Beta Ray Bill is hanging out with Sif in Asgard when they discover a huge rock
surrounded by dead birds and mice. Bill touches it and part of his life force
is drained, nearly killing him. Sif conjures a vision of the past and finds
that the rock was once a troll, caught by a boyish Thor stealing a cow from
Odin’s herd. Thor led the troll on a chase until the sun rose, turning the
troll to stone as he now is. But Thrudd the troll isn’t dead, merely draining
strength from living things to regain life and power. Sif places Stormbreaker
in Bill’s hand and he recovers and smashes the rock into smaller pieces. On
their way back to Asgard, they are met by Odin, who senses that Bill is
worried. Bill reveals that he is concerned that he will come to love Asgard so
much that he will abandon his duty to his people. Odin gives him an apple and
encouragement and ponders reassembling Thrudd to give him another chance.
“Hearts
of Stone, Feet of Clay”
Writer:
Tom De Falco & Ron Frenz. Pencils: Tom De Falco & Ron Frenz. Inks:
Keith Williams. Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg. Letters: Clayton Cowles.
Synopsis:
The Grey Gargoyle crashes into a chemistry lab and demands that the chief
scientist, Denyse Calguard, compound a formula for him that will enable him to
permanently petrify his victims. Code: Blue, a police force that specializes in
tacking superhuman cases, is called on. Eric Masterson is also called but he is
still feeling guilt over failing to save Officer Andrew Jackson from death but
he transforms into Thunderstrike and heads to the lab just in time to catch a
petrified scientist hurled out of a window. But ‘Strike freezes in action
against the bad guy and is told to focus on the hostages. One of the cops fires
Paste-Pot Pete’s glue gun at the Grey Gargoyle but he merely turns to glue stream
to stone and hurls it at the building, causing a collapse. Thunderstrike launches
himself to shield a lady scientist from being crushed by the falling masonry.
Holding the massive pile up with his back, he exerts all his strength and
throws it off. As the Gargoyle tries to seize the hero’s mace, Lt. Stone wraps
the Gargoyle’s deadly right hand in a jacket, giving ‘Strike the chance to
knock the villain for a loop. Dr. Calguard comes with the compound and pours it
down GG’s throat and Surprise! She has reverse engineered the formula to turn
the Grey Gargoyle human. Saving a life gives Eric the confidence to keep
trying, no matter what!
“Rule
for Reflection”
Writer:
Kathryn Immonen. Art: Tom Reilly. Colors: Chris O’Halloran. Letters: Clayton
Cowles.
Synopsis:
Angry that Thor Odinson suspected her of being the new mysterious female Thor,
Lady Sif has stormed off but she is met by [Jane Foster, as yet unrevealed]
Thor. Sif does not think much of a Thor who wears a mask but they encounter in
the darkness a pair of trolls who have won a shard of the magic Mirror of
Finvarra while gambling. The mirror can reveal secrets including the true faces
of Midgardians—which makes Thor quite nervous. Thor persuades Sif to let her
smash the mirror shard to dust with Mjolnir. The two women becomes allies and
Sif assures Thor that she has no interest in learning Thor’s identity—though
she leaves with the cryptic comment that they should try to foster
better relations. Thor finds a tiny fragment of the mirror and gazes into it
and it reveals her identity: she is Thor.