Oddly enough, the next twelve months in the life of the mighty Thor are completely skipped over in the thunder god’s own title, leaving his activities during this period to be shown only in The Avengers and through guest-appearances in other comics. As such, Thor has no contact with his Asgardian supporting cast and operates solely as an Earth-based superhero. This also leaves his buddy Hercules and the goddess Krista rather at loose ends for the year. I must assume that Krista remains in the hospital in a coma following the emergency brain surgery she underwent after her rescue from Hades, and Hercules most likely wanders the Earth in search of wine, women, and song before eventually returning to New York City. Thor keeps busy, however, and even serves his second stint as Avengers chairman.
Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.
Hearken ye to… The True History of the Mighty Thor!
January 1966 – On the first day of the year, Thor is at Avengers Mansion with Iron Man and Captain America. They discuss news reports of an upcoming grudge match at Shea Stadium between the Thing and a mystery woman called Thundra. Having heard that Thundra kidnapped the Thing’s girlfriend, Alicia Masters, last night as the Fantastic Four watched helplessly, Thor is baffled once again by the ways of mortals. Three days later, the match ends inconclusively when the Thing unexpectedly reverts to his human form. Alicia is released unharmed shortly afterwards, and the public considers the much-hyped “battle of the sexes” to be rather anticlimactic.
Several days later, Thor is on monitor duty in the Avengers’ communications room when he receives a video transmission from the Great Refuge of the Inhumans. He is surprised to see Quicksilver, alive and well, standing next to Crystal, the Human Torch’s ex-girlfriend and a member of the Inhumans’ royal family. After greeting them, Thor goes at once to the team’s combat-simulation room, where the rest of the Avengers are training. Promising the Scarlet Witch tidings of great joy, Thor leads her and the others back to the communications room. Scarlet Witch is visibly relieved to learn that her twin brother is doing fine and is thrilled to hear that Quicksilver and Crystal have fallen in love after she saved him from the Sentinels’ Australian base last October. However, when the Scarlet Witch declares that she, too, has fallen in love—with the Vision—Quicksilver objects angrily, leading to an argument that makes the rest of the Avengers rather uncomfortable. After Quicksilver hangs up on her, Scarlet Witch starts to cry and the Vision moves in to comfort her. Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Black Panther move to the other end of the room to give the couple some space. Iron Man feels the team may be a bit shorthanded now that they’ve lost both Quicksilver and Hawkeye, but Thor dismisses his concerns. The discussion is cut short when the team receives a transmission from the X-Men’s secret headquarters, which has been trashed in a battle. The mutants’ leader, Professor X, speaks defiantly to the villain who is filming him, but then the screen goes dark. The Avengers agree to seek out the X-Men’s mansion and do what they can to help their fellow superheroes.
When they arrive at the secluded estate in Westchester County, the Avengers quickly discover Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Iceman in the wreckage, all of whom appear to be comatose. Iron Man carries out a winged man they assume to be the Angel, only to face four rampaging dinosaurs that are under the control of a sort of Pied Piper figure who emerges from the woods. After defeating the dinosaurs, the Avengers try to capture the Piper but are stopped by Magneto, who is wearing the Angel’s black-and-white costume and laughing about how he fooled Iron Man with a pair of false wings. Announcing that he is abducting the X-Men, Magneto grabs the Scarlet Witch and uses his powers to send Iron Man crashing into Captain America, knocking them both out. The villains then escape with their prisoners in the Quinjet while Thor and the Vision are busy keeping the Black Panther from being crushed by boulders. The three remaining Avengers return to the mansion and try to recruit some back-up for a rescue operation. When the Black Knight can’t be reached, they turn next to the Falcon, Spider-Man, and Luke Cage, but none of them can be located. At the Black Panther’s suggestion, they fly out to San Francisco to seek help from Daredevil and the Black Widow. Hawkeye is there as well, but he angrily refuses their request and storms out. Black Widow vents her frustration on the Avengers, and Thor is annoyed by all the unprovoked hostility. Nevertheless, Daredevil and the Black Widow reluctantly agree to lend a hand, and so the five heroes board the Quinjet and head back to New York.
At Avengers Mansion, Thor discusses the situation with the Black Panther, the Vision, and Daredevil, though the Black Widow seems to have other things on her mind. As the team’s butler, Edwin Jarvis, serves coffee, Black Panther explains to Daredevil how Magneto kidnapped the X-Men as well as Iron Man, Captain America, and the Scarlet Witch. Scanning a newspaper on the table, Daredevil announces that a special conference of the Atomic Energy Commission is being held that very day in a house not 50 miles from New York City. Thor realizes it’s a likely target for Magneto, given his interest in atomic energy and its resulting mutations, so they decide to check it out. When they arrive, though, they are unable to stop Magneto from kidnapping the commissioners, as he has Iron Man, Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Iceman under some form of mind control. Black Panther suggests that Magneto must have a lair near the X-Men’s headquarters where he kept the dinosaurs, so they head back to Westchester County to search the area. However, they are concerned by the Vision’s disappearance during the fight and fear he was captured. In the woods behind the X-Men’s mansion, Daredevil somehow detects a large cavern beneath the surface. Thor uses his enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, to smash a tunnel down to the cavern, where they discover Magneto and his hypnotized prisoners. During the ensuing fight, Thor is hit in the head with one of Cyclops’s optic blasts and knocked out cold. When he comes to, Thor finds that Magneto has been defeated and his prisoners released. The others explain that the Vision phased inside the Piper and was able to sneak up behind Magneto and take him out with a karate chop to the back of the neck. Professor X then appears, having also been held prisoner, and puts Magneto into a telepathically induced coma. Taking charge of the defeated villains, the X-Men return to their nearby headquarters, intent on searching for the Angel, whose disappearance remains unexplained. Captain America conveys the Avengers’ thanks to Daredevil and the Black Widow and offers them full membership on the team. Daredevil declines but the Black Widow accepts, causing a rift between them. Daredevil leaves in a huff, and later the Black Panther arranges for a Quinjet to take him back to San Francisco.
