12:01 PM
Brad
Plot Overview: Thor trashes the office of Don Blake out of rage over his situation with Jane Foster as the issue opens. Odin calls Thor to Asgard and advises that Thor forget the mortal Jane Foster and Thor says that is not possible. Blake decides to travel to distant lands after his visit to Asgard.
Meanwhile in India, a Professor Shecktor and his assistant Klaus Voorhees are working on a cure for all snake bites. Klaus decides he wants the credit for the discovery. He devises a plan where he'll allow a cobra to bite both of them and then use the cure on only himself.
Blake happens to choose India and overhears the locals discussing the fact that his old teacher Professor Shecktor is dying from a snake bite. Blake becomes Thor and finds the dying Professor. The Professor tells him what happens and warns that the cobra was radioactive. His assistant now has the powers of a cobra and is now a threat to the world. Thor leaves the Professor vowing to destroy the Cobra.
Back in New York, the Cobra attacks a chemical lab so that he can create more creatures like himself. Thor arrives on the scene and the Cobra has some gadgets that he uses on Thor. Thor dodges the poison tip darts and the poison gas has little effect but the Cobra traps him with an unbreakable line. Thor drops the Hammer and tricks the Cobra into throwing him out the window before he turns in Blake. The much smaller Blake escapes the rope and enters the building as the Cobra exits to find Thor. Blake once again becomes Thor and confronts the Cobra. The Cobra opens a valve and unleashes a chemical and uses the confusion to escape Thor.
The Cobra breaks into the office of Dr. Andrews' and his new assistant Jane Foster. The Cobra threatens to kill them unless they hand over the chemicals he wants. Andrews complies and Jane realizes what a coward he is. She sees Thor flying by and throws a beaker through the window to draw his attention. Thor enters the office and the Cobra takes Jane hostage. He'll hurt Jane unless Thor lets him escape.
Thor allows the Cobra to escape and sneaks around the building. He catches the Cobra by surprise and manages to save Jane. The Cobra escapes and Thor says that he'll deal with the Cobra in the future. Jane decides to leave Dr. Andrews and asks Don Blake for her job back. Blake thinks that maybe Odin took pity on him and brought her back to him. The issue closes with the Cobra recovering on the shore of a river.
The back up tale details how Odin defeated Ymir and the Frost Giants.
My Take: This issue really was a ridiculous mess. A radioactive cobra bite? Really? I know Marvel used radiation a lot in the 60s because that was popular in sci-fi at the time but this one really takes the cake. First of all, this was a rip off of Spider-Man's origin. And second, the guy didn't even really show cobra powers. He said he had the cunning of a cobra with the smarts of a human being. The rest of his "powers" were devices that he created that imitated snake powers.
This issue was a tough read. The writing seemed really clunky compared to some of the other books that came out in this time frame. The idea behind the Cobra was really ridiculous and I found it hard to understand why Thor would struggle with such a C lister. Seriously, a battle between the Cobra and Thor should be over pretty quickly. The Cobra was notable for dodging the Hammer but that doesn't seem like the biggest deal. Thor has powers beyond that.
This issue really felt like those early issues of Fantastic Four. Just super clunky reads where it feels like you're crawling through mountains of text to explain the situations going on in the book. It felt like it took forever to read this book and that's a bad thing when you're reading a 13 page story.
I did like the character growth of Jane Foster in this issue. She realized that Don Blake has flaws and may not be perfect but deep down he has a certain fortitude that maybe she was taking for granted. In that regard, I will be interested to see how that effects future issues of Journey Into Mystery in regards to her character.
The artists on Thor has been a revolving door lately. Don Heck took up the duties for this issue and it was okay. I liked the Kirby and Sinnott more than Heck as their styles seemed to fit the book a lot better. Heck didn't do a bad job here though.
I give this *1/2 out of *****.
Notes: This issue features the first appearance of the Cobra. He eventually joins the Serpent Society and becomes a foe for the Avengers. He's a minor villain throughout the 60s and into the 70s.
Next Issue: Strange Tales #114
Posted in: Cobra,Jane Foster,Journey Into Mystery,Odin,Thor,Ymir
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