Thor (1998 series) #59

In the year 2026, New York City, an old man at a rescue mission claiming to be Thor, God of Thunder, causes a ruckus, fighting with the other men. The Colonel, director of the mission, arranges for the old guy to be taken to the asylum and the old man accuses him of being Loki in disguise. Colonel also catches teenager D.J. pilfering from the food at the mission and the boy escapes, leaping onto a passing elevated train. He dozes off and on awakening, he discovers his shoes have been stolen. He heads through the tunnel and discovers a dead Elf, a hammer beside him. D.J. reads the inscription about one who is worthy but try as he might, he cannot lift the mallet…

…so he steals the Elf’s shoes and meets his friend Maxi in the Public Library. He explains his theory that the old guy at the mission is Thor and he’s homeless because he has been looking for his missing hammer for years. Maxi questions this but recognizes D.J.’s need to believe in something. They do a computer search and confirm that Thor was real. If the old guy isn’t really Thor, maybe the hammer is the real thing. Maxi is still skeptical but D.J. thinks it’s worth checking out…

…so D.J. visits the Colonel who is insistent that the old man is not Thor; anyway, he escaped from custody on the way to the asylum. But when D.J. mentions the hammer, the Colonel grows excited and asks where it is. When D.J. refuses to tell him, the Colonel acts indifferent….

Later, D.J. and Maxi reason that the missing Thor likely went to Asgard but being poor, the furthest he could get would be Roosevelt Island. And sure enough, the old guy is there. So D.J. tells him about the hammer and he wants to go there to retrieve it. But the Colonel and some aides have also tracked him down to take him to the hospital but the old man fights them off with a surprising strength. D.J. leads the old man to the subway tunnel where he found the hammer. The Elf’s corpse is gone but the hammer remains. With a cry of triumph, the old guy seizes the hammer…and can’t lift it. Then the Colonel and armed guards arrive to capture the old man for his own safety. The old man is full of drugs and he would die if left on his own. As they try to subdue the old man, a train comes through the tunnel. The old guy picks up Mjolnir, swings and hurls it to strike the switch that brings the train to a halt. Then the old guy’s daughter and grandson arrive to see that he is taken care of properly. The Colonel explains that the old guy is retired postman Harry Wilson, with a wife and seven grandchildren he doesn’t remember. The hammer was a prop sold to fans and cosplayers. But D.J. needs something to believe in so he chooses to sit by the hammer and wait for Thor to return for it….