As punishment for giving into the Warriors' Madness, Thor has agreed to journey out into space and seek out Galactus so that he may learn of the world devourers' origins for his father, Odin. Although Odin is remorseful about sending his favored son to his possible death, Odin sticks by his original decree. Thor departs shortly after that, wondering when he will return to Asgard and Earth.

While on Earth, Balder has recovered from injuries sustained by Loki; he is discharged from the hospital and is given a note written by Donald Blake, informing Balder that he has gone on a mission to find Galactus. Deciding to stay on Earth and protect it while Thor is away, Balder is shocked to find that the Warriors Three have also traveled to Earth to help Balder. They decide to learn of troubles on Earth by reading the newspaper and learn that an Oriental country has been secretly detonating nuclear bombs, which has caused much uneasiness around the world and in America in particular. Having read the story, the quartet of Asgardians decides to learn more about the situation.

As Thor continues to travel through space, he takes time to relax, however, this relaxation is short-lived when some tremendous force suddenly halts his ship, and the Thunder God decides to exit the ship and find out what it is.

While back on Earth in a far off Eastern country, scientists begin the final tests of their newest creation, the robot known as the Thermal Man. They let loose the robot and train their best men and weapons against it, and much to their pleasure, the robot performs excellently and proves to be neigh-indestructible. Shutting down the robot with a sonic missile, the soldiers then load the robot up in a missile and fire it over American air space. Naturally, the US military blasts the missile out of the sky, unaware that they have unwittingly unleashed the Thermal Man on American soil.

Back out in the depths of space, Thor exits his ship to find that been halted and brought onto a planetoid by Galactus himself. At first, Thor ignores Galactus' explanation that he seeks not to battle and tries to attack but to no avail. Galactus explains that he has grown tired of Thor's chase of him and has decided to tell the Thunder God of his origins. Engulfing Thor in a "visi-cloud," Thor begins learning about the past of Galactus. He learns that ages ago, a ship had crashed on a distant world being observed by one of the Watchers. This Watcher investigates the crash finds that a strange plague had slaughtered the entire crew. As Thor sees the events unfold, Galactus tells the Thunder God that this is just part of the story, and then begins to tell the tale from the beginning.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Thermal Man reaches New York City as the Warriors Three and Balder spend time in Donald Blake's apartment, getting accustomed to mortal living. The overweight Volstagg finds the most trouble adapting, finding that most Earth furniture cannot withstand his massive weight. They are soon witnessing a news report about the Thermal Man's coming attack on Earth, and the Warriors Three and Balder decide that this is a menace that they must face.

Finally, back on a distant planet, Thor revives from the "visi-mist," After some consideration, Galactus decides that Thor is ready to learn the full story of his origins.

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