heimdall – Coke & Comics

Thor #136

To Become an Immortal!

Featuring: Thor
Release: November 3, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
A proud phantasmagoria of pageantry, presented by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Delineated by Vince Colletta
Lettered by Artie Simek
16 pages

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Thor #135, Story B	Reading order	Thor #136, Story B
Thor #135, Story B	Thor	Thor #136, Story B

I did but provide the time– the setting– But, only in the heart can be found the final enchanted ingredient– men call love!

Let’s reflect on the relationship between Jane, Don, and Thor. To understand this love triangle, we first need to understand the relationship between Don and Thor. And we don’t.

We reflected on the nature of their relationship back in issue 129. It seems Don is Thor and Thor is Don. They have two bodies, but one mind, one set of thoughts, and one heart, one set of feelings.

There is plenty of evidence to contradict that interpretation, but that is how they are usually written. Don is Thor and Thor is Don. Don is mortal and Thor is immortal. Thor is ancient, older than humanity, and had a life long before Don. And Don presumably had a life before Thor, before he found that cane in the mountain. Though we have learned very little about that life, only that he had studied medicine and become a world-renowned surgeon and robotics expert. We’ve seen no glimpses of his past life, nor met any relatives. But presumably he has these things. But now he is Thor. Mind, heart, soul.

In fact, Thor and Don seem closer than Hulk and Banner. Who definitely seem to to be two distinct characters with opinions about the other, who share only some thoughts and feelings.

So where does Jane fit in?

Thor #127, Story B

The Meaning of… Ragnarok!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: February 3, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Pencilling: Jack Kirby
Delineation: Vince Colletta
Lettering: Artie Simek
5 pages

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Thor #127	Reading order	Thor #128
Thor #127	Thor	Thor #128

In the name of the omnipotent Odin– in the name of eternal Asgard– by the power of my hammer– for the glory of our cause– onwarrrrd– to victory!

The Odinsword Saga might be over now. Unclear. The story never seemed to be going anywhere and in the end it didn’t go anywhere. The whole thing was a ruse by Odin, who felt his warriors needed a bit of adventure.

So why was the Odinsword cracked if there was no enemy? Was it really cracked? Had it just always been cracked? We’ll never know. We’re moving on.

Thor #127

The Hammer and the Holocaust!

Featuring: Thor
Release: February 3, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Delineator: Vince Colletta
Letterer: Sam Rosen
16 pages

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Avengers #29	Reading order	Thor #127, Story B
Thor #126, Story B	Thor	Thor #127, Story B

For one brief, fleeting instant of eternity, a god hath dared to love a mortal! Till the universe crumbles, my heart is ever thine! Let that be our epitaph… and our glory!

Now that’s a cover.

We discussed Pieta-inspired covers with Journey Into Mystery #110. This is a much better example of such a cover. I would call this awesome.

As with Avengers, I want to note where Thor is during an upcoming Fantastic Four story, published concurrently with the last few issues. What keeps him away from helping the FF? I don’t believe his short fight with the Demon nor his tiff with Hercules would do it.

Also, the last year of Thor stories still must have taken very little time, as there has been little room for pausing. So it’s likely these Thor stories take place before a lot of the other stories we’ve been reading, and the adventure that seemed more important than helping the FF is still ahead. We’ll be on the lookout for it!

In that sense of there being not a lot of time passing, this picks up precisely where last issue left off, with Jane trying to comfort a moping Thor, who has just lost his first fight, because his daddy halved his powers. Notably, Odin finally seems to support the relationship.

Of course, now there’s a new reason Thor and Jane can’t be together. It’s not about his bum leg or his daddy issues. How could she love a man who can’t even beat Hercules in a fight?

Journey Into Mystery #125

When Meet the Immortals!

Featuring: Thor
Release: December 2, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Bombastically written by: Stan Lee
Brilliantly drawn by: Jack Kirby
Beautifully inked by: Vince Colletta
Bashfully lettered by: Artie Simek
16 pages

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Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B

But even a Thunder God has the right to love!

We come to Thor’s final adventure in Journey Into Mystery, the series concluding after 125 issues. We’ll see next month what they have instead. Such a finale would be a good time for an overview of the series as a whole, but I gave a summary to celebrate the 100th issue, so I’ll just point to that. It may even spoil what’s coming next month.

“By the bristling beard of Odin,” Thor exclaims. We’ll start hearing that oath a lot. Have we heard it before? I failed to note it if we did.

Thor’s battle with the Demon concludes pretty readily and Thor takes the final Norn Stone to return to Odin.

Journey Into Mystery #110

Every Hand Against Him!

Featuring: Thor
Release: September 1, 1964
Cover: November 1964
12 cents
Spectacularly written by: Stan Lee
Magnificently drawn by: Jack Kirby
Powerfully inked by: Chic Stone
Eventually lettered by: Art Simek
16 pages

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Avengers #10	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #110, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #109, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #110, Story B

This image of Thor holding the wounded Jane resembles an extremely common trope in superhero comics. It’s a standard way to depict a character as dead while another mourns them. This is the first time we’ve seen it in our Marvel reading. The Distinguished Competition had a cover with a similar pose a year earlier to depict the death of Robin.

Generally, these are described as “pieta covers”, referring to the resemblance to La Pieta by Michelangelo, in which Mary holds the body of her dead son, Jesus.

This blog post on metropolisplus gives an overview of the trope. Depending on how much of a purist you are, this Thor cover might not quite fit the pieta trope. As Jane is wounded, not dead; and Thor is protecting her, not mourning her. But it’s pretty close.

Journey Into Mystery #108

At the Mercy of Loki, Prince of Evil!

Featuring: Thor
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, the idol of millions!
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the toast of the town!
Inked by: Chic Stone, the man of the hour!
Lettered by Art Simek, the people’s choice!
18 pages

Stan Lee grants himself the tagline that will eventually get applied (usually self-applied) frequently to Ben Grimm: “the idol of millions”.

We get an offbeat opening sequence. Maybe it’s cool. I find it stretches credibility, though I confess a difficulty expressing what doesn’t in Thor stories. Thor appears to go mad, striking the ground with his hammer to create an earthquake. This shaking threw a truck off the ground a few blocks away, just high enough to not hit a boy. I find it hard to believe Thor could be that precise, and that nobody else was injured. Thor claims there was only some damaged property, which could be paid for out of the Avengers emergency fund.

The notable event in this issue is the first meeting of Thor and Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange had just barely defeated Baron Mordo and was left weakened by the battle. Strange fights Mordo pretty often. The last battle we saw was a few months ago and didn’t seem to leave Strange this weakened. There is likely some untold battle between Strange and Mordo that precedes this story.

Journey Into Mystery #105, Story B

When Heimdall Failed!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: April 2, 1964
Cover: June 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Geo Bell
Lettering: Art Simek
5 pages

Recall that last issue, we learned the origin of Heimdall. This issue we get another Heimdall tale, before the spotlight shifts to Balder starting next issue.

Nedra hatches a plot with Brimer, King of the Storm Giants, to invade Asgard, even under Heimdall’s watch. Nothing can escape his sight or hearing, but the air creatures known as the Vanna can be neither seen nor heard.

Nonetheless, Heimdall senses the approaching Vanna and lashes out. He misses and is uncertain whether to trust his own instincts.

Journey Into Mystery #104, Story C

Heimdall, Guardian of the Mystic Rainbow Bridge

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: March 3, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
A tale told in splendor by: Stan Lee
A drama drawn in glory by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Don Heck
Lettering: Art Simek
5 pages

I appreciate that the Tales of Asgard stories are willing to try different things. The initial offerings concerned Odin and the early days of creation. Then we got a series of stories about Thor as a youth. Now we will get a series focused on Heimdall. Stories about Balder will follow. The series feels it has the freedom to explore a variety of characters and eras of Asgard.

Heimdall was briefly introduced to us in Journey Into Mystery #85, where we learned he was the Warder of the Bifrost. We are given the general sense that he is very good at his job and that almost nothing slips past him. However, we haven’t seen much evidence of that. Indeed, we’ve seen Loki fool him twice. In issue 88, Loki disguised himself as a snake to escape Asgard. In an ancient tale told in issue 101, young Loki created a hole in Asgard’s defenses without Heimdall realizing it.

We now learn the story of how Heimdall was awarded his post. The right to stand eternal watch at a station is not something I would have competed for, but Heimdall did. Agnar the Fierce and Gotron the Agile both presented their cases to Odin. But they could not compete with Heimdall’s heightened senses. He could hear a plant growing far away in hills thought to be barren, and his eyes that can scan time and space could see an approaching army of Storm Giants still two days away.

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 #101, Story C

The Invasion of Asgard!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: December 2, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: G. Bell
Lettered by: Art Simek
5 pages

Forces of Evil are set to attack Asgard, but Heimdall stands vigilant. However, Loki has created a hole in Asgard’s defenses and somehow kept it secret from even Heimdall. He tricks Thor into thinking he discovered this gap, and suggests that Thor guard it. This leads to the young Thor having to battle the Forces of Evil alone.