Up From Below

While investigating SHIELD’s Project Sinkhole, Thunderstrike teams up with Luke Cage who is trying to stop his old friend Billy Kitsen — who has been mutated in to the Bison — from stealing a supply of Inferno 42. This trail leads them to SHIELDS former headquarters in New York City. There they are about to face Agent Alex DePaul in a suit of Mandroid armor when they are suddenly ambushed by the Bison, Mongoose, and Quicksand.

Seeing the Mongoose instantly puts Thunderstrike in a state of fear as he Eric Masterson nearly died during that encounter. It was during a battle between the Mongoose and Thor atop Wundagore Mountain. When Thor was down, Eric was surprised when he was able to pick up the enchanted hammer Mjolnir and strike the Mongoose with it. In the next moment, the Mongoose had blasted him with a powerful weapon. Eric would have died that day had Thor not merged his life with the mortal.[1]

Snapping back to reality, Thunderstrike tries to get himself together for the fight ahead. The Mongoose notices the hero cowering from him and wonders if they haven’t met in the past. This momentary distraction allows both DePaul and Luke Cage to break free from the hold of the Bison and Quicksand respectively. When the Mongoose comes at Thunderstrike, the hero panics and runs further down the tunnel.

Elsewhere in the facility, the SHIELD agents under DePaul’s command are carrying out Project Sinkhole. This involves lowering their sample of Inferno 42 into a deep hole in the ground for safe keeping. Agent 22 doesn’t like the idea of storing such a volatile substance underground considering that it has enough power to destroy the entire island of Manhattan.[2]

In yet another section of the tunnels is Shamari Asbery, the former girlfriend of Billy Kitsen. Having spotted Luke Cage and Thunderstrike earlier in the evening she followed after them in the hopes that they might know where he boyfriend disappeared to. She thinks following after them is a crazy idea but her need for answers in the face of the potential danger are too great.

Back at the scene of the battle, Thunderstrike doesn’t get very far before Mongoose catches up to him. The villain then begins savagely slashing the hero who is so paralyzed by fear he cannot even defend himself. While not far away, Agent DePaul and Luke Cage are holding their own against Bison and Quicksand. Alex demands to know why the Bison is trying to steal Inferno 42, but Kitson insists that he has no idea what it is he has been hired to steal.[3] DePaul doesn’t buy this explanation and knocks the Bison out. This distracts Luke Cage who is concerned for the safety of his friend and he lunges at DePaul before he can blast the Bison with his onboard cannon. This leaves him open to attack from Quicksand who blindsides Cage with a blast of sand. DePaul then strikes the Bison with enough force that he smashes through the wall into the hallway next door. He lands right in front of Shamari who can recognize Billy’s features despite his horrible mutation and begins to scream. The Bison tries to get her to stop but she runs away as DePaul resumes his attack. Desperate to find Shamari, Billy goes into a rage and beats Alex into submission before following after his ex-girlfriend.

At that same time, Thunderstrike’s battle with the Mongoose is getting worse. The fear that has been crippling him continues to grow and eventually Eric Masterson seeks refuge by receding into his mind as the Mongoose continues his savage attack unimpeded. Masterson fears that he is about to die.

Meanwhile, across town, Kevin Masterson is coming to terms with the fact that his mother and step-father are planning to move to California. Kevin doesn’t want this to happen because it would separate him from his biological father, Eric Masterson. Desperate for any way to prevent this move from happening, Kevin is surprised when a mysterious figure appears before him and says that he can make it so Kevin doesn’t have to leave New York. All Kevin needs to do is to place his hand print on a special contract this mysterious figure has prepared. Eager to get his wish and not second guessing the offer, Kevin does as he is asked.[4]

Back at the scene of the battle, Eric Masterson has fully receded into his mind. However, he knows that unless he finds some kind of inner courage he will die at the hands of the Mongoose. Needing strength to fight back, he begins thinking back to the time when Thor saved his life. He conjures up the image of the thunder god as he remembered him that day to help him fight back.[5]

At that same time, Agent 22 and the other SHIELD operatives succeed in submerging Inferno 42 and report back to DePaul that their mission has been accomplished. Their final act is to flood the tunnels. When the others worry about DePaul, Agent 22 tells them that Alex can take care of himself.

