Thor #3
Thor Vol. 2 #3 is the third chapter of Dan Jurgens's 'Heroes Return' relaunch — the series that brought Thor back to the main Marvel Universe after the Heroes Reborn detour — and it marks the first appearance of Sedna, the Inuit sea goddess, adapted as a Marvel antagonist rooted in indigenous mythology rather than the Norse tradition that typically defines the title's rogues gallery. The issue is also a key early test of the Jake Olson dual-identity concept: Thor, inhabiting the body of a dead EMT, must manage human relationships he has no memory of while learning to trigger his own transformation independent of a cane — a direct echo of the original Don Blake setup but deliberately estranged from it. Together, these elements establish the tonal architecture of the Jurgens run: a god struggling to live inside a borrowed mortal life while cosmic threats breach the boundaries of that ordinary world.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Thor Vol. 2 launched in July 1998 as part of Marvel's 'Heroes Return' initiative, with writer Dan Jurgens and penciler John Romita Jr. chosen to reestablish the character after the Heroes Reborn era. Issue #3 carries a September 1998 cover date and was edited by Tom Brevoort under editor-in-chief Bob Harras. The Jake Olson alter-ego — a paramedic whose duplicate body Marnot fashioned for Thor as a hiding place from the pursuing Dark Gods — had been introduced in #1 and #2 by the same creative team, making #3 the first issue to fully dramatize the cost of that arrangement: Thor cannot freely shift between identities, has no access to Jake's memories, and must improvise every human interaction from scratch.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Sedna, the Inuit sea goddess, as a Marvel Comics character (Thor Vol. 2 #3, September 1998); she is depicted as a powerful aquatic deity who commands sea monsters and a siren-like call.
- Written by Dan Jurgens with pencils by John Romita Jr., inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Gregory Wright, letters by Richard Starkings, and editing by Tom Brevoort.
- Part of the 'Heroes Return' relaunch of Thor (Vol. 2), a series that ran from July 1998 through December 2004 — a 85-issue run primarily written by Jurgens.
- Thor operates in this issue under the Jake Olson mortal identity: a duplicate body of a deceased EMT, crafted by the enigmatic Marnot (later revealed to be Hescamar) to conceal Thor from the Dark Gods of Narcisson.
- Key plot beat: Thor discovers he can trigger his transformation by striking his fist on the ground — consciously connecting the new Jake Olson mechanism to his old Don Blake cane-striking habit.
- Sedna discovers an ancient Asgardian warship on the ocean floor and uses its ruby gems to track Thor; the subplot ties her into the broader Asgardian mythology without requiring a Norse origin.
- The issue ends on a cliffhanger — Sedna drags Thor underwater and Mjolnir is swallowed by her sea monster, leaving the god depowered and drowning — which is resolved in the following issue with the introduction of Namor.
- Collected in Thor Epic Collection: The Dark Gods (2025), which gathers Thor (1998) #1–13 and related annuals.
Cast · 26 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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A woman begins writing letters to Thor from the age of 6 until the day she dies.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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