Soon after, a mob of African-American militants pounds on the front door of Avengers Mansion, demanding that the Black Panther come outside. Before the Avengers can react, the mob breaks down the door and opens fire with rifles. Iron Man and Scarlet Witch drive them back, but they continue to chant that the Black Panther must return to Africa, where his people need him. As the situation escalates, a man in a trenchcoat emerges from the crowd and forces the Black Panther to worship him. The man suddenly transforms into a gigantic armored demon who calls himself the “Lion God,” then teleports away with the Black Panther, leaving the mob disoriented and confused. As the crowd disperses, the frustrated Avengers realize the people had been entranced by the Lion God just as the Black Panther was. As Captain America leaves to consult with S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor joins the other Avengers in their conference room for a strategy session. Iron Man asks Thor what he knows of this Lion God, but Thor is forced to admit that the Asgardians generally had little interest in other pantheons, so he cannot even confirm that their foe is truly a god. Suddenly, the Lion God appears, with the Black Panther his helpless prisoner, and attacks them. The demon evades Mjolnir and shocks Thor into unconsciousness with his totem-stick. Luckily, Thor revives a few minutes later and calls down a lightning strike that hits the totem-stick, apparently overloading it and causing a massive explosion. Thor assumes that the Lion God had been destroyed. Black Widow then announces that she has decided to return to San Francisco to work with Daredevil, preferring their partnership to being a member of a large group. Black Panther, however, affirms his commitment to the team and says he plans to remain in New York for a while.
When not engaged in Avengers business, Thor patrols New York City for crime, trying to avoid his mortal identity as Donald Blake, M.D., though it means carrying his hammer around at all times. He generally transforms himself only when Don needs to check in on the young Asgardian woman Krista, who remains in a coma in a Manhattan hospital. As such, Thor continues to live at Avengers Mansion.
February 1966 – In the middle of the month, Quicksilver comes to Avengers Mansion to try to talk his sister out of her love affair with the Vision, which proves to be very contentious. Jarvis is serving Sunday brunch to Thor, Captain America, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, the Black Panther, and the Vision when the entire building is suddenly transported to the 23rd century by Kang the Conqueror. With the element of surprise, Kang is able to knock out everyone in the mansion. Thor awakens sometime later to find himself and his teammates in the shattered remains of a bank of stasis tubes in Kang’s fortress. Iron Man is now among them, obviously having been captured as well. They have been freed by Black Bolt, Gorgon, Karnak, and Triton of the Inhumans, while Kang lies defeated under some rubble nearby. Spider-Man then enters, having captured Thor’s old foe Zarrko the Tomorrow Man. However, as Spider-Man hustles everyone out of the citadel for transport back to the 20th century, they discover that Kang tricked them with a robot double and made good his escape. The voice of the real Kang then mocks them over the loudspeaker. As Zarrko is turned over to the local authorities, Spider-Man explains how he and the Human Torch tracked down and destroyed three chronal-displacement bombs that Zarrko sent back to the 20th century to destroy civilization, after which Black Bolt’s brother, Maximus the Mad, was able to convert one of the bombs into a crude but effective time machine. Suddenly, with a blinding flash of light, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Vision, Spider-Man, and Jarvis find themselves back on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, standing outside Avengers Mansion. Assuming the Inhumans returned directly to their Great Refuge in the Himalayas, Thor notes that the team owes them a profound debt of gratitude. Feeling slighted, Spider-Man makes a wise-ass remark and swings away. Entering their headquarters, the Avengers find they’ve been gone for two days. Realizing that his arguments are falling on deaf ears, Quicksilver returns to the Inhumans’ hidden city.
Thor joins Iron Man, Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, the Black Panther, and the Vision when the Avengers are called in by the city to make repairs to the Statue of Liberty, which was heavily damaged by a giant monster a few months ago. A mishap causes the statue’s right hand to break off and plummet toward the Scarlet Witch. Vision swoops in to rescue her as their teammates deal with the falling debris. To the shock of the crowds watching from below, Vision and Scarlet Witch embrace and kiss. By the time the heroes return to Avengers Mansion, news of the romance between the mutant woman and the android man has spread like wildfire. The next day, they receive mountains of mail expressing all manner of views on the relationship, much of it negative. Some of New York’s more obnoxious residents appear at the mansion’s front door, but Iron Man and the Black Panther send them away. After a few days, the hubbub dies down.
March 1966 – When a gang of neo-Nazis goes around beating up Jews on the street, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, and Vision go out to put a stop to it. The Avengers make short work of the neo-Nazis, but suddenly they are rushed by a suicide bomber who detonates the explosives strapped to her chest and seriously damages the Vision. Cradling the Vision in his arms, Iron Man flies at once to the Long Island laboratories of Stark Industries. Thor follows and, upon arriving, changes back into Donald Blake. He then joins Tony Stark and the Black Panther in a sophisticated laboratory, where they set to work making repairs, guided by the schematics Ant-Man drew up after his explorations of the synthezoid’s interior last year. However, more suicide bombers storm the building, intent on finishing the Vision off. Captain America and the Scarlet Witch are quickly outnumbered, forcing Stark to step out to summon Iron Man to help. When Stark returns several minutes later, he suggests with a wink and a grin that Don see if he can find Thor. Don realizes that Stark is aware of his dual identity and has just confirmed Thor’s long-held suspicion that Iron Man and Tony Stark are one and the same man. Amused, Don finds an empty room nearby and changes back into the god of thunder. Thor quickly uses Mjolnir to generate a whirlwind that carries the remaining four suicide bombers high into the air above the building. Rather than be captured, the bombers detonate their explosives, blowing themselves to smithereens. The Avengers are shocked by such reckless fanaticism. A few minutes later, Stark emerges from the laboratory to announce that the Vision should make a full recovery. Thor is startled when the Scarlet Witch reacts with indignant rage, ranting about the way the Vision has been treated—even by her own brother—despite his many heroic acts. The way she complains about “humans,” apparently oblivious to her own bigotry, worries Thor.
