Thor - The Legend Years: Part 2

LAST TIME, WE LEFT THOR standing amid the ruins of deserted mansion, having defeated Mr Hyde and The Cobra, holding the stricken form of Jane Foster in his arms. Jane would recover, of course, but we wouldn't be party to that in the very next issue of Journey into Mystery.

Journey into Mystery 112 (Jan 1965) featured the "untold" story of Thor's epic battle with The Hulk during the earliest days of The Avengers.

Strangely, Thor's next outing in the title would be a kind of filler issue which gave us a flashback to the events of Avengers 3 (Jan 1964), a year earlier, in which Thor and his teammates battled former Avenger The Hulk and his new chum, The Sub-Mariner.

Quite why Stan and Jack chose to run this flashback at this particular time is lost in the mists of history. But in retrospect, I've wondered if it didn't start with Stan saying, "Hey, let's have Thor fight The Hulk in the next issue of Journey." Then Jack came up with the resulting 13 pages of carnage - and three page framing sequence - on his own. I can't help thinking that if this were Stan's work, there would be more storytelling, a reference to Jane's health and some glimpse of Thor's life as Dr Don Blake. But, no ... what we get is a brawl, full of sound and fury (and not a little rage) that goes, well, nowhere, really. It's great fun, but doesn't advance the saga of Thor one bit.

Stan and Jack use an argument between the Thor and Hulk fan clubs to frame a flashback to the time of Avengers 3 and an "untold" battle between the Thunder God and the Big Angry Green Guy.

But what it does do is mark the beginning of a transition in the Thor strip. For me, this and the next couple of issue denote a watermark, where I see Stan stepping back a bit from involvement in the overall direction and plotting of the Thor feature and the hand of Jack Kirby being more evident.

For me, this issue marks the end of Thor as a super-hero series, pitting the two strongest Marvel characters agains each other. Journey into Mystery 113 would see the start of more Asgardian characters showing up in the storylines at least for the next twenty or so issues.

With that in mind, it's easy to see now, in retrospect, that Journey into Mystery 112 does have the feel of a filler issue. Lots of big, impactful panels means less drawing for Jack, perhaps buying him time while he pondered where to take the storyline next. Not that he'd need it ... for in the very next issue, we get a lot more Asgard, without treading on the toes of the "Tales of Asgard" series ...

At first glance, Journey into Mystery 113 (Feb 1965) probably looked a lot like the superhero Thor tales that came before - the cover certainly pitches it that way - but as you get into the story, you realise there's a lot more mythology going on here than previously.

Journey into Mystery 113 sports a fairly standard superhero cover, yet more than a third of the 16 page lead story is devoted to action and machinations in Asgard ... yet not even mentioned in Stan's cover lines.

The story opens with a spectacular action prologue, where Kirby really pulls out all the stops to immerse us in Asgardian mythic action. It's not clear who the Demon Men of Jotunheim (whom the Asgardians are fighting) are, but it doesn't really matter too much. All we need to know is that Thor acquits himself admirably in the eyes of his father, which make his almost instant fall from grace more of a surprise.

Battle action in Asgard: Odin and his warriors attack the Demon Men of Jotunheim (whoever they are) and bust a few heads. Not quite sure about Thor's cry of "For Asgard and freedom", as it appears the Asgardians are the aggressors here ...

Doggedly, Thor returns to Midgard, determined to reveal his true identity to the object of his affections, Jane Foster. It was always a bit of a mystery to me - I would have first read this comic when I was almost 11 years old - why Don Blake would give up being Thor for a girl. Not even a cool girl, but a complete wimp like Jane Foster. I don't know whether it was Stan or Jack who bears responsibility for the way Jane is portrayed and that Thor is so drawn to her. In retrospect, it seems more in keeping with 1950s sensibilities than those of the 1960s. Perhaps the intention was to deliberately make Jane unheroic and "normal" to create a greater contrast between her and Thor. Or perhaps it was the last glimmerings of Don Blake's personality that caused the attraction. Or maybe Jack (or Stan) just got it wrong. Whatever the cause, we'd see an effort to tie up that storyline over the next year or so.

"No really ... I'm Thor. Look, I'll show you ... wait, what? My hammer doesn't work!"

So Thor tries to show Jane that he and Don Blake are one and the same, but Odin - a bit cross - has removed Thor's power and he's stuck in his Don Blake persona. This is the point where The Grey Gargoyle crashes through the window of his surgery. And for the next few pages, a powerless Blake tries to protect himself and Jane Foster from the seemingly unstoppable villain ... which is a bit of a flashback to Journey into Mystery 107 (Aug 1964), where Thor was also forced to battle the Gargoyle in his Don Blake identity.

