12:01 PM
Brad
Plot Overview: Thor saves a pilot from a plane as the issue opens. The media swarms him after the daring rescue and Thor takes off. Thor muses that he must not let anyone near him for they might find out his secret identity as Dr. Don Blake.
Thor once again becomes Don Blake while on the streets a rumor of a Lava Man are being reported. Blake enters his office and tells Jane Foster that he has something to tell her. Blake changes his mind and Foster bemoans the fact that Blake is such a coward.
After Jane leaves, Blake becomes Thor and asks Odin's permission to marry Jane. Odin denies his claim. Thor sulks as rumors spread further of a Lava Man sighting. Loki is also watching from above realizes that he's the one that created the Lava Man.
Jane tells Don Blake the next day that she is taking a job with another doctor. She reveals that she knows Blake's feelings for her but she can't marry such a coward. Blake cannot stop her due to Odin's decree and Jane Foster walks out of his office.
The Lava Man enters the city and claims it for his people. Thor appears on the scene and declares that his heart is ready for battle. The Lava Man goes underground and starts creating small eruptions but Thor throws his hammer under ground and forces the Lava Man back to the surface. The Lava Man traps Thor in a pillar of dried lava but Thor manages to break free. The Lava Man turns himself into a giant rock but Thor creates a giant whirlwind and uses it to throw the Lava Man back into the volcano. Thor seals off the volcano and ends the threat for this issue.
Don Blake returns to his office and finds Jane Foster and her new employer Dr. Bruce Andrews there. Blake makes a final plea but Jane rejects his offer and leaves. Dr. Don Blake and Thor stand defeated as the issue comes to a close.
This issue also features an Asgard backup. It briefly tells of the Frost Giants and how Odin's family came about. It promises to tell more stories of Asgard in future issues.
My Take: What can I say, this was a great issue of Journey Into Mystery. It felt like they finally figured out how to make the character interesting in his own right. They really played up the duality of being a human and a god of Asgard in this issue and it really worked. They also went and made a major change in the dynamic by having Jane Foster quit and they stuck with that change at the end of the issue. It was really interesting to read something from the Silver Age and see a big status quo shift like that.
This issue did read very different from the previous issues of Journey Into Mystery. Thor and Blake have distinct personalities from each other for the first time. When Thor is out, he talks more like Thor now. Before, he always sounded like Don Blake. Both Thor and Blake seem to have better embraced their ties to Asgard in this issue. Before, there always seemed to be some level of distance between the two. Jane Foster also felt to be written a little differently in this. Before, I would say she had maybe a passing interesting in Blake but she seemed to share his feelings in this issue. I know they did that for dramatic tension so it isn't a huge deal.
These older comics tend to be a clunky read but you really felt for Blake/Thor in this issue. They really communicated his feelings of hopelessness and helplessness in this issue. He goes out and defeats a super powerful foe and then a few minutes later can't stop the woman he loves from walking out of his life. There have been some solid issues in these early Marvel tales but I really feel like Stan Lee captured a brief moment of magic with this issue. There was just an emotional power to this issue that made it something more than most of it's counter-parts from this era.
The Thor comics haven't been my favorite of this project so far. I feel like I've gone through the motions with some of them. This one really caught me by surprise in a good way. It's the first time since Journey Into Mystery #83 that I've been eager to get to the next issue and see what happens next. I really want to see where they go next with the Blake/Foster relationship.
Jack Kirby also made his return for this issue and the art looked really good. Molto the Lava Man was really cool looking and the battle with Thor was nicely drawn as well. His art really added to the emotion of the various scenes throughout the book as well.
I give this **** out of *****.
Notes: There were a lot of first appearances in this issue thanks to the Asgard backup. The most important introduction in this issue is Surtur. He'll be a villain for Thor as the years progress and a nasty one by the looks of him. This issue also features the first appearance of Molto the Lava Man. He's not an important character moving forward. I know he appears in Avengers down the road and he might make a handful of future appearances in Thor. But I'm pretty sure he'll be done as a recurring character as the 70s open up. This book also featured the first appearance of Asgardians Bor, Buri, Ve and Vili. None of them are very important characters. The Frost Giant Ymir also makes his debut here and he's also not very important going forward.
Next Issue: Strange Tales #113
Posted in: Bor,Buri,Jane Foster,Journey Into Mystery,Loki,Molto the Lava Man,Odin,Surtur,Thor,Ve,Vili,Ymir
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