balder – Page 3 – Coke & Comics

Journey Into Mystery #106, Story B

The Brave

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written with passion by: Stan Lee
Drawn with pageantry by: Jack Kirby
Inked with power by: Vince Colletta
Lettered with pride by: Art Simek
5 pages

We recently met Vince Colletta over in Daredevil. This issue begins Vince Colletta’s long relationship with Thor, spanning almost a decade. He will be the regular inker on “Tales of Asgard” from here on out, and soon graduate to the main title. He will be the inker for over 60 consecutive issues and remain a frequent inker on the title thereafter.

Contrasting his work with, say, Chic Stone, we see more hatchings to represent shadow and shape than we have been seeing, yet less crispness. The features are often softer and less defined. I’ve seen it described as “atmospheric”.

The next two chapters of “Tales of Asgard” will focus on Balder. Let’s review his history.

Journey Into Mystery #104

Giants Walk the Earth!

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.

Journey Into Mystery #102, Story C

“Death” Comes to Thor!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: January 3, 1964
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Paul Reinman
Lettered by: Art Simek
5 pages

Anybody else feel like this title would be more dramatic without the quotation marks, which seem to imply that death is not actually coming for Thor.

This completes a trilogy of stories of the Boyhood of Thor. The focus has been on his attempts to earn the right to wield Odin’s magic hammer. We learn from the title that Thor is now 18, a little older than in the last adventures. This is the tale of how Thor finally lifts his magic uru hammer.

Journey Into Mystery #85

Trapped by Loki, the God of Mischief!/The Vengeance of Loki!/
Release: August 2, 1962
Cover: October 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1. The credits above come from the collection. I see no credits within the comic itself.

This is a pretty exciting story for me. I like the character of Thor, but what excites me most is the mythological world surrounding him. The first 2 issues told of a man in Thor’s body battling aliens and Commies. Now we finally get to Asgard.

“Beyond our segment of time and space, there exists Asgard, the citadel of the Norse gods, which is connected to earth by a rainbow bridge called the Bifrost!”