Synopsis
Some time before: Mephisto,
exiled to Las Vegas by Doctor Strange, meets with his hireling Grim Reaper
(Wonder Man’s brother, not the famous one). Meph explains the he signed a
contract with Hela giving him ownership of the Disir, a troupe of undead
Valkyries. But Meph added a loophole stating that if there are no Valkyries,
his Disir become the Valkyries. After the War of the Realms, there are no more
Valkyries so Grim Reaper, Mephisto’s Disir, will become Valkyrie as soon as he
delivers a hero’s soul to Mephisto—and then they discover Jane Foster….
Jane Foster is trying to explain to her pal Lisa Halloran why she now owns a talking
horse called Mister Horse and how she can’t pay the rent now that she has been
demoted to morgue assistant. Lisa suggests they attend a lecture by
archaeologist Dr. Annabelle Riggs whom Brunnhilde had suggested Jane seek out…
…and they arrive just as the lecture is finishing. Dr Riggs asks for questions
and Doctor Strange rises to tell her about the purple mirror she has on the
platform. Strange warns her that it will become dangerous in the next few
minutes and he wants to take it back to the Sanctum Sanctorum until the threat
is past. The mirror is made from one of the Gems of Aggamon and is actually a
portal to the Purple Dimension—but Strange’s watch is fast and now the portal
opens, releasing three Dr. Strange villains who had been imprisoned there,
Kaecilius, Adria, and Demonicus. And then Valkyrie arrives to do battle and
after some magical combat, the wall explodes and the Grim Reaper enters.
Mephisto had told him that, since his hireling Bullseye failed to kill Val
(issue #2) and Jane has yet to take a soul to Valhalla (Heimdall went elsewhere
in issue #3), Reaper needs to either kill Val or bring Mephisto a hero’s
soul—and absorbing Dr. Strange’s astral form into the purple mirror, the baddie
decides to do both….