April 1966 – Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, and Vision are about to start a search for the missing Scarlet Witch when she suddenly comes striding through the front gate with an Asian woman called Mantis and their old enemy the Swordsman. Thor is intrigued when the Swordsman insists that he’s reformed and petitions to join the team (legitimately this time) as Hawkeye’s replacement. Cap tells the former super-villain to keep dreaming, but the Scarlet Witch objects, accusing Cap of being ruled by his prejudices. Iron Man is forced to concur, pointing out that the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow were all considered “villains” before getting a shot at redemption. When Thor volunteers to take full responsibility for the Swordsman’s behavior during a probationary period, Cap grudgingly bows to the will of the majority. Iron Man asks Mantis if she wants to join the team too, but she insists she is merely the Swordsman’s companion. Glad to have another woman to talk to, Scarlet Witch assures Mantis that she’s welcome there. Over the next week, the Swordsman accompanies Thor everywhere he goes. They battle two giant fish-men on a beach and later stop a rampaging robot. Thor is mightily impressed with the Swordsman’s skill with his blade, thinking that he rivals even Fandral the Dashing. Thus, Thor recommends that the Swordsman be granted all the privileges of Avengers membership. The team votes to induct him into their ranks and all agree to trust that the Swordsman really has reformed.
Seeing a news report of Hawkeye and the Hulk on the waterfront battling a giant creature made of electricity, the Avengers discuss the fact that the archer has returned to New York without contacting them, indicating that he really does intend to go his own way from now on. Suddenly, the Lion God smashes into the chamber, apparently abetted by the Swordsman and Mantis. Thor is furious to have been fooled by two traitors but is immediately knocked out by Mantis using her remarkable martial arts skills. When he regains consciousness, Thor learns that the Lion God has been trapped inside an adamantium cylinder that Iron Man installed in the ceiling after the last time their security was breached. Iron Man suggests that Thor send the Lion God into another dimension before he breaks free, and the thunder god uses his enchanted hammer to do so at once. In the aftermath of the battle, Mantis explains that she had sensed a malignant force lurking around the mansion and worked with the Swordsman to lure it out into the open. They then pretended to cooperate with the Lion God, planning all the while to turn the tables on him at the crucial moment. Impressed by the couple’s daring, Thor expresses the team’s profound gratitude. Captain America is clearly still suspicious, but the others agree that, if nothing else, the Swordsman and Mantis have earned the benefit of the doubt.
May 1966 – Realizing that no one’s heard from the Black Knight in several months, the Avengers decide to return to Garrett Castle in England to check up on him. As soon as their Quinjet enters British airspace, though, they are harassed by S.H.I.E.L.D., which objects to the Swordsman and Mantis, both of whom have criminal records, entering the United Kingdom. Fortunately, the Avengers are able to clear the matter up and soon touch down in a meadow outside the castle. However, they are surprised to discover the entire structure is surrounded by an invisible force field which they are unable to penetrate. Mantis performs some kind of mystic probe and determines that the barrier was erected by Doctor Strange. Suddenly, a large group of ragged, primitive-looking men with medieval weapons streams out of camouflaged holes in the ground and attacks the heroes, knocking them out with crude bombs that release a potent toxic gas. When he comes to, Thor finds he and his teammates being held prisoner in a network of caverns, presumably beneath the Black Knight’s estate. The primitives are upset because the force field is preventing them from looting the castle’s storehouses, which is how they’ve sustained themselves since retreating underground to escape persecution hundreds of years ago. Thor realizes that generations of inbreeding has caused the cave-dwellers to become savage barbarians, but their toxic gas prevents most of his teammates from fighting back. Luckily, Thor, Vision, and Mantis seem immune to its effects, and they hold off a giant insectoid monster long enough for the Black Panther to force their captors to surrender. The Avengers march the defeated barbarians back to the surface, where they call in medical and government aid for the lost tribe. The barbarian king informs the Avengers that the Black Knight was taken away by people in weird costumes before the castle was sealed off by the invisible wall. The heroes decide to head at once to Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum back in New York to ask him about it.
However, when the Avengers reach the sorcerer’s home in Greenwich Village, they are repelled by a mysterious force. Thor smashes down the front door with his hammer and forces his way inside, where Mantis roughs up Doctor Strange’s butler. They catch of glimpse of the Black Knight in an interior room, having apparently been turned to stone, and assume that Doctor Strange is responsible. Before they can react, though, the Avengers are ejected from the building by hurricane-force winds. Thor rages at the unseen sorcerer, saying they will return when they’ve figured out how to overcome his magic, and then the Avengers go back to their headquarters, seething with indignation. Shortly afterwards, a psychic projection of Loki, still blind, materializes in the mansion to warn the Avengers that Doctor Strange is leading a cabal of super-powered misfits on a quest to obtain the six segments of the legendary weapon known as the Evil Eye of Avalon, which has the power to destroy the world. Joining the mysterious master of black magic is the bestial Hulk, whose hatred for humanity is well known; the savage Sub-Mariner, who has long warred against the human race; the Silver Surfer, the bitter alien imprisoned on Earth; the Valkyrie, who desires revenge for her defeat at the hands of the Avengers a couple years ago; and even their former teammate Hawkeye, who wants to strike back at those he believes betrayed him. Though Thor is not inclined to believe anything his adopted brother says, the other Avengers convince him that they should check it out.
