Journey Into Mystery #99

Cover Date: December 1963

Plot Overview: Thor heads off to Asgard in front of an astonished crowd. One member of the crowd isn't as impressed and that's Mr. Hyde. He plans to get revenge on Don Blake. Hyde thinks back to when he was Calvin Zabo. He tried to get a job with Blake, and rob him but Blake had heard of him. Zabo vowed revenge. He then researched and discovered the Hyde serum and became Mister Hyde.

Meanwhile, Thor again petitions Odin again to allow him to marry Jane Foster. Odin again denies his pleas because an immortal can not marry a mortal. Thor then asks for Odin to make Jane an immortal. Odin initially denies the idea but changes his mind and says that he would consider it if she proved herself worthy.

A hopeful Thor returns to Blake's office just as Mr. Hyde breaks in. Thor becomes Blake just as Hyde breaks in. Blake goes for his walking stick and Hyde throws him out of the window. Blake manages to tap his stick on the side of the building and once again becomes Thor. Thor returns to the office and finds Hyde gone. He tells Jane that he saved Blake and she thanks him.

The papers report that Blake was saved by Thor and this enrages Mr. Hyde. Hyde robs a bank disguised as Thor and the authorities start planning to capture Thor as the issue comes to an end. The end of the issue promises a face off between Thor and Mister Hyde in issue 100.

In the backup, Odin defeats the Trolls and then Surtur. Surtur's defeat creates the moon and Odin creates the rotation of the Earth to keep Surtur trapped in the core. Surtur sends Odin a winged horse as a gift to try and get released from the core of the Earth as the story comes to a close.

My Take: I enjoyed the Thor story quite a bit. There was no battle but it did a really good job of making you want to see Thor and Mister Hyde duke it out. It's also interesting to note that Marvel hadn't done any 2 part stories in the anthology books and did one in Tales to Astonish #50 and this issue this month. I hope it leads to some bigger stories being told and a greater sense of continuity.

It's interesting to note that Thor has been trying to convince Odin to allow him to marry Jane Foster. It's added some good tension between the two characters. Jane also is returning the feelings of Don Blake and now there's a chance they could be together. Jane will get a chance at some point to prove her worth but who knows if she'll be successful or not.

I usually don't mention much about the Asgard backup but they've been a fun little side story. It's a nice bit of history to read every month and those stories are always interesting. The writing style is also a little different. It's trying to mimic more of a mythology feel and I think it's largely successful at that.

I'm looking forward to the fight between Mister Hyde and Thor. Foes with great strength have been a little more rare as opponents for Thor. I'm hoping for a big huge issue long brawl in #100. It could be one of the better fights that Marvel has had in a book thus far.

The art was surprisingly good in this issue. Don Heck brought his A game this issue and it looked great. Mister Hyde was ugly and sinister looking. You really got a creepy feeling everytime you saw him and that's the perfect way to approach him. Heck can be a little hit and miss on these issues but he really hit the ball out of the park on this one.

I give this ***1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This issue features the first appearance of Mister Hyde. Mister Hyde later becomes a member of the Masters of Evil and plays a big role in one of the more memorable Avengers tales ever told. He's a solid C list villain who's had some big moments in the Marvel Universe. He will continue to be a factor, though minor most of the time, until the current stuff.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #115

Journey Into Mystery #98

Cover Date: November 1963

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

Journey Into Mystery #97

Cover Date: October 1963

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

Journey Into Mystery #96

Cover Date: September 1963

Plot Overview: Thor returns to the office and becomes Dr. Don Blake to start things off. Jane Foster is upset because Blake again disappeared and all of his patients gave up and went home. She thinks that Blake needs to be more responsible while Blake wonders what she would think if she knew he was Thor. There's a brief flashback of Thor saving a bus that had fallen into the river.

We switch scenes as the casket of Merlin has been discovered and brought to New York. Scientists open the casket and leave. Merlin immediately revives as he had used a spell on himself centuries ago. Merlin reflects on his days in Camelot and how his powers came from within himself, not the potions he used. He makes an interesting comment about being a mutant. Extremely interesting since the X-Men make their debut around the same time as this issue. Merlin decides that he will find the ruler in this time and become their adviser as well.

