Thor #372
Without Justice, There is No Peace!
Chicago
Thug Thatcher has become the latest host for the Zaniac entity and he has now become driven with the desire to kill Jane Foster, a former associate of Thor.[1] The Zaniac possessed Thatcher then forces Kellen to take him to Jane Foster in his helicopter.
Moments later, Justice Peace — a time traveler from the future[2] — arrives at the home of Ruby, Thatcher’s old girlfreind and discovers that she has been murdered and was too late to stop the Zaniac from switching host bodies. He was delayed thanks to a battle with Thor in New York. Thor has managed to track down Justice Peace and soon a battle breaks out between the two men.
Asgard
Beta Ray Bill is preparing to return to his people and find them a new world to call them home. He once again asks Sif to join him on his mission. However, she has decided to remain in Asgard for the time being and tells Bill that if he ever need her aid, he need only call upon her.
Chicago
Thor manages to fight Justice Peace to a stand-still and convinces the future law enforcement that he is also a crime fighter using his credentials as one of the Avengers. Confirming Thor’s identity, Justice Peace explains that he comes from a distant future where the Zaniac — an entity that has jumped from host-to-host over centuries — was responsible for triggering a nuclear war in his time by murdering a diplomat in his own era. Although there is a strange temporal paradox between the present day and Justice Peace’s future that makes time travel difficult,[3] he was dispatched into the past by the Time Variance Authority to destroy the Zaniac in the past.[4] However, he can only operate in the past for a limited period of time and if he fails in his mission he will be sent back to the future and will be unable to come back.
Having battled Zaniac in the past, Thor agrees to assist Justice Peace in stopping the entity, and suspects that — motivated by Thug Thatcher’s desire for revenge — will target Jane Foster. That’s when Ruby’s children — Mick and Kevin — wake up and are surprised to see Thor in their home. Before they can discover that their mother has been murdered, Thor sees them off to bed and uses the magic of Mjolnir to put them to sleep.
Meanwhile, Jane Foster and her husband Keith Kincaid are spending an evening at home relaxing. Keith is concerned about his wife getting some rest because she is pregnant, but she insists that he is worrying about nothing.[5] That’s when there is a knock at the door and Jane decides to go and see who it is, figuring it is one of her friends coming to talk about a charity bazaar, despite the crummy weather outside.
Minutes later, Thor and Justice Peace arrive too late and discover Keith Kincaid cradling his wife’s dead body. Thor is horrified by this revelation and vents his sorrow by trashing a nearby field. He then demands that Justice Peace take them back into the past to prevent Jane’s death. Due to the limitation of his time travel technology, Justice Peace can’t do that. Thor then recounts how Mjolnir once had the ability to travel through time.[6] Although this power has since been stripped from the enchanted weapon, Thor believes enough residual magic exists to power Justice Peace’s time cycle to go back a little ways in time so they can prevent Jane’s murder.[7]
The ploy works and the appear a few hours in the past. They manage to teleport back to Ruby’s house just as Thug Thatcher and Keller are being chased by the Zaniac creature. Thor and Justice Peace manage to kill the creatures preventing Zaniac from finding a new host, however Thug Thatcher suffers a heart attack and dies. With his mission a success, Justice Peace thanks Thor for his aid and returns to his future in the hopes that there is still something to return to. Thor, meanwhile, goes and checks in on Keith Kincaid and Jane Foster, confirming that they are safe and sound.
Asgard
Balder has called the Grand Thane and the Warriors Three to discuss what to do with the Twlight Sword, that has been laying outside the city since the Surtur War.[8] Balder decrees a massive scabbard should be constructed to contain the weapon.
That’s when Thor appears in Asgard with two sleeping boys — Mick and Kevin — the orphaned sons of Ruby, Thug Thatcher’s ex-girlfriend. He has brought the children to Asgard because they have no surviving family members and is seeking a home for them. Volstagg agrees to take the kids in and raise them as his own.
Meanwhile, in Hel, Hela is observing Thor’s activities on her monitor. Furious over her previous humiliation at the thunder god’s hands, she vows to get revenge.[9]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Zaniac, Time Variance Authority (Justice Peace), Jane Foster, Keith Kincaid, Thug Thatcher, Beta Ray Bill, Sif, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Ruby Mortensen, Kevin Mortensen, Mick Mortensen, Balder, Hela, Grand Thane
Continuity Notes
Lots of stuff going on here off the top:
Thatcher wants revenge against Thor because he put him in the slammer about seven years earlier (per the Sliding Timescale) in Journey into Mystery #89.
His full name and that of his minion, Keller, are not given here. The Zaniac entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #13 identifies them as Andrew and Marcus respectively. Ruby’s last name is revealed to be Mortensen in that same handbook.
Thatcher was possessed by Zaniac after its previous host, Brad Wolfe was killed last issue. Wolfe was active as the Zaniac in Thor #319.
Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5, Justice Peace comes from an alternate future desiganted Reality-869731.
This paradox is revealed to be a “Time Bubble” that surrounds some 15 years of time about 20 years in the future of the Modern Age. This bubble in time is explored in more detail in Avengers #296-300 and Fantastic Four #337-341. It exists in an alternate future timeline designated as Reality-8810, per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3.
Here, the Time Variance Authority are presented as an organization that exists in Justice Peace’s future timeline. Later stories expand upon their role, revealing that their are a massive bureaucracy that monitors and maintains a massive swath of time in the multiverse. See Fantastic Four #352-354.
Jane and Keith Kincaid got married in Thor #336. Here Jane appears to be very pregnant. Per the Sliding Timescale, about 7.5 months have passed since they got married so Jane would have had to have been knocked up pretty soon after she and Keith got married. one could assume that pregnancy is likely exaggerated here so her murder has a much bigger impact.
Thor’s time traveling ability was stripped from Mjolnir by Immortus back in Thor #281-282.
Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #13’s Zaniac profile, this creates a divergent reality designated Earth-823019 where in Thatcher is possessed by Zaniac and succeeds in murdering Jane Foster.
The Twilight Sword was used to try and destroy all life in the universe until Surtur was stopped by Odin. See Thor #350-353.
Topical References
The present day in this story is referred to as happening in the 20th Century. This should be considered topical as the Sliding Timescale has pushed the Modern Age forward in time so that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st Century.
