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.

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