Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: May 4, 1965
Cover: July 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee the legend teller!
Art by: Jack Kirby the legend maker!
Inking by: Vince Colletta the legend portrayer!
Lettering by: Sam Rosen the letterer!
5 pages
| Previous | #345 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| PRELUDE | Mystic Comics #6 | |
| Journey Into Mystery #118 | Reading order | Journey Into Mystery #119 |
| Journey Into Mystery #118 | Journey Into Mystery | Journey Into Mystery #119 |
This is the second part of what I’ll dub the “Odinsword Saga”. Unlike most sagas which we’ll try to read all together, I’ve deemed this one reads best one chapter at a time, as the backups to the main Thor feature.
To recap, warriors of Asgard were getting restless, when Odin revealed the Oversword was broken, and directed Thor and Loki to go on a quest to learn who was responsible.
Now Thor is visiting Morduk the map maker.
Is that candle holder a monstrous hand? That’s cool.
Morduk warns Thor’s course will take him… into the unknown.
Which sounds like a music cue.
The Crimson Hand forces those it touches to speak only truths. Why did Morduk think Thor would need this on his adventure with Loki?
Braggi reveals he plans to assassinate Thor because of the Crimson Hand.
Weird that Braggi betrayed Thor. He’d been hand-selected by Loki, Thor’s own loving brother.
We saw a great horn once before, the Dragon Horn of Asgard. We learned then that only Agnar could blow it. That doesn’t appear to be Agnar, so presumably this is a different horn, though some sources believe they are the same horn.
Since the entire point of this chapter was to give Thor the Crimson Hand for the voyage, it will presumably become important later in the story. You certainly don’t expect it to never appear or be mentioned again.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 52/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 3. It is also available on Kindle.
Characters:
- Morduk
- Thor
- Loki
- Braggi
Story notes:
- Odin’s own longship will be used for the quest.
| Previous | #345 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| PRELUDE | Mystic Comics #6 | |
| Journey Into Mystery #118 | Reading order | Journey Into Mystery #119 |
| Journey Into Mystery #118 | Journey Into Mystery | Journey Into Mystery #119 |
This is one of those chapterplays in which it’s almost impossible to know whether Kirby & Lee were out of sync, whether ethical or both just didn’t know where this story was going, or – and this is what the subtext seemed to me way back then when I had to wait an insufferably long month between chapters – Odin was giving Loki one last chance to become a hero. Or at least to repent.
This was one of the few times that Odin was portrayed as wise, merciful – as a father.