Thor - The Legend Years: Part 3

FOR MOST OF 1965, Journey into Mystery, Marvel's vehicle for the adventures of Thor, had increasingly come to focus on Thor the Thunder God rather than on Thor the Superhero. Starting with "The Trial of the Gods" in Journey into Mystery 116 (May 1965) we would see a lot more of Odin, Balder and the ever-machinating machinations of Thor's half-brother and arch enemy Loki, God of Mischief.

Though mostly reprints, the first Marvel Annual to feature Thor gave us a 15-page battle between the Asgardian God of Thunder and Hercules, son of Zeus.

Around the same time, Stan and Jack threw us another curve-ball and, in the first Journey into Mystery Annual (Aug 1965), introduced Hercules and the pantheon of Greek Gods.

There are some odd plotting decisions in this story, which lead me to think this was largely Kirby's work. To begin with, if I had an adopted brother who'd already tried to kill me several times, I doubt I'd be socialising with him, especially unaccompanied by witnesses. And even if this were a good idea, I'd have have picked somewhere other than Jotunheim, shown to be home of the diabolical Snake Men in JiM 113?

The story title, "When Titans Clash" is pretty much the whole thing. Out for a pony trek with his evil kid brother, Thor comes across a couple of Storm giants up to no good. Thor casually mentions that they're trying to dig their way back to Olympus home of the Greek Gods, from whence they were banished centuries before. After a bit of argy-bargy, Thor falls down a hole and emerges in Olympus.

The first meeting of Thor and Hercules is straight out of the Sherwood Forest playbook, when Robin and Little John both refuse to give way on a narrow bridge. The ensuing eight pages of carnage all seem a bit pointless ... like a WWF wrestling match.

Pretty much the first person he meets is Hercules, son of Zeus. For no reason that makes any sense, the pair start fighting an escalating battle of godly super-strength, until Zeus shows up and boxes their ears for them. Thor is sent back to Asgard, but decides to keep the existence of Olympus to himself, for fear Loki will attempt to make mischief with the knowledge - though doesn't Loki already know that was the entrance to Olympus because Thor told him so at the start of the story? That's it.

Astonishingly, Zeus finds the Thor-Hercules battle to be "honorable", when he should actually be paddling the pair of them for being arrogant, thick-headed idiots ...

As Marvel Annuals go, this one isn't in the league of those of the previous year. Of the 15-page new story, eight pages are just panel after panel of punching, without a whiff of motivation. And with just a two-page panorama of Asgard as the bonus feature and reprints of some key earlier Thor stories, the thrill factor is a bit lacking.

What is important - and probably accounts for the very high prices being asked for even tatty reading copies of this book - is that it introduces Hercules and Olympus to the Thor canon. And, as you'll see, Stan and Jack would be quick to capitalise on that, and starting to downplay the mortal persona of Don Blake (not even mentioned in the Annual story) and to minimise the use of Earth as a backdrop for the next round of Thor's adventures.

I'm doubtful that a regular Earth steel furnace would be strong enough to repair Thor's broken Mjolnir ... shouldn't he have taken it to Asgard to have it serviced by trolls or something?

After the sidebar of the JiM Annual, the main storyline continued in Journey into Mystery 120 (Sep 1965) without missing a beat. While repairing his hammer damaged in the battle against The Destroyer, Thor enjoys a macho male-bonding moment with some steel workers before heading out into the country side to commune with nature and check that he has all the magic pebble he confiscated from sneaky Loki.

To show what a mensch Thor is, Stan has him plead with his father to go easy on Loki. After all, he can't help being a douche.

But, unnoticed by the Thunder God, he drops one of the Norn Stones, important because this will come back to bite him later. Meanwhile, Loki is in a bit of a huff, after being demoted by Odin to assistant to Asgardian mage Ularic and is already plotting his revenge.

So, Thor nips back to Earth to check up on his love interest Nurse Jane Foster but finds Don Blake's surgery all closed up and the landlord knocking on the door demanding rent. Where has Jane disappeared to? In a bit of a panic, Thor starts combing the city, even considering enlisting the newly-formed Avengers v2.0 in his quest. I guess Thor can be forgiven for not recognising Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver as he has been a bit busy since the lineup changed in Avengers 16 (May 1965).