Thus, Thor flies to Los Angeles, California, while his teammates cover the other five locations provided by Loki. When he arrives, he receives a transmission from the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, reporting that they were attacked in Polynesia by the Silver Surfer, who made off with a segment of the Evil Eye. With Loki’s tale apparently confirmed, Thor commences his search. He soon finds the Hulk ripping up a fountain in front of a ritzy hotel and unearthing one of the segments of the Evil Eye. Swooping down, Thor confronts the Hulk and tries appealing to him as a fellow Avenger. However, Hulk is still harboring some bitterness over the way the Avengers treated him so he punches Thor in the face, sending him crashing into a brick wall. The ensuing brawl lasts for several minutes, causing tremendous property damage, until the two titans find themselves grappling in the demolished street. Their strength evenly matched, they remain rooted to the spot, each one’s muscles straining against the other’s for an hour before their teammates finally show up—Iron Man, Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, the Black Panther, the Vision, the Swordsman, and Mantis, as well as Doctor Strange, the Sub-Mariner, the Silver Surfer, Hawkeye, and the Valkyrie. Thor is shocked to see that this Valkyrie is not the Enchantress after all, as he had been led to believe, but Brunnhilde, the former leader of Odin’s Valkyrior, whom he has not seen in over 900 years. Learning that Loki has indeed played both teams for fools, Thor and the Hulk stand down.
The Avengers and the Defenders then compare notes and realize that Thor was fighting Loki in Rutland, Vermont, last Halloween at the same time that the Defenders were battling Dormammu there. They speculate that the two arch-villains must have teamed up. Their suspicions are confirmed when the six segments of the Evil Eye are suddenly stolen by Dormammu’s servant Asti the All-Seeing. Despite the best efforts of the assembled heroes, Asti escapes with the segments into another dimension. Almost immediately, the city around them begins to transform into a nightmarish world of horror, the people metamorphosing into monstrous demons. An image of Dormammu’s flaming head appears in the sky, announcing that he is using the Evil Eye to bring Earth into his Dark Dimension, thereby enabling him to conquer the planet without violating his oath to never invade our universe. The Avengers and the Defenders vow to prevent this at any cost. However, the transformed bystanders begin to attack the heroes, forcing them to fight back. Thor helps keep the monsters at bay while Doctor Strange casts a spell to prevent any of the 14 superheroes present from changing into monsters themselves. The sorcerer then tries to convince Captain America that both teams need to take the fight directly to Dormammu in the Dark Dimension. Cap is reluctant to abandon the earth in such a time of crisis but relents when Nick Fury and the forces of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrive on the scene. Leaving Fury and his agents to deal with the monsters, Doctor Strange casts a spell to transport the Avengers and the Defenders into Dormammu’s realm.
In the weird landscape of the Dark Dimension, Doctor Strange yells at the headstrong Avengers to keep them from blundering to their doom, prompting Thor to order his teammates to defer to the sorcerer’s expertise. Then, after beating off the numberless hordes of the Mindless Ones, the heroes find Dormammu, brandishing the Evil Eye, with Loki imprisoned in a cage of flames. To everyone’s surprise, the Watcher is also present, looking on enigmatically. Doctor Strange manages to breach the mystic barrier separating them, but with one wave of his hand, Dormammu’s augmented magic instantly renders the six Defenders unconscious. Undaunted, Thor leads the Avengers in a desperate charge, but Dormammu turns the ground under their feet into quicksand. Thor, Iron Man, and Scarlet Witch avoid the trap, only for Thor to suddenly find himself forcibly changed into Don Blake as Iron Man’s armor dissolves. Scarlet Witch is stopped in her tracks by a rain of sticky glue, but she manages to raise her arms enough to cast a hex bolt at Dormammu, who is distracted by Loki. The hex causes the Evil Eye to malfunction, and it disintegrates Dormammu, absorbs his mystical energies, and blasts them out again straight through Loki’s brain. Don instantly becomes Thor again as the other Avengers are released and the Defenders regain consciousness. The Watcher congratulates the 14 heroes on their great victory, noting that, while Loki’s sight has been restored, his mind has been shattered, leaving him with the intellect of an infant. And though Dormammu’s corporeal form has been destroyed, the Watcher warns, he will eventually reintegrate himself with the aid of his many black-hearted worshipers. Doctor Strange then retrieves the Evil Eye and casts a spell that returns the two teams to Los Angeles.
