Journey Into Mystery (2011) #626

Read Now Journey Into Mystery (2011) #626

Characters

Hela

Hela

Hela was born ages ago to the being who would one day be called Odin and a goddess whose name and image have been lost in antiquity. On the day of her maturity, Odin appointed her goddess and ruler of the northernmost realms of the dead. Her special dominion was over the souls of all who did not die in battle, while Odin himself built the palace Valhalla to house the souls of all of those who died as heroes. In recent years, when Odin’s attention had strayed from the maintenance of Valhalla, Hela tried to annex that realm to her own, hoping to consolidate her power over all Asgard’s dead. Eventually Odin grew aware of her ambitions and opposed them. In the course of battle, Odin’s band of Valkyries, the custodians of Valhalla, lost their physical forms, no longer able to travel from Valhalla except in their wraith-like astral forms. Hela gave up her contest for Valhalla when Odin vowed to keep better watch over it in future, and she returned to her realms.

Surtur

Surtur

Surtur was an enormous fiery demon native to the dimension of Asgard. Possessed of evil intelligence and vast power, Surtur was one of the major elemental forces of evil that the Asgardians feared. He was a mystical being whose existence predated that of Odin himself. Over 1,000 feet tall and wielding a huge fiery sword, he was once imprisoned by Odin at the Earth's core. Along with Ymir the Frost Giant and the Midgard Serpent, Surtur was the most powerful of Asgard's native enemies. Surtur has been freed from imprisonment a few times over the years. The first time the Asgardian god of mischief Loki set Surtur free to wreak havok on Earth. The second time Surtur was set free by Marduk of the Sons of Satannish, a cult of human demon-worshippers. Surtur was banished to some unnamed netherworld at the end of that encounter. He appeared, yet again, in what was to be one of the Asgardians greatest battles against Surtur. Surtur hatched a plan to lure Asgard's armies to Earth leaving the city vulnerable to attack. He crossed Bifrost with his newly forged Twilight blade believing Asgard to be defenseless; Odin, Thor and Loki were there to make a last stand to defeat Surtur. Their victory did not come easy though, as Odin fell along with Surtur into a dimensional rift. Surtur apparently died along with the Asgardians during Ragnarok.