Featuring: Thor
Release: October 5, 1965
Cover: December 1965
12 cents
Fantasy to dazzle thy senses, written by: Stan Lee
Drama to quicken thy pulse, illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Beauty to nourish thine eyes, embellished by: Vince Colletta
Balloons to compound thy confusion, lettered by: Artie Simek
16 pages
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…It’s like being in the center of the universe! Like being part of– eternity!
Notice the credits use “thy” and “thine” everywhere, words Thor is today famous for using, but that Stan is only slowly starting to pepper into his speech. On this very page, he refers to Hobbs as “you” and not “thee”.
Where did we leave off? Harris Hobbs kidnapped Jane to get a picture proving Thor was Donald Blake. Thor seems to have forgiven Hobbs and agreed to take him to visit Asgard. Meanwhile, Loki and the Absorbing Man have declared war on Asgard. When we left off, the Absorbing Man was confronting Odin with his own power.
We get one of the better shots of Asgard yet.
Thor doesn’t do much this issue. He sits back and lets his father deal with Loki and Absorbing Man. If Odin ever appears to not have the upper hand, it’s probably a ruse.
We learn Odin’s power is not within the Scepter, but within himself. Thor’s power on the other hand all seems to come from the hammer.
Returning from Asgard with his memory of the time wiped, Harris Hobbs bows out of the series for the next several years. But he will return eventually. Given that Thor has this memory-wiping power he’s used before, it seems like the Hobbs situation was never that serious to begin with.
Meanwhile, we learn the fate of the Norn Stone, transforming a Vietnamese Witch Doctor into the Demon.
Dr. Strange has also fought a villain called the Demon. Stan is getting sloppy with the naming.
The “arc” isn’t over, as the Demon is out for trouble. But the Harris Hobbs and Absorbing Man threads have wrapped up. And Thor gets a chance to breathe. He doesn’t yet know about the Demon’s threat, so there’s time to attend a wedding now. However, a coming reference in an Avengers comic annoyingly suggests the wedding takes place before Thor’s trip to Asgard, so perhaps he attended the wedding in the middle of last issue while Jane was recovering.
Rating: ★★½, 45/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Colletta’s work is particularly sketchy here. And I’m not a fan of the Demon. I wish they’d keep Thor out of Vietnam.
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 4.
Characters:
- Thor
- Harris Hobbs
- Absorbing Man/Crusher Creel
- Odin
- Loki
- The Demon
Story notes:
- Thor travels to Asgard by a vortex created by his enchanted mallet. No mortal mind can comprehend what that looks like.
- Thor notes the Bifrost is known as the Rainbow Bridge.
- Thor is concerned when Heimdall is not at his station. Empty streets are the next clue something is wrong.
- Thor shouts: “For Odin, and Asgard!” A common battle cry of his.
- We’ve stepped back a couple minutes in time, and see the beginning of Odin’s battle from Thor’s perspective.
- Odin’s Scepter of Supremacy swallows the cosmic fury.
- The Scepter subjects Creel to the force of a molecular cyclone.
- Communist soldiers hunt local witch doctor in Asia.
- The witch doctor finds the Norn Stone and gains super powers. Now seeks to drive the Communists from his land and then rule the world.
- Creel absorbs marble and grows.
- Loki refers to Scepter as Supreme Scepter.
- Absorbing Man betrays Loki.
- Odin hurls Loki and Creel into the void of space.
- Thor notes people would not believe Hobbs. There have been stories of Asgard for centuries, but still people don’t really believe it exists.
- Thor makes Hobbs forget his time in Asgard; but deep down he will know he’s been there.
- The Demon continues his conquest.
| Previous | #398 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Journey Into Mystery #122, Story B | Reading order | Journey Into Mystery #123, Story B |
| Journey Into Mystery #122, Story B | Journey Into Mystery | Journey Into Mystery #123, Story B |