Not far away, Luke Cage’s battle with Quicksand continues until the villain spots Shamari and takes her hostage. When the Bison sees this he turns against Quicksand, using his titanic strength to clap his hands with enough force to blow the apart her sandy form. That’s when Agent DePaul arrives to try and take Bison into custody again. However, that’s when the flooding reaches their part of the tunnel and the torrent of water causes Alex’s Mandroid armor to short out when it strikes its exposed wires.

At that same time, Thunderstrike — holding the image of Thor in his mind — is able to push back the fear and finally fight back against the Mongoose. Creating a bright flash of light from his enchanted mace, Thunderstrike blinds the Mongoose. However, the villain refuses to go down without a fight. The two begin brawling until the torrent of water comes rushing down their part of the tunnel. Thunderstrike tries to grab hold of the Mongoose, but the villain refuses his aid, preferring to drown instead.[6] The others are swept into Thunderstrike’s vicinity and since they are all probably going to drown, the hero attempts to create a vortex with his enchanted hammer to teleport them out of danger. The gambit pays off as Thunderstrike, Cage, DePaul, Bison, and Shamari are all transported to the surface. There they are reunited with the rest of the SHIELD team.

When Agent 22 asks what they should do about Thunderstrike and the others, DePaul decides to let them all go. Thunderstrike is surprised to see the SHIELD agent acting so human, Cage points out they all are, pointing to the Bison and Shamari who are now happily reunited despite his transformation.[7]

Recurring Characters

Thunderstrike, Luke Cage, Bison, Mongoose, Quicksand, SHIELD (Alex DePaul), Shamari Asbery, Kevin Masterson, Mephisto (unidentified)

Continuity Notes

1. Eric Masterson is recalling the events of Thor #408. After being seriously injured by the Mongoose, Eric was merged with Thor in order to save his life. The pair lived a shared existence until they were eventually separated by Odin in Thor #457.

2. If Inferno 42 sounds familiar to you, congratulations! It was last seen in Tales of Suspense #75-76.

3. We’ll learn in Thunderstrike #22 that the Bison and his cohorts were hired by Seth, the Egyptian god of death, to steal Inferno 42. What Seth planned to do exactly with it isn’t implicitly stated but since he is a death god I think you can figure it out for yourself.

4. If you haven’t already figured it out, the man offering Kevin the contract is none other than Mephisto himself as seen next issue.

5. Eric states that Thor looks different now. This is a reference to the fact that the thunder god had recently adopted a new (and quite hideous) costume in Thor #475. Masterson saw the hideous new look for himself in Thunderstrike #10. Thor will continue to wear the ugly thing until Thor #491.

6. For all those Mongoose-stans out there you can relax, the guy survives this and will pop up again in Thunderstrike #22.

7. This happy reunion doesn’t last long. The Bison will later join up with the Masters of Evil in Thunderbolts #24-25.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.

Home-Wrecker!

The Wrecker has returned to Earth after being exiled into another dimension.[1] Although they are under strict orders to get clearance from the mayor’s office before going into action, Code: Blue mobilizes to contain the villain without permission.

When Mad Dog Rossitano, Rigger Ruiz, and Fireworks Feldstein get an electrified net on the villain, Mother Majowski (observing from Code: Blue’s tactical van) warns them that the Wrecker is screaming in anger, not pain. Suddenly, the villain wills his enchanted crowbar to appear in his hands and he uses it to break free from the net. Before Marcus Stone can get his officers to react, they get a call from police headquarters ordering them to cease what they are doing and return to base. Stone is furious because he knows exactly who is responsible for recalling them in the middle of a crisis.