This is what you get for taking your eye off the ball. While you're trying to find your girlfriend (could she have ditched you for someone else, like she did once before?) your brother has teamed up with your worst enemy to mess you up for good.

Even as a kid, I found the whole "romantic" sub-plot of Thor-pining-for-Jane-Foster a bit tiresome. I'm sure Stan was going for Shakespearian tragedy here, but to my ten-year old sensibilities, it just seemed that Thor was being a whiney little wimp. Anyhow, while the Thunder God's acting like a lovesick teenager, Loki is getting his game on and planning the mother of all comebacks for the foe that nearly defeated Thor last time ... ladies and gentlemen, Crusher Creel, The Absorbing Man.

A rare instance in Marvel Comics where the stature of the villain on the cover is literal instead of symbolic. Yes, Crusher Creel really is thirty feet tall in the story.

Journey into Mystery 121 (Oct 1965) is where Stuff Gets Real. Essentially a 13-page slugfest between Thor and Crusher Creel, the Kirby action barely pauses to take a breath. Yet the 13 pages pivot on Creel's ability to absorb the properties of his surroundings: bricks, Thor's uru hammer, Thor himself, concrete and steel of buildings, glass(!), and the iron of a bank vault.

The Absorbing Man is a great villain to pit against Thor (despite the daft name). As an antagonist he was less effective against other heroes, like his later appearance in Avengers 183-184 (May-Jun 1979).

The only three non-battle pages in the entire episode reveal a little of the sly plottings of Loki behind the whole drama and a glimpse of Jane Foster's captivity at the hands of a mysterious hooded figure. As with the recent Journey into Mystery Annual story, the persona of Don Blake isn't mentioned, though he would be back in Journey into Mystery 122, as the mystery of the hooded man is resolved.

Only three of the pages in JiM 121 carry the plot forward, and one of those doesn't do much except remind us that Thor has dropped one of the Norn Stones in the middle of a forest somewhere, where it still lies.

It's an enjoyable episode, though there's little in the way of bones to hang an actual story on. Kirby always excels at this kind of action-oriented tale and it does kind of feel that Stan Lee was already starting to leave Jack a bit to his own devices. I don't really mind that here, but page 12 does feel like it was tossed in for a bit of padding at the last minute.

Great cover, interestingly not inked by the hackmanlike Vince Colletta, but by former EC superstar and Marvel newcomer Wally Wood. Wood was also contributing art to Daredevil around this period and inks on Avengers 22 (Nov 1965).

As the story continues in Journey into Mystery 122 (Nov 1965), we get to see Loki's masterplan unfold. Where in the past - for example in the battle he'd engineered between The Destroyer and Thor - he'd been a little wary of incurring the wrath of Odin, this time he's about to challenge his adoptive father head-on.

Even as Crusher Creel thinks he has Thor beaten, the Thunder God's fighting spirit causes him to redouble his efforts and suddenly the Absorbing Man sees his fortunes take a downward turn. But Loki, monitoring all this from Asgard, snatches his pawn away from the battle just as Creel's defeat looks inevitable, transporting the thug to Asgard itself. This is a pretty risky move by Loki ... if his plan to wrest control of Odin's throne doesn't pan out, he's going to get a lot worse than a spell of indentured servitude to Ularic.

Isn't it lucky that Asgardian sorcerer Ularic has this handy Attractor Beam in his workshop so that Loki can rescue his proxy warrior Crusher Creel from near-defeat by Thor and haul his thuggish carcass to Asgard?

Thor, being nobody's fool, recognises that Creel's vanishment can only mean that Loki has transported his henchperson to Asgard. But before he can set out in pursuit, a disturbance from above attracts his attention. In the mother of all coincidences, it's the captured Jane Foster. Thor smashes his way into the apartment then, despite not knowing just who Jan's captor is, transforms into his mortal identity of Don Blake. Astonishingly, the abductor simply takes a picture of Don Blake, then reveals his identity as reporter Harris Hobbs, whom Thor had befriended in an earlier battle against Crusher Creel.

Now, I have more than a few problems with this plot twist.

