Unearthly Adventure Comics #254 - The Return of Thor


Unearthly Adventure Comics #254 had a cover date of May of 1958 and appeared on newsstands in March of that year. It featured the return of Thor to the comic for the first time since 1947's issue #125 featured him returning to the city in an attempt to defeat it with an army of dark elves.


Cast of Characters

  • Robert Builder/The Atomizer - Reporter for the Port Henry Times-Herald, nuclear man granted powers by Trinity nuclear test.
  • Susan Samiel - Widowed reporter for the Port Henry Times-Herald, sorceress. Specializes in binding magic.
  • US-Polaris 1 - Robot space probe invented by Jack Parsons. Altered by aliens and now possessing telekinetic abilities. 
  • Yuyu - High Priest of Osiris in the 19th Dynasty. Granted immortality and superior abilities by a mystical Ankh, as well as the ability to summon minions.


Capsule Summary

Robert and Susan were covering the release of Mario Genco from Port Henry Federal Penitentiary. A gangster active in the 1920s and 30s, he was an early adversary of Thor back in his superhero days and finally put away in 1939 (Unearthly Adventure Comics #32). Genco described his desire to live out his life as a captured businessman. He also reminded the many reporters covering his release that he was always a loyal American, unlike Thor who betrayed America to the Nazis (UAC #50). 

Shortly after their departure, there was a breakout in the ultimate security wing of the prison - the Olympian speedster Hermes had been teleported into the wing by his ally the Erlkönig (Elfking). The two made short work of the poor security guards and freed two of the prisoners - Thor and the Red Knight (last seen in UAC #251).

The Unwanted (still looking for a better name for their team) got wind of this as well as a battle at the John Paul Jones Island Naval Base. They saw that the four dastardly villains had made off with Thor's hammer as well as the Reality Stone. The Reality Stone had been used by the Elfking and Thor in their 1947 attempt to conquer Port Henry and had the power to alter reality with a blood sacrifice. It had created a massive underworld beneath the city, altering the structure of soft Earth into something more solid.

It didn't take long to for them to discover the villains plan - word got out of a translucent dome centered around the abandoned O'Henry stadium, former home of the Blue Knights, who had just left Port Henry along with the Dodgers and Giants for California baseball (boo!). Their last season had seen the team renamed the O'Henry's, an awkward attempt show city spirit and convince the government to fund construction of a new stadium out of the primarily African-American Rivercrest Neighborhood. It didn't work. The dome extended several blocks beyond the city. Susan teleported the four heroes along with Yuyu's summoned mummy to the stadium. 

There they saw it had become the sight of a bloodbath, with several dead bodies littered over the stadium floor - a stadium that had altered in appearance to be like a Roman Colosseum. Looking over were the four villains and their Reality Stone. Hermes leaped down and began attacking all of them. The Elfking charged with his sword and Thor with his hammer. The Crimson Knight blasted with his radiation. Yuyu and his mummy meleed while Robert blasted and Susan cast a spell of entrapment around Hermes. US-Polaris 1 attempted to pull Thor's hammer away but his telekinesis shorted out so it satisfied itself with pummeling the Elfking. The four villains were defeated in the end, with Thor and the Red Knight returned to prison. Hermes was a human who had inherited the Olympian's powers and so was also imprisoned to stand trial. US-Polaris 1 used his hyperdrive to send the Elfking to another dimension to be imprisoned for all time... (It seems our Silver Age series is Iron Age at heart and probably not approved by the Comics Code...)

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