The city of New York awakens to the voice of radio shock
jock Chucky Diamond whose controversial topic for the day is that Thor, God of
Thunder, is a fraud, only claiming to be a god and unnecessarily wrecking the
docks area (issues #1-2); various listeners disagree with him. But Thor himself
flies across the city, unaware of his critic as he lands in an alley to resume
the form of Jake Olson and discharge his eternal debt for having caused the
man’s death. As Jake, Thor spies Dr. Jane Foster on her way into the hospital
and calls to her, “Milady Jane!” which he covers quickly, desiring to reveal
his secret identity to her as a friend. But they are interrupted by Jane’s
husband, Dr. Keith Kincaid, and Jake excuses himself. Keith tells Jane there
may be a thief in the pharmacy. Jake’s fiancée, hospital receptionist Hannah
Fairmont, arrives and Jane asks her to look into the pharmacy rip-offs. Pausing
to insult the blowhard Diamond on the radio, she starts checking on who has
been in the pharmacy in the last six months. Meanwhile, Jake joins his EMT
partner Demitrius Collins on a heart attack call; on the way, Jake is disgusted
with Chucky Diamond’s anti-Thor rant and shuts off the radio, surprising
Demitrius as Jake had always been a fan of the shock jock….
They arrive at the scene and prepare the heart attack victim,
Mr. Spollari, for transport to the hospital. But Jake suddenly realizes the man
has an obstruction in his airway and won’t make it to the hospital alive so he
decides to perform cricothyrotomy, cutting a hole in his larynx and inserting a
tube. Demitrius objects as does Jane who is in contact with them over the
radio, asserting that Jake has not been trained in that procedure and he is not
licensed. Jake tells Jane that he was taught the procedure by Dr. Donald Blake.
Jane is shocked for a second before ordering Demitrius to stop him. Jake
replies, “I say thee nay!” which further startles Jane. Jake performs the
procedure…and discovers an obstruction: he was right….
Meanwhile at the radio station, a man disguised as a
delivery driver pulls a gun and threatens to kill Chucky Diamond for siding
with Thor’s enemies. As the EMTs put Spollari into the ambulance, Jake
overhears on police radio about the hostage situation at the radio station.
Abandoning his partner, Jake dashes into an alley, transforms into Thor and flies
to the station. Thor crashes through the wall, ordering the gunman to halt. He
hurls Mjolnir which knocks the gun from the bad guy’s hand but it returns in a
curve, heading for Chucky Diamond’s face. Thor snatches it from the air before
it lands, puzzled at its strange behavior. Then the hammer suddenly sprouts
tentacles and glaring red eyes. The gunman claims to have been defending Thor,
who shuts him up, saying he needs no protector, least of all one with violence
on the brain. The police arrive and Thor hands him over. As he departs, Diamond
asks if he had been listening to the broadcast that morning and if he would
like to do a promo for the show. Thor refuses and spins Mjolnir, blowing
Diamond’s toupee off. The police and radio staff cheer the God of Thunder….
The Dark Gods Perrikus and Adva have finished transforming
Asgard into a suitable home for their leader and they open a portal: Majeston
Zelia arrives….