10:42 PM
Brad
Cover Date: June 1963
Plot Overview: The issue starts with Thor thwarting a Chinese attack on a group of Hindu people. The Chinese plot how they can defeat Thor and crush the morale of the West. A man named Chen Lu boasts that all of the Chinese scientists won't rest until they find a way to defeat Thor.
Chen Lu has discovered that if he blasts someone with enough radiation that they will gain superpowers. He doesn't see the need to give such power to another so he tests it on himself. Chen Lu becomes the Radioactive Man and shows his powers to the Chinese government. They send him to America to destroy Thor.
The Radioactive Man arrives in New York and issues his challenge to Thor. Thor arrives shortly afterwards and the battle begins. Thor quickly finds that none of his powers work on the Radioactive Man. RM takes the advantage and hypnotizes Thor. RM has Thor throw his hammer and to his dismay Thor throws it further than he expected. RM leaves the scene and Thor changes back to Don Blake. RM can't find the hammer and confronts Blake about where Thor went. Blake sends him on a wild goose chase.
Blake arrives at his lab and develops a machine to find the hammer. Blake then retrieves the hammer and reappears as Thor. He creates a giant cyclone and tosses the Radioactive Man back to China. The Radioactive Man explodes on impact as the issue comes to a close.
My Take: This issue was okay. I like the concept of the Radioactive Man but giving Thor a weakness to radiation is a little silly. It just felt really cliche to have the typical "hero has a weakness and is totally helpless" deal in this book.
The pacing was also really bad. They build up was really great and you wanted to see Thor and the Radioactive Man square off and then you literally got 2 pages of action. I was really hoping for an all out brawl and just got skirmishes. It was frustrating and disappointing.
I do like the idea of Radioactive Man though. He's a cool villain that has powers that writers can get creative with and he's easy to make a threat. I think he's been one of the better villains that Marvel has come up with by this point in it's publishing history.
This month has been pretty Communist heavy as Iron Man was involved with the Communists in the last thing I read. I really don't like it for Thor. Thor battling Communists just seems to not fit the character and the concept at all. Thor should be fighting cosmic threats and super-villains. Iron Man, on the other hand, works better with the Communist threat considering Tony Stark's roll in the world.
The art was pretty good here. Some of these early Thor's have looked absolutely awful but this one was a solid effort. Not that a big green guy is hard to draw or anything.
I'd give this ** out of *****
Notes: This issue features the first appearance of the Radioactive Man. That name is probably best known for the superhero comic that Bart Simpson reads on the Simpson. RM becomes essentially a B villain in the Marvel Universe. He joins the Masters of Evil at one point and gets involved with the Thunderbolts years later.
Next Issue: Strange Tales #109
Posted in: Jane Foster,Journey Into Mystery,Radioactive Man,Thor
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