journey into mystery – Page 3

Journey Into Mystery #116

The Trial of the Gods!

Featuring: Thor
Release: March 4, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
Written by imperial Stan Lee
Illustrated by impregnable Jack Kirby
Inked by implacable Vince Colletta
Lettered by impossible Artie Simek
16 pages

Previous	#340	Next
Daredevil #7	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #116, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #115, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #116, Story B

Colletta graduates from inking the backup stories to the main Thor feature. He will be the Thor artist for a very long time to come. For better or worse. In fact, he will ink the next 52 consecutive Thor stories, and a good many of the next 50 after that over the course of an 8-year run.

We’ll reserve commentary on the his style for now. Let’s spend a few issues taking in this new art style before we try to see how we think Colletta compares to Chic Stone.

Another compelling Thor title. “The Trial of the Gods!”

We’ve known the phrase since we read Avengers #16, which was actually published a week after this, but took place earlier. At least, Thor’s appearance in the story took place before this issue.

Kirby seemed to use the same concept for cover and first page.

I’ve never really understood Odin and never will. Everybody seems to agree he is wise, but his wisdom must be too much for my mortal intelligence to grasp. Thor claims Loki kidnapped Jane to Asgard; Loki claims Thor brought Jane to Asgard because he loves her. Who is lying? The God of Thunder or the God of Lies?

Only one way to find out, says Odin. The Trial of the Gods!

Journey Into Mystery #115, Story B

A Viper in Our Midst!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: February 4, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Illustrator: Jack Kirby
Delineator: Vince Colletta
Letterer: Artie Simek
5 pages

Previous	#338	Next
Journey Into Mystery #115	Reading order	Daredevil #7
Journey Into Mystery #115	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #116

This is the third Loki-centric story. Not really sure why this is a significant chapter in his life. I guess it’s an early example of him being evil. They seem to make a big deal that this is his first time forming an evil alliance.

Journey Into Mystery #115

The Vengeance of the Thunder God

Featuring: Thor
Release: February 4, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee the sage of the Marvel Age!
Penciling by: Jack Kirby the rage of the Marvel Age!
Inking by: Frankie Ray for his wage in the Marvel Age!
Lettering by: Artie Simek from his cage in the Marvel Age!
16 pages

Previous	#337	Next
Journey Into Mystery #114, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #115, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #114, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #115, Story B

Recall last issue Thor and Absorbing Man were locked in battle when Balder transported Thor away to Asgard because Loki had imprisoned Jane Foster.

I noted that starting just about last issue, the Thor title is finally getting good. In the old stories, Mr. Hyde or Cobra would kidnap Jane and Thor would fight them.

Admittedly the plot of this issue is that Loki kidnaps Jane and Thor fights him. But it’s good.

At least Loki imprisoning Jane makes sense, as Loki is well aware of Thor’s secret identity– which makes one question the value of the secret identity. Mr. Hyde would just pick the right victim by chance.

Admittedly the plot of next issue is that Enchantress and Executioner kidnap Jane, but I still maintain these stories are getting better.

Journey Into Mystery #114, Story B

The Golden Apples!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: January 5, 1965
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
By: Stan Lee + Jack Kirby
Inking: Vince Coletta [sic]
Lettering: Artie Simek
5 pages

Previous	#336	Next
Journey Into Mystery #114	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #115
Journey Into Mystery #114	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #115

The past two issues focused on Loki and his early days. We are informed more Loki stories are coming, but this tale is an interlude.

We meet Haakun the Hunter and the goddess Iduna. Iduna is notably wearing a red hood, perhaps suitable for riding.

Journey Into Mystery #114

The Stronger I Am, the Sooner I Die!

Featuring: Thor
Release: January 5, 1965
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Written at white heat by: Stan Lee
Drawn with purple passion by: Jack Kirby
Inked with golden serenity by: Chic Stone
Lettered on a blue Monday by: Sam Rosen
16 pages

Previous	#335	Next
Avengers #16	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #114, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #113, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #114, Story B

“The Stronger I Am, the Sooner I Die!”

Well, damn. That’s maybe the most compelling title yet. It turns out to also make complete sense into the context of the story. I like it.

This is the issue Thor finally gets good.

Quality-wise, Thor’s been turning around since about a dozen issues back. It went from being the single worst title to a pretty decent one. The stories still haven’t been much to speak of, but the art and action have been excellent. There’s been great storytelling of late, even if not applied to many stories worth telling.

The great storytelling has been owed to the pairing of Kirby and Stone. We just bid farewell to Stone’s tenure on FF. Now we must bid farewell to him on Thor (recall we’ve jumped back in time, so this is a month before his final FF issue). Vince Colletta will graduate from the Tales of Asgard backups and start on the main strip. There are those who love Colletta’s work on Thor, and there are many others who… don’t. We’ll see what we think in the months to come.

We are jumping back in time a couple months. Thor is changing. It has so far mostly consisted of identifiable discrete stories, usually one or two issues long. No more. Stories will flow into each other; it will be hard to tell where one begins and ends. It will be hard to identify where Thor gets enough of a breather to go be an Avenger. (Though we know that soon won’t be an issue.) We’re already behind on our Dr. Strange and Hulk reading because they’ve started the “saga” approach to storytelling.

To that end, the plan is to read the next 6 issues of Thor basically together, pausing only to check in on Daredevil, because it’s relevant to the happenings in Thor.