The Avengers and the Defenders materialize on the same street in L.A. to find the crisis is over. The people who had been transformed into monsters have reverted to normal and are wandering around the rubble-strewn streets in a daze. Thor is glad to have his brother Loki back in his custody again. Nick Fury offers the two teams his congratulations on their victory. However, wishing to keep the existence of the Defenders a secret, Doctor Strange removes all memory of their involvement from Fury and his agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as any bystanders who witnessed their presence earlier in the day. Furthermore, he combines the power of the Evil Eye with his own sorcerous might to undo all damage and destruction the world over caused by Dormammu’s scheme, leaving everyone believing they had just suffered a mass hallucination. Finally, after bidding farewell to the Avengers, Strange teleports his team back to his Sanctum Sanctorum to attend to the Black Knight. The Avengers borrow a jet from S.H.I.E.L.D. and return to New York as well. Unfortunately, since they do not arrive in a Quinjet, the Avengers are unable to deactivate their mansion’s rooftop security systems ahead of time. Luckily, Black Panther is able to do it manually. Scarlet Witch complains again about “humans,” and Thor is irked by her attitude. As they enter the mansion, Thor informs Jarvis of Loki’s condition and explains that he will need constant care. Since Loki has been banished from Asgard, Thor asks Jarvis to set him up in Hawkeye’s old bedroom. Thor is extremely wary at first, expecting treachery from his brother, but as time passes, Loki gives no sign of faking his mental disability.
June–September 1966 – Thor takes Loki on an extended camping trip to the rugged wilderness areas of Norway and Sweden, hoping that more pleasant surroundings will help him heal. Reminded of their childhood together in Asgard, Thor enjoys himself at first and often regales his brother with tales of their youthful adventures. However, the thunder god’s patience wears thin over time as Loki remains in a near-catatonic state.
October 1966 – Thor brings Loki back to Avengers Mansion and finds that much of the building had to be rebuilt over the summer after being destroyed in a fight with Iron Man’s old foe the Controller, who was apparently in the employ of an alien warlord named Thanos, who intends to conquer the earth. Thor has heard mention of Thanos in Asgard but is confident that when the villain makes his move, the Avengers will defeat him. As the Black Panther’s term as team chairman has ended, Thor agrees to take over those duties.
On Halloween, Mantis senses mystic emanations that portend great danger in Rutland, Vermont. Remembering the events of previous years, Thor decides they’d better check it out. When they arrive, Tom Fagan, one of the parade’s organizers, asks them to ride on a float sponsored by Marvel Comics. Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther agree, hoping to draw out the source of the unknown danger, but the Scarlet Witch, the Vision, the Swordsman, and Mantis decide not to participate and wander off into the crowd. Two hours later, as the parade is winding down, Thor is frustrated that nothing has happened. Fagan then leads the four heroes through the woods toward his house, only to suddenly reveal that he is the villain in disguise. Catching the Avengers off guard with some magic pellets, he knocks them out and takes them prisoner. When he comes to, Thor discovers that they have been captured by the Collector, but the Scarlet Witch, the Vision, the Swordsman, and Mantis have come to the rescue. The Collector activates two magic stones that produce a swarm of vampire bats that threaten the entire town, hoping to barter for his freedom. However, Mantis kicks the villain in the face and knocks him out, then uses the magic stones to make the bats vanish again. The real Tom Fagan thanks the Avengers for saving the city and offers them any further assistance he can provide. Thor asks Fagan if he would be willing to take over caring for Loki, feeling that Rutland would be a more appropriate setting for his near-catatonic brother. Fagan agrees, so the Avengers return to their Quinjet and fly back to New York. Unfortunately, the Collector escapes as soon as he regains consciousness.
November 1966 – In the morning, Thor and Captain America fly Loki up to Rutland, Vermont, and meet Tom Fagan at his new house. As Loki wanders around enjoying the scenic vistas, Fagan assures Thor that his brother will be well looked after, as he’s enlisted the help of numerous townspeople. Satisfied that they’ve found the ideal solution, Thor and Cap depart.
When Jarvis informs Thor that Iron Man has requested assistance battling Doctor Spectrum in Detroit, Michigan, the thunder god flies to the scene at once. When he arrives, though, Thor finds Iron Man, with the villain’s power prism lodged in his chestplate, on a rampage. As soon as Iron Man speaks, Thor can tell by his voice that he’s an impostor and quickly defeats him. Removing his unconscious opponent’s helmet, Thor is surprised to see a black man in the armor. A distraught white woman rushes up and kneels beside them, but Thor is distracted when two police officers bring Doctor Spectrum over. Once the villain is close enough to his power prism, it flies to his hand, enabling him to escape. Thor pursues Doctor Spectrum into the sky and they fight high above Detroit until the real Iron Man arrives on the scene. Iron Man tells Thor that the impostor is a friend of his and is in need of medical attention, so the thunder god drops into a nearby alley and changes into Donald Blake. As he examines the unconscious man, Don learns that the distraught woman is a friend of Tony Stark’s named Roxanne Gilbert. Two more of Stark’s friends arrive in a taxi, Happy and Pepper Hogan, and identify the patient as former boxer Eddie March. Learning that March has a dangerous blood clot in his brain, Don decides that he needs immediate surgery to save his life. Fortunately, Iron Man has defeated Doctor Spectrum and turned him over to the police, so there is no further trouble as an ambulance arrives to transport March to the nearest hospital. Don accompanies him and volunteers to assist the emergency room doctors there. Knowing of Don’s reputation, the hospital personnel immediately agree.
A little while later, Tony Stark enters the gallery above the operating theater, and Don gives him some grim news—March appears to be too weak to survive the surgery. Desperate to save his friend, Stark suggests they use an experimental device called an “enervation intensifier” that brought Happy Hogan back from the brink of death three years ago. Don is willing to give it a try, so Thor and Iron Man soon fly to Stark Industries’ Long Island facility to fetch the device from a warehouse. Once back in Detroit, Thor resumes his mortal identity while Stark sets up the device in the operating room. Unfortunately, Stark’s worst fears are realized as the enervation intensifier mutates March into a mindless, rampaging freak. In a frenzy, March topples some heavy equipment onto Don’s walking stick, preventing him from changing back into Thor. Thus, while Iron Man goes after March, Don directs the hospital staff to prep another operating room. Iron Man soon carries March back in, and Don is relieved to see that his transformation has worn off. He determines that March has enough residual strength left to undergo surgery. While the delicate procedure is being carried out, Iron Man retrieves the walking stick, knowing it is Mjolnir in disguise. Later, Don finds Stark in the waiting room and reports that March should recover, though he will likely be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. After conferring with the hospital staff about March’s course of treatment, Don changes back into Thor and flies home to New York City.
