In a blizzard,
the wizard Skrymir leads the Frost Giants to invade Asgard. There is a tense
standoff with the Warriors Four (Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg, Hildegarde). Thor
the All-Father arrives and expresses his disappointment; Skrymir mocks him but
Thor notes that he wasn’t speaking to him but to the snowstorm. Thor then
orders the storm away and suddenly it is a bright and sunny day in Asgard. The
giants flee in panic, leaving their leader to face the God of Thunder. Thor
politely gives Skrymir several opportunities to leave but the giant, seeing
this as weakness in Thor, unleashes several magical attacks on him. Thor
responds by hurling Mjolnir and shattering the giant’s head. Thor wonders what
part Loki, Monarch of Jotunheim, played in this. And Loki is there, revealing
that they abdicated the throne because, as God and Goddess of Stories, they
must go where the stories are. Thor accepts this so Loki offers to restore the
Rainbow Bridge. Thor scoffs but Loki produces the Wand of Wutevar (say it out
loud), strikes it on the ground, and the Bridge is recreated, despite the Wand
being nothing more than carved wood, because the Storyteller can do anything—but
magic has its costs, which Loki acknowledges, breathing a silent apology to
Thor. The Thunder God is delighted, Sif is astounded, and Loki quietly vanishes….
With Sif’s
leave, Thor rides the Bridge to Midgard, his other home, being divided in his
loyalties, as his father was Asgardian but his mother was Earth itself, Gaea. Thor
travels among the mortals, granting favors, catching bad guys, accepting praise
and honor but not worship. At the end of the day, Thor, seeking solitude to
muse on his power and the limits thereon, decides that the thunderstorm is too
much for humanity and commands it to stop—but it doesn’t. Instead, a massive
lightning strike shatters the Statue of Liberty. Thor is amazed, wondering what
god is more powerful than he and the Aesir? A gigantic, statue-like god
introducing himself as Toranos, the Utgard-Thor, announces his mission is to
judge Thor and expose his comfortable illusions. As the winds whip the city,
Thor challenges Toranos, calling down the All-Power upon him….
In the
mysterious world of darkness known as the Utgard Realm, the story’s unseen
narrator is revealed to be Utgard-Loki, telling his sister Gaea, Thor’s mother,
that the time has come for testing Thor to his limits, as even Marvels must
live and grow or wither and die. And if Thor falls, it means the end of all
things….
And there's a one-page
teaser for G.O.D.S. which has an unseen voice persuading Tyr that he deserves a
better world than the one he’s in and to climb into a box, which he does.