Featuring: Thor
Release: March 3, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
…only the inspired talent of Stan Lee could have written it…
Only the gifted hand of Jack Kirby could have illustrated it!!
Inked by: Chic Stone
Lettered by: S. Rosen
13 pages
As with last month’s Tales of Suspense, this issue sees Thor take a more significant place on the cover. He gets his own logo, prominent on the cover, with the series’ title taking a subordinate position. “Journey Into Mystery with The Mighty Thor”. This is Thor’s comic now.
Thor has spent most of this series battling threats that really should be beneath his notice. Cobra with his slithering power? Finally, Thor’s mettle gets tested. In fact, it’s a test too great for him. He’ll need the help of Balder and his father Odin to overcome this threat.
The story begins soon after the end of the previous issue. Loki is chastising Enchantress and Executioner for their recent failure. If Enchantress could only have waited a few seconds to turn Executioner into a tree…
We really need to talk about Loki. I mean, we already did, but it’s getting more confounding. Odin had sentenced him to eternal imprisonment. I really must stress the word “eternal”. But then suddenly Loki was seemingly Odin’s most trusted advisor. No explanation was offered. Loki manipulated the supposedly wise Odin into causing Thor’s most recent grief, both his battles against Zarrko and the Enchantress. Now, Loki not only convinces Odin to travel to Earth, but Odin lets Loki rule in his stead, and grants him extra power to do so.
Unsurprisingly to everybody but Odin, it takes Loki all of ten seconds to abuse this power to free ancient prisoners of Odin (like Loki should be) and send them to ravage Earth.
This is our first time meeting the Storm Giant Skagg, though we have met other Storm Giants.
We did witness Odin’s original battle against Surtur. By the end of that conflict, the moon had been created and Surtur was trapped at Earth’s core, where he remained until this day, when Loki set him free.
This is a powerful, ancient evil and I’m a little bothered how relatively easily he seems to be overcome, a battle that seems to take no more than an hour or so. The last battle emphasized its epic nature better, because Earth was left scarred in its wake. The great Walt Simonson will tell a famous Surtur tale in the 1980s which again does a better job of conveying just how momentous the encounter is.
The comic does note Surtur has the power of a thousand blazing suns, and that he can destroy galaxies.
Odin does have some cool displays of power. For our protection, he freezes the entire population of Earth and sends us to another dimension.
Surtur’s plan is to melt Earth’s arctic ice caps. I just checked some NASA data. Surtur’s plan seems to be working. The Arctic is expected to be ice-free within 30 years.
Odin is finally ready to punish Loki again. Loki is sentenced to serve the Trolls.
Since these were quite the tough foes, certainly Thor was at full power for the fight, right? In #101, Odin reduced Thor’s power to half-power, and if he ever restored it, I missed the reference. But I can’t imagine Odin would let Thor face these foes at half power, even if Thor refuses to stop loving Jane.
This is the first issue we really get to know Balder, who will become an important ally of Thor and a key Marvel character in his own right, even getting occasional solo adventures over the decades. He was introduced very briefly in issue 85, but we didn’t even really get a good look at him. We got a better look at him in issue 102. That story was set when Thor was young. Perhaps it’s just a matter of a shave and a haircut, but Balder appears much younger now than he did near time’s dawn.
Before this issue’s “Tales of Asgard” story, there is a short sci/fi tale entitled “Revenge!” by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Al Hartley. This series was founded in horror and fantasy long before Thor took the spotlight. This tale represents the end of an era, the last such tale in these pages. Going forward, the comic will focus only on Thor and the Tales of Asgard. Superhero dominance is setting in at Marvel.
I have some chronological headaches with this issue, caused by my own ego and carelessness. The Official Marvel Index to the Avengers and the MCP just place Journey Into Mystery #101-104 after the events of Avengers #6. For issue 101, that’s a push of 5 months past its publication date. I wanted to avoid that. That hypothesis is also a poor fit with the costumes the other Avengers wear in #101. The CMRO places all four issues before Avengers #3, which means reading this issue 5 months early. Their interpretation makes the most chronological sense to me, and I probably should have just copied the CMRO on this one. But I didn’t.
Note my reading order is not intended to be the chronological order, but is informed by it.
When I first read this, I thought there was room for a gap since the last issue, where Thor’s Avengers adventures could take place. I was wrong. Jane remains weary from her battle with Executioner and Enchantress. That suggests it just happened the other day.
Jane seems to be young, in good health, and by this point probably pretty used to getting attacked by super-villains. Getting transported into Limbo is a new one for her. But she seems like the type to bounce back within a couple days. Which means there isn’t time for Thor to go fight Namor and Hulk between last issue and this one. That suggests these 4 issues likely take place either earlier or later.
Now, there is some space in the middle of issue 103: after Thor returns from the future and before Enchantress makes her move. Maybe Thor went off with the Avengers to battle the Hulk in the middle of that issue. It’s a question of how long it takes Enchantress to prepare for her journey to Earth, which the narrator does inform us is “sometime later”.
Based on that theory, the remainder of #103 and this story take place in the middle of Avengers #5, which does have space for these adventures. That’s the theory I’m going to hold to until proven wrong.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 55/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 2. It is also available in Thor Epic Collection vol. 1: God of Thunder. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Thor
- Balder
- Odin
- Loki
- Surtur
- Skagg
- Enchantress
- Executioner
- Jane Foster
- Heimdall
Story notes:
- Enchantress blames Thor for the defeat that was entirely her fault.
- Loki suggests Odin go to Earth to deal with the Jane Foster mess.
- Odin notes he has not visited Earth in ages.
- Odin gives Loki a portion of his power and has him rule Asgard in his absence.
- Jane remains weary from ordeal with Enchantress.
- Skagg, the Storm Giant, had been imprisoned by Odin in a circle of flame.
- Surtur had been imprisoned in the center of the earth.
- Balder rides Odin’s winged battle stallion.
- Balder makes himself invisible to mortal eyes.
- Balder’s blade of enchanted steel destroys Skagg’s war club.
- Skagg’s shattered club funnels the ocean into a water spout.
- Loki replenishes Skagg’s strength from afar.
- Odin places a shield over Manhattan.
- Thor uses Odin’s sword to send Surtur to an asteroid.
#180 story in reading order
Next: Journey Into Mystery #104, Story C
Previous: Tales of Suspense #53, Story C
