"...To Wake The Mangog!"

 

While the Tales Of Asgard feature tucked within the pages of Mighty Thor provided readers with more extended exposure to Asgardian armed conflicts from the past, Asgard's battle with the troll kingdom of Geirrodur gave us our first look at how the realm would fare in all-out war with an aggressor. Yet that struggle, while destructive and a clear threat to Asgard, also hinged on the trolls' captivity of an alien who was compelled to provide foreknowledge of the Asgardians' plans and strategy as well as weapons which would give Geirrodur's forces a clear advantage over Odin's warriors as well as Odin himself--and once Odin's son, Thor, dealt successfully with that aspect of the trolls' offensive, Geirrodur was forced to retreat and subsequently offer his surrender.

Apparently, the troll war must have elicited favorable reader response, as it took only a little over a year for writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby to raise the stakes considerably and launch the gods of Asgard into another life-or-death conflict, serious enough that the Asgardians came to regard it as the coming of Ragnarok. This time, these warriors, bred to battle, would fight a very one-sided war in which their combat with the trolls paled by comparison, as they found themselves pitted against the might of a billion, billion beings--all rolled into one unstoppable, revenge-crazed bruiser.

Yet in an intriguing twist, it turns out that this foe, Mangog, is himself a product of a fierce invasion of Asgard which had been fought long ago at some point in Asgard's history, of which we're given only a few key details in order to come to grips with the level of Mangog's threat. We learn, initially, that Mangog was formed from the combined hatred of alien tyrants who had caused death and destruction throughout no less than a thousand galaxies (galaxies, mind you) and whose reach spanned one million worlds--a race whose numbers translated to one quintillion beings, a staggering aggregate which would arguably dwarf many, many times the populations that could be found in the combined empires of the Shi'ar, the Skrulls, the Kree, the Badoon, the original Eternals, and whoever else you'd care to lump in. And though it remains doubtful that even such an unbelievable number of people could truly sustain a campaign to raid the distances involved over a span of heaven knows how many millenniums, we're forced to reckon with the fact that only a fraction of that number of aggressors would be needed to swarm over Asgard and utterly conquer it.* From the bits and pieces we pick up along the way, however (mostly from Mangog himself), the entire race came upon Asgard and invaded with the intent of either subjugating or destroying it, only (we're told) for all of them to be vanquished by Odin.  But it turns out even Mangog is in the dark about certain details of that conflict, which we'll learn more of in due time.

*Hopefully, a writer/artist team will attempt to reach back to this "outline" Lee provided of this ancient clash and craft a limited series that portrays it in detail. Frankly I don't see how they would realistically pull it off, given the odds against the Asgardians, but I would be keen to see what they come up with.

For now, however, we have the clear and present threat of Mangog--for some reason given form as a raging Minotaur, which as a creature of Greek mythology might seem suited to oppose the Asgardians but which is more a matter of curiosity in light of his alien ties. We learn of his existence through, of all characters, a prominent figure introduced during Geirrodur's war--Ulik, the brutal troll who gave Thor a run for his money but, during a later battle with the Thunder God in the domain of the Norn queen, Karnilla, was hurled into the bottomless Abyss of Shadows where his threat should have been ended forever. Yet he manages to halt his fall, and at a significant precipice: the sealed Cave of Ages where Mangog has been imprisoned by Odin, which the vengeful Ulik sees as an opportunity for a powerful yet doomed alliance.

Though we've seldom if ever seen Ulik back down from asserting his might and tackling his foe with a berserker rage that would rival even Wolverine's, even he seems to know when he's in over his head when he decides to get out while the getting's good once Mangog brings him out of the abyss. You would think a bottomless pit would be a perfect trap for the likes of Ulik and Mangog, since all their power would be worthless in an endless fall (which probably made Odin consider it an ideal place for Mangog's prison, safe from discovery from those unlucky enough to be cast into it). And while you don't have much of an abyss if you can use its walls to escape it, not too many hapless victims are going to have the strength of these two.

In Asgard, we find Loki, who has failed in an attempt to defeat Thor on Earth, discovering that circumstances are perfect for seizing the throne of Asgard when he finds Odin engaged once more in the Odin-sleep and, taking advantage of his status as Odin's (adopted) son, declares himself ruler in his stead. Yet with Mangog on the way, his good fortune may be short-lived--but first things first.

With Thor's closest allies dealt with, and Balder the Brave currently engaged in hostilities within the realm of Karnilla, Loki now has only one loose end to concern him--the arrival of Thor, who, like Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg, need only be dispatched to fight the approaching foe to get him out of the way for good.