Merlin decides to show off his powers and knocks a rocket off course. Thor springs into action and rights the rocket. Thor suspects Loki to be involved and seeks him out on Asgard. Loki claims innocence and shows Thor that Merlin is the one responsible.

Back on Earth, Merlin entered the White House in search of the President. He passes JFK but assumes he is too young to be the President. Thor confronts Merlin and the battle begins.

Merlin hypnotizes Thor and throws the Washington Monument at him. The spell breaks and Thor rights the Monument with relative ease. Merlin then tries to bury Thor under the Pentagon but Thor escapes as well. Merlin finally tries the Lincoln Memorial but Thor uses his Hammer to defeat that as well. Thor decides to gamble and becomes Don Blake. He claims to be a great magician that can take many forms and threatens to destroy Merlin if he continues. Merlin begs for mercy and Blake has him cast a second spell to go back to sleep.

My Take: This was an okay issue. It was a quick read and had a decent fight. The dialogue was also solid enough. I would classify this issue as mostly average. Nothing great or memorable but it wasn't overtly bad either.

The art was a solid effort yet again but I've said that ever since Joe Sinnott took over the art duties on this book.

Ultimately, nothing of importance happened in this issue. I would call it a total status quo issue. Thor meets a threat and defeats it. This issue was solid, very solid, there's probably just better stuff to read from this time period.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of Merlin. I looked him up and he appears a handful of times over the years.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #112

Journey Into Mystery #95

Cover Date: August 1963

Plot Overview: The issue opens with Thor using his Hammer to create a storm to end a drought on Asgard. He heads back to Earth to take part in a demonstration of an android that Dr. Don Blake has invented. The demonstration is being led by a Professor
Zaxton. The android is an impressive creation but Zaxton accidently twists too many dials and the android is about to explode. Thor saves the day by removing it from the building.

Thor returns to being Don Blake after showing annoyance with Zaxton's screw up. Zaxton is in his office and reveals his invention, a duplicator. He wants to duplicate humans and wants Blake's help. Blake refuses at first but Zaxton has kidnapped Jane Foster to ensure his cooperation.

Blake helps Zaxton and while Zaxton is testing the improved duplicator he becomes Thor. Zaxton sees the transformation and then duplicates Thor with the machine. He also gives Demon Duplicate Thor a second hammer. The battle is on as Thor and his Duplicate battle it out. Zaxton uses the duplicator to give his Duplicate an advantage. Zaxton manages to trap Thor between a bunch of planes and the Duplicate. The Duplicate throws his Hammers but they have no effect on Thor. He realizes that the Duplicate isn't worthy of the Hammer and had nothing to fear from the start.

Thor easily dispatches the Duplicate and goes to capture Zaxton. Zaxton duplicates himself but falls off an overpass and dies. Thor decides that the Duplicate will be able to serve mankind since it will lack the evil of the original. Thor frees Jane Foster and revisits Asgard as the issue comes to a close.

The Ridiculous: The duplicator created duplicates with the opposite personality of whoever was being duplicated. The duplicates were also under the mental control of Professor Zaxton.

My Take: I really enjoyed this issue. It was a very straight forward story and it had a really good pace. Thor and Blake seemed to also be showing some real personality this time around and I found them to actually be fairly interesting as characters this time around. It feels like they're starting to "get" what they can do with the Thor character.

The Thor character is starting to have a bit of a split personality though. In the early issues, he was just Dr. Don Blake. Now, he says things that seem more like Thor. I wouldn't see the earlier Thor taking about how he loved Asgard so much because it was just Blake's personality. I'm kind of interested to see how they go about phasing out Don Blake as the book continues to progress.

I was a little sad to see Professor Zaxton die at the end of the book. He was mostly a generic mad scientist but he felt like an interesting antagonist for Thor. But these things happen.

I really liked the art on this issue. Joe Sinnott really seems like a great fit for the Thor comic. The characters all have a really good level of detail and it just feels like a Thor comic when he's drawing it. I hope he stays on the book for awhile.

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

Notes: Professor Zaxton makes his first and only appearance in this issue.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #111

Journey Into Mystery #94

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

Journey Into Mystery #93

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

Journey Into Mystery #92

Cover Date: May 1963

Plot Overview: The issue starts with Neri approaching Heimdall at the Bifrost. Heimdall stops her in case she may be Loki. Neri points to Loki chained to a tree and Heimdall lets her pass. Loki sulks and promises he'll show everyone why he's the god of evil.

