It’s the “new and improved” Stilt-Man. I think he’s always “new and improved” when he appears. Anyway, the improvement is adamantium, which must be awfully easy to obtain and shape if a guy like Stilt-Man can use it.
This story has two of my favorite villains: Blastaar and Stilt-Man. Yes, Stilt-Man goes mano-a-mano with Thor. How? A new enemy, F.A.U.S.T.–a secret organization–is behind the new stilt suit.
They also reach out to Blastaar…
Blastaar and Stilt Man are unlikely allies. But with his powerup, Thor and Blastaar have a spicy battle.
But FAUST abandons Blastaar at a critical moment.
Once his henchmen are disposed of, Thor needs help piercing the adamantium hub of FAUST’s craft, so he gets The Avengers and Nick Fury to join him.
It’s cool to see Walt drawing these guys. And there’s also a chance to see him draw single panels of a whole bunch of other Marvel guys as they react to explosions from the big fight. I’m not counting these as guest starring roles, though, because they’re literally just a panel per person and they’re designed just to remind us how cool New York City is in the Marvel Universe.
F.A.U.S.T. is a computer that is made of Adamantium, but Thor hits it with a lightning bolt and changes its composition. This is the first time we’ve seen Thor do this–and the first time that there’s been a hint that his lightning bolts are anything other than normal lightning. I’m classifying this as a forgotten power set.