1. Why would Hobbs ever suspect Thor had a mortal identity?
2. Even if he did suspect such a thing, why would he - from past experience a decent and honest journalist - put his friend Thor on the spot by threatening to expose his dual identity? Especially when Thor saved his life (JiM114)
   
   
   
   
   
3. Why would Hobbs terrorise an innocent young woman just to get a story - especially when kidnapping and false imprisonment is a pretty serious crime, regardless of the intention.

It's the worst kind of plot-driven storytelling, so I strongly suspect we can lay this one at Jack Kirby's door, though I couldn't say why Editor Stan didn't get this "reveal" redrawn into something more plausible. Deadline problems?

Faced with either saving Asgard from Loki and Creel or saving Jane Foster, Thor goes with Jane ... I think Stan and Jack missed a trick here by not making it more of an agonising decision.

Even as Loki and his attack dog Creel are invading Asgard, Thor is still on Earth, playing patty fingers with Jane Foster. He doesn't seem in much of a hurry to tear himself away to deal with Loki's threat to Asgard, but drops everything when he gets a call from reporter Hobbs. By the time Thor agrees to return to Asgard - taking Hobbs along for the story of the century - Loki and Creel have already reached Odin's throne room ... and things aren't looking too great for the monarch of the gods.

Even more surprising, Don Blake hangs around on Earth to minister to Jane, as Asgard is being systematically demolished by Creel and his wrecking ball.

Yet, as bad as things may seem right now, they're about to get even worse when, in the next issue, we get to learn the fate of the missing Norn Stone.

As mentioned in my May 2021 blog entry, this cover shows signs of art department tampering. The original drawing by Jack Kirby had no floating heads. The added vignettes were lifted from interior art panels from this and the previous issue.

Journey into Mystery 123 (Dec 1965) ties up the "Absorbing Man in Asgard" storyline and introduces a new menace ... the Norn Stone powered Demon. Interestingly, until now, I'd forgotten that Kirby had drawn this earlier version of The Demon seven years before his DC Comics character of the same name.

This whole sequence - with Thor surprised by Loki and Creel's attack on Asgard - indicates that Stan hadn't re-read JiM 122 before embarking on the script for this issue.

When Thor arrives in Asgard with his unwelcome companion reporter Harris Hobbs, he seems a little surprised that Crusher Creel is already there. Yet, in the previous issue, Thor recognised the beam that transported the Absorbing Man away from almost certain defeat to be the Attractor Beam of Asgardian court magician Ularic. Judging from Stan's recap of the story so far on the first page of JiM 123, I'd say that Editor Stan just forgot that Thor did in fact suspect that Loki has transported Creel to Asgard.

In setting up the next menace to threaten Thor, some ramshackle plotting is manfully papered over by Stan, asking us to accept that the dropped Norn Stone (see issue 120) is flitting about the planet under its own power.

But just as The Absorbing Man begins his attack on Odin himself, we cut away to the jungles of Mongolia, where the Norn Stone has mysteriously dropped within the grasp of an un-named village shaman. Thor had examined the Stones shortly after leaving Pittsburg (JiM 120), inadvertently dropping a stone in some woodland just outside the city. Stan deftly scripts over this creaking plot-hole by telling us that the Norn Stone cannot remain in one place for very long and randomly transports itself to new locations.

The stone charges the shaman with Asgardian power and sets about beating the tar out of his communist oppressors, then returns to his panic-stricken village congregation.

Loki and Crusher Creel are so busy bickering over who will wield Odin's sceptre of power that they fail to recognise its status is merely ceremonial. And for all his scheming, Hobbs discovers that fate has a way of punishing the deserving.

Back in Asgard, Loki and his attack dog appear to be on a roll. Every force Odin hurls at them, Crusher Creel simply hurls back. Though Thor pleads with his father to be allowed to deal with the evil pair, Odin seems unruffled and calmly hands over his sceptre of power when Loki demands it. Of course, simply holding the Supreme Sceptre isn't enough to rule Asgard, as Loki finds out when Odin propels him - and his thuggish ally - into the endless depths of space.

But this doesn't mean that Thor's troubles are over. There's still the Demon to deal with ... and Stan and Jack bring back Hercules to further complicate things.

