Journey Into Mystery #108: Review

Sep 1964

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

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Story Name:

At the Mercy of Loki, Prince of Evil!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Journey Into Mystery #108 Review by Arcturus (September 11, 2011)

Review: An oddball issue has Dr. Strange helping Thor find his missing cane after Loki throws it out of a window. A Norse God and the Sorcerer Supreme need their combined powers to locate a misplaced piece of wood. Huh. So how many Marvel heroes does it take to screw in a light bulb? They’re still fighting since each assumes