We switch scenes to three gangsters. One has been shot and they storm into Dr. Don Blake's office. They tell him to perform surgery on their boss or they'll shoot him. Blake does as he's told and then tricks them so he can become Thor. Thor ties them to the bed and flings them so they land at the local hospital.

We change scenes to a later date where Thor has agreed to help a movie maker with the special effects for a Thor movie. Thor uses his powers for various scenes and the chained Loki watches with great interest. Thor throws his hammer for the final scene and Loki uses his magic to have the hammer come and break his chains. Thor calls upon Odin who brings him to Asgard. The gods cannot help Thor but they wish him luck on his quest.

Loki sends a pack of trees to attack Thor but he fights them off with a wooden hammer he pieces together. Loki burns the hammer and Thor realizes that magic is at work here. He heads to the Bifrost to check on Loki. Loki conjures a dragon to attack Thor and this time Thor creates a hammer out of stone and defeats the dragon with it. Thor then realizes that the stone is actually uru which his hammer is made of. He throws his new hammer and it falls next to his old hammer. Thor heads back to Earth while Loki is captured to close out the issue.

My Take: I want to start with the art here. It was amazing for this issue. The Journey Into Mystery stuff has tended to look slapped together and generally not very good. This issue looked great and it really felt like they found an art style for the Thor comics. It really made the issue more enjoyable to have good art matched up with it.

The story itself was a little slow. I don't like when these 13 page comics take till page 10 to really get to the point. You have 13 pages to work with and trying to wrap up a plot in the last couple of pages really isn't good pacing. I know I've complained about that before and I will continue to do so as long as they do the 13 page anthology stories.

Despite the pacing, it was an enjoyable enough read. Showing off Thor's powers in the context of a movie was an innovative way to remind readers of what Thor is supposed to be able to do. I also think when Asgard is the central focus that Thor works a lot better as a concept. I'm really hoping this is where they start to focus on Asgard a little more.

Loki was the villain again. Thankfully, he usually provides the better stories so I'll overlook that this is his fourth appearance in ten issues of Thor.

I'll give this **1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This is the first appearance of Neri. She may never reappear in the series for all I know. This issue also marks the first time Thor went to Asgard I believe.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #108

Journey Into Mystery #91

Cover Date: April 1963

Plot Overview: Thor tries to thwart a bank robbery but the bank suddenly disappears. The people inside the bank reappear but can't remember anything that happened. Thor suspects Loki but is informed by Odin that Loki is in Asgard being punished for his last caper on Earth. Loki steals some money to amuse himself.

We take a look into the past as Dr. Don Blake and Jane Foster are at a carnival. They come across a mind reader named Sandu and he predicts that Blake loves a woman with the initials J.F. Blake successfully plays it off and Jane is actually disappointed that he doesn't love her. Loki watches Sandu from Asgard and decides to strengthen Sandu's power 1000 times.

Sandu quickly realizes this and steals one of the audiences wallet. Sandu decides that his powers call for greater feats. Sandu was the one levitating the bank and then teleported it away. He made the customers forget what happened as well.

Sandu steals a palace for himself and visits the U.N. afterwards. He tells the delegates to turn over their countries to him or he'll levitate them into space and kill them. Thor arrives on the scene and saves the delegates. Sandu throws some steel beams at Thor and knocks him out. Sandu chains Thor and then levitates a building onto him.

Thor is too weak to escape and Odin appears and gives him the belt of strength. Thor is stronger than ever and escapes his prison. Loki mentally contacts Sandu and tells him to steal Thor's hammer to defeat him.

Sandu manages to separate Thor from the Hammer and teleports it into another dimension. Sandu becomes arrogant and decides that he should wield Thor's Hammer. Sandu can't lift it so he tries to use his powers. He spends more and more energy until he burns his powers out. Thor hands the now powerless Sandu over to the police.

Odin tells Thor to call upon the belt of strength if he's ever in need as the issue ends.