Hercules must have been a hit with readers in Journey into Mystery Annual 1 (1965), as Stan and Jack waste no time in bringing him back, making him the main focus of the cover and adding Thor's battle with the Demon almost as an afterthought.

The first Journey into Mystery of the new year is 124 (Jan 1966) and starts with a few pages of Thor on Earth and some unnecessary comedy shtick - a policeman orders Thor now to swing his hammer on a crowded street as he doesn't have a permit. But there's a telling scene in which a little girl tells Thor her daddy is fighting in Viet Nam and Thor delivers a speech about "brave patriots" like her daddy "holding aloft the torch of liberty".

This sequence of Thor interacting with the public still has glimmers of Marvel's strong anti-communist position that ran through their comics from the mid 1950s to the mid-1960s.

I think Stan and Jack can be forgiven for this 1965 viewpoint. Both had served in the US Army during World War II, when the enemy was far more clearly identifiable. But Viet Nam was a murkier situation and with no direct threat to the United States, public opinion was turning against America's involvement in South-East Asia. Just a few short years later Stan, along with the rest of the country, was taking a less hawkish stance regarding the Viet Nam war. In an unaired 1968 television talk show, Stan declared, “I would never defend the war in Viet Nam. I think it’s an utterly indefensible war. I think it’s a ridiculous war.”

But on with the story ...

Thor's next stop is to check up on the wellbeing of Jane Foster who - mysteriously - does not seem to be responding to medical treatment. The problem appears to be to strange and frequent disappearances of Don Blake ... so Thor does the only sensible thing. He reveals his double identity to Jane. And as you might imagine, Odin is not best pleased at this development. Now, I think that's a pretty big plot development and I'm kind of surprised that Stan didn't trumpet it on the cover. But for whatever reason, the return of Hercules seemed more important.

Thor's decision to reveal his secret to Jane Foster does seem a little abrupt and unheralded. I would have thought Stan and Jack might have strung it out a little more to milk the drama, perhaps making it the cliff-hanger of the issue ...

While all this is going on, The Demon is gathering an army in Asia and increasing his grip in the region. So despite his promise to not leave Jane Foster again, Thor decides duty comes first and sets off to stop the unstoppable Demon ... and at the same time Zeus despatches Hercules to look into these strange, unprecedented occurrences on Earth.

I'm still not sure why it's such a big issue for Odin that Thor reveals his mortal identity. As with Superman, it's the civilian person that's the false construct, so what's the harm? Regardless, there will be consequences.

The scene is set for a monumental three-handed confrontation ... but surprisingly, that's not what happens.

It's a strangely cryptic cover ... no mention of the villain of the piece The Demon, and just the barest hint of Hercules' presence is depicted, even though he'd been the main part of the previous issue's cover.

In Journey into Mystery 125 (Feb 1966) - the last of the title before it officially changed to The Mighty Thor - Hercules is finally given something to do. But it's not related to the ongoing villain of the last couple of issues, The Demon. In fact, Thor's dispatch of the holder of the Norn Stone is a little underwhelming, in that it happens so quickly and easily ...

It's a bit like Bugs Bunny in a Warner Bros cartoon. Thor plugs the end of the bad guy's cannon which backfires, leaving The Demon with a sooty face.

The Demon's power is no match for Thor's, so the former village shaman tries to use heavy artillery instead. Thor jams the muzzle of the cannon, which explodes, taking out The Demon and a few of his henchmen. The Norn Stone is recovered and that's the end of that plot-thread.

For daring to reveal his true self to Don Blake's nurse Jane Foster, Thor is sentenced to undergo the Ritual of Steel, which he may or may not survive. Boy, that Odin's strict.

However, back in Asgard, Thor must now face the anger of Odin for revealing his true identity to the love of his life Jane Foster. Thor is forced to fight the elite of Asgard's warriors ... but rather than battle to the inevitable outcome, Thor chooses to flee to Earth, where more drama awaits.

If you just substituted Superman for Thor and Lois Lane for Jane Foster, this scene would play like a Weisinger-era DC comic.