At Avengers Mansion, Thor is shocked to learn that Captain America has been arrested for murder. Sgt. Damian Link, the team’s new liaison officer with the NYPD, comes to meet with them. However, the Swordsman soon exposes Link as Gemini, one of the twelve leaders of the international crime cartel Zodiac. He manages to evade the Avengers’ attempts to apprehend him until Thor punches him into a wall, leaving the villain extremely disoriented. Unfortunately, Gemini is rescued by the rest of Zodiac—Aquarius, Cancer, Capricorn, Libra, Leo, Pisces, Sagittarius, Taurus, Virgo, and replacements for Aries and Scorpio—using their powerful “Star-Blazer” energy weapon. The criminals escape, but Taurus leaves behind a tape recording that reveals that they plan to use a giant version of the Star-Blazer weapon, the “Star-Blaster,” to kill everyone in Manhattan born under the sign of Gemini, after which they will announce their demands. Thor, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Mantis head out to track their foes down, but the Swordsman is too ill to join them. Just before midnight, the Avengers find the Zodiac gang setting up their Star-Blaster cannon on top of the Empire State Building and immediately disable the weapon. Even so, Taurus manages to fire its deadly rays at Mantis, knocking her out. Though Captain America turns up and joins the fray, Aries throws Mantis off the roof. While the Avengers are busy saving her, Zodiac escapes. Captain America assures his teammates he’s been framed but does not accompany them back to the mansion. There, Thor changes into Don Blake and checks Mantis over. He is shocked to discover she seems to be literally healing herself while in a trance. Iron Man asks the Swordsman to tell them more about Mantis, but he knows little about her past before he met her in a bar in Saigon while he was working for a local crime lord called Monsieur Khruul.
After the Black Panther has joined them, the Avengers spread out over the city to search for Zodiac’s hidden lair. Just before dawn, Thor finds seven members of the cartel meeting with the crooked financier Cornelius Van Lunt in a warehouse in New Jersey and summons the rest of the team to meet him there. The Avengers crash through the window to take their foes by surprise, but Van Lunt slips out during the fight and seals off the warehouse, revealing it to be a deathtrap. Before the Avengers or the seven members of Zodiac can react, Van Lunt launches the building into orbit. Thor tries to smash through the side of the warehouse, only to discover the building is surrounded by the same kind of force field that Zodiac used when they held Manhattan hostage two years ago. Mjolnir passes through the field but then is unable to return to him. Realizing he will change back into Don Blake after sixty seconds, Thor dives behind some crates and hides under a tarp. The other Avengers and Zodiac are confused by the thunder god’s behavior, but Iron Man keeps them away from his hiding place. Scarlet Witch is able to create a momentary weak spot in the field with her mutant hex power, which allows Iron Man to fly out and retrieve the hammer. Before Iron Man can get back inside, though, Libra arrives in Zodiac’s spaceplane, the Star-Cruiser, and rescues them. As soon as the force field is deactivated, Mjolnir returns to Don’s hand, transforming him into Thor once again. The humiliated thunder god emerges from his hiding place, knowing that friend and foe alike must think he panicked and cowered in fear while bereft of his hammer. Everyone then joins Libra aboard the Star-Cruiser, and he flies them to Van Lunt’s penthouse. There, Van Lunt is revealed to be Taurus, and though he conspired with Capricorn, Gemini, and Virgo to kill off the other members of the cartel, he convinces his erstwhile partners-in-crime to put aside their differences long enough to destroy the Avengers. However, the Avengers win the fight, which ends when the Vision knocks Taurus into his swimming pool. Taurus panics, though, because he can’t swim, but the Vision makes no move to rescue him. Luckily, Mantis charges in at that moment, dives into the water, and hauls Taurus to the surface. Thor is angry with the Vision, but the synthezoid offers no defense, even when the Scarlet Witch presses him on it. Disgusted, Thor demands that Libra explain why he betrayed Taurus and saved them all. Libra admits that it was something of a mistake; he really just wanted to rescue Mantis, having assumed she was with the Avengers—because she is his daughter.
The Avengers turn the rest of Zodiac over to the police and free Sgt. Damian Link, who had been mind-controlled by the real Gemini, but take Libra back to Avengers Mansion for questioning. There, he explains how he met Mantis’s mother when he was fighting in the First Indochina War as a member of the French Foreign Legion. After a whirlwind romance, they were married, but her brother, the crime lord known as Monsieur Khruul objected to the match and tried to have them killed. Mantis was born while they were on the run. Eventually, Khruul’s assassins caught up to them and killed Libra’s wife, but he and his daughter found refuge in a remote monastery. The monks, who called themselves the Priests of Pama, raised Mantis, teaching her their unique form of martial arts. Finally, Libra admits, he left her there and returned to Europe. Consumed with rage, Mantis attacks Libra, but he subdues her, having learned the same fighting techniques that she did. Suddenly, the Avengers realize that the Swordsman has taken a Quinjet and is heading to Vietnam to take vengeance on Monsieur Khruul. Before they can follow, Iron Man must fly to Van Lunt’s property in New Jersey to retrieve their other Quinjet. When he returns, the Avengers set off, accompanied by Libra.