My Take: Journey Into Mystery has been a fairly rough read for this project. It's really just been lacking in a few areas. It really feels like he's a Superman analogue with some Norse mythology tacked on. The Thor concept is just growing kind of slow and that's frustrating when concepts like Spider-Man and Iron Man take off almost immediately.

With that said, I enjoyed this issue. The Loki issues always seem to be a fairly fun read. I think that's because it's more grounded in Asgard. Asgard makes this comic interesting but when it's just superhero stuff it tends to be boring. Sandu was fairly interesting as a villain. He was generic but he made for a fun antagonist for Thor. He had a wide range of powers and it felt like he was a match for Thor. Most of the villains to this point have been overmatched and usually just find some contrived method to get the Hammer. It was nice seeing someone who had the power to go toe to toe with Thor in his own way.

I didn't like the Jane Foster bit early in the comic. The first 2 issues maybe, they teased her maybe being interested in Don Blake but they had really gone away from that idea. It seemed she only had eyes for Thor and now we're back to the love triangle idea. The silver lining to this is that it added some much needed character development for Blake and Foster.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of Sandu and the Belt of Strength. I've never really been a Thor reader so I can't tell you if either ever really appears again in a Thor comic. I'm guessing the Belt of Strength does and that Sandu probably does not. Sandu really strikes me as one of those early Marvel villains that never get used again.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #107

Journey Into Mystery #90

Cover Date: March 1963

Plot Overview: The Xartans depart to conquer Earth as the issue opens. Meanwhile, Dr. Don Blake struggles over revealing himself to Jane Foster. As he's about to finally reveal himself as Thor, Odin shows up and tells him not to. Blake heads out into the city and finds that people are acting more and more crazy as he walks about. He returns to the office and Jane is also acting crazy. Blake leaves and becomes Thor. He visits the mayor to realize that, he too, is acting different.

Thor thinks back to his younger days and the teachings of Odin. Odin tells him that the simplest answer however impossible is probably the right answer since nothing is impossible. Thor decides that the people must be imposters if they aren't acting themselves.

Thor finds a spaceship but the ship traps him and he drops the hammer. Thor becomes Blake again and he's captured by the aliens. They take him into the ship and the mayor and Jane are inside. Blake agrees to take the aliens to attack Thor if they let him go. The mayor and Jane are outraged as Blake leaves the ship with the aliens. Blake sends the aliens into the brush so he can grab the hammer and once again become Thor.

Thor bests the son of the head Xartan in one on one battle and then easily defeats the head alien. The other Xartans surrender and Thor makes them turn into trees. Thor reveals that the Xartan people take on all the qualities of what they turn into. As trees, they can no longer think and turn themselves back. Thor tells the mayor and Jane to go easy on Blake, he was only helping him get the drop on the aliens. Jane and the mayor are confused by the explanation but ultimately accept it.

My Take: I hated this issue. Lee didn't write it and the artist was new. So the art was bad and the script was really weak. The story was just absolutely ridiculous. I really don't know what to say about this issue. I really didn't like it.

Thor is kind of lagging behind some of the other books. You have the Thor/Blake/Foster love triangle and really nothing else. Being in love with Foster is really the only personality he has as a character.

This title in general is really up and down. When they do Asgard stuff, it's really interesting and stand apart from the other titles out there. When he's more Earth bound, he comes across like a Marvel imitation of Superman. Hopefully they start focusing more on Asgard soon.

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

Notes: This is a rare early Marvel story that Lee didn't write. He's credited with the plot but a different writer is credited with the script.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #106

Journey Into Mystery #89

Cover Date: February 1963

Plot Overview: Thug Thatcher escapes from the police after being arrested for selling faulty steel. During his escape, he is shot in the shoulder. Thatcher's henchmen abduct Don Blake to fix him up. Blake plays along and removes the bullet from Thatcher. With the help of Odin, he becomes Thor and makes short work of Thatcher's men.

Thatcher escapes and uses Jane Foster as a hostage until Thor can rescue her. Thatcher again escapes to a construction site where a faulty girder causes Thatcher to be captured.


My Take: This issue was not very good. The story was coherent but the art was just brutal in spots. It feels like Kirby drew a few panels and then handed it over to someone else for the rest of the issue. The panel with Odin in it is just brutal and looks like a 7 year old drew it. This is where you can see how Lee and Kirby doing everything has an adverse effect on the product. The story didn't feel well thought out and the art was really uneven.

