As the Absorbing Man gloats in his victory over Thor, the Thunder God rises and assaults his foe, raining blows on him with such speed and dexterity that the villain cannot recover to retaliate. In Asgard, Loki notes this turn of events and, now that the City is defended by only a skeleton force, he decides the time is right to challenge Odin. Loki unleashes an attractor beam to draw the Absorbing Man to Asgard, surprising Thor. A further surprise comes when a gas explosion is heard overhead; it is Jane Foster, risking her life to attract the Thunder’s God’s attention so he may rescue her from her mysterious captor. Thor flies up to the room and changes into Don Blake to see to her injuries—and the transformation is caught on film by the hooded bad guy, who unmasks as reporter Harris Hobbs, who now knows Don’ s secret….
The Absorbing Man arrives in Asgard and is naturally unwilling to become Loki’s flunky—so the God of Mischief sends him to cool off in the Arctic. There, absorbing the snow, the villain is in danger of becoming absorbed by it and relents, agreeing to aid Loki in his scheme of conquest. The two then enter the Imperial Palace and the Absorbing Man takes on the guards, increasing in strength and changing into the steel of their weapons until he is unbeatable….
On Earth, after seeing Jane safely in the care of a hospital, Don goes to meet Harris Hobbs as Thor. The reporter demands a full account of Thor’s life and career in exchange for the incriminating photos but Thor will have none of that. The God of Thunder is no grist for a newsman’s mill; he creates a wind vortex and draws Hobbs inside. Thor takes the reporter to the prehistoric past and threatens to leave him there, then to the doomed and desolate Earth of the far future. Returning to the present Hobbs is grateful for the Thunder God’s mercy and asks one boon—to see Asgard, even if his memory is erased afterward. Thor grants that wish…
Meanwhile in Asgard, the Absorbing Man has fought his way to Odin’s throne room where he confronts the All-Father. Odin responds with a cosmic blast—which only transforms his foe into pure cosmic energy. The Absorbing Man returns the blast….