When the Avengers arrive at Monsieur Khruul’s villa on the outskirts of Saigon, they find the Swordsman tied to a chair. He admits he broke under torture and told the crime lord about the Priests of Pama and how to find them. Libra then leads the team to the remote monastery, but they arrive too late—all the monks have been slaughtered by Khruul’s assassins. The Avengers defeat the assassins, but Khruul flees deeper into the temple, only to be killed by the Star-Stalker, a dragon-like alien who has come to feed on the planet’s life-energies now that the Priests of Pama can no longer prevent him from doing so. The Star-Stalker shrugs off the Avengers’ initial attack, then spins a cocoon around itself in order to transform into its energy-absorbing form. Black Panther contacts S.H.I.E.L.D. and arranges for them to deliver Zodiac’s Star-Blaster cannon, which the agency has impounded. Unfortunately, when it emerges from its cocoon, the Star-Stalker proves to be impervious to the weapon’s rays. The creature slams Thor and Iron Man into each other, knocking them both out. When he comes to, Thor finds that Mantis and the Vision figured out how to defeat the Star-Stalker and were able to kill it. Leaving the Swordsman to recover in a Saigon hospital, the other Avengers return to New York City, where Libra is turned over to the police. Unwilling to explain what happened to him aboard Zodiac’s warehouse-rocket, Thor decides to move out of Avengers Mansion. As Don Blake, he rents a new apartment elsewhere in the city. Don realizes that the tension between his two identities has only grown over time and wonders what, if anything, he can do about it.
December 1966 – Thor goes to Rutland, Vermont, to visit with Loki at Tom Fagan’s house. The god of mischief’s condition appears unchanged. Fagan mentions that the small town is abuzz with the disappearance of a teen-aged boy who was last seen on Halloween, but Thor is convinced that Loki couldn’t have had any involvement. Upon his return to New York, Thor is summoned to Avengers Mansion for a meeting with Captain Marvel and two of his friends, Drax the Destroyer and Moondragon. They are joined by Iron Man, Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, the Black Panther, the Vision, Mantis, and the Swordsman, who is just back from Vietnam. Captain Marvel reports that a hidden colony on Saturn’s moon Titan has been conquered by Thanos, who has now come into possession of the Cosmic Cube and is thus a threat to the entire universe. However, the strategy session is cut short when Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Drax, and Moondragon suddenly vanish into thin air. The Avengers realize they must have been kidnapped by Thanos. Though unable to find any trace of their missing friends, the Avengers learn from the space station Starcore One that an armada of starships is heading toward Earth from the vicinity of Mars—presumably Thanos’s fleet of space pirates that Captain Marvel warned them of. Deciding to intercept the armada before it reaches Earth, the Avengers take their spaceworthy Quinjet and Zodiac’s Star-Cruiser out to meet the threat. As the battle is joined, Thor leaves the Quinjet and smashes into the command deck of the fleet’s flagship, where he takes on an army of armored aliens singlehandedly. The armada still manages to reach Earth, but the aliens suddenly lose their ability to communicate with each other when the Avengers find and destroy their central universal translator. Gaining the upper hand, the Avengers press their attack, and within the hour, the fleet of invading ships has been destroyed, with a handful of survivors in full retreat. Thor returns to the Quinjet, flush with the thrill of victory, and they soon land on the roof of Avengers Mansion.
Unfortunately, the Avengers quickly discover that Thanos has used the Cosmic Cube to shift the entire planet out of phase to prevent them from interfering with his plans. The space armada, they realize, was merely a distraction meant to lure the Avengers off Earth while Thanos caused the phase-shift. Still, Mantis is able to contact Captain Marvel and tell him what happened. Captain Marvel and Drax the Destroyer then attack Thanos, their fight soon carrying them away from Avengers Mansion as the team watches helplessly. Mantis sets off after them, and a few minutes later, the phase-shift is abruptly cancelled out. Entering their headquarters, the Avengers discover that Iron Man has returned as well, though he’s not sure how he got there. After comparing notes, they track Mantis to a nearby rooftop, where they find her with Captain Marvel and Drax. Captain Marvel has somehow defeated Thanos by smashing the Cosmic Cube, though he and Mantis give only vague and evasive answers to the Avengers’ questions. As Drax flies off into the night sky, Captain Marvel trades interdimensional places with Rick Jones, who accompanies the others back to the mansion. Not long afterward, Thor’s help is requested after Iron Man and Captain America discover a vintage cryogenic vault in the rubble of a collapsed government research building. He and the Vision carry the bulky device into one of the labs in the basement of Avengers Mansion, where Iron Man decides to have some technicians from Stark Industries examine it after the holidays. Rick then says goodbye to the Avengers and heads off on a 15-city concert tour as part of the opening act for a more famous band. Thor wishes him good fortune.
Thor and Iron Man are concerned when the disillusioned Captain America says he’s considering giving up his costumed identity, permanently this time. Before they can discuss it further, though, the mansion is attacked by Klaw and his new partner, Solarr, who have imprisoned the Scarlet Witch, the Black Panther, the Vision, the Swordsman, and Mantis, along with Ambassador Ronald Pershing of Rhodesia, under a dome of solid sound outside. The villains are threatening to roast their hostages unless the Black Panther surrenders the throne of Wakanda to Klaw, after which he intends to declare war on Rhodesia to pay them back for the harsh treatment he suffered there last year. When Klaw proves to be a sonic illusion, Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America search the neighborhood for the real villain, but the Black Panther deduces that he is, in fact, masquerading as Ambassador Pershing. Klaw and Solarr are quickly defeated, but the Black Panther announces that he must take a leave of absence and return to Wakanda for a while. Thor grants the request and calls the Avengers to gather to toast their valiant comrade. Unfortunately, their celebration is marred when the Scarlet Witch and the Vision get into an argument about the Swordsman’s assertion that the Vision is trying to steal Mantis away from him. Thor is disturbed by the Scarlet Witch’s bad attitude of late and the dissension it has caused. The atmosphere around the mansion is still a bit tense a day or two later when Thor joins the others for the Avengers’ Fifth Annual Christmas Charity Benefit.
