Thor (1966 series) #225

On the docks, Thor is at the mercy of the Destroyer which has wrested Mjolnir away from him as he counts down the sixty seconds before he turns back into the vulnerable Don Blake. Thor commands Mjolnir to come to him and there is a fierce struggle with the enchanted armor but the hammer breaks out of the Destroyer’s grip and returns to its master. Thor knocks his foe into the river and the battle continues underwater before exploding back onto the docks. But Hercules returns with the soulless body of Professor Clement Holmes and his assistant Otto. Otto calls to Holmes and the Destroyer reacts, giving Thor the opportunity to knock it out with a single blow. Holmes’ soul returns to his body, initially angry over the disruption of his studies until he remembers what happened. He is broken and Otto takes him home. Thor leaps back into the river to retrieve his winged helmet, a valued gift from his father Odin. Herc thinks it ugly. Thor’s mind is still on Krista, sensing that she is somehow still in danger. They return to the hospital, Thor resuming his Don Blake identity….

The flaming Firelord flies through space, landing in Manhattan in search of two people; he bursts into the hospital and strides through the halls, terrifying the patients and employees. A doctor confronts him and Firelord knocks him out of the way with his Cosmic Staff, setting the man’s clothes ablaze. Who other try to put of the flames, Hercules confronts the intruder who resents being touched and a fight results, the combatants crashing through the door and into Krista’s room. Don tries to intervene but he is knocked against a wall and his cane flies out the window. He carefully makes his way past panicking humans and out to the street to recover his stick. He has a brief identity crisis then decides he has never been Don Blake but always Thor. He strikes the cane and becomes Thor as the two combatants come flying out of the high window. In the street blow, Firelord informs them that he has been looking for them for his master Galactus. He summons his master…

…and in Asgard, Odin is shocked that his son Thor would allow the Herald of Galactus to summon his master. Sif and Hildegarde are frightened by the implications (as well as Galactus)….

In his spherical craft in remote space, Galactus returns to Earth because the universe is in serious danger….

Characters: Thor, Hercules, Destroyer, Firelord, Don Blake, Krista, Odin, Sif, Hildegarde, Galactus