And again we come to Thor's villains. I really hate Thor fighting mobsters and Communists. It's a bad match for the kind of hero he is. You end up with these contrived situations to keep Thor from just running over these guys like he should. That's why he needs super villains. Loki isn't a match for Thor physically but Loki can outsmart Thor in most situations. That's better than the constant hostage taking that puts Thor on the shelf briefly.

Also this issue is the second time where Blake has changed to Thor in front of people and none of the bad guys have really caught on that maybe Blake and Thor are the same guy. Thatcher noticed a bond between the two but that's as close as it's come.

Anyways, I really disliked this issue. The story wasn't interesting or fun. The art was average to bad. We're also like 7 issues into this series and the character development just isn't happening. I'm not really enjoying the Thor book too much at this point.

I'll give this * out of *****

Notes: There was nothing of note for this issue.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #105

Journey Into Mystery #88

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Loki wanders Asgard planning his revenge on Thor. Loki spies on Thor from afar and learns his secret identity of Don Blake. Loki sneaks to Earth and puts Jane Foster under a spell and then challenges Thor to a battle. They meet in Center Park to do battle. Thor throws his Hammer and just then Jane Foster arrives. Loki turns a tree into a tiger and Thor is forced to battle the tiger instead of grabbing the Hammer.

Loki puts a force field around the Hammer and Thor reverts back to Don Blake. Loki declares his victory and then wanders the world playing various pranks. He turns people blank and also turns a city into candy. Meanwhile, Don Blake devises a plan to get his Hammer back.

The newspapers declare that Thor vows to defeat Loki so Loki goes to check up on the Hammer. When he arrives, Thor is waiting for him. Loki drops the barrier and suddenly Blake grabs the Hammer. He reveals that it was just a dummy that he was hiding behind. Blake becomes Thor and Loki turns into a pigeon to try and escape. Thor grabs a bags of peanuts because if there's one thing pigeons love it's peanuts! Loki reveals himself and Thor captures him. Thor returns Loki to Asgard and Odin hopes that Loki never surpasses Thor in power as the issue ends.

My Take: This was a quick little read. I thought the overall concept was better than Loki's original appearance. You got to see him as more of a trickster and I feel like he outsmarted Thor in a more plausible way this time. The sad part is, I think Loki is now a more developed character than Thor is. Thor to me is still a bland one dimensional character.

I really liked the art to this issue. It seemed really colorful compared to some of the other books around it. There also seemed to be a ton of detail added to the backgrounds. Asgard is really a nice addition art wise as it's an excuse to add as much color as possible to the book. Asgard also really sets this book apart from the other Marvel titles.

I have to complain again though, the splash page is a real waste. This was a 13 page story and yet again an entire page was wasted on a splash teaser for the other 12 pages. I really wish they would make that page part of the story or just start with a standard page. I want more story.

I did enjoy this story a lot. I've said it a lot lately but it remains true. This wasn't an all-time classic or a game changer in anyway. It was just a fun little read that filled 10 minutes of my life. I enjoyed it for the fun little adventure that it was. Stan Lee really seems to be getting the pacing down for this shorter anthology stories at this point.

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

Notes: There wasn't anything too notable in this issue.

Next Issue: Incredible Hulk #5

Journey Into Mystery #87

Cover Date: December 1962

Plot Overview: Several American scientists have shocked the world by defecting to the Communist side of the world. Dr. Don Blake reads about this in the newspaper and devises a plan. He approaches the U.S. government and proposes that he pretend to do a special project to lure the Communists out.
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Shortly a photographer arrives for Blake and uses a gas to hypnotize him. They take Blake to Russia where he meets the other scientists. They were all hypnotized and woke up here. Blake becomes Thor and works on escaping. Thor springs a trap and has to fight off man eating sharks.

The Russians blackmail Thor into surrendering and leave him tied up and without his hammer. Thor becomes Blake and easily escapes the now loose chains. He once again becomes Thor and frees the scientists. Thor then calls on a great storm to destroy the Communist base.

The issue ends with Jane talking about how dreamy Thor is and Blake secretly pining away for her.