Sure enough, Stone’s guess turns out to be correct, Jim Young — a representative from the mayor’s office — had heard that Code: Blue went out without the proper clearance and is right now expressing his displeasure with Chief O’Grady and Captain Shelly Conklin about the situation. The reason why he is pulling the plug is because Code: Blue is proving too expensive for the city and they are also facing a lawsuit from the firm of Krask & Krask over damages caused to some of their properties during Code: Blue’s recent clash with a rogue Doombot.[2] When Marcus Stone gets in he demands to know why Young has called them in while the Wrecker is still out there threatening people. Young explains that he was able to find a more cost effective means of dealing with the threat. Through a stroke of luck, he had put a call in to the Avengers to see if they could help the city out. This just so happened to coincide with Thor returning to check in on his old friends.[3] Hearing that his old foe was on the rampage once more, the thunder god agreed to deal with him directly.

Jim then turns on the television to show that the news is already covering the fight between Thor and the Wrecker. However, the Wrecker is more powerful than before and is able to hold his own against the thunder god. Marcus Stone hears the Wrecker ranting and raving about wanting to kill somebody and decides to have Mother Majowski look through the NYPD’s criminal database to see who he might be referring to. They look up their recent files and learn how the Wrecker, aka Dirk Garthwaite, was previously kidnapped by Loki who wanted to steal his powers back from Dirk.[4] After that, the trickster tortured the Wrecker both physically and mentally by drumming up memories about his past. Stone believes that this might be the key to finding out who he Grathwaite wants to kill so they dig into his background some more.

They learn that Dirk’s father was a construction worker named Bart Garthwaite and he was skilled in the use of a crowbar. A violent drunk he frequently had trouble holding down a job and used to take it out on his wife and son. Stone figures that the Wrecker is seeking to get revenge against his father for all the years of torment he suffered growing up.

Meanwhile, Thor has recovered by the Wreckers attack but is paused from pursing him when he is interrupted by an astral projection of the High Evolutionary. The master geneticist insists that Thor needs to return to Wundagore Mountain at once as he is needed there. However, Thor refuses to return until he has dealt with the Wrecker, reminding the Evolutionary that he is no mere lacky to be ordered around.[5] Once the Evolutionary leaves, Thor is approached by the members of Code: Blue.[6] Marcus Stone convinces the thunder god to stand aside and let the team handle the Wrecker from here on out. At first, Thor is reluctant to do so but after hearing Marcus Stone’s plan, he agrees and departs.

Back at police headquarters, Jim Young gets a call informing him that Thor has just left the country. Annoyed by this new development, he agrees to green light Code: Blue to deal with the Wrecker, but warns Chief O’Grady and Shelly Conklin that he’ll be keeping a close eye on things. That’s when Shelly gets a call from her husband Paul, she tells him that she can’t talk and will call him later.

After getting off the phone Paul is confronted by his boss Jim Redfield, owner of Redfield Electronics. He is pressuring Paul to push forward with something called Project 16. Paul insists that the project is nowhere near ready and cannot be pushed for safety reasons. Jim reminds Paul that they have no other choice. Recent cuts in the government have scaled back the number of contracts that Redfield Electronics can obtain. This has put the company in financial jeopardy unless they can sell Project 16 to the government. He reminds Paul that if they fail, he will not be able to pay anyone come the next pay cycle and they will all be out of jobs. Feeling the pressure to keep the company alive, Paul agrees to push project 16 forward.

Meanwhile, Code: Blue have located the Wrecker and are keeping him busy while their plan is in motion. Scanning the villain with the equipment in Code: Blue’s tactical van, Mother Majowski can confirm the theory they have formulated about the Wrecker’s return and new power source.

