Thunderstrike #7
Loose Ends!
Deep below the planet Earth a secret war is being waged for the planet. This conflict is being spearheaded by a Deviant by the name of Tentalus.[1] He is furious over the recent arrest of his agent, Pandara, as it blew her cover and that their secrets might be revealed.[2] The vicious ruler visits his vizier, a Deviant known as Khrul to discuss what to do next. He has already arranged for one of his human spies to provide Pandara means of escape. However, if she fails to evade capture Tantalus will have no further use for her.
Meanwhile, on the surface, Thunderstrike and Stellaris are at the NYPD. This is just as a man from the District Attorney’s office comes to discuss the case with Code: Blue’s leader, Marcus Stone. This Mr. Kim points out that the evidence they have to hold Pandara is not very strong and they may have to consider releasing her. Just then Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson have finished making their statements with the police and are on their way out.[3][4][5] That’s when Thunderstrike overhears Stone and Mother Majowski talking about bringing in Marcy Stone for questioning. Fearing that his ex-wife might make a connection between Thunderstrike and Eric Masterson, he decides that it might be best to make himself scarce.
While aboard the SHIELD helicarrier, Dum Dum Dugan is giving Nick Fury an update on Code: Blue’s apprehension of Pandara. This is the least of Fury’s problems as he has just recently discovered that Tantalus has a mole within his agency. In order to ferret out the spy, Nick asks Dugan to bring him Agent Alex DePaul.
Back on the ground, Thunderstrike and Stellaris have retreated to the rooftops. There, Eric thanks her for her help in his recent battles.[6] but wonders why a slayer of Celestials keeps hanging around Earth.[7] Stellaris points out the obvious, she likes Thunderstrike, but because he’s not a warrior born she has stuck around to make sure he survives the experience. With that, she converts her body armor into a rocket and blasts off into the air. With Stellaris gone, Eric reverts back to his civilian form and decides to head down to Mary’s place since she’ll probably need moral support when she goes in to talk to the police.
Eric Masterson is actually the topic of conversation between Marcy Steele and Susan Austin. Marcy is preparing dinner before heading down to the police station and is telling Susan how Eric called and offered to escort her to the police station. She is touched by how sweet her ex-husband is being, noting that he’s caring more about her well being than Bobby Steele, who hasn’t came home for days.[8] She still can’t figure out why Bobby has been acting strangely the past few days before his disappearance and wishes she knew what secret he was hiding. The conversations comes to an end when Kevin answers the door and greets his father, Eric. A half-hour later, Eric and Marcy are getting into a taxi outside the building to head down to the police station. Neither are aware that Bobby is spying on them from across the street. Seeing Masterson with his wife convinces Bobby that Eric is having an affair with Marcy and decides that he has had enough.
Sometime later, the police interview with Marcy comes to a quick conclusion. As she and Eric are on their way out, Agent DePaul comes with some SHIELD agents to take Pandara back into their custody. This leads to an argument between DePaul and Code: Blue’s Mad Dog Rossitano. While Code: Blue wants jurisdiction over the Pandara case, SHIELD has legal documents that allow them to take custody. After the Assistant DA goes over the paperwork, Agent DePaul notices that one of his agents has wandered off and learns from Marcus that he went to the evidence room. This deeply concerns DePaul who demands a conference with Stone right away.
As it turns out, part of Alex’s entourage is the very spy that Nick Fury was trying to sniff out. He has collected Pandara’s magical box and brought it down to her cell. In thanks for returning her prized possession, Pandara opens the box and consumes the spy’s life force, causing his body to dissolve. She then summons demons from the box to break her out of her cell and keep the cops busy while she flees the scene.
However, Eric Masterson has doubled back to the police station after seeing Marcy home. Witnessing the demon attack, he ducks into an alley to change back into Thunderstrike and catches Pandara outside. To stop the hero, she summons a massive demon armed with a club from her box. The monster is incredibly fast and powerful, keeping Thunderstrike on the defensive. That’s when Agent DePaul and Code: Blue’s Jock Jackson come outside and try to stop Pandara from fleeing the scene. Unfortunately, for them she is able to keep them at by by firing mystical bolts from her magical box. In the ensuing fight, Pandara boasts about all the people she has killed.
