Journey Into Mystery #85

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Cover Date: October 1962

Plot Overview: Loki manages to escape his imprisonment in a tree on Asgard and comes to Earth in search of Thor. Loki arrives on Earth and uses his magic to draw Thor out of hiding. Loki challenges him to a battle in the air.

As Thor follows, Loki uses his magic to hypnotize Thor. Loki sees this as a good opportunity for mischief and heads back towards the ground. Loki decides to separate Thor from the Hammer and makes several unsuccessful attempts at it. Loki finally gets Thor to let go of the Hammer and they head off. Loki is distracted by several people trying to pick the Hammer up and doesn't notice Thor change back to Dr. Don Blake.

Blake grabs the Hammer and becomes Thor once again. Thor chases Loki for the rest of the issue before finally knocking him into the water with a big steel pipe. Loki's powers are rendered useless in the water so Thor uses this chance to use the Hammer as a way to return Loki to Asgard.

The issue ends with Blake and Foster talking about the battle that just happened between Thor and Loki.

My Take: This issue was a pretty quick and light read. It's an important issue as it introduced one of Thor's main villains and introduced Asgard. It yet again featured pretty good art. I also really like that this issue turned Thor into a much more unique superhero. He really felt generic in the first two issues and after this issue it feels like he has a different flavor than anything else out there.

The story was pretty forgettable unfortunately. Most of it is Thor chasing Loki and Loki hypnotizing Thor. There wasn't any character development for Don Blake or Jane Foster which I didn't like. Blake is a very bland character right now and Stan Lee doesn't seem that interested in doing anything with him. Overall I'd call this an important issue that is completely forgettable story wise.

I'd give this **1/4 out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of Loki, Heimdall and Asgard. Odin is also credited as appearing in this comic but I don't recall him being directly referred to as Odin. This issue starts adding the more fantasy and Norse elements to the Thor comics. I would argue that Thor survived past this because of Asgard and all of the Norse stuff. It made him unique and different vs. being a blonde haired Superman. Loki, of course, becomes one of the big name Thor villains for years to come. That's really it for this issue.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #101

Posted in: Heimdall,Jane Foster,Journey Into Mystery,Loki,Odin,Thor