Bitter over Odin’s refusal to let him marry Jane Foster, the mighty Thor angrily heads through the streets of Manhattan, blindly wrecking everything that get in his path. His Avengers teammates, Iron Man, Wasp, and Giant-Man (Captain America won’t be revived until next month) intercept him to try to talk him out of his violent rampage but the Thunder God tells them to mind their own business—so they leave him to deal with his personal problems. In Asgard, Loki shows Thor’s antics to Odin and persuades the All-Father that Thor’s brooding constitutes disobedience to his father’s command. As a punishment, Odin halves Thor’s strength and takes away his control of the elements. When Thor reaches the Rainbow Bridge and is halted by Heimdall, he no longer has the power to force his way past the guardian. He calls out to his father not to spurn him, but Odin remains silent. Loki seizes the opportunity to destroy Thor; he visits the Norn Hag and searches the Well of Centuries to find the perfect pawn to carry out his wicked scheme. Gazing into the future, Loki discovers
Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man (see issue #86) and magically restores his erased memory. The would-be conqueror immediately hatches a scheme to return to the 20th century to hijack another superweapon….
In modern New York, a cube-shaped craft suddenly appears in the skies. From it come Zarrko and a huge mining robot. The villain uses his machine servitor to destroy the policemen’s guns and uproot entire buildings in order to attract his enemy Thor. And it works: Don Blake hears the news on television, changes to the Thunder God and flies out to confront his futuristic foe. With his strength limited however, he finds fighting the giant robot a miserable task. Thor diverts the magnetic forces of the galaxy and focuses them on the robot but he still cannot overcome the massive machine. Zarrko makes a deal with Thor: unless the Thunder God promises to become the mad scientist’s slave, he will order the robot to go on a rampage of destruction. Thor is forced to pledge allegiance to Zarrko and they return to the 23rd century, as Odin is overwhelmed by his son’s surrender to a mortal. Meanwhile, Loki gloats….
Story #2The Invasion of Asgard!
Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: George Roussos. Colorist: ?.
Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Hearing that the forces of evil are about to attack
Asgard, young
Thor volunteers to stand at the
Rainbow Bridge alongside
Heimdall in defense. The guardian sends him away as too young.
Loki suggests that Thor can earn honor by guarding a hole he discovered in a remote part of Asgard’s defenses. What Loki does not mention is that he made the hole—and alerted the enemy to its existence in order to destroy Thor. As Thor stands guard alone, he suddenly faces a cabal of enemies: the
Norn Hag riding
Ulfrin the Dragon, the
Wolf Gods Skoll and
Hati, the
Rime Giants, the last of the
Ice Giants, and
Geirrodur the Troll. Thor battles valiantly but is eventually overwhelmed by the superior forces A Rime Giant casts a spells slowly turning Thor into a tree but quickly Odin and his warriors arrive and drive off the enemy. Thor confesses that he failed, in that he would have been defeated. The other warriors hail him as a hero for holding the breach long enough for reinforcements to come. Thor is rewarded with additional strength and is able to lift the
Uru hammer a little higher, while Loki stands in the shadows, plotting vengeance….