Ultimately, Thunderstrike slays the demon with a thunder blast from his enchanted mace. He then tries to attack Pandara from the air. When she opens her box and unleashes a lethal bolt of magic, Jock leaps in the way, taking the hit for Thunderstrike. Horrified to see Jock go down, Thunderstrike strikes his opponent with enough force to knock her out.
In the aftermath of the battle, the NYPD discover that Jock had made an audio recording of his flight with Pandara. On top of capturing his final moments, it also captured Pandara’s admission to the murders she has committed. Listening to the tape now, the Assistant DA agrees that this is sufficient evidence to convict Pandara and put her away for a long time and that Jock should be remembered as a hero.[9] Marcus Stone agrees and once he is alone in his office plays back Jock’s final words. It is a declaration to the oath he took as a police officer to protect the innocent from threats like Pandara. Hearing Jackson’s noble words brings a tear to Stone’s eye.
Sometime later, Eric Masterson returns home to the apartment he shares with his friend Samantha Joyce. When he gets in Samantha is all in a panic and tells Eric that she just got off the phone with Susan Austin, apparently Bobby Steele has finally returned and kidnapped Kevin!
Recurring Characters
Thunderstrike, Pandara, Stellaris, Code: Blue (Marcus Stone, Rigger Ruiz, Mad Dog Rossitano, Fireworks Feldstein, Jock Jackson, Mother Majowski), Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Alex DePaul), Marcy Steele, Bobby Steele, Kevin Masterson, Susan Austin, Samantha Joyce, Tantalus, Khult
Continuity Notes
Tantalus leads a group of universal Deviants that are engaged in a secret war against the baseline members of their races. You know the whole Deviant/Eternals/Normies thing that Kirby started in Eternals #1? Well that, but on a planetary scale. Blackwulf is part of a resistance trying to foil their plans. See Blackwulf #1-10.
Pandara was posing as a fitness instructor as a means of consuming souls. This brought her to the attention of Thunderstrike and Spider-Man. She ended up getting arrested by Code: Blue. See Thunderstrike #4-6.
Here, Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife. At the time of this story, Peter and MJ had been married since Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the new timeline they never got married but are still engaged. One could even say they are a common-law couple.
Peter asks Thunderstrike how Thor feels about him “copping his act”, to which Thunderstrike says, “We used to be very close!” This is reference to the fact that Eric Masterson spent a considerable amount of time merged with the god of thunder from Thor #408 to 459.
Hearing this answer, Peter sarcastically thinks to himself, “Yeah, like me and Venom!” This is reference to the fact that Venom now wears the alien symbiote that Peter once wore as Spider-Man from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 until Amazing Spider-Man #258. Venom, aka Eddie Brock later discovered and bonded to the symbiote to get revenge against Spider-Man, see Amazing Spider-Man #300.
Stellaris has been aiding Thunderstrike in his battles against Bloodaxe (issue #1), the Juggernaut (issue #2), and during the whole Pandara fiasco of the last couple of issues.
When Stellaris first appeared in Thor #419-424, she had a vendetta against the Celestials as she believes that they were responsible for the eradication of her species. She’s been slumming it on Earth since Thor #438-439.
Marcy hasn’t seen Bobby since he lost his shit and hit her in Thunderstirke #2. Bobby’s erratic behavior is for a few reasons: He was apparently brutally mugged recently. His performance on the Smashers has also been flagging leading to him to start abusing steroids to try and enhance his game. See Thunderstrike #5 and 8. His strange behavior is being used here as a red herring to lead readers into believing he might be Bloodaxe. However, as we’ll learn in Thunderstrike #22, Bloodaxe is actually Jackie Lukas.
As of this writing (November, 2022) Pandara has not been seen since. Jock Jackson also remains among the deceased.
Topical References
There is a bunch of obsolete technologies on display at the NYPD. This comes in the shape of CRT monitors on their computers and a few desks having typewriters.
Mother Majowski is depicted smoking a cigar inside the police station. This should be considered a topical reference as indoor smoking was banned in the state of New York in 2003.
At the end of the story, Pandara’s recorded confession is depicted as being caught on a pocket tape recorder. This should be considered a topical reference because this is another obsolete technology.
