Journey Into Mystery #94

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Cover Date: July 1963

Plot Overview: A missile goes off course and the world sends out a call for Thor. Doctor Donald Blake heeds the call and becomes Thor. He throws his Hammer and blows the missile up. Meanwhile, Loki is trapped on Asgard and uses his magic to create an illusion. Thor looks away and the Hammer hits him in the head. Loki plotted this so the Hammer would hit Thor's Chromosomatic Gland and change his personality.

Thor suddenly sees Loki as his friend and flies to Asgard and frees Loki. Loki and Thor exchange threats with Odin and then head to Earth. They use their vast powers to torment the people of Earth until the U.N. approaches them to surrender. They convince Loki and Thor to come to the U.N. Headquarters for their official surrender.

Loki and Thor come to the U.N. and a trap door catches Thor by surprise. Magic takes control of the Hammer and hits Thor on the head, reverting him to normal. Odin and several of the Asgardians reveal themselves. Odin says that they discovered how Loki gained control of Thor and used this ruse to free him from Loki's control. Loki is captured and the issue ends with Odin assuring Thor that a champion will always rise up to defeat evil.

My Take: This issue was absolutely ridiculous. Loki taking control of Thor again and in a really silly manner. The Hammer hitting Thor's Chromosomatic Gland was eye rolling. Thor, for the most part had been invulnerable up until this point. Plus, it's not really been set up that he misses catching his Hammer. The premise was really hard to buy and it went downhill from there.

The bulk of the issue was Loki giving this absolutely ridiculous monologue about what they were going to do. The dialogue was horrible and the conclusion to the story wasn't really fulfilling. Thor got no measure of victory here, he was just kind of a silent passenger to the entire story.

The art, on the other hand, was really good. I believe a new artist took over with this issue and I really liked the change. I like the way Joe Sinnott draws Loki and I like that Thor looks more like he's wearing armor than just a superhero uniform. I hope he stays on consistently because I like the way he approaches things.

I'd give this 1/2* out of *****

Notes: There was nothing of note to this issue. The gods of Asgard were more than bit players for the first time since appearing. Odin in particular had a huge role in this comic.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #110

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