More than that, Blake has been the source of so many retcons, beginning with Stan Lee doing the first (Blake was a creation to house Thor’s spirit – there was no Blake) and, then, Roy the Boy adding his own spin (actually, Blake was real) and JMS bringing him back. At least when Simonson wiped the enchantment from existence and Blake was no more, Blake was genuinely no longer a concern. By bringing him back, it always raised questions about his right to a life, to a soul, to what Odin owed him, to what Thor owed him, and the fact that those questions would never be resolved. Never. They absolutely, one hundred per cent will never be resolved to any satisfaction, because, at some point, Thor will always revert to the mean. Thor will always be Thor, so there is no room for Blake. The best you could hope for was he was an invention and he’s wiped from existence ala Simonson, or he’s sidelined and given a false life in a dream that will keep him content forever ala Fraction. That was the best you could hope for unless you’re going to make him the villain.
And that’s what Donny Cates did in Thor #9-14 in the “Prey” arc. He both ignored and used where Fraction had left the character, a bodiless head in the real world trapped in a dream world where he could have a full life. Cates conflated that dream world with the place where Blake would go when Thor was in the real world – a place created by Odin. The plot is basically that the Midgard Serpent worms his way into this place and tells Blake the truth about his existence there, causing Blake to go mad, slaughter everyone there, find the remnants of Odin-Force in himself (because he had that somehow as construct of Odin), overpower the Serpent to take his power, and, when Thor frees Blake so he can go to that place, as it’s also a place to commune with the Elder Gods, Blake breaks the cane, and goes on a killing spree of anyone with remnants of Odin and Thor’s power. By the end, Thor is free, Blake is defeated, and Loki makes Blake the new god of lies, placing him below the serpent that drips venom in his eyes.
It doesn’t end there. Instead, we come to another semi-essential Immortal Thor companion read: Thor #27-28, issues that came at the end of Cates run, around the time that he experienced the car accident that left him unable to write for quite a long time. These two issues are quasi-prologues to The Immortal Thor, co-plotted and scripted by Al Ewing. At the time, Ewing stepping in to work on these issues seemed driven by the guest appearance of Venom, whose title Ewing was (and still is, I suppose) writing, but it wound up being a bit of a tease for what was to come. For our purposes, what matters is that bits of a Symbiote combine with bits of Promethium and that drips along with the venom into Blake’s eyes. That is where we last see him until The Immortal Thor #17. In an early interview for The Immortal Thor, Ewing acknowledged the way that Cates’s run was cut short and indicated that the only request Cates had about Ewing’s work on the title was to leave Blake alone, that he had plans for him. I guess, by this point in the run, that had changed, because this is where Blake takes his first steps into mattering in the grand scheme of things.
There’s one part of Blake’s appearance here that confuses me; or causes me pause, more accurately. Enough to send me to back issues, leafing through frantically, trying to find the referenced event. After Thor’s physical body was turned to stone by the Grey Gargoyle and smashed into pieces by Mr. Hyde in the previous issue, in this issue, he finds himself in Vidbláinn with Blake. After a quick recap of recent history, Blake says that they can speak with one another there due to Thor’s spirit being there, “AS WE DID ONCE BEFORE. / REMEMBER WHAT I SAID TO YOU THEN? / ABOUT MIDGARD’S END?” and, then, Blake shows the burning ruins of a city and says that this is the future if Thor isn’t there are the right time, in the right place, to stop it. What stopped me is that I don’t remember these two ever speaking before on this topic. I did some back-issue flipping and it doesn’t occur in “Prey” nor issue 27 and 28, not after that and not in The Immortal Thor that I can find.
I don’t think they ever did speak like this before. It’s presented so matter of factly and is about an idea that we’re quite familiar with in this run, so, on a cursory reading, it seems perfectly normal. Except, Blake is the god of lies, picking up the mantle and power of Loki. He lies to Thor, positions himself in a role he’s never held, and it becomes a fact, of sorts. The story changes. Ewing plays with this idea when Blake shouts “DON’T I HAVE AN HONEST FACE?” while reverting to his Symbiote/Serpent look. While Blake is now a hybrid being, someone who shares aspects of many, a Chimera, it seems that his specific role in this story is to share a piece of Loki. His reference to Thor dying means that he’ll die or, “MAYBE IF YOU DIE, I’M FREE.” rings some bells regarding Loki’s apparent purpose in the grand scheme of things.
The ensuing attack on Thor by the creatures of the Vidbláinn while Blake watches seems like another dry run/test to see what may or may not happen if Thor were to die, for real. What sort of freedom would that mean, for Blake... for everyone? This is a preview, of sorts, of what transpires in The Immortal Thor #25 where Thor does sacrifice his after-life and what that means. And, if you’ve read that far ahead, you’ll know that Blake doesn’t die when Thor dies. Only his soul disappears, leaving the Serpent. My theory is that Blake is part test case for Loki, part aspect of Loki ala Utgard-Loki. A tool to advance their cause.
For me, this doesn’t necessarily redeem Blake as a character. He’s fallen into a role somewhat similar to that of Ben Reilly, a character I actually quite like. As a clone of Peter Parker, he’ll never get to be the real Spider-Man. He’s occupied the role on a couple of occasions for a time, but, due to the real world nature of the franchise, much like Blake holds back Thor, Reilly can never be Spider-Man. But, the character keeps getting brought back until that metafictional reason for his inability to live his preferred life is used as motivation to become a villain. That is what I truly hate in modern superhero comicbooks: when editorial reasons is used as in-story justification. Blake will never be a proper person because Thor will always be Thor. Reilly will never be Spider-Man, because Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Instead of using these realities as reasons to not engage with characters whose stories are confined, they’re instead twisted and reshaped, tried to be made useful and interesting... I’m not convinced that Ewing will pull it off with Blake. Maybe not to my satisfaction, at least.
Next week, I’ll discuss the implications of the second half of The Immortal Thor #17 via issue 18 and revisit the Dan Jurgens run with Thor #68 specifically, but maybe more.
