The Spiral, Part 3: Flames of Passion

It’s six am when Mister Howser is woken up by his radio alarm. He has it tuned to the Chucky Diamond show. However, on this day, Chuck is absent and so filling in for him is Mike Alexander. Mike is talking about what people all over New York have been talking about for a while now, the Asgardians and their humanitarian mission on Earth.[1] Howser goes about his morning routine as he listens, which includes opening his blinds to get a view of Asgard so he can kneel and pray. Howser is a member of the Chuch of Asgard and as he prays he holds a Mjolnir pendant he wears around his neck. Mike Alexander looks at how Thor has reduced crime, terrorism, world tensions, pollution, hunger, and disease, and feels afraid.

Meanwhile, in Asgard, Balder welcomes members of the mortal press who have come to interview Thor. As he leads them to the meeting, one of reporters breaks away from the rest of the group. However, she is actually an infiltrator sent to secretly record the floating city in order for her superiors to find weaknesses. Once she is undercover she puts on some Asgardian clothing and hides her spy camera so she can blend in with the locals.

Back at WNYX, Mike Alexander continues his rant against Asgard. He tells his listening audience that the Asgardians have taken choice away from them all and they have been reduced to being nothing more than hamsters and gerbils. He warns that if things continue to go down this road, they will soon become too dependent on Thor to be able to go back to the way things were.

At PS 189, students are eating in the cafeteria while listening to the radio. One of the students is a kid named Ricky Sykes, another member of the Church of Thor. He is so engrossed in the radio broadcast where Mike is now comparing Thor to the Nazis as well as warning listeners that their children will be inheriting a lack of responsibility. This gives Ricky a lot to think about as he leaves the cafeteria. In the halls, Mister Howes is stopped by Amanda Fairmont and Tarene Olson, two of his students. Amanda has a couple of questions about their recent lesson. Unfortunately, Howes is on his way to an important meeting. He tells her get Tarene to help her since she is acing his class, despite her frequent absences.[2] Mr. Howes and two other teachers who are Thor worshipers have called a meeting with Superintendent Goodman. They inform him that as followers of the Church of Thor, they observe Thursday as a religious holiday and will not be working on that day of the week.

In Asgard, Shelly the spy walks through a market capturing everything she sees on video. She is absolutely blown away by everything she sees. She almost gets caught up in an argument over the price of a sword, which might blow her cover. Luckily, Thor strolls by on a walk, and everyone immediately bows down to the Lord of Asgard. Shelly quickly bows and when Thor involves himself in the dispute of the sword he turns to Shelly and asks her if she has enough fruit for her cellar. Shelly gives a simple “aye” and slinks off before she blows her cover. Her handlers want her to bail on the rest of the mission, but she refuses since Thor’s walk gives her an opportunity to explore the palace unnoticed. Going down into the basement, she finds an alchemy lab. There Shelly becomes interested in a flask labelled “Elixir of Wisdom” and despite warnings from her superiors, decides to chug the entire thing.

In New York, Mike Alexander continues his rant, while Ricky Sykes takes a taxi to the WXNY radio station. Once there, he puts on an intern badge and heads inside. While back at PS 189, Superintendent Goodman declines Howes’ request to have Thursdays off. He explains that it would be too disruptive to the schedule of the school. However, Howes and his colleagues refuse to back down. Goodman instead decides to fire them on the spot for breach of contract. Howes is fine with that, as he intends to get the union and courts involved to make sure that his religious freedoms are not infringed upon. He warns that the Church of Asgard is growing and more and more students are starting to worship. Soon enough, there won’t be any students to teach on Thursday anyway, and Goodman will have lost his side of the argument.

As Alexander rails on, encouraging people to rise up and resist against Thor, things for the rest of our cast of characters is quickly becoming grim. After drinking the potion, Shelly begins to choke and collapses to the ground. This is heard by Heimdall who summons Thor and Neffethesk the Healer to her location. As it turns out, the Elixir of Truth was lethal to mortals because knowing universal truths is far too much for the mortal mind to comprehend and she is dead by the time they find her.[3] Mr. Howes reports back to other staff and parents who are members of the Church of Asgard. Some of them get worked up into a frenzy. Feeling religiously persecuted, they decide to strike first before their religion is destroyed. As they set fire to the school, Ricky Sykes barges into the recording booth at the radio station and fatally shoots Mike Alexander.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Balder, Enchantress, Thor Girl, Heimdall, Neffethesk, Amanda Fairmont

Continuity Notes

1. So some things you need to know off the top at the start of this issue:

   • 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.

2. This marks the final appearance of Amanda Fairmont, as of this writing in June, 2023. Her current whereabouts and activities are unknown.

3. This is also the last time we see the Reality-616 version of Neffethesk, as of this writing. From here on out we’ll only see his Reality-3515 counterpart. What became of the elderly healer is unknown.

Topical References

• The female spy is depicted as using a camcorder she hides in a basket to secretly record the situation in Asgard. This should be considered a topical reference not just because this type of technology is obsolete, but also because spy cameras have gotten so small that you wouldn’t need a whole basket to hide it. At the time of this writing you could have a tiny camera hidden in a pair of glasses or disguised as a broach, or else that is small enough to wear and look natural to your attire.

• The high school students in this story use a lot of slang that was popularized around the time this comic was published in 2003. The usage of terms like “Dissing” should be considered topical because this is no longer part of the common teenage vernacular.

• The students are also depicted listening to the Chucky Diamond show on a portable radio. This was the most common means of listening to the radio in public in 2003. With the advent, proliferation, and adoption of wifi, cell phones, and digital streaming, this would no longer be the case. Portable radios are still around, just not what a teenager would use to listen to radio broadcasts (if they even listen to radio at all) as such this should be considered topical as well.

• Computer monitors in this story are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.

• One of Shelly’s handlers, upon seeing Neffethesk’s lab sarcastically asks if this is Mr. Wizard’s lab. Mister Wizard was the nickname given to educator Don Herbert. Herbert is best known for his two educational programs that taught children about science. The first was Watch Mr. Wizard (1951-1965 and 1971-1972) and Mr. Wizard’s World (1983-1990). This should be considered a topical reference given that these shows have been off the air for decades and Don Herbert died in 2007. More over, a more contemporary example can be used in his place.