journey into mystery – Page 6

Journey Into Mystery #101

The Return of Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man!

Featuring: Thor
Release: December 2, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: G. Bell
Lettered by: S. Rosen
13 pages

We are one week late reading this comic because it begins a two-part battle against Tomorrow Man. How this comic fits in with Thor’s appearances in Avengers is pretty complicated, and we’ll be addressing that in a later post.

I’ll remind readers that the Avengers really do have some urgent business to get back to. Both Hulk and Namor remain at large. It should also be noted that Giant-Man recently fractured his ankle, but seems better now.

Jack Kirby is back and here to stay. Perhaps he’ll be able to turn around what up to this point has been one of the worst comics. Perhaps not, as he was there for the earliest issues of Thor and they were still of low quality. But Stan Lee was also farming out the writing to a variety of people. Now, for the first time, Stan and Jack will be the team on this book, just like on Fantastic Four and Sgt. Fury. They’ve also reached the point in their working relationship where their “coplotting” of the stories likely involves Stan less and less. Kirby will be taking greater control of the storytelling going forward. We’ll see how it goes.

Now that Lee is scripting, there is a detectable difference in Thor’s speech patterns. Under other writers, he had slowly evolved from talking like he was Don to talking like he was Thor. Now, there’s a certain haughty regality to the language. Words like “naught”.

Journey Into Mystery #100, Story C

The Storm Giants!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: November 5, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: P. Reinman
5 pages

We continue with the anniversary issue of Journey Into Mystery. There is the main Thor tale, then a prose story, a sci/fi tale, and this, a story from Thor’s childhood. We get an extra subtitle for the feature: “Tales of Asgard, Home of the Mighty Norse Gods!: The Boyhood of Thor”.

Up until this point, the series had focused on the earliest days of creation, with Odin as the main star, prior to the birth of Thor. We jump forward in time now to Thor’s childhood.

Journey Into Mystery #100

The Master Plan of Mr. Hyde!

Featuring: Thor
Release: November 5, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Don Heck
13 pages

Congratulations to Journey Into Mystery on reaching 100 issues. The cover doesn’t see this milestone as something worth making a big deal out of. Nor does the story. This is just another Thor story, as far as I can tell.

For contrast, check out Superman #100 from almost a decade earlier. They seemed proud to reach 100.

Let’s celebrate the milestone by briefly reviewing the history of the title and peeking into its future.

Journey Into Mystery #99, Story C

Surtur the Fire Demon!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: October 1, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Presented with pride by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
5 pages

As with previous issues, this tale of Asgard is short, terse, and very plot-dense. Odin battles trolls and Surtur the fire-god. By the end, the moon has been created, the Rainbow Bridge has been created, Odin has started Earth’s rotation, and Surtur has been imprisoned in Earth’s core.

Journey Into Mystery #99

The Mysterious Mr. Hyde!

Featuring: Thor
Release: October 1, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Don Heck
13 pages

Yes, we are jumping back in time a week. This begins a two-part story, so I wanted to get #99-100 together. The CMRO actually puts the Thor stories from each issue together, and then goes back to the “Tales of Asgard” stories from 99-100. I think I’m going to treat reading a whole issue at once as the more important consideration. Of course, I will eventually break that rule. So the plan is to read the whole of Journey Into Mystery #99 followed by the whole of #100, even though that inserts a Tales of Asgard story in the middle of Thor’s battle with Mr. Hyde.

Marvel’s already had a few characters inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s story, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hulk is the most famous one, but his character arc has so far been a rambling mess. Lizard did it well, though it made the character of Curt Connors far more sympathetic than Stevenson made Dr. Jekyll.

Now, we get an explicit reference with a villain named Mr. Hyde. Calvin Zabo is written as even less sympathetic than Dr. Jekyll. He is a straightforward super-villain who transforms himself into Mr. Hyde to commit crimes.

Journey Into Mystery #98, Story C

Odin Battles Ymir, King of the Ice Giants!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: September 3, 1963
Cover: November 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Don Heck
5 pages

In this same issue, we saw Thor’s lackluster battle against Cobra. There is also a prose story taken from an old issue of Uncanny Tales, and a new Larry Lieber sci/fi tale. And then this. The second installment of the “Tales of Asgard” series.

We get more detail on a battle spoken of in the previous issue. We see Odin’s great war against Ymir and the Ice Giants. A simple enough tale, but told with a bold forcefulness. This is a better use of Kirby’s talents than a lot of what he has been doing of late.

Journey Into Mystery #98

Challenged by the Human Cobra!

Featuring: Thor
Release: September 3, 1963
Cover: November 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Don Heck
13 pages

The issue begins with Thor throwing a temper tantrum. “It isn’t fair!” he cries. The narrator notes it may surprise us to see a superhero throw a temper tantrum. No, I’ve been reading Fantastic Four.

Of course I imagine Thor’s voice sounds like Tommy Wiseau as he shouts.

An ex-convict named Klaus is bitten by a radioactive cobra and gains the powers of a cobra. This is pretty well-established as what happens when radioactive creatures bite you.

Journey Into Mystery #97, Story C

Tales of… Asgard! Home of the Mighty Norse Gods

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: August 1, 1963
Cover: October 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: G. Bell
5 pages

The inks are by George Roussos, who often used the pseudonym George Bell. This is the first work of his we’ve seen.

The Thor series has not been very good. But I know there are good Thor comics. I even know there are good Thor comics made by Lee and Kirby. We just haven’t seen them yet. There’s been no real consistent artistic voice on the series, with a variety of artists and scripters taking a hand.

Thor is at his best when the stories explore the mythological. He’s generally better in Asgard than on Earth. Indeed, the best Thor story so far introduced Loki, and told the story of how he freed himself from the tree where Odin had imprisoned him. That was the only glimmer of greatness we’ve yet seen.

Here is the next glimmer. After the main tale and a Larry Lieber-helmed sci/fi tale, we get the first installment of a new series: Tales of Asgard. These stories will give Kirby a chance to flex his mythological cred.

Journey Into Mystery #97

The Lava Man

Featuring: Thor
Release: August 1, 1963
Cover: October 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Don Heck
13 pages

Kirby gets main drawing credit, but the faces (excepting the Lava Man) look more like Heck’s work to my eye. The action is very Kirby though.

Beneath the surface of the Earth, Mole Man rules an army of monsters. The immortal Tyrannus rules a kingdom of underworld natives. The kingdom of Atlantis had once sunk beneath the sea, and continued sinking beneath the world; when Iron Man visited, Kala was the ruler of Atlantis. We’re about to meet our fourth kingdom beneath the surface. Fortunately, the world is big enough for all of them.

INTERLUDE: Journey Into Mystery #96, Story B

Call her… Medusa!

Featuring: Medusa
Release: July 2, 1963
Cover: September 1963
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script + Art: Larry Lieber
Inking: Paul Reinman
5 pages

Wet met Medusa in Tales to Astonish #32. As with all these mythological characters, it is unclear if all the stories that appear are supposed to connect. The CMRO includes many Medusa appearances in its order, including several appearances that predate where we started our reading. I hope to cover USA Comics #6 eventually in a “prelude” post, but after we first meet Captain America in the present stories.

For example, this comic notes Medusa was slain by Perseus, suggesting she is not the same character we met in the modern day. On the other hand, the Perseus story was related by a teacher, who is perhaps just wrong about Medusa’s fate.

Either way, we learn Medusa is a member of an alien race called the Gorgons, who are now ready to invade earth once again.