Before we return to the next Galactus appearance, let’s take a look at the comics that answer the question nobody asked: that’s the deal with his second and third heralds, Air-Walker and Firelord?
Thor #305 (1981)
by Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio
cover by Keith Pollard
As well as whether Air-Walker is worthy to pick up Mjolnir.
We begin with the most natural start for a Thor story: a Norse god stopping some regular guys from killing a drug dealer masquerading as Santa Claus.
This is the last era that at least TRIES to give Don Blake something to do besides transforming into Thor. But I guess it was too little too late.
Meanwhile, Air-Walker awakes in Machinesmith’s laboratory. He was shown to be among Machinesmith’s robots in a Captain America story.
My theory is that Gruenwald thought “why would a regular human have a robot made by Galactus in his lab? I could make a story out of this”.
This sends the robot into an existential crisis, but at least Machinesmith managed to repair him.
SOMEHOW.
And he accidentally befriends a kid who’s really into Star Wars.
Given that Marvel is now doing Star Wars crossovers, I demand to finally see a comic where Air-Walker meets Luke Skywalker.
And probably turn out to be related to him in some way.
He tries to get some information out of the Fantastic Four, without much luck.
I should point out that Air-Walker’s whole purpose in his first story was finding Silver Surfer, so I guess he STILL sucks at his job.
He’s also as much of a sore loser of his first appearance, because he throws a temper tantrum messing with the weather.
Thor shows up to deal with him…
…and shockingly to Thor, he CAN lift the hammer.
His reaction is bit off… the enchantment is that only whoever is worthy can lift the hammer. I could understand the confusion of a herald of Galactus being worthy, but that’s not what Thor is saying.
Although to be fair, if I’m not mistaken at this point nobody else has been able to lift the hammer (outside of some What Ifs).
Also: I highly, HIGHLY doubt Galactus can’t lift the hammer through sheer power if he’s not hungry.
Mjolnir’s enchantments can be a little confusing, but for the most part lifting the hammer and using its power are both linked to being worthy but not exactly the same thing.
Air-Walker may be able to lift it, but the only power he can use is hitting things really hard.
Although admittedly Mjolnir is very, VERY good at that job.
But the kid pleads mercy…
…leading Thor to krrrunth the robot.
Great job Thor, no notes.
Thor #306 (1981)
by Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio
cover by Keith Pollard
Someone other than the kid isn’t happy about this.
Firelord has been chilling in Saudi Arabia (!!!) where he’s venerated as a djinn… don’t think too hard about that, the writers didn’t either… when he hears about his fellow herald.
This whole sequence aged well.
Firelord is quick to find Thor, and we get our requisite Big Dumb Fire Fight.
But eventually Thor decides this isn’t a worthy fight… and Firelord agrees.
And here we reach the reason why I’m covering this storyline: it gives us the origin for both heralds.
Turns out they are both from Xandar (the species behind the Nova Corps), and they were serving together in the same ship.
But one day the future Air-Walker suddenly disappeared… because he’s been recruited by Galactus.
I find it utterly fascinating that these two ended up close friends, especially considering that in-universe he wasn’t a herald for more than a few months at best.
Then again, perhaps he found kinship with Galactus since he was also an explorer, in the previous universe?
The least believable part of this entire story is that the Ovoids managed to kill a herald THIS easily.
Unless Galactus purposefully made his next herald way weaker than Silver Surfer, this is dumb.
Technically speaking, this flashback is the only appearance of the original Air-Walker: every single other one has been the robot duplicate.
As for Firelord’s origin: he was SO obsessed to what happened to his heterosexual life partner captain that he accepted to be a herald just to know his fate.
And the story ends with Firelord burying Air-Walker, creating an eternal flame for him.
The robot will eventually be reactivated in a 1992 Silver Surfer story and serve as herald for a bit.
He’s been destroyed and rebuilt a couple times since.
Historical significance: 3/10
Air-Walker is definitely one of the least used heralds.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
That whole Saudi Arabia sequence. Plus the kid stuff was very cheesy.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
It’s fine but nothing spectacular. You could really do a lot with the relationship between Air-Walker and Galactus… but it’s just one panel.
The fight against Firelord is well choreographed but it’s ultimately pointless, and at the end this is BARELY a Thor story: you could replace him with most other superheroes and lose nothing.
I wondered if the main reason for the Air-Walker fight was to explain that robots can lift the hammer because they’re not technically alive… which would also confirm Galactus didn’t put the soul of his herald into a robotic body, he just built a robot.
Also, would Galactus really need to do the whole robot thing instead of just resurrecting his herald?