Featuring: Thor
Release: September 2, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
Written with compassion by: Stan Lee
Drawn with comprehension by: Jack Kirby
Inked with competence by: Vince Colletta
Lettered for compensation by: Artie Simek
16 pages
| Previous | #396 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Journey Into Mystery #121, Story B | Reading order | Journey Into Mystery #122, Story B |
| Journey Into Mystery #121, Story B | Journey Into Mystery | Journey Into Mystery #122, Story B |
I gave him strength to challenge a god– but even Loki could not give him valor to match that of Thor!
Odin gets the center stage on a pretty awesome cover.
Thor had been merely stunned at the end of last issue. Absorbing Man really seems unable to best Thor, so Loki brings him to Asgard.
It is of course against the law of Odin to bring mortals to Asgard.
Three basic dangling plot threads: Absorbing Man; Jane’s kidnapping; the lost Norn Stone. Plus the general overarching plot that Loki is probably scheming. We won’t check in on the Norn Stone this issue. After all, it’s a rock. It’s just sitting there where Thor dropped it. We’ll resolve the Jane subplot.
Let’s look to that now. We saw Jane’s kidnapper last issue in a hood, his identity unrevealed.
We learn it’s reporter Harris Hobbs, who had seemed like a decent guy before. The kidnapping was part of a convoluted plan to learn Thor’s identity. It somehow worked.
Thor’s battle with the Absorbing Man happened to end right at the building where Jane was held. That’s some lazy writing.
Hobbs’ “plan” was that Thor would find Jane, and then probably change into Dr. Blake, and he’d be able to take a picture.
I have a lot of questions about this plan. First, how did he know Thor would change into Blake right there? Thor could have lifted Jane as Thor and flown away just as easily. Second, what picture did he get? How does a single camera shot prove Blake is Thor? Did he get him as Thor? As Blake? Somehow mid-transformation. It seems like you need a series of pictures for this.
Meanwhile, Loki and the Absorbing Man declare war on Asgard.
Dr. Blake is tending to Jane. At some point, he has to meet Hobbs. He may be unaware of the war in Asgard. Would he have time go attend a wedding now? Or is there a better opportunity to come?
Despite having kidnapped Jane and angered a god, Hobbs knows Thor has pledged never to harm a mortal. He just wants a story. He wants to know the secret of the connection between Thor and Blake.
In fact, so do I. So do we all. It’s made no sense so far, and the facts we do have don’t fit together. At first, Blake had Thor’s body and powers, but his own mind. Then he seemed to have Thor’s mind and memories. Then there seemed to be no distinction between Blake and Thor. He seems to just be both people, remembering both lives. No hint of explanation offered for any of this.
Thor claims he could deposit Hobbs in the age of dinosaurs, and this doesn’t count as violating his oath not to harm a human. I would guess Thor is bluffing. If he actually thinks stranding a human with a T-Rex is consistent with his oath, then he and the Watcher have the same legal counsel.
This shot of the far future is my favorite part of the issue, a chance for Kirby to loose his famed imagination.
Ultimately, Thor is strangely forgiving of this man who kidnapped Jane, even agreeing to let him glimpse Asgard, which we remember from earlier is a crime.
Meanwhile, Absorbing Man confronts Odin. And we learn he is able to absorb and redirect even Odin’s unfathomable power. To be continued.
Rating: ★★★½, 60/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
A couple plot contrivances bring this down, but it’s elevated by fantastic visions of the past and future, as well as the epic confrontation between Absorbing Man and Odin.
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 4.
Characters:
- Thor/Dr. Don Blake
- Absorbing Man/Crusher Creel
- Loki
- Jane Foster
- Harris Hobbs
- Odin
Story notes:
- Creel thought he had won, but Thor was merely stunned.
- Loki had given Creel strength, but not valor.
- Loki uses attractor beam of Ularic to bring Creel to Asgard.
- Loki sends Absorbing Man to a freezing place so he turns to snow.
- Absorbing Man easily overcomes Asgardian warriors.
- Second time Thor has demonstrated time-travel power.
- Thor takes Hobbs to age of dinosaurs, then far future. Humanity has abandoned Earth for the stars. Earth about to collide with dying planet. New race has formed on Earth.
- Odin hits Creel with cosmic bolt and Creel absorbs it.
| Previous | #396 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Journey Into Mystery #121, Story B | Reading order | Journey Into Mystery #122, Story B |
| Journey Into Mystery #121, Story B | Journey Into Mystery | Journey Into Mystery #122, Story B |