My Take: This issue was a really quick read. The art was really good and the story had a nice crisp pace to it. I had fun with the issue as it felt like a lot happened in just 10 pages.

The splash teaser page is still bothering me though. This was a 10 page book and a page of that was lost to teasing the rest of the story. That really just burns me. You could add a whole page of character development or action instead.

Overall this was another one of those fun yet forgettable 10 pagers from an anthology title.

I'd give this ** out of *****

Notes: Nothing of note happened in this issue.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #103

Journey Into Mystery #86

Cover Date: November 1962

Plot Overview: The future was become a peaceful place except for one man. He is a scientist named Zarrko. He's built a time machine and heads back to the past to find a destructive weapon to conquer the future with. Meanwhile in 1962, Thor is helping the U.S. military test a new weapon called a cobalt bomb. Zarrko appears, grabs the bomb and heads back to the future.

Thor calls upon Odin for help. Odin instructs Thor to tape a piece of Zarrko's time machine to the hammer and swing it really hard and he'll appear in the future. Thor makes his way to the future and learns that Zarrko has become a dictator in the future. Zarrko spies his arrival and sends his security to apprehend Thor. Thor makes short work of the guards and makes his way to Zarrko. Zarrko springs a trap but Thor reveals that it was an imposter Thor that came in first.

Zarrko fails to send Thor to another dimension and then sends an army of robots after him. The robots grab the Hammer and it's a race against time. Thor pulls out a water pipe and floods the room to disable the robots. Thor regains the Hammer as Zarrko makes his escape in a ship. Thor summons up a great storm and Zarrko loses control of the ship.

Thor grabs the bombs as Zarrko's ship crashes. The authorities arrive and Zarrko has lost his memory. The doctors mention that he'll never regain his memories. Thor returns to the present and hands the bomb over to the U.S. military. The issue ends with Jane Foster wishing Blake wasn't so boring and Blake comments that some people read about the news while others make it.

My Take: I'm going to shake things up a bit here and go with the bad stuff first. For starters I hate when these 13 page titles have a splash preview page. I understand why they do it but a page is valuable real estate in an anthology feature. Some of these stories feel really rushed and a page would help to flesh it out more.

The story of this issue was really annoying too. Zarrko is a scientist in the future, he can build a time machine and he needs to go 300 years into the past to get a weapon? Really? He can't build his own bomb and take over the future? That is a picture perfect example of the ridiculous stories that would pop up in Silver Age titles like this.

Speaking of that. This issue really shows the dichotomy that Marvel is at this point in their history. On one hand you have groundbreaking things going on like all of the character development in the Fantastic Four and a teenage hero in Spider-Man. On the other hand you have books with ridiculous plots like this one and the whole Tales To Astonish Ant-Man stuff. In fairness to Marvel, they've been doing superheroes for exactly a year at this point. It's understandable that they haven't quite found their voice yet.

Onto the positives of this issue. It was a quick read and it was a fun read despite the plot holes. Keeping Asgard as a constant for Thor is a real positive too as it distinguishes the book from everyone else. This issue showed that Thor isn't just a dumb ox, he can be clever and strategic when he wants to be. I feel they really developed the Thor side of the equation this time. Hopefully he starts acting more like an Asgardian soon and drops Don Blake's personality being in control as Thor.

I'd give this issue ** out of *****

Notes: This issue is the first appearance of Zarrko. Zarrko pops up from time to time to bother Thor and sometimes the Fantastic Four. I would qualify him as a C list villain in the Marvel Universe though.

Next Issue: Incredible Hulk #4

Journey Into Mystery #85

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

Journey Into Mystery #84

Cover Date: September 1962

Plot Overview: We start off with a recap of the last issue. The Kronans actually appear red in this issue instead of the greenish yellow they actually were. We come to present day as Dr. Don Blake and his nurse Jane Foster are making rounds. Blake is in love with Foster but dares not tell her due to his disability. Foster is also in love with Blake but feels he is not interested due to how he acts. They hear from a newspaper boy that revolution has broken out in a country called San Diablo.

A few weeks later Blake and Foster volunteer to take a trip to San Diablo for a medical relief visit. The ruler of San Diablo is the Executioner and he doesn't want the doctors arriving because he wants the citizens to stay sick and weak. The Executioner's army tries to stop the doctors numerous times but Blake manages to change into Thor and fight them off.

