Eric Masterson is falling from the balcony of his apartment,
having been hurled by Hercules in the thrall of the alien Dark Dweller; he
manages to get ahold of his walking stick in mid-air and positions it beneath
him, hoping for the best. The point hits the ground a second before he does,
which is enough to turn him into Thor. The Dark Dweller watches with the
captive Susan Austin, ordering Herc to kill Thor and take his hammer. Herc
leaps from the balcony and Thor hurls Mjolnir to give his pal a softer landing
but Herc still attacks, the two heroes fighting shaking the building to its foundations.
The alien villain decides that he had better retreat with his prisoner and once
he is out of range, Hercules snaps out of his spell. Thor checks out the
apartment and finds it totally trashed, then he and Herc pursue the Dark Dweller….
In the Black Galaxy, the High Evolutionary unfolds his plans
to his sidekick Count Tagar: using the cell samples stolen from Thor (in issue
#408) he intends to create a race of gods and no one can stop him. But a
Celestial is aware of his plans and sends a message to Odin, giving him a
terrifying vision of the end of all things….
Thor and Hercules arrive at an auto junkyard where they
confront the Dark Dweller—but he now has an army of enslaved humans to do his
bidding, and even Herc is now back under his control. He is punched by Herc and
mobbed by the rest so he conjures up a wind to push back his foes without
hurting them….
At school, Susan has not arrived to pick up Kevin Masterson (on
account of having been kidnapped by the Dark Dweller) and teacher Ed Marrero can’t
reach either Susan or Eric on the phone. Kevin has an alternate suggestion….
Herc hurls a house at Thor who reacts by calling down
lightning to destroy it in midair—and the Dark Dweller is pained by the bright
light, losing his hold on Hercules. Thor presses the advantage: the alien enemy
can be hurt but turns Thor’s energy back on the Thunder God, boasting that, as
he is not truly alive, he cannot be killed. But Thor points out that he can be
punished and creates a vortex throwing the Dark Dweller into space and dropping
him into the sun. Thor finds Susan relatively unharmed….
As Susan recovers at home, Eric is surprised by the arrival
of the group from Child Welfare Services. They see the shambles the apartment
is in (after the battle with the villain last issue) and learn from Kevin’s mom
Marcy Masterson that Eric didn’t pick up Kevin from school, berating him as an
unfit father. The Child Welfare people leave and Marcy smugly warns Eric that
the custody battle is about to get worse….
And lastly we see the Thor Replicoid created by the
Celestials is speeding through space, heading for Earth….
“The Abduction”
Writer: Tom DeFalco. Pencils: Gary Hartle. Inks: Mike DeCarlo.
Colors: Nel Yomtov. Letters: Michael Heiser.
Synopsis: On the Isle of Avalon, home of the Celtic gods,
Dagda manages to locate the missing Asgard in the Negative Zone. Leir, Lord of
Lightning, asks him to create a pathway so that he can claim the Lady Sif as
his own since Thor doesn’t deserve her. As Leir leaps through the portal, his
sidekick Caber goes along to keep him out of trouble….
In Asgard, Odin is beset by nightmares of the end of all
things and the Grand Vizier is worried, sharing his concerns with Sif. Leir
suddenly appears to her in her room and confesses his love as she tries to kill
him….
Outside the room, the skulking Caber is caught by the
Warriors Three and they are interrupted by Leir emerging from the boudoir to announce
that Sif has accepted his proposal of marriage….