Journey Into Mystery #638, July 2012, written by Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, penciled by Carmine Di Giandomenico
Journey Into Mystery #91, April 1963, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, penciled by Joe Sinnott, Larry Lieber (backup) and Steve Ditko (backup)
MISSION: MARVEL ENTRY #42
Journey Into Mystery #90, March 1963, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, penciled by Al Hartley (lead), Steve Ditko (back-up) and Joe Sinnott (back-up)
Oh, no. No no no. No thank you. Nope. This has to be some sort of shelved filler issue because it’s…it’s just…it makes no sense. First. the cover and title trumpets the arrival of a new villain (Carbon-Copy Man) who actually does not appear throughout the entire story. The alien shapeshifter, who looks like this Carbon-Copy Man, actually controls…frost? I know copiers mess up in wonky ways, but they’ve never actually coated my documents with ice. The actual villains are a group of shape-shifting aliens who are not the Skrulls whose big plan is to impersonate key government figures (like Jane Foster, duh) and have them implement WACKY LAWS!!
I want to defend Stan Lee with all of my being. I think it’s unfair that he has been attacked and vilified by small groups of comic book fans who don’t think Kirby and Ditko, etc. get enough recognition. I believe that Stan plotted/created/wrote all of these issues. But. When the disparity in quality between this mess and Amazing Spider-Man #1 is so great? Man, it makes me wonder. Granted, who knows how light of a plot Stan gave newcomer (to heroes at least) Al Hartley and then his brother to script from. In a one-sentence plot, I’m sure this issue sounds fine. And truthfully, the books involving Larry Lieber do lack almost all of the zing that the ones by Stan & Jack or Stan & Steve have.
So, this is the worst superhero comic that Marvel has put out.
1st Appearance:
- Zano (a Xartan alien who returns one more time 25 years later in X-Factor #32, proving that even the crappiest Marvel characters have at least one more story left in them)
My Score: 2.3
MISSION: MARVEL ENTRY #36
Journey Into Mystery #89, February 1963, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby (lead), Sol Brodsky (back-up) and Steve Ditko (back-up)
Things get downright cinematic in this latest issue of Journey. I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity of the narrative and maturity of tone. Guys, this is the first Thor adventure without Loki to not suck. A mob boss gets injured while escaping from authorities just outside Don Blake’s offices, so they grab the doctor (or “sawbones” as the thugs called him three times on one page) and hightail it back to their hideout where Don Blake has to patch up the injured leader. After doing so, of course, the leader turns on him and wants him killed. Don Blake Thors out, escapes (and also takes out a bunch of the gang in a truly Silver Age spectacular fashion), but before he can get back to his offices the MOB BOSS GETS THERE FIRST AND TAKES JANE FOSTER HOSTAGE. Whoah!! The battle then spills out onto the street with the mob boss climbing up a building under construction, before (duh) being defeated by Thor. It’s…all not bad. And most of it isn’t silly.
Okay, some of it is silly. The opening where Thor chucks a dummy dressed as Thor, wearing a replica of his costume that he produced out of nowhere, to deflect attention from his arrival at Don Blake’s office? That’s bananas. So is Jane Foster’s dream sequence of being Thor’s wife/servant (she calls him “boss” in the fantasy, yikes). The issue ends with Thor using Asgardian magic to remove the memory of love from the head thug’s girlfriend’s mind. It’s weird.
Also there’s a back-up strip that I did NOT read called “From Outer Space.” Nice to know they’re still cycling through the same two premises.
1st Appearances:
- Thug Thatcher (appropriately named mob boss who returns 23 years later to assumedly bother Thor during Walt Simonson’s acclaimed run on the title)
- Ruby Mortensen (Thug’s girlfriend who gets brainwiped at the end of the story also returns alongside Thug decades later)
My Score: 7.2
MISSION: MARVEL ENTRY #31
Journey Into Mystery #88, January 1963, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby (lead), Don Heck (back-up) and Steve Ditko (back-up)
Follow Mission Marvel for all the details on crazy/great old Marvel comics!
MISSION: MARVEL ENTRY #27
Journey Into Mystery #87, December 1962, written by Larry Lieber and Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby (lead), Paul Reinman (back-up) and Steve Ditko (back-up)
Did newscasters in the early ’60s really refer to Communists as “Reds,” or is that just part of the so-hip Marvel Universe? Donald Blake notices that a bunch of American scientists are giving up on the USA and going behind the “Iron Curtain” to work (that phraseology is used at least twice in this issue). Turns out they’re being brainwashed, kidnapped and then gently pestered by the Russians about working for them. Blake gets himself captured to Trojan Horse Thor into the mix, and then uses the power of Thor to break them all out. It’s fine.
Thor again uses his powers in ways that he doesn’t today. He rubs his hands against Mjolnir and uses the friction to shoot sparks and lightning. He later digs a tunnel underneath the prison by swinging his hammer quickly. Science!
Anyone who complains about Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster in Thor needs to read the source material, cause sister is weak. Jane bookends the issue with love-swept/nagging appearances that read extremely poorly today. She suffers from Lois and Superman syndrome (loving the superhero, ignoring his alter ego) which was probably already being done at the time over at the Distinguished Competition. So far she’s a sad artifact of 1962 in a line of comics that was so ground-breaking at the time.
1st Appearance:
- Colonel Edward Harrison (I begrudgingly include this guy, but he DOES go on to star in two issues of a forgotten late ’90s Marvel mini called Conspiracy and an issue of Iron Man: The Iron Age)
My Score: 5.6
Journey Into Mystery #86, November 1962, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, Don Heck and Steve Ditko
Everyone’s all jazzed about Thor after that Superbowl trailer, right? Right? I mean, I am. Well, here’s a comic where he uses his Thor powers to chase a Cobalt Bomb centuries into the future. Read the full review at Mission: Marvel.
MISSION: MARVEL ENTRY #16
1087. Journey Into Mystery #85, October 1962, written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck
Loki’s introduction is a shot of adrenaline into this comparatively sleepy book. Thor is still just Donald Blake’s brain in Thor’s body right now and it seems like all of Thor’s knowledge comes from Blake’s general understanding of Norse mythology. I’m still waiting for Thorspeak to start.
1st Appearances:
- Loki
- Heimdall
- Odin, Tyr, Balder the Brave (all cameos in the last panel of the issue, their names are listed but only the back of their heads are shown)
My Score: 6.7
