Featuring: Thor
Release: April 2, 1963
Cover: June 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.
Another Cold War story, but this one tying itself closely to current events, seeming to be set during the Sino-Indian War.
This allows us to align the comic’s timeline with our own. The Sino-Indian War mainly took place October-November 1962, about 6 months before this comic came out. And since it takes some number of months to go from concept to the comic being finished, printed, distributed and appearing on stands, they were drawing from pretty current events.
There were preliminary skirmishes along the India/China border as well, concerning the dispute of Tibet. Incredible Hulk #5 was about the same conflict and came out right in the thick of the main war. This was likely coincidental timing, that the skirmishes the comic was based on had erupted into a war just as it was coming out.
For a Norse god here to defend humanity generally, Thor has seemed very invested in the political struggles of the world. He’s taking a clear side in Communism vs. Capitalism.
He’s not referred to my name, but the one they call “Great One” is clearly meant to be Chairman Mao Zedong. We’ve also met his Russian counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, or “Comrade K”. We have not yet met the American president, who would have been JFK for all the stories so far.
Anyways, Red China now has its own super-villain, the Radio-Active Man.
Radio-Active Man’s initial salvo against Thor plays out almost identically to Thor’s first battle against Loki. Thor gets hypnotized. Thor is compelled to give up hammer. Thor changes back to Don Blake. Luckily, nobody notices. Don Blake is now free of the hypnosis and goes to recover his hammer and defeat the villain.
Now, Loki had a bit more trouble with getting Thor to divest of his hammer. When Loki just ordered it, even hypnotized Thor had to obey the will of Odin and refuse. And when Loki had him throw it, it returned to him (what it usually does). Radio-Active Man just tells him to throw it, and he does, and it doesn’t return.
Ultimately, Thor sends Radio-Active Man back to China, setting off a nuclear explosion, which presumably kills Radio-Active Man, possibly along with countless Chinese civilians. Especially when you consider the radioactive fallout… I thought Thor was supposed to defend humanity.
We learn Dr. Blake lives in Manhattan. This is new information. They’d not yet named the city, though it seemed like Manhattan at times. That’s also where Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four live. Though there is not yet evidence that Thor coinhabits a world with these other stories and some evidence that he doesn’t.
I don’t know what’s going on with the spelling of the villain’s name. The word is “radioactive”. No hyphen. I definitely don’t know what’s up with the cover where they added a second hyphen. “Radio-Active-Man”? He will come to be known simply as “Radioactive Man”.
Did Thor really just nuke China?
Rating: ★½, 29/100
Still pretty racist. Actual battle with Radioactive Man takes like a panel. And why is Thor so invested in the capitalism vs. communism struggle anyway? Did Thor really just nuke China?
Characters:
- Dr. Don Blake/Thor
- Chen Lu/Radio-Active Man
- Chairman Mao Zedong
- Jane Foster (Nelson)
Minor Characters:
- General Fu
Story notes:
- Dr. Blake leads medical mission to India, into warzone from conflict with China.
- Sino-Indian War took place October-November 1962. But there were preliminary and later skirmishes this comic may be depicting.
- A related conflict was been depicted in Incredible Hulk #5.
- The official Chen Lu refers to as “Great One” is likely Chairman Mao Zedong.
- We learn Dr. Blake lives in Manhattan. That makes several superheroes in New York City.
- Chen Yu uses robots as assistants and guards (casual mention of some pretty advanced technology).
- Radio-active Man can turn very hot; can give off blinding light; deflect Thor’s hammer; immune to lightning bolts; arrange molecules so that attacking him would cause a nuclear blast; hypnotize people.
- Dr. Blake at first ignores challenge of Radio-Active Man because he is in surgery; it was noted nobody else could have saved the patient.
- Thor fires lightning from his fingertips.
- Dr. Blake builds an “x-ray type device” to monitor a 10-mile radius.
- Thor summons tornado to send Radio-Active Man to China and cause a nuclear explosion.
#73 story in reading order
Next: Tales to Astonish #45
Previous: Tales of Suspense #42