During one encounter they manage to capture Jane and Thor is forced to retreat. He becomes Blake again and turns himself over to the Executioner. The Executioner has become smitten with Jane and says he'll let Blake live if she marries him. Blake mouths off to the Executioner and then uses his cane to change into Thor.

Thor uses the Hammer to grab a tent and then wrap up most of the army with it. Then Thor makes a local volcano erupt and the military gives up. The Executioner tries to flee but is gunned down by his own people. Afterwards Blake explains his disappearance by climbing he fled to safety. The issue ends with Jane wishing that Blake was as brave as Thor.

My Take: This was a very old school comic. The superhero taking out the dictator of a small Communist country was a very cliche Silver Age storyline. I don't really know what to say about this issue honestly. The art was good and the story wasn't bad.

It just wasn't that interesting to me. I don't care for the small country dictator villain and seeing the superhero beat up on an army. I prefer super-villains or mobsters as my antagonists.

As I said, the issue wasn't bad. It just hit on a situation that doesn't interest me that much. It was still a solid effort from Marvel. There was some character development for Don Blake and Jane is decently developed.

I'd give this ** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of Jane Foster. She's still around the Marvel Universe today. The Executioner is not the same as the Executioner that hangs out with the Enchantress. Thor is still talking as Dr. Blake and it's still referred to as the Hammer of Thor.

The love situation between Blake and Foster is also a pretty popular plot device in the early days of Marvel. You'll see the same storyline pop up in the Incredible Hulk and later with Daredevil. The Fantastic Four has a similar situation going on with Namor and Sue Storm too.

Next Issue: Incredible Hulk #3

Journey Into Mystery #83

Cover Date: August 1962

Plot Overview: The Stone Men from Saturn land on Earth. They demonstrate their great power and superior technology and plot to take over the planet. A local fisherman spots them and reports this back at town. Dr. Don Blake overhears this story and decides to investigate for himself.

The next day he comes across the Stone Men and takes refuge in a cave. Blake discovers another exit but a large boulder is blocking it. He finds a secret room holding an ancient cane. He tries to use the cane to move the boulder but has no luck. In a moment of anger he strikes the boulder with the cane.

Suddenly he becomes the Mighty Thor. He escapes the cave and reviews the powers of Thor and what he can do with his Hammer. He discovers that if he stops holding the hammer he once again becomes Dr. Don Blake.

Meanwhile the U.S. military make a failed attempt at fighting the Stone Men from Saturn. Thor arrives shortly afterwards and overpowers the Stone Men. They trap Thor in a cage but he easily breaks out of it. As a last resort the Stone Men call upon a robot to attack Thor. Thor smashes it with his Hammer and the Stone Men retreat from Earth. Thor becomes Dr. Don Blake and escapes the scene.

My Take: It was nice to see a book with a battle in it. I've been waiting for two issues to see the Hulk fight something. The art for this issue was great. As far as Marvel books at the time go this one probably looks the best.

Thor is really weird at this point. He's very mired in the conventions of how superheroes worked at the time. He has to have weaknesses and a secret identity and it really doesn't work for the character. This issue also read like a manual on Thor and his powers and that was a mixed bag. You come out of the issue with a good idea of what he can do but at the same time it was a little boring. Dr. Don Blake is also fairly bland as a character.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of Thor. The concept of Thor takes some time to evolve. Right now, when Blake is Thor he still talks like Blake. Eventually Thor will develop his accent but it takes a few issues. Thor of course has a secret identity as Dr. Don Blake. He has the weakness that he'll change back to Blake if he's away from the Hammer for too long. Another interesting point. Mjolnir is just called the Hammer of Thor in this issue. It'll be interesting to see when it becomes known as Mjolnir.

Thor becomes the main feature for Journey Into Mystery from this point on. He doesn't take up the whole issue so his stories are only 12 or 13 pages at this point. Journey Into Mystery will become the Mighty Thor with issue #126.

The Stone Men of Saturn made their first appearance here. They eventually become known as the Kronans. They won't ever be a big part of the Marvel Universe. Korg from Planet Hulk and World War Hulk is probably the most famous Kronan character.

Next Issue: Amazing Fantasy #15