The Avengers respond when an intruder breaks into the lab where the vintage cryogenic vault is being stored, and they are surprised to find that he is the Whizzer, the super-fast crime-fighter of the 1940s who was a member of the Liberty Legion, the Invaders, and the post-war All-Winners Squad. Thor vaguely remembers meeting the Whizzer when he encountered the Invaders during World War II. The Whizzer claims that the cryogenic vault belongs to him, but the Avengers are dubious until the module opens, revealing a highly radioactive mutant inside. The mutant smashes its way to freedom and disappears into the city. Detecting three radioactive hotspots in the area, the Avengers split up to see which one is the mutant. Thor and Mantis find him on some elevated tracks in Brooklyn and note that the mutant has started referring to himself as “Nuklo.” After a near-disastrous encounter with a speeding express train, Thor and Mantis are able to herd Nuklo back to Avengers Mansion, where they are shocked to see their teammates bringing two other Nuklos with them. The three doppelgängers merge into one, tripling his power. He scatters the Avengers with a force blast, but then the Scarlet Witch and the Whizzer arrive on the scene and trap him within a hex sphere that drains his power. As Nuklo loses consciousness, the Whizzer collapses from a massive heart attack. Vision carries him into the team’s medical bay while Thor transforms into Don Blake to perform open-heart surgery on the elder hero. When the procedure is completed successfully, Don reports to the Avengers that the Whizzer should make a full recovery. Later, Thor learns from the Scarlet Witch that Nuklo is the son of the Whizzer and his deceased wife, Miss America. More incredibly, the couple had taken an extended vacation to Europe after their highly radioactive baby was placed in stasis by the government, and while there, Miss America got pregnant again. She ended up delivering at the High Evolutionary’s Citadel of Science on Wundagore Mountain but died in childbirth. Overcome with grief, the Whizzer fled, leaving newborn twins behind—twins that grew up to become the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Thor is happy that the Scarlet Witch has found her birth parents and hopes that her attitude will now improve. Before stepping down as team chairman, Thor grants permission for the Whizzer to stay at the mansion while he recuperates.
Notes:
January 1966 – Thor starts off the year with a cameo appearance in Fantastic Four #133. The Avengers’ battles with Magneto and the Lion God span Avengers #110–112, with a detour into Daredevil #99 and an additional flashback in Captain America #173. The Lion God is most likely the Nubian god Apedemak, who is related to the Egyptian pantheon.
February 1966 – The Avengers are rescued from Kang and Zarrko by Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Human Torch, and the Inhumans in Marvel Team-Up #9–11. The Avengers then repair the Statue of Liberty at the beginning of Avengers #113.
March 1966 – The Avengers save the Vision from the suicide bombers in the rest of Avengers #113, during which Don Blake and Tony Stark confirm that they have figured out each other’s secret identities. Interestingly, they don’t share this information with their teammates, whose real names are known to both of them.
April 1966 – Mantis and the Swordsman turn up and help the Avengers defeat the Lion God in Avengers #114. Apparently, the Lion God never manages to return from the dimension to which Thor banishes him.
May 1966 – The Avengers and the Defenders team up to defeat Loki and Dormammu in Avengers #115–118 and Defenders #8–11. Additional information is provided in a flashback in Avengers #157, and the Avengers return home in the first few pages of Avengers #119.
June–September 1966 – Thor and Loki’s camping trip to the Scandinavian wilderness occurs behind the scenes, but they appear to be absent from Avengers Mansion during the events of Captain Marvel #27–30.
October 1966 – The bulk of Avengers #119 covers the last Rutland, Vermont Halloween Parade story.
November 1966 – Whether due to his own machinations or lingering magic left behind by Felix Faust, Loki regains his sanity almost immediately after Thor has left Rutland and realizes he has absorbed Dormammu’s mystical essence. Finding a teen-aged boy sleeping off last night’s revelries, Loki transforms him into a copy of his brain-damaged self. Then, leaving the impostor in his place, Loki retreats to the Dark Dimension to plot his revenge on Thor, as revealed in Thor #232. Thor, of course, is as yet unaware of these events. The thunder god helps Iron Man defeat Doctor Spectrum and saves the life of Eddie March in Iron Man #65–67. The Avengers then battle Zodiac, encounter Monsieur Khruul, and save the world from the Star-Stalker in Avengers #120–124. Zodiac must set up their Star-Blaster cannon atop the Empire State Building rather than the World Trade Center (as depicted), since the latter towers haven’t been built yet.
December 1966 – The Avengers team up with Captain Marvel and his friends to battle Thanos and his space armada in Captain Marvel #31–33 and Avengers #125. Later, Thor and Vision help move Nuklo’s cryogenic vault in a flashback in Giant-Size Avengers #1, then Rick Jones says goodbye in Captain Marvel #34. Klaw and Solarr attack in Avengers #126. Scarlet Witch and Vision’s argument is seen in one of the many flashbacks in Avengers #280. The Avengers then encounter the Whizzer and Nuklo in Giant-Size Avengers #1. Thor’s first encounter with the Whizzer and his wartime team is chronicled in Invaders #32–33.
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