While Thor is musing over his nature as both god and man,
trouble is brewing elsewhere in the city. An African American youth, Jimmy
Sayers, is accused of stealing from a store and pursued by the shopkeeper; the
police arrive and corner Jimmy in an alley. One cop thinks Jimmy is reaching for
a gun and shoots him; they rush the kid to the clinic where Dr. Donald Blake is assigned
to perform surgery. Meanwhile, a crowd gathers, protesting the shooting of a
black youth by a white cop, and occupies the clinic, raising and banner for
Jimmy while the police gather to keep an eye on the situation. Tensions
escalate and when Jimmy’s mother is denied entrance to the clinic, violence
breaks out, the protesters pelting the police with bottles and bricks. Don
completes the surgery successfully and looks out the window at the commotion.
Concerned, he leaves Jimmy in a nurse’s care and heads outside; turning into
Thor he calls down thunder and addresses the crowd, lecturing them against
violence and hate. The protesters are not impressed since to them, Thor is just
another white man sticking up for the white cops. With Mjolnir, Thor disarms
both the police and the protesters and cracks a chasm in the street, explaining
that it was a show of violence and power that achieved nothing. So he tells
them that the rift between people is not irreparable. Inside, however, Jimmy
takes a downturn and he dies. When the crowd learns of this, the cop who shot Jimmy
breaks down in tears and Jimmy’s mom stops the violent crowd members from
taking some sort of revenge. The cop and the mother look at one another and
share a bond of grief….
Epilogue: Dr Jeffries suspends Don from practice for
deserting his gravely ill patient and promises a review. The nurse tells Don
that no one could have saved Jimmy but it doesn’t help….
“A Call to Arms!”
Writer: Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio. Pencils: Keith Pollard
(breakdowns), Gene Day. Inks: Gene Day. Colors: George Roussos.
Synopsis: Balder returns to Asgard, bearing the body of the
dead Nanna in his arms. He explains matters to Odin and his court and wishes
that Nanna’s spirit could inhabit the Valhalla of old, before Hela took it over
and made it a dark place. Odin sends out his ravens Hugin and Munin to summon
the nine Valkyries and all answer except for Brunnhilda who is living the life
of a mortal. Odin makes Valtrauta the new head Valkyrie and sends them out to
recruit a new ninth Valkyrie. But everywhere they go, they have the crown of death
behind them; then Krista, Hildelgarde’s sister volunteers to be the new Valkyrie
….