Finally, a new Thor series following “Heroes Return,” and the first #1 issue of Thor ever (because his original title took over the numbering of Journey into Mystery with #126 and he didn’t get his own “Heroes Reborn” title). As we know, Thor was delayed coming back to the 616 with the gang after he disappeared with Doctor Doom in Heroes Reborn: The Return #4, only to return in Avengers #1 (with the adventure in between eventually recounted in Thor Annual 1999).
As befits a #1 issue, the God of Thunder makes a grand entrance (in response to a demand from an armed man holding children hostage in a day care center).
There’s a hitch: The man claims to be Heimdall, the Asgardian charged with watching over the rainbow bridge Bifrost. Thor gives him the benefit of the doubt, because he returned from the Heroes Reborn world to find all the Asgardians gone (since Journey into Mystery #513, at least). But when they travel to Asgard, the man breaks down and admits he is actually a patient escaped from a psychiatric ward.
After Thor breaks down himself in remorse for his lost friends and family, he compassionately brings the man back to Midgard for the help he needs—and runs into an old friend, who has earned a new title since they last met. (And there’s much more in store for Jane, as we well know.)
“And,” Thor continues, “mayhaps the noble Captain America be with them, to explain why this epic tale is being discussed in this blog?” Indeed, and we find our usual subject in the thick of it…
…leading his team in taking people to safety, always the first priority.
Thor arrives just in time for Clint’s sarcastic “whoopy” and also to confront the threat, who is revealed to be none other than…
Oh sure, now he says it whenever he gets a chance…
(To expand on Thor’s comments, Odin had the Destroyer made to fight the Celestials, as told in Thor #300, and has since been used by everyone under the sun to fight Thor, starting with Loki into Journey into Mystery #118.)
While Cap employs “the voice that could command a god” (and a dude in a metal suit) in reference to well-practiced battle strategy, I call your attention to the fella imploring the Avengers to “get him” and “make him pay”: Jake Olson, a paramedic helping the injured on the scene, who is set to play a massive role in Thor’s life very soon.
After the other Avengers do little good against the Destroyer, Thor goes all out, but finds his efforts just as wanting…
…but Cap perceives the heroic purpose behind Thor’s sacrifice.
Finally, Thor is defeated, and the Destroyer prepares his final blow…
…the fatal effects of which are narrated by Cap below, praising the virtues of perseverance, courage, and nobility that are often used to describe himself.
Issue #2 opens with the Avengers living up to their name and avenging one of their own…
…with Cap and Tony both trying to keep Clint calm so they can carry on.
(Cap must be desperate if he’s trying to throw the pointy shield!)
The man inside the armor is U.S. Army Colonel Preston Case, a bitter man who clumsily activated the Destroyer armor and now uses it to get back at everybody who kept him down (or something to that effect), but Cap doesn’t buy any of it.
Cap treats Case like a fellow soldier, citing the oath they both once took…
…but Case uses his higher rank as an excuse to dismiss Cap’s appeal to his better nature.
Case takes his throne of junk with his vanquished foes at his feet, gloating at what he did with the power he stumbled into, but finds one last prize he can’t lift…
…but its true owner returns to demonstrate how it’s done (while Wanda takes the credit for protecting his body on Midgard as his spirit traveled to the afterlife where, as all metal fans know, Hela awaits).
After Thor cites Caps legendary honor—and Tony’s pride, but in a good way, I guess—he uses Mjolnir to create “a porthole though the fabric of time and space itself” to get rid of the Destroyer (and Case) until another day.
After all is said and done, Thor ignores Clint’s cries for freedom, returns Cap’s shield, and takes off, leaving the Avengers to wonder how he really came back from the dead, with Cap putting the Thunder God’s brief time away in perspective.
How did Thor come back, and what does it have to do with Jake Olson? Jake died heroically at the same time Thor did, which the mysterious being Marnot considered an injustice. He appeared in Hel and claimed that, in order to save both Thor and Jake Olson, he must merge them. So, as of the end of this issue, Thor once again shares a human form, as he originally did with Donald Blake when he was originally introduced in Journey into Mystery #83, and Jake Olson goes on to play a important role in Thor’s life, in one way or another (it’s complicated) through most of the rest of this volume of Thor. (We’ll see him next when Cap makes a brief appearance in issue #6.)
ISSUE DETAILS
Thor (vol. 2) #1, July 1998: Dan Jurgens (writer), John Romita, Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Dave Lanphear (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Thor (vol. 2) #2, August 1998: Dan Jurgens (writer), John Romita, Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Dave Lanphear (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Thor by Dan Jurgens & John Romita Jr. Volume 1 and Thor Epic Collection: The Dark Gods.
ALSO THESE MONTHS: Captain America #7 (July 1998), Avengers #6 (July 1998), Marvel Universe #2-3 (July-August 1998), and Captain America #8 and Avengers #7 (August 1998)
NEXT ISSUE: Thor #6 (December 1998)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
Leave a comment