At the same time, Shelly Conklin has gone down to the Sunny Hills Retirement Home where Burt Garthwaite has been living since retiring. As she has officers put up shatter proof glass, she questions Burt about his son. Burt Garthwaite is a crotchety old man who still doesn’t have much love for his son, particularly since he hasn’t shared his criminal spoils with him since becoming a super-villain. When she points out that it was Burt’s abusive relationship with his son that possibly led to his life of crime, the elder Garthwaite denies this, saying he only disciplined his son. He also refuses to do anything unless they pay him, suggesting he could always sell this story to the same tabloid that previously reported him as dead by mistake.[7]

Eventually, the Wrecker arrives at the retirement home and the police withdraw so Code: Blue can carry out their plan. As anticipated, the Wrecker confronts his father about his years of abuse. This leads to an argument between the two men. Burt scoffs at the accusations and insults his son, calling him weak. This angers the Wrecker to the point where he tries to attack. However, Code: Blue activates the pane of shatter proof glass, which was suspended over the doorway to Burt’s room. This prevents the Wrecker from harming his father. Ironically, Burt Garthwaite suffers a fatal heart attack and dies right in front of his son, seemingly out of spite. Angered at being denied his revenge, the Wrecker loses control of his concentration — the only thing that was keeping him in this dimension — and shunted back from where he came from.[8]

Back at the police station, Marcus Stone fills the Chief and Captain Conklin in on how he defeated the crooks. He also says that being abused wasn’t what made Dirk Garthwaite a criminal, admitting to the fact that he too was abused as a child and he remained a law abiding citizen. That’s when O’Grady gets informed that he has a call from city hall waiting for him and he goes off to answer it.

Back at Redfield Electronics, Jim Redfield is continuing to pressure Paul Conklin to have Project 16 ready to show to the government. Paul tells him that they need more time but that’s a luxury they don’t have. Jim tells Paul that he needs to put more commitment into the job to get Project 16 up and running. Jim hopes that one more private look at the project will be enough to motivate Paul to work harder. Opening the doors to the project holding facility, Jim Redfield reveals that they are working to revive the robot known as the Thermal Man.[9]

Recurring Characters

Code: Blue (Marcus Stone, Rigger Ruiz, Mad Dog Rossitano, Fireworks Feldstein, Mother Majowski), Thor, Wrecker, Chief O’Grady, Shelly Conklin, Jim Young, Burt Garthwaite, High Evolutionary, Paul Conklin, Jim Redfield

Continuity Notes

1. The Wrecker was banished to another dimension by Loki in Thor #431. He reappeared on Earth last issue.

2. Code: Blue put down a rogue Doombot last issue as well.

3. Thor’s visit at Avengers Headquarters happened in Thor #481. Here it is stated that the Avengers are away from their headquarters. At the time of this story, the Avengers would be busy stopping an invasion of Earth by the Kree Lunatic Legion as seen in Avengers #378-379.

4. Years earlier, during a period when Loki was stripped of his powers he summoned Karnilla the Norn Queen to give him a portion of her own. Unfortunately, he was ambushed by the Wrecker who was trying to rob Loki’s hotel room. Putting on Loki’s helmet just as Karnilla appeared she mistook Dirk for Loki and gave him the power intended for the trickster, as seen in Thor #148. When Loki once again needed more power he tracked down the Wrecker leading to his kidnapping in issue #431 of that series.

5. At the time of this story, Thor had been working with the High Evolutionary who is using his evolutionary technology to create a new race of gods called the God Pack. See Thor #472-490.

6. Code: Blue confirms that this is the original Thor and not Thunderstrike. This is in reference to the fact that Eric Masterson briefly replaced Thor as the god of thunder from Thor #432 to 457. Also mentioned are the first times he fought the Radioactive Man (Journey into Mystery #93) and Mister Hyde (Journey into Mystery #99).

7. This statement is made to clear up the statement the Wrecker’s mother made back in Spectacular Spider-Man #126, wherein she said that Burt was dead.

8. Where he will remain trapped until Thunderball and the rest of the Wrecking Crew free him back in Alpha Flight #118.

9. The Thermal Man was last seen in Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #9. Loki had brought the robot to Asgard and briefly possessed it during one of his schemes to conquer the land. The robot was seemingly destroyed by Thor. How the machine survived and ended up back on Earth is revealed next issue.

Topical References

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

• Burt figures his son must have stolen over a million dollars over the years. Adjusting for inflation this would be about 2.2 million in 2022 money.

• Chief O’Grady is depicted as having a beeper. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.