, and expresses his deep concern about hwat Thor is doing. Volstagg takes this as blaspheme against his lord. Jake tells them that Thor is only doing this because he feels he needs to live up to his father, Odin. However, Olson is convinced that this is the wrong way to do it, and that he shouldn’t meddle into the affairs of humanity. When Volstagg asks Jake how he can be so sure, he reminds the portly warrior that he is Thor’s mortal half before they were separated and he retains all his memories. While Volstagg isn’t entirely convinced, Tarene is. She changes into Thor Girl and takes Jake with her back to Asgard.
Meanwhile, Thor’s test continues. The thunder god realizes that the particles of sand on the beach are actually microscopic worlds that are getting crushed with his every step. Once he is aware of this he flies into the sky so that he stops inadvertedly causing harm. The other godheads are impressed, but they are still concerned that Thor broke their tenant of non-interference. However, the final test should prove that Thor is worthy enough to sit at their table. Thor finds himself transported to the underground domain of a primitive alien culture. They are without food and hunger. Seeing Thor as a god, they decide to sacrifice a young child in hopes of winning his favor. Thor tells them that they shall have food and with the Odinpower, creates enough food for them all to eat. However, once the aliens finish feasting they decide to still sacrifice some of their children in tribute. Thor tries to stop them but he is teleported away.
He finds himself back at the meeting place of the Council of Godheads. There Osiris reluctantly tells Thor that he failed the test. They explain that he failed because he provided food to the starving people instead of letting them learn how to feed themselves. In doing so, he made the people dependent upon him. They parlay this lesson to what Thor is doing on Earth, saying that his interference in the affairs of mortals will have the same effect. Now Thor gets insulted as he can’t understand why they sit back and allow people to starve when they can do something. He also reveals he had no intention of joining, and only came to meet with the Council out of respect for his father. Having had enough with the others, Thor teleports away. This leaves Zeus and the others to wonder what will happen next. Shiva, however, doesn’t think it is that much of a mystery and believes Thor will bring the Earth to the brink of war.
When Thor rematerializes in Asgard he finds Jake Olson, Thor Girl, and Volstagg waiting for him. Jake confronts Thor with the same issues that the Council brought up with him. However, already in a bad mood, the thunder god refuses to listen because he has done incalculable good for the human race. Jake tries to remind Thor that they shared much of their lives and how Jake’s humanity often tempered Thor’s interactions with humanity. Thor is insulted when Jake refers to Odin as his father as well, and reminds Olson that he was only created by Odin for his convenience.[6] That’s when Neffethesk arrives with Jarrod — the boy who Jake amputated — and his mother. The Asgardian healer was able to reattach and heal Jarrod’s leg and the boy is expected to make a full recovery. His mother had overheard everything Jake had said and cannot believe that he can say such things after seeing what the Asgardians have done for her son.
Jake is glad the boy has been healed, but that doesn’t change the fact that things are getting out of control and they are headed to some kind of melt down. Thor has heard enough and orders Tarene to take Jake back to Midgard and never bring him back. Thor Girl does as she is ordered. As they fly away, Jake sees the prisoners in the exercise yard. He recognizes one of them as Zarrko the Tomorrow Man and calls out his name. Looking up and seeing Jake Olson, Zarrko realizes that there might be some way to avert catastrophe after all.[7]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Council of Godheads (Zeus, Osiris, Yu Huang, Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva), Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, Balder, Thor Girl, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Neffethesk, Jake Olson, Thomas Ryan, Amanda Fairmont
Continuity Notes
So some things you need to know off the top at the start of this issue:
Thor and his mortal half, Jake Olson, have been separated since Thor (vol. 2) #39. They will remain as such until issue #79.
Following the death of Odin in issue #40, Thor has assumed command of Asgard. Odin will remain among the deceased until Thor #418.
Since Thor (vol. 2) #50, Thor has brought Asgard to Earth and has been taking an active role in turning Midgard into a utopia.
For more on Tarene’s role as the Designate check out Thor (vol. 2) #21-25. She has been slumming it on Earth since issue #33. She has been operating as the hero known as Thor Girl since then. When not fighting crime, she poses as Jake Olson’s cousin Tara Olson and lives with his ex-fiancée Hannah Fairmont.
Zarrko has been attempting to prevent the Reigning, a future where humanity is enslaved by the Asgardians. He has been trying to stop this since Thor (vol. 2) #33. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, the Reigning takes place in Reality-3515. Zarrko was captured by Thor after a failed hit in Thor (vol. 2) #53 and has been a prisoner ever since.
Osiris mentions that he and Thor have been allies for a long time. This is because Thor has come to the aid of the Ennead pantheon many times. Notably in Thor #239-241, and Marvel Two-In-One #23.
The Grey Gargoyle attacked Thor Girl and briefly turned her into stone as part of a plan to steal her enchanted hammer, thinking it could grand him immortality. See Thor (vol. 2) #46-49 for the full story.
Jake Olson was a former EMT that was killed saving lives during an attack by the Destroyer. Thor asked Odin to spare his life. In reality, Thor created a new mortal identity for Thor so that he could assume Jake’s life. See Thor (vol. 2) #1-2 and Thor Annual 2000.
This is all alluding to the fact that Jake Olson is the personification of Thor’s humanity and will be the key to preventing the Reigning from happening as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #79
Topical References
Thomas Ryan’s assistant is depicted as having a computer with a CRT monitor screen. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
Amanda Fairmont states that she couldn’t live without Joe Millionaire. I’ve got some bad news for her. This was a reality show where women competed to win the affections of a man they believed to be a millionaire. The twist to the show was the fact that the bachelor wasn’t actually wealthy. If the final contestant still agreed to go out with him, they would split a million dollars. It ran for two seasons in 2003 and was cancelled because, wouldn’t you know it, you couldn’t replicate the twist if people already knew it was coming. Some genius tried to revive the series in 2022 and that only lasted a single season.
