Firelord, former Herald of Galactus, now lives in Saudi
Arabia where he is worshiped as a native deity. When he sees the battle between
Thor and Air Walker on television (last issue), he immediately streaks toward
New York City…
…where Thor stands over his fallen foe and Gabriel’s friend
Kevin tells the Thunder God he hates him. Kevin is claimed by his mother and
the police ask Thor to take charge of Air-Walker’s remains. And then Firelord
arrives to accuse Thor of killing his friend and he strikes out against the
hero. He traps Thor in a headlock then turns up the heat, planning to kill the
god for his deed. Thor breaks free and leads his hotheaded foe away from the
city and they end up crashing into the river. The fight resumes on the shore
where Firelord fuses the sand to trap Thor in a prison of glass. Thor breaks
free and they trade blows for another several pages until Thor bows his head,
challenging Firelord to kill him. This makes the Herald stop and they work out
their problem. Firelord relates the origins of Air-Walker and himself: Gabriel
was Captain of a Xandarian ship and Firelord (then named Pyreus) as his First
Officer/BFF. Gabriel was teleported away by Galactus and made his Herald,
Air-Walker, and Pyreus vowed to find him. Serving many years as Herald, Gabriel
was killed by the alien Ovoids and Galactus transferred his “life-spark” into a
robot body and continued until he was destroyed by the Silver Surfer (FF #124).
By this time, Pyreus had caught up to Galactus and demanded to know what happened
to Gabriel; Galactus offered to tell him if Pyreus agreed to become his new
Herald; after the tale was done, Big G wiped the memory of his friend from
Firelord. Firelord met Thor, was freed by Galactus who accepted the Destroyer
in his stead (THOR #228). And the rest we know. The two apologize to one another
and return to New York where Firelord takes his friend’s body for burial. And heads
off into the cosmos….
Epilogue: Dr. Donald Blake, now working at a clinic, finds
an apartment….
Epilogue II: Firelord buries his friend on an asteroid with
a headstone and an eternal flame burning for him….
“…Till Death Do Us Part!”
Writer: Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio. Pencils: Keith Pollard
(breakdowns), Chic Stone. Inks: Chic Stone. Colors: George Roussos.
Synopsis: Karnilla the Norn Queen has finally gotten what
she’s wanted: she has forced Balder the Brave to agree to marry her by
threatening his true beloved Nanna. But Nanna, magically translated back to
Asgard when the matter was settled, suits up, borrows Odin’s eight-footed steed
Sleipnir, and rides to Nornhelm, arriving in time to stop the wedding. And
since the wedding will cancelled if Karnilla brings harm to Nanna, the young
lady draws a knife and stabs herself to death, thus freeing Balder. The enraged
hero denounces Karnilla, who is uncharacteristically subdued, leaving him alone
to mourn.