But Blake has friends in Asgard, and a mysterious helper is watching over Blake and Jane Foster. Odin isn't quite as hard-hearted as we're led to believe, and has despatched an Asgardian warrior, Honir the Hunter, to help Blake in his near-hopeless battle against his super-powered foe.

Just when things look darkest, help arrives in the form of an Asgardian warrior, Honir, who restores Thor's power long enough to deal with the pesky Grey Gargoyle.

It all ends with Don Blake thinking that it may be rash of him to give up his Thor identity for the love of a mortal ... though he'd continue to waver over the next several issues.

Journey into Mystery 114 introduced a terrific new villain, The Absorbing Man. A career criminal, Crusher Creel is all powered up by Loki solely for the purpose of defeating Thor.

Journey into Mystery 114 (Mar 1965) has Loki once again coming up with a plot to defeat his hated adopted brother. This time, though he uses his Asgardian magic to give a sociopathic mortal - the criminal Crusher Creel - the ability to absorb the characteristics of anything he comes into contact with, including living beings.

The issue opens with a slam-bang action sequence that ladles on the excitement. An "enemy agent" is escaping at high speed in a modified racing car pursued by Thor. Quite why Thor - a Norwegian god - would care about an enemy agent escaping from American authorities with some artefact that isn't explained or identified is a bit of a mystery, in retrospect.

Who is the "enemy agent"? Why is he fleeing from Thor? Where did he get the racing car from? Who gave him a high tech blaster to threaten Thor with? Does it really matter?

It does however, serve to lead into yet another failed attempt to ruin Thor's day by Loki, self-styled god of mischief. And no sooner has Loki applied the power pill to Creel's water glass, than we switch to Dr Don Blake's surgery where an injured reporter is promising to let the doctor know when he locates the recently escaped super-convict. Though, again, it's not explained why the reporter thinks Blake would be interested.

"Button nose"? Really? Even as a ten-year old I thought this was pretty mushy stuff. I was counting the days till we saw the back of Blake's nauseating infatuation with the wimpy nurse.

Nevertheless, that snippet of information is enough to get Doctor Don to transform into Thor and nose around in the Black Mountain Swamp area, looking for the super-powered crim.

Show rather than tell - Jack Kirby's storytelling skills quickly allow us to see the full extent of Creel's abilities and that the pesky reporter just gets in the way.

Then just when we think this is a standard, Thor-battles-another-super-strong-villain yarn ... it all takes a sharp left turn to Asgard, where the wily Loki has kidnapped Jane Foster (again) and brought her to the realm of the Norse gods. So Thor takes off to rescue Jane, leaving The Absorbing Man thinking he's beaten Thor.

Just as Thor is realising that The Absorbing Man can match his power, Balder arrives with a message that Jane Foster has been carried away to Asgard by crafty Loki ... and there will be much rueing of the day ...

All of this sets us up for a longer storyline, with more mythology and a little less superheroics, as the action shifts away from Midgard and things get out of hand in Asgard. But first, Thor has to deal with Crusher Creel ...

Not the best cover of the run, and I do wonder that if there'd been more time in the schedule whether Stan would have asked this one to be reworked.

Journey into Mystery 115 (Apr 1965) opens as Thor arrives in Asgard to confront Loki and rescue Jane Foster. Unusually, Loki actually takes on Thor in a physical fight. Not known for his courage, this is an out-of character move for the God of Mischief. Though the outcome is never in doubt, the battle is interrupted by Odin, who puts a stop to the fighting in his own omnipotent way ... though for an omnipotent being, he's a bit easily taken in by Loki's clumsy lies.

I would imagine that the physical fight between Thor and Loki is something Jack would have put in to add a bit of action to the story, but for me it doesn't sit well with the cowardly, sneaky persona Stan had built up for Loki over the previous couple of years.

All of this results in Odin ordering the "Trial of the Gods". Whatever that is, it completely blew my tiny 11-year-old mind. Who knew that gods could be put on trial? But before that happens, Thor is granted permission to return Jane Foster to Midgard, and to settle up with Crusher Creel, The Absorbing Man.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the rather unpleasant Crusher Creel has staged a home invasion, and is currently terrorising a defenceless suburban couple. Fortunately, Thor and the reporter Harris Hobbs arrive just in time to save the hapless husband from being crushed by Crusher.

This home invasion scene is a little brutal for a kids' comic. Again, this feels like something Kirby would have added, and indicates that he's putting a bit more into the story development at this point.

A mighty battle ensures, in which Creel absorbs an escalating variety forms - iron, fire and, penultimately, "every element from the earth beneath". But Thor has a sneaky trick up his sleeve (I know he doesn't have a sleeve). Using some hitherto unmentioned power of his hammer, he converts Crusher Creel into helium and watches as the villain floats away ... indeed, a tonitrua deus ex machina (look it up).

