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