Of course, Odin being sidelined at such a time deprives Asgard of the one god who had the ability to deal with Mangog's race and imprison Mangog himself--which is conspicuous timing, to say the least, but even more so when taking into account the fact that when we last saw Odin, around the time when Ulik had halted his fall, the Lord of Asgard was monitoring Loki's combat with Thor on Earth and alluding to the approaching threat of... you guessed it... Mangog, who hadn't yet been freed. How can you dread the coming of an enemy who was still sealed in his prison?

We're left to assume that Odin, somehow getting word of Ulik's proximity to the cave, feared the worst and decided to gather his forces. In a way it renders moot the so-called Eternity Alarm in Odin's palace--set to blare when the Cave of Ages was breached, and again when its captive had escaped; then again, Odin is probably the best "early warning system" you could hope to have. That said, it defies understanding that Odin wouldn't have whisked Ulik elsewhere before the troll could free Mangog; instead, Asgard's ruler heads to his bedchamber, leaving this developing, disastrous situation to others to handle.

With all the key players in place and accounted for, this story begins to gather steam as Mangog, possessing the power of a quintillion billion, billion beings, trudges through the realm toward the city where waits the one he means to slay--but even as he smashes through fierce and formidable resistance, the Asgardians learn (as Ulik did) that his goal is far more monstrous: To avenge his race, Mangog will bring an end to all who live.

Having seen the death and devastation for ourselves firsthand, we already know the grim portents which await Thor as he follows the trail of destruction which Mangog has left in his wake. As readers, we're getting the impression that this isn't shaping up to be a war in the sense of escalating hostilities so much as a hopeless series of attempts to stave off what may well be the inevitable fall of Asgard. Naturally, all eyes now fall on Thor, whose might and power in single combat would be cause for optimism; yet in this single foe he faces power of overwhelming, unimaginable proportions, and it's to their credit that both Kirby and Lee will test both Thor and Asgard as never before.

**That we've seen, at any rate. We can only guess at the ruins and the body count that the Asgardians--what was left of them--had to come to grips with following the invasion of the hordes upon hordes of those who would later spawn Mangog.

With this initial clash resulting in the power of the God of Thunder being brushed aside like so much confetti, we can't have much hope for the efforts of the Warriors Three against this foe, though it's really their valor and comradeship which offers Lee a way to pace this story, along with scenes featuring Balder's plight with the Norn Queen as well as Loki's disdain for those who are even now risking their lives for the realm. And speaking of Asgard's pro tem "ruler," he yet believes his craftiness will bring down the one who menaces them and secure the throne for himself--but he soon begins to see signs that he has severely underestimated what Asgard truly faces this day.

As for Thor, still alive after Mangog's brutal assault, he raises his game considerably in response, pulling out all the stops with his power to unleash a veritable holocaust--one which Mangog has no intention of retreating from, a pattern of defiance which he's been consistent in maintaining despite his opponents' best efforts against him. Thus far, it's been all too effective against the Asgardians in terms of crushing their morale along with their resistance--and regrettably, it's looking as if the attack of Asgard's biggest gun may not make a difference in that respect.

There can be no doubt that Thor has unleashed his full power in this battle, albeit to no effect. If stalwarts like Fandral and Hogun can all but acknowledge the futility of further resistance against their foe, Mangog has truly crushed the Asgardian spirit which is necessary for such warriors to rally their forces as well as their courage and continue to fight to the end--but for anyone with eyes, there's little doubt now that the end is what has come. Thor would have to be blind not to consider the possibility--but we also know what he's made of, and that he knows the importance of inspiration in the face of what appears to be a lost cause.

At such a time, it's a wonder that it hasn't occurred to Thor--as an Avenger, or even as someone who has fought enough battles on Earth to realize the value of a plan of action--that there might be other options in dealing with an unstoppable foe than a force vs. force approach. For instance, Thor has the means to transport himself and others across vast distances, or through time, or even to parallel universes; for that matter, simply launching this beast into the void of space would serve as at least a temporary solution until Odin awakens or a more permanent way to contain him could be devised. The time for considering these measures has unquestionably been reached here--but such options are often ignored by the character in question, even, astonishingly, when the entire universe is at risk of being destroyed.

Meanwhile, in Asgard, the goddess Sif stands vigil in Odin's chamber--joined by the mechanized Recorder, sent from the planet Rigel to investigate "pulsations so powerful that they can only mean the end of all of life is near at hand" (Mangog would be flattered). Unfortunately for the race of Colonizers on Rigel, the Recorder's recordings of these events will perish with him along with everything else, should Mangog reach his goal--a fate that the God of Thunder is all too aware of, as he faces a reckoning with an enemy embodying a billion, billion beings whose vengeance will not be denied.

COMING UP NEXT: The last stand for Thor... Sif... Asgard... and all who live!