The ending is a bit convenient. It's never been mentioned before that Thor has the power to transmute elements, and I suspect the ending would have been different if Stan had been plotting this.

All that remains is for Thor to swing his hammer majestically, check up on the still-unconscious Jane Foster, then hie to Asgard where Odin, Loki and the Trial of the Gods awaits.

After seeing Thor battle "the Reds", Mr Hyde and The Cobra and The Lava Man, this version of Thor was strange and oddly disturbing.

I don't think Journey into Mystery 116 (May 1965) was the first Thor book I bought as a kid, but it's the one I have the strongest memories of. I'm fairly sure I came to it without having seen the issues immediately preceding it, because I can remember being a bit confused by the story, and thought the environment Thor found himself in was completely alien to the other Thor stories I'd read.

The premise is that Loki has kidnapped Jane Foster and brought her to Asgard then, when found out, blames it on Thor. Odin, for his part should be a bit more sympathetic to his son, but strangely isn't.

Bong! Let the Trial of the Gods begin. Though, in reality, all this could have been avoided if Odin has just listened to his decent son and not to his scallywag son ... but you know parents.

Instead, he insists the two foes undergo a trial by combat (not a trial in courtroom, as I had surmised from the cover), and dispatches the pair, weaponless, to the hostile land of Skornheim. From there, they'll have to fight there way home using only their natural strengths and wits.

Except that Loki is a cheating little sh*t and has brought some magic gems to rig the trial in his favour, and uses them to show Thor being menaced by The Enchantress and The Executioner (again!).

Fortunately, Thor's friend Balder the Brave, gets wind of Loki's little scheme and interrupt's Odin's yearly bath to inform him of this rotten ruse to sway the outcome of the Trial. Clad in his bathrobe and fluffy slippers, Odin confirms Balder's story, and despatches him to head off The Enchantress and The Executioner at the pass.

Back on Earth, Jane Foster is being dragged off by two Asgardian allies of Loki. Strangely, the passersby in the street rush to Jane's aid, which is strangely out of character for Kirby's Kast of Kharacters, who usually think unearthly happenings are either publicity stunts or none of their business.

Meanwhile, a member of Rick Jones' Teen Brigade has also spotted to two Asgardian villains menacing Jane Foster and desperately radios around, trying to enlist the aid of some other superheroes, but to no avail. I'm not really sure what the point of this sequence is as it doesn't add much, other than to showcase cameo appearances of some of the other Marvel characters, perhaps by way of product placement.

Finally, Balder arrives to help Jane Foster, but will he prevail aganst the two villains? And at the very end of the Trial, Thor struggles to catch the cheating Loki. (Apologies for the poor scans, but Colletta's scratchy inking doesn't reproduce well in these collected editions.)

We leave the story with Thor in Skornheim, trying and failing to catch up with Loki, and Balder preparing to intercept The Enchantress and her cloddish companion. Strangely, The Executioner makes no mention of having been turned into a tree by The Enchantress back in Journey into Mystery 103. Other than that, things aren't looking too good.

This issue marks quite a few changes in the path of the Thor strip. First, 12 of the 16 pages are set in Asgard, or adjacent realms, with just four page of Earthly action. Though this was far from a smooth or even transition, it would continue as (I'm assuming) Kirby began to distance Thor from his ties to Midgard.

The next change was that we lose the smooth inking of Chic Stone and instead are inexplicably lumbered with the spidery penmanship of Vince Colletta, an inker whose work I never liked. Reading later accounts of the period, I gather that Colletta ran an inking shop and always guaranteed to do the cheapest work for publishers ... which explains a lot. Notorious for erasing pencil art he couldn't be bothered to ink, Colletta always managed to make the worst of any penciller he was inking.

And finally, here is where the Thor strip begins to turn away from Earth-bound adventures and, by setting the action in strange and wondrous locations, emphasises to idea that Thor is a god, not a superhero. And aside from the unfamiliar terrain the stories are set in, the other thing that disturbed me a little when I was a kid was the stern and cold demeanour of Odin towards his supposedly favourite son. Maybe that was deliberate, as it definitely made me empathise with Thor's plight. Because what kid hasn't felt fear and frustration over not being believed by a parent? All in all, and unsettling but compelling read for an eleven year old.

The episode in Journey into Mystery 117 is a brief diversion from the main plotline, in which Thor becomes involved with a hapless family, victims of the war in Vietnam.

Then, after all the breathless action in issue 116, Journey into Mystery 117 (Jun 1965) is a bit of a pause in the story. Stan and Jack use it to clean up the loose ends from The Trial of the Gods, which takes up about seven pages. 

To cover up that he'd cheated in the Trial of the Gods, Loki sends the Norn Stones to Midgard where "Thor will never find them." Meanwhile, just by showing up, Balder spooks The Enchantress and The Executioner into abandoning their attempt to kidnap Jane Foster. 