While Tor is trying to avoid the rather over-the-top punishment meted out by Odin, Hercules has arrived in New York and has wasted no time in attracting the attention of Jane Foster ... there follows some clunky plotting, driven by jealousy and misunderstanding, leading to another battle between the two evenly-matched heroes ... though we'd be made to wait till the following issue to see any actual scrapping between Thor and Herc.

As you can see, my copy is a little tanned around the edges. Removing the "Journey into Mystery" part of the logo does have the added benefit of giving us a bit more space for Kirby's art.

With issue 126 (Apr 1966), Journey into Mystery became The Mighty Thor, or just Thor for short. But the story carried on as if nothing had happened.

Once again, most of the issue is taken up with endless pages of typical Kirby action. It's great stuff, but I kind of wonder why Kirby was squabbling over plotting credits when there isn't a great deal of plotting going on.

Essentially, the two gods bash the living heck out of each other for ten of the sixteen pages of this episode. And while that's happening, Odin is stroking his beard, wondering how he can punish his wayward son for wanting to date a girl he doesn't approve of. 

While Odin is removing half of Thor's power, Hercules drops an apartment building on the Thunder God ... which does seem like the definition of excessive force.

In the end, he decides to remove half of Thor's power ... but unable to do it himself, he relinquishes his "Odin power" to a dodgy-looking advisor called Seidring (and you just know that's not going to end well).

With half his strength gone, Thor is no match for the son of Zeus, who wins by a knock-out in the final round. Then, in a surprising turnaround, Odin admits to Jane that he may have over-reacted, and sends her after Thor.

Seidring obliges and half Thor's strength is removed ... whereupon Hercules pounds him into the dust. Yet Odin surprises us by showing a little sympathy, and tells Jane that Thor needs her support right now.

That's a pretty powerful cover - one of the best of the era. It certainly made me pick up that issue in 1966 when it hit the spinner racks.

The second issue of The Mighty Thor, 127 (May 1966), polishes off the Seidring story arc and foreshadows the next adventure by introducing us to Pluto, Greek God of the Underworld. I'll save my recounting to the Pluto saga for another time and stick with Seidring for the moment.

We start off with Thor feeling a bit sorry for himself, after his defeat at the hands of Hercules. He even rails against Jane, saying that in defeat he now feels unworthy of her love. Nothing Jane says can convince Thor that he has no reason to be ashamed, but Thor won't take a telling and hurtles off into the sky.

The story starts off with Thor being a bit churlish about having his head handed to him by Hercules - not through cowardice or stupidity, but because his father removed half his strength.

Meanwhile, in Asgard, Odin is also feeling a bit ashamed - as well he might. So much so that he seems to forget that he's given over his godly power to sneaky advisor Seidring, who grabs the opportunity to defy Odin with both hands.

A few mystic bolts later, Odin is on the floor with his former advisor gloating over him. Not even Balder and the other Asgardian warriors are much help. However, Thor has chosen the right time to return to Asgard.

So, of course Seidring - who we'd never seen before this story arc - turns on his king and uses Odin's own power against him. Yet even as that is happening Thor is rushing to his father's aid, the recent punishment all but forgotten.

Though Thor possesses just half his normal power, he not only faces off against Seidring, but through sheer willpower and indomitable spirit, claws his way to the legendary Odin-Sword and threatens to draw it - thereby precipitating Ragnarok - unless Seidring relinquishes the Odin-Power.

Realising that Thor is not bluffing, Odin's senior counsellor doesn't have the stomach to call Thor's bluff, and Odin's power is restored to him ... but at great cost. Thor collapses over the Odin Sword, his strength spent.

Heedless for his own safety, and ignoring the fact that he possesses only half his strength, Thor hurls himself at Odin's attacker, using cunning and willpower to force Seidring to surrender the Odin-Power.

The final scene has Odin gather up his son, remorseful over judging him so harshly.

From here on in, the Thor title would move the God of Thunder away from Earth-bound adventures and focus on other worlds and realities. After this Asgard-set story, the next arc would take place in Olympus and related realms (Thor 128-131). Then Stan and Jack would turn their attention to other galaxies and have Thor thwart an invasion of Earth by Coloniser Tana Nile and her felow Rigellians (Thor 132-133).

But this can wait till another time ...

Next: The Shadow of the Bat