In the aftermath of his defeat of Surtur and Ymir (last
issue), Thor is publicly honored in Asgard. Thor wants to return to Midgard but
Odin needs to go into Odin-Sleep and wants to know who will rule in his place,
if not Thor? Thor suggests Balder, who balks, having made a poor showing when
he was in charge during the Seth War (issue #395-400). Odin chooses Heimdall,
bestows the Odin-Power upon him, and for his first official act, Odin has him
restore the Rainbow Bridge. Hercules tells Thor that he will not be
accompanying him back to Earth as he has decided to return to Olympus. Then
Leir, Celtic Lord of Lightning appears and challenges Thor to battle….
Back in New York, the Wrecking Crew is holed up in a building
with a hostage, in a standoff with police. This is reported by to headquarters
and Captain Conklin calls on Detective Marcus Stone to put his new team in play:
Code Blue (Rigger Ruiz, Mad Dog Rassitano, Fireworks Fielstein, Andrew “Jock”
Jackson, Mother Majowski) formed to deal with superhuman threats….
Leir hurls lightning bolts at Thor, explaining that they are
fighting over Sif, who said she would not marry him unless he defeated her
champion. They mix it up for a few panels then the fight is halted by Sif
herself, who reveals that Thor is not her chosen champion: she is her own
champion. And she quickly whups the tar out of Leir, launching him into a
fountain, to the amusement of his sidekick Caber….
At the scene of the hostage situation, Mother hacks into the
buildings blueprints to understand the layout. Fireworks blows open the door,
the hostage is pulled to safety and the others lay down enough fire that Wrecker
casts a spell whisking them all away. A successful first mission for the team….
Elsewhere in New York, the Mystery Villain (a/k/a Loki, who
else?) has detected Wrecker’s attempts to locate their enemy Ulik and he
rebukes Ulik for not being more careful….
In Asgard, Thor takes his leave of Odin and his beloved Sif,
passing the Warriors Three who now stand guard on the Rainbow Bridge, and
returns to Earth….
“Here a Giant Abides!”
Writer: Tom DeFalco. Pencils: Herb Trimpe. Inks: Herb Trimpe.
Colors: Evelyn Steins. Letters: Rick Parker.
Synopsis: Responding to a domestic violence report, police
officers Kyle Brock and Eddie (no other name given) walk into a trap, fired
upon by members of the Claws street gang. Eddie is wounded and Kyle manages to
get him to the roof. After Eddie passes out, Kyle tests the Earth Force powers he
was given and he transforms into the giant Earth Lord and clobbers all the bad
guys. The Earth Lord is here to stay!