Thor #193
What Power Unleashed?
The Silver Surfer has answered the summons of Balder the Brave, who hopes to enlist the alien to help save Thor from Durok the Demolisher. The Surfer refuses at first because he has had nothing but bad experiences dealing with humans.[1] However, when Balder speaks as his own person, Karnilla angrily lashes out at him with a spell. Buried under tons of rock, Balder is seriously injured. The Silver Surfer scolds the Norn Queen for treating the man she claims to love in such a way. Using his Power Cosmic to heal Balder, the Surfer decides to aid Thor, who is battling Durok in Washington, DC.
When the Silver Surfer arrives on the scene, Thor has cracked open the street to send himself and Durok falling into the sewers below. There, the unstoppable creature yanks a major power cable and electrocutes Thor, who collapses to the ground. Sending his surfboard to keep Durok at bay, the Surfer races to Thor’s side, but is afraid that the thunder god might already be dead.
While in Asgard, Loki holds a banquet to celebrate his upcoming wedding to Sif. Sif is a reluctant participate and asks the trickster to reconsider forcing this union. However, Loki is still reveling over how the Odin-Ring gives him the power to do whatever he wishes. This is when he notices that Balder and Karnilla have been missing for some time. Thrown into a fit of rage, he orders his minions out and checks the visi-screen. He is annoyed to see that the pair are on Earth, against his orders, and teleports them back to Asgard. Loki then turns Balder’s face into a grotesque reptilian form as punishment in the hopes of making everyone shun him based on his appearance. When this does little to diminish Balder in the eyes of others, Loki pretends to be a compassionate ruler by changing him back. He then reminds them who is in charge by using the Odin-Ring to create a massive gold statue outside the palace.
Back on Earth, the Silver Surfer uses the Power Cosmic to revive Thor much in the same way he did earlier with Balder. The alien then tells Thor to return to Asgard and liberate his people while he stays behind to deal with Durok. Thor teleports back to the Golden Realm, but his way off the Bifrost Bridge is blocked by Heimdall, on Loki’s orders. This leads to a clash between the pair, ending when Thor uses Mjolnir to knock Heimdall off the edge of the bridge. Realizing that he is becoming no different than his foe, Thor saves Heimdall from oblivion before continuing on. As he reaches the gates of Asgard he finds three massive Storm Giants waiting for his arrival.
Meanwhile, the Silver Surfer realizes that nothing can stop Durok, not even the might of the National Guard. The final straw is when the creature shatters the Surfer’s board. Reassembling it with the Power Cosmic, the Silver Surfer carries Durok out of Earth’s atmosphere. There he begins flying around the planet faster than the speed of light until he breaks the time barrier. They arrive in the distant future where humanity has long since been destroyed in a long forgotten war. He then dumps Durok in this wasteland, finding it a fitting place for a monster that lives only for destruction.[2]
Back in Asgard, Thor slays the giants barring his path and storms the palace. There he is shocked to see Sif being forced into a wedding dress. As he learns that Loki intends to force Sif to marry him, Thor’s anger grows. That’s when Loki enters the room and blasts Thor outside with the power of the Odin-Ring. Separated from Mjolnir, Thor is grabbed by another Storm Giant. Loki then gloats as Thor will be away from his hammer for over a minute, triggering a reversion back to the mortal Donald Blake and then the thunder god will be killed.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Balder, Sif, Heimdall, Silver Surfer, Karnilla, Durok the Demolisher, Loki, Kaggor
Continuity Notes
The Silver Surfer has been stranded on Earth since Galactus trapped him there in Fantastic Four #50. The guy has been seen the worst of humanity since then and at the time of this story wanted nothing to do with the human race. See Silver Surfer #1-18 and Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #4-6 for all the gory details.
This is actually a possible future that exists as part of an alternate timeline. The Durok entry in Thor: Asgard’s Avenger #1 identifies it as Reality-71113. Durok will remain trapped here for mere moments before being brought back to the present by Loki some years after this story. See Thor (vol. 2) #82.
