journey into mystery – Page 8

Journey Into Mystery #86

On the Trail of the Tomorrow Man!
Featuring: Thor
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.

There’s a pretty significant milestone here. Relatively full credits are given at the bottom of the first page. Many comics we’ve read had no credits at all. Others bore a signature here or there. The Fantastic Four have featured the signatures of Stan and Jack fairly prominently. For the first time, we see explicit credit given to Lieber and Ayers, along with a breakdown of who did what. Online sources were generally clear Lee and been doing the plotting on Thor (though it’s likely Kirby also deserves credit) and leaving the scripting to Lieber. The table of contents of the Marvel Masterworks edition simply refers to Lee and Lieber as writers. Fantastic Four #9 debuts the same day and also features similarly robust credits. We’ll cover that shortly.

I’ve been noting the main credits above–writers and artists–as best I can, drawing from the credits given in the collection I’ve been reading or from online sources. I’m not trying to be a definitive source for credits, so have not been giving full credits myself. I don’t mention above the lettering of Artie Simek or the coloring of Stan Goldberg. I mean no disservice to their talents; it’s just not the focus of this blog. (Notably, I am often looking at these reprint editions, not the originals, and they have often been recolored… so I am anyway in no position to speak intelligently to Goldberg’s coloring).

PRELUDE: Journey Into Mystery #47, Story B

It Hides Under the Ground!
Release: February 25, 1957
Cover: June 1957
10 cents
Credits: Carl Wessler and Syd Shores
4 pages

The story offers no credits. I took the above from the Grand Comics Database.

We just met Odin in Journey Into Mystery #85. That was his Marvel Age introduction. But of course the company had been publishing all sorts of fantasy tales for decades, often drawing from mythology. The CMRO reckons Odin’s introduction into its “expanded order” as Adventures Into Terror #26. I fear I have not read that issue.

I will give us a glimpse of an old Odin story, from 5 years earlier in the same Journey Into Mystery series.

This tale follows a pretty standard format. There is a less-than-reputable lead engaging in immoral activity, and a fantastic twist which serves him justice, often an ironic form of justice.

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!”

Journey Into Mystery #84

The Mighty Thor vs. the Executioner
Release: July 3, 1962
Cover: September 1962
12 cents
Credits: Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
13 pages

I read this comic in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1. The issue doesn’t seem to have formal credits, but the first page has the signatures of Kirby and Ayers. The collection’s table of contents notes Stan Lee and Larry Lieber are the writers.

There’s a revolution in the country of San Diablo (mi español es muy rusty, but I think that translates to “Saint Devil”, which suggests the requirements for sainthood have really loosened). A pro-communist dictator has seized power, but is engaged in civil war with a democratic faction. The dictator is called the Executioner because he executes a lot of people. Dr. Don Blake travels on a medical expedition to help out in San Diablo. The Executioner interferes as he wants the people weak and subservient. But, well… Thor.

Journey Into Mystery #83

The Stone Men from Saturn!

The Stone Men from Saturn!/The Power of Thor!/Thor the Mighty Strikes Back!
Release: June 5, 1962
Cover: August 1962
12 cents
Writing: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnot
13 pages

Previous	#13	Next
	PRELUDE	Venus #1
Ultimate Spider-Man #5	POSTLUDE
Amazing Fantasy #15	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #35
	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #84

Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor!

The credits are taken from the table of contents for Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1. I don’t see any credits in the story itself.

How wild is it that Thor and Spider-Man were introduced on the exact same day? There are a lot of days in the last 80 years, and only so many super heroes as iconic as those two. In the last year, we’ve met the Fantastic Four and the Hulk. The pace is picking up. Within a year, we’ll meet many of our favorite heroes.

The opening splash page depicts Thor, with a distinctive “T” on his elaborate belt. Except for simplifying the belt, Kirby’s rendition of Thor will last for decades with only minor variations. Notice the smile on Thor’s face; we see that later in the issue as well. Kirby depicts Thor as full of mirth. There is generally a dynamic and playful quality to the art.