Most of the issue is dedicated to Thor’s battle against the Absorbing Man, but it ends indecisively. It’s over for the moment, but Thor’s foe remains at large. Meanwhile, we get a second conflict in the final pages. Loki has kidnapped Jane and holds her in his stronghold. Thor must go battle Loki and rescue Jane. Next issue will pick up both of these plots, but the Absorbing Man story still won’t conclude, and it will bleed into the Trial of the Gods” arc, which has already been hinted at in our Avengers reading because we got 2 months ahead.

We’ll talk in more detail about chronology next issue, but my loose idea is that this story takes place between the pages of Avengers #15. After the first Thor scene but before the second. The MCP disagrees, placing this squarely after Avengers #16.

Let’s dive in.

Journey Into Mystery #113, Story B

The Boyhood of Loki!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: December 3, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
A Stan Lee and Jack Kirby fabulous featurette!
Inked by: Vince Colletta
Lettered by: Artie Simek
5 pages

Previous	#304	Next
Journey Into Mystery #113	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #15
Journey Into Mystery #113	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #114

The story is credited to Stan and Jack without any breakdown of who did what.

Stan refers to this as the “biographies-in-depth” series. There’s not that much depth. This is the second chapter of Loki’s “biography” and the third character spotlighted after Heimdall and Balder.

Journey Into Mystery #113

A World Gone Mad!

Featuring: Thor
Release: December 3, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
A tale told with gusto by: Stan Lee
A drama drawn with grandeur by: Jack Kirby
An idyll inked with gallantry by: Chic Stone
A legend lettered with glee by: Artie Simek
16 pages

Previous	#303	Next
Daredevil #6	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #113, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #113, Story B

Jack opens the story with Odin and Thor leading Asgardian soldiers aboard a giant sky ship into battle against the “demon men” of Jotunheim.

And Stan basically apologizes for that, assuring readers that Thor will soon be on Earth fighting a super-villain that’s no match for him and pining over Jane.

Stan and Jack are not on the same page with the direction Thor stories should take. I’m with Jack.

While it’s true that Stan is basically joking, he carries on with it for two pages while neglecting to actually script or provide real narration for the epic battle he seems somewhat embarrassed by. He offers us only, “For Asgard– and freedom!”

Nice sentiments, but I’m not convinced that “freedom” is a key value in Asgard, where an absolute monarch has ruled for millennia according fickle whims that must be obeyed without question, while seeming to exist in a state of perpetual war with all their neighboring realms.

Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B

The Coming of Loki!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: November 3, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Majestically written by: Stan Lee
Magnificently drawn by: Jack Kirby
Masterfully inked by: Vince Colletta
Magnanimously lettered by: Artie Simek
5 pages

Previous	#293	Next
Journey Into Mystery #112	Reading order	Avengers #12
Journey Into Mystery #112	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #113

We see this story described as the start of a new biography in-depth. There won’t be that much depth. What’s meant is that we have had sequences of this series devoted to Heimdall and Balder respectively. It’s now Loki’s turn to take the spotlight for the next few issues.

This story is set when Thor is a young child, and the universe as well is young. Odin is solidifying his rule and Asgard is at war with Jotunheim. Jotunheim is a land of giants and Laufey is their king. Odin seeks to end Laufey’s rule.

We have before met Frost Giants, Storm Giants, Rime Giants, and Mountain Giants. The inhabitants of Jotunheim are here just referred to as giants. Later comic stories will suggest Laufey is actually a Frost Giant, but he looks nothing like Ymir.

Odin is wielding what appears to be the uru hammer he would later give to Thor.

Journey Into Mystery #112

The Mighty Thor Battles the Incredible Hulk!

Featuring: Thor
Release: November 3, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
A Stan Lee-Jack Kirby Marvel Masterwork!
Inking by: Chic Stone
Lettering by: S. Rosen
16 pages

Previous	#292	Next
Avengers #11	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #111, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B

Lee and Kirby seem to share top billing in the credits (Lee’s name first, of course) without breaking down who did what.

It’s interesting that they wanted Thor to battle the Hulk, but rather than have Thor battle the Hulk, they had Thor tell a story set in the past. Perhaps Hulk is too busy with the ongoing Leader Saga to be able to appear in Thor’s book. Stan is perhaps becoming aware his fans expect continuity and resorting to tricks not to break it.

Thor tells children a story when he sees them arguing over who is stronger: Thor or Hulk. Superhero fans have asked such questions for decades, and Stan had likely received more than a few letters asking the question. As he’s done before, he puts the fans’ queries–and the fans themselves– directly into the story.

I love the Hulk/Thor signs the kids made, and just how passionate and angry they all seem about this important question.

Thor’s tale is set in the middle of Avengers #3, expanding the story told then. Recall the Avengers battled Hulk and Sub-Mariner in Gibraltar.

Journey Into Mystery #111, Story B

The Secret of Sigurd!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: October 1, 1964
Cover: December 1964
12 cents
Superbly written by: Stan Lee
Supremely drawn by: Jack Kirby
Savagely inked by: Vince Colletta
Sagatiously lettered by: Artie Simek
5 page

Previous	#279	Next
Journey Into Mystery #111	Reading order	Daredevil #5
Journey Into Mystery #111	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #112

The theme of many of these early Thor stories is that Loki is still considered a friend and ally by Thor, yet Loki is always secretly trying to get Thor killed, usually in pretty non-subtle ways. This has been going on since they were children.

Loki has recommended a short cut through a forbidden forest, then goads Sigurd and Thor into battle. Balder is suspicious.