I am not one to follow directions very well, therefore when "The War Of The Realms, Strikeforce, The Land Of Giants" #1 stated as soon as I turned the cover to read "The War Of The Realms" #1 - #3 first, I totally disregarded this note and started with the Strikeforce issue. I do not regret my decision because the storytelling of Tom Taylor basically made me feel that I was with this adventure from the beginning. In addition, the contributions to the artwork by Jorge Molina, Adriano Di Benedetto and David Curiel allowed you to feel the frost in the air as Earth's heroes arrived at Jotunheim.
Let's backtrack. Nine Realms have already been conquered by the Dark Elf King Malekith. The only one remaining is Midgard. With Thor being trapped within the Frost Giant realm of Jotunheim, Earth's heroes went back to Avengers Mountain at The North Pole to regroup. With Monsters, Giants and Trolls wrecking havoc in different cities, our heroes from this planet are just not going to be powerful enough to try and stop this war. They need to rescue Thor!
Preparing for the mission to save Thor by arming themselves with Asgardian weapons are Captain America, Spider-Man, Logan (Wolverine), Luke Cage (Power Man) and Danny Rand (Iron Fist). Taking them to battle are steeds that are still alive after the Valkyries were slaughtered. Unfortunately, these warrior animals didn't have a happily ever after once the smoke cleared from Thor's rescue. It should be noted that Daredevil was in Asgard to help pave the way for their travel to Jotunheim.
Spider-Man used a helmet that allowed him to communicate with one of the steeds that he referred to as Buttercup. This steed was a valiant warrior known as Queen Arctorius, who was able to speak a few last words to Spider-Man before her death. Everyone else just heard a bunch of neighing. While this issue concentrated on Thor's rescue, there is so much more happening in other places. However, it does capture the essence of what is really at stake here!