The remaining nine pages are taken up with Thor travelling to Earth where Loki has concealed the Norn Stones. His quest takes him to South-East Asia and there follows the nearest thing Stan gets, so far, to criticising the war in Vietnam, with a subplot about a family torn apart when the eldest son joins the Communist cause.

Thor quickly tracks the hidden Norn Stones to Vietnam and is befriended by a South Vietnamese family, which results in tragedy and death. 

For the most part, Marvel in the Silver Age mostly avoided commenting on the touchy political topics of the day, and Vietnam was an especially hot potato. Stan finally addressed the matter of political commentary a couple of years after JiM 117, in the first few Bullpen Bulletins - April and October 1967. I've already covered those editorials in an earlier instalment, so I won't rehash them here, except to say that though Stan first protests that Marvel is simply here to entertain, he'd get a bit more serious in the later bulletin, asking readers if they thought Marvel should take a stance on contemporary political issues. But the question went mostly unanswered, until incoming younger scripters like Denny O'Neil, Steve Gerber and Steve Englehart were able to make their own views on The Issues of the Day plain in the stories they were writing.

So impressive as a villain is The Destroyer that he was chosen as the antagonist for the first Thor movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Journey into Mystery 118 (Jul 1965) introduced a new and terrifying foe for the God of Thunder. There was a hero of that name during the Golden Age, appearing in All-Winner Comics 2 (Oct 1941) and cropping up in various Timely comics until the end of WWII. Thor's version of the character would be comparatively underused, appearing in Thor Annual 2 (1966), Thor 151 (Apr 1968), controlled by Sif, and Thor 228 (Oct 1974), where he becomes the herald of Galactus to free Firelord. The name would be adopted by Jim Starlin for his version of The Destroyer, Drax, in Iron Man 55 (Feb 1973).

From the opening encounter with a US Army helicopter, Thor manages a couple of lines of dialogue before he lands and encounters the hunter. So, still in Vietnam, then.

After his run-in with the Viet Cong in the jungles of Vietnam, Thor is about to leave the area, when he decides to stop and check that the Norn Stones are safe. This is a poor decision because a "renegade hunter" happens to be nearby and figuring Thor might be worth something on the open market, tranquilises our hero with knock-out gas. Guided by Loki, the hunter is compelled to have his bearers tie up Thor with a few ropes and then, following an irresistible urge, he sets off to find a nearby temple. Loki causes the temple to be revealed and the hunter enters to find a weapon, The Destroyer, concealed there eons before by Odin. The hunter's life essence is absorbed by the Destroyer, activating the metal monster. Meanwhile, Thor revives and snaps his bonds like so much spaghetti. He follows the hunter to The Temple of Darkness and finds the paralysed mortal body of the hunter. Without warning, The Destroyer attacks and Loki, watching from afar, realises he may have made a mistake. Fearing that Thor will be killed rather than just humiliated, he rushes to confess to Odin before too much damage is done. But Odin sleeps the Odin-sleep and cannot be awakened for fear he will forfeit his immortality. A ranting Loki is locked up by Odin's guards and the end seems inevitable for Thor, as his hammer is damaged and, trapped by The Destroyer, he's helpless to escape the creature's "elemental destructive" bolts.

So here's an epic villain fail ... tie one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe to a bamboo bed. With ropes. And how is it with all the clamour in the doorway of his bedroom, Odin sleeps right through it?

Now, because we're seeing a much greater emphasis on the Asgardian side of Thor's life by this point in the series, I'm presuming this is around the time in which Jack Kirby is pretty much plotting the strip and handing the pencil art to Stan for dialoguing. I'm fairly confident about that because the plotting is pretty terrible.

Bear with me ...

So, conveniently, there's a hunter (with a full entourage of bearers), of questionable moral character, hunting, for goodness sake, in the jungles of Vietnam while the war rages around him. He knocks out Thor with some gas and ties his captive up with rope. A hunter, who knows who Thor is, who has presumably hunted elephants and maybe rhinos, and he thinks a few ropes will hold Thor. The bit about finding the Temple I can swallow, as Loki's doubtless guiding him, but my main problem with this is that Odin hid a supremely destructive weapon, still active it would seem, on Earth. Where any dodgy character could find it. And then, in the mother of all coincidences, Odin is asleep and can't be disturbed.

Thor trapped, his hammer sliced in half and deadly bolts of elemental destruction creeping steadily towards him. Now that's a cliffhanger ending.

Don't get me wrong ... I still love these stories. And The Destroyer is one of the greatest of Thor's adversaries. But my problem with the plotting here is exactly the same as I would have with Kirby's later Fourth World books for DC. Tons of great ideas, not very well thought through, not played out to any kind of logical conclusion, and all driven by coincidence and deus ex machina. It's left to Stan to paper over the cracks with his dialogue. Which almost - but not quite - works.

Not the best cover of the run - made up of art lifted from interior panels, the chances are the lack of an actual cover from Jack Kirby was some sort of deadline crunch.

Fortunately, the following issue wrapped up the tale in a style that relied a little less of forced plot machinations. In Journey into Mystery 119 (Aug 1965), even though Loki contrives to have the Norn Queen awaken Odin from his sleep, and though Odin is prepared to step in to aid Thor, The Thunder God prefers to defeat The Destroyer himself. By using the hunter's mortal form as a shield, he's able to force the hunter's life essence back to his own body and The Destroyer once again becomes immobile.

Even though Odin offers to shut down The Destroyer Thor, in true hero style, prefers to get himself out of the mess and initiates his human shield plan.

I'm not entirely convinced by Thor's ploy of trusting that The Destroyer wouldn't destroy his human shell. After all, if he controls The Destroyer, why would he ever return to his vulnerable original form? But Stan literally doubles down on it by having The Destroyer say that Thor is pledged never to take a mortal life (panel 1, page 8) and have the hunter repeat it as thought it's a new thought in panel 4 on page 10.

Loki's punishment is to be indentured to Odin's imperial warlock ("a wizard," Stan footnotes helpfully), and Thor is left with a wonky hammer. He'd have to repair it next issue, in a scene that may have inspired the creation of Stormbreaker in Avengers: Infinity War.

Sometimes I really do wonder just how smart Odin is. Locking Loki up in a sorcerer's workshop doesn't seem to me to be the best way of keeping a cunning master of magic like him out of trouble.

All-in-all, an improvement from the previous issue ... except for that cover. Obviously hastily cobbled together by the production department, it's pretty disappointing. And knowing that Jack Kirby wasn't one to miss a deadline, I had a little trawl around to see if I could spot a reason for this.

 Here's the panels from the story used by the Marvel production department to create the cover for Journey into Mystery 119 ... the real mystery id why this was necessary.

I noticed that Kirby was only supplying layouts for August's Captain America story in Tales of Suspense 68. And beginning in the following month's Tales to Astonish 70, he would again only be supplying layouts for the Hulk story. It didn't take me long to notice that both Journey into Mystery Annual 1 (Sep 1965) and Fantastic Four Annual 3 (Oct 1965) were cantering up in the schedules (due on sale in the July), and with an extra 40 pages to pencil, Jack was probably a little squeezed for time. And all of that might explain why Stan didn't have time to fix the questionable plotting in Journey into Mystery 118 ... because we know that Editor Stan Lee wouldn't hesitate to have Jack redraw something if it didn't fit Writer Stan Lee's standards of storytelling.

Just like Jack, I'm a little squeezed for time as well, so I'll leave it here and pick up with the remaining six issues of the Journey into Mystery run, along with the Journey into Mystery Annual, next time.

Next: Hello Hercules

Thor - The Legend Years: Part 1

BACK WHEN THOR FIRST APPEARED IN 1963 he wasn't actually a god. Just a disabled American doctor who, through pure chance, acquired the powers of the mighty Norse god. And over the next twenty issues of the title, that concept would evolve as mortal Doctor Don Blake became Thor ... without any explanation as to how that happened. Those issues were covered in an earlier trio of entries in this blog, When did Don Blake become Thor?

Journey into Mystery 103 was the first for a while where Jack Kirby made a significant contribution. The two new villains, though Asgardians, are not figures we're familiar with from mythology.

Though Jack Kirby had been back on Journey into Mystery with issue 101 (Feb 1964), the two-part story in this and the following issue felt very much like a script that had been intended for Don Heck to draw. It wasn't until Journey into Mystery 103 (April 1964), that we really felt this was the Lee-Kirby machine back in action.

Chic Stone's exceptional inking over Kirby pencils works both ways - it does make for an uber-gorgeous Enchantress, but also gives us a polished, less-brutal version of The Executioner.

This was the issue that would introduce two of Thor's greatest foes - The Enchantress (later to be named Amora) and The Executioner (Skurge) - neither of whom were based on actual figures from the pantheon of Norse gods. And though both seek to harm Thor and Jane Foster is a variety of ways, we shouldn't forget that it's Odin, Thor's loving father, who signs off on the plan.

Beauty and The Beast: Loki drafts in The Enchantress to make Thor forget Jane Foster ... and The Enchantress brings on some muscle in case persuasion doesn't work.

It should come as no surprise that neither Don Blake nor his alter ego would be likely to fall for the wiles of a brazen hussy like The Enchantress. When her first plan fails, The Enchantress engages the services of The Executioner to abduct Jane Foster. Quite how this will help the sorceress to seduce Thor isn't made clear. But the Executioner isn't really to be trusted and happily brings back Jane from Limbo, where he's stashed her, in exchange for Thor's hammer. The Executioner's made two crucial blunders here. None who are unworthy can wield Mjolnir, so Thor's hammer is useless to him, and secondly, he's double-crossed The Enchantress, who doesn't take it well and turns him into a tree.

It's such ramshackle plotting that I sometimes wonder why certain sections of fandom argue endlessly over who plotted what in Silver Age Marvel comics. This isn't one I'd expect either Lee or Kirby to raise their hand to. But it's carried along by the exuberance of Lee's dialogue, which somehow sellotapes it all together and adds a veneer of credibility.

Loki recklessly releases Skagg the Storm Giant and Surtur the Fire Demon to attack Midgard. It doesn't occur to him that someone might notice.

The following month, Journey into Mystery 104 (May 1964) gave us an all-Asgard slug-fest, orchestrated through Loki's wily machinations. Following up on the idea that Thor is forbidden to love a mortal, Loki plants the idea that if Odin were to go to Midgard himself, he could soon sort out the unruly Thor. Odin thinks that's splendid idea and sets off for Earth, leaving Loki in charge of Asgard. And Loki's first order of business is to turn Skagg the Storm Giant and Surtur the Fire Demon loose on Midgard. But Heimdall senses the release of the evil beings and alerts Balder to travel to Earth to aid Odin and Thor. Odin temporarily transports the human race to "a dimension beyond the ken human mind" and the three Asgardians engage Skagg and Surtur in a five page battle. But for all the sound and fury, nothing is actually resolved, and Odin leaves his son on Earth to pursue his forlorn hope of marrying Jane Foster.

Like last issue, the plotting leaves some gaping holes unaddressed. Odin on Earth allows for a couple of comedy sequences, but that's about it. He could have just as easily summoned Thor to Asgard for a good telling off. And transporting humanity to a parallel dimension? Why not just a spell of forgetfulness? Then on the last page Don Blake thinks to himself "Of the billions of mortals, only I know what transpired here while time stood still." Except, Don, you're not a mortal, and time didn't stand still.

It's an enjoyable romp if you don't think about it too closely, but it doesn't compare with the later Asgard-based stories we'd see in issues like Journey into Mystery 116 (May 1965) a year later.

This issue of JiM would have been on sale at the same time as Avengers 5 (May 1964), so Stan wanted to promote the new team title by including a scene with the other Avengers at the start of the story.

Journey into Mystery 105 (Jun 1964) brought back to Midgard with a bump. Thor was facing not one but two villains from earlier adventures, The Cobra and Mr Hyde, introduced in Journey into Mystery 98 and 99 respectively. Both debuted during the Stan Lee-Don Heck era and very much have the feel of Lee baddies ... but under Kirby's expert pencil, they seem all the more menacing here.

Yup ... wasn't imagining it. Mr Hyde really did live in a castle, in Journey into Mystery 100 (Jan 1964).

After a two-page intro, establishing Thor as a member of The Mighty Avengers, the sneaky Cobra attacks the Thunder God as he flies past. But ploy fails and The Cobra flees the scene, entering the nearby apartment of scientist Calvin Zabo (didn't he used to live in a spooky old castle?). This is when The Cobra makes the second mistake of the day. Thinking a "mere scientist" easy pickings, the slithery villain is about to demand money when Zabo gulps down some of his serum and transforms into Mr Hyde. There's a two-page scuffle before the pair realise that they had both battled Thor recently and would do better working together. Fortunately, Mr Hyde has a plan and a Time Reversal Ray. He just need to point his invention at a victim and the device records that person's recent history.

Isn't it lucky that The Cobra and Mr Hyde aren't smart enough to figure out that if Thor can be seen leaving the office of Dr Don Blake via the window then he might just be Don Blake?

Staging a robbery to lure Thor out, Mr Hyde has his partner stationed nearby with the Ray. Thor's recent actions are recorded and the gloating pair watch as Thor flies backwards through the window of Dr Don Blake. Figuring there must be some sort of connection between Blake and Thor, they burst into Blake's surgery and demand he tell them where Thor is. Blake is able to transform into Thor, with the lightning flash blinding the villainous pair preventing them witnessing the transformation. Rather than fighting Thor, the duo just run away. Not much of a plan, really. But Hyde has another play. He leads Thor to an industrial machinery convention where the Cobra uses an "atomic-powered hydraulic hoist" to pluck Mjolnir from Thor's fingers. Which leads us into the cliff-hanger, in which Thor has sixty seconds to recover his hammer, or else.

This was the issue of Journey into Mystery where Stan jettisoned the five-page fantasy back-ups and expanded the main Thor feature to 18 pages. It definitely benefits from the extra space, and this story is a two-parter ... positively luxurious for Marvel series of this era.

The Treacherous Hyde allows his partner The Cobra to be captured by police, but that leaves him to battle Thor alone and it's pretty much a one-sided affair.

The leisurely pacing continues the following month where, in Journey into Mystery 106 (Jul 1964), Don Blake doesn't get his walking stick back until page 8. There's another four pages taken up with a hand-to-hand battle between Thor and Mr Hyde, but such an uneven contest isn't really worthy of the space given to it. It's almost like there wasn't enough story for the remaining 18 pages so Stan and Jack eked it out to fill the mag. Five pages could easily have been trimmed without hurting the tale one bit. But 18 pages was the length of the main Thor story now and Stan was committed.

It's worth noting as an aside that, after a revolving door of inkers since its start in Journey into Mystery 97, the back-up feature "Tales of Asgard" got a new regular inker Vince Colletta who would, for better or worse, become the principle inker on the backup and later the main strip until Kirby's last issue of Thor, 179 (Aug 1970).

The villain in Journey into Mystery 107 was a variation on the Gorgon legend of ancient Greece, whose look could turn a man to stone. It was a theme that Stan Lee had used many times in the pre-hero fantasy titles, so I'm inclined to attribute Stan the creator credit.

Journey into Mystery 107 (Aug 1964) gave us another enduring Thor villain, The Grey Gargoyle, whose odd power is to turn his victims to stone with just a touch (and to spell his name UK style, it seems). Another mad scientist, frenchman Paul Duval accidentally stumbles on a formula that turns anything to solid stone, even people. Fortunately for all, the effect wears off in 60 minutes. Why 60 minutes instead of 57 or 63? Who knows? And another mystery is why Duval himself can move about as The Grey Gargoyle but his victims become stiff as statues.

I wonder if the splash page to the story was created by Kirby well in advance of the other pages, as The Gargoyle's design is different here. Also, how do we feel about Don Blake - a doctor - apparently killing Thor's foe?

The villain's plan is to wrest Thor's hammer away so he can become immortal himself ... which kind of dissipates the suspense for the readers because we all know that's not going to work. And because he can't get within arm's length of The Gargoyle, Thor devises a convoluted plan to lure his foe to the docks using a motorcycle, a "TV 3-D-Type Projector" and his Don Blake identity. The lure works and The Gargoyle overshoots the end of the dock, plunges into the river where he presumably drowns.

Of course, The Grey Gargoyle would be back, when he's dredged up from the bottom of the river in a later issue ... but Don Blake doesn't know that.

The September 1964 issue of Journey into Mystery co-starred Marvel stablemate Doctor Strange, who would play a minor but pivotal role in this battle between Thor and his adopted brother Loki.

By contrast, Journey into Mystery 108 (Sep 1964) returns Thor to the more familiar battleground of immortal vs immortal, when Loki comes up with another plan to make his brother's life a misery. It has a neat guest-starring role for Doctor Strange and allows Thor's alter ego Dr Don Blake a moment to shine.

Bringing The Master of the Mystic Arts in to the story sort of sets up the resolution to the problem before we even see the problem. Thor receives a mental summons from an unknown source and follows it all the way to the sanctum of Doctor Strange in New York's Greenwich Village. There, he finds Strange barely conscious after a battle with his arch-enemy Baron Mordo. Thor has the injured mage rushed to hospital where he can be treated by Thor's mortal self. So focussed on saving Dr Strange is he, that Don Blake ignores a summons from Odin to aid Asgard in an imminent battle. Taking advantage of the confusion, Loki sneaks off to Midgard and once again menaces Blake and his love-interest/nurse Jane Foster.

Loki finds yet another way to part Thor from his hammer. It's not hugely original, but it does mean Don Blake has to ask Doctor Strange to find the walking stick for him.

Depriving Dr Blake of his walking cane (itself the mortal alter-ego of Thor's hammer), Loki is able to snatch Jane Foster and imprison her in Limbo - I think this is the second time Jane has visited that sinister dimension, and it won't be her last. Only Doctor Strange can help Blake now ... using his mystic powers, he is able to locate the missing walking stick and help Blake regain it. Once transformed into Thor, that's it for Loki's plan. In the past, Loki has always attacked Thor through proxies, or via wiles and machinations. This is the first time we've seen them actually fight. And though Loki boasts of his godly strength and speed, he is still no match for an angry Thunder God.

The scene bothers me a little. It seems out of character for Loki to attempt to fight Thor physically ... and anyway, hasn't it already been established that Loki is of Giant parentage, not Asgardian, and therefore not actually a god?

The story also includes a brief cameo with The Avengers, who offer to help Thor, but are rebuffed - quite rudely, in my opinion.

Stan also shoehorns The Avengers into the story by having them offer to help Thor battle Loki. It's an unnecessary scene that's there only to promote the The Avengers title (issue 8 would have been on sale the same month). Inexplicably Captain America is missing, despite the fact that in the following few weeks, he would be promoted to his own feature in Tales of Suspense 59 (Nov 1964).

I can't see any other reason to pit Thor against the severely out-matched Magneto, unless it's to plug The X-Men ... which Stan doesn't do.

Journey into Mystery 109 (Oct 1964) was another promo issue, though perhaps a little more low-key (no pun intended) than the preceding ones. This time, Thor was up against the X-Men's arch nemesis, Magneto. When you think about it, this is pretty much a no-contest. Magneto might be all big and tough in the mortal world but he is in no way a match for a god.

So, predictably, the fight is fairly brief, with Magneto having to resort to trickery and Thor inevitably being parted from his hammer once again.

Hey, where's my hammer? Thor loses his mallet and another villain wonders where the walking stick came from.

The X-Men almost make an appearance ... I'm not really sure why Stan was being so coy about showing them, as X-Men 7 would have been on sale at the same time as this issue. What's more, there's no plug from Editor Stan, not even a mention that "the X-Man can be seen in their own comic, on sale now". Weird.

JiM 109 also includes a new letters page, "The Hammer Strikes", which replaces the obligatory text stories Publisher Martin Goodman insisted on to allow his subscription copies to qualify for second-class postage rates.

With their powers boosted by the wily Loki, Mr Hyde and The Cobra are now more than a match for Thor. And with Jane Foster as their captive, Thor's future looks dark.

After what was pretty much a filler issue, Journey into Mystery took a turn for the darker, and pit Thor against Mr Hyde and The Cobra again ... only this time, they'd had their powers amplified by a suitably low-key Loki. Coincidentally, issue 110 was one that I missed at the time as it was caught up in the Great T&P Distribution Snafu of 1964. I came in during the second half of the adventure ... but more on that later.

Loki directs Hyde and The Cobra to seize Dr Don Blake's nurse, as this will be the key to defeating him. Though the pair don't understand, they obey their new mentor regardless.

How will Thor protect Jane and battle two dangerous foes whose strength has been boosted by his adopted brother and arch enemy, Loki? We'd have to wait a month to find out.

Thor returns to Asgard to confront Loki about his malevolent machinations, but the God of Mischief denies all knowledge of any plots against Thor and just as the argument is turning physical, Odin shows up and hurls Thor back to Earth, where he lands near the remote mansion where Jane Foster is captive and a devastating battle ensues, with Jane seriously injured in the melee. Thor's only recourse it to use the power of his hammer to set up a dimensional warp around the house, causing time to stand still, and preventing Jane's condition from deteriorating ... which is a heck of a cliffhanger to end on.

Interestingly, Stan (or possibly Martin Goodman) cut the story pages in Journey into Mystery 110 down to 16 from 18, which would be the new page count for the main story going forward. Still, there's a nice Kirby/Stone Thor pinup to end on, so it's not all bad news.

Straight from the get-go, we're in no doubt about the kind of pressure Thor is under in Journey into Mystery 111 - two hyper-powered foes, a house filled with deadly traps and an ailing Jane Foster to protect effectively convey an atmosphere of panic.

Even though I think Journey into Mystery 111 (Dec 1964) was one of the earliest - if not the earliest - issue of the title I remember having back in the 1960s, it's considered scarce in the UK. Coming into the midst of this breathless action knowing very little about the main character, it still didn't take me long to understand that Thor was deeply concerned for Jane Foster. But the single thing that caught my attention was the uncanny scene in which we see the effects of the time-warp that Thor placed around the house to keep Jane from dying while he battled on against Mr Hyde and The Cobra.

Stan and Jack make it pretty clear here that no one likes Loki and everyone likes Thor. It's these more human touches that separated Marvel from rivals DC during these formative years.

Bear in mind that this issue doesn't so much as mention Dr Don Blake, my introduction to Thor was as the actual God of Thunder, the son of Odin and heir-apparent to the throne of Asgard. The scene in which Odin relents and orders Loki to deliver a request for a remedy to Hardol the Healer was especially effective. The other Asgardians gather around and "relieve" Loki of his task, sending the far more trustworthy Balder to deliver the message instead.

Balder battles against spectacular challenges to reach the healer and deliver the cure for Jane's injuries to Thor, while Thor fights doggedly on against almost overwhelming odds. Of course, the cure is delivered, Jane survives and Thor emerges from the battle triumphant. But that wouldn't be the last we'd see of Loki ... and I'm not talking about the Marvel Masterwork Pinup that rounds out JiM 111.

In the second part of this look at the early adventures of Thor in Journey into Mystery, we'll look at how the stories become even more Asgard-based, and how the more earthly menaces like Mr Hyde and The Cobra become assigned to other Marvel heroes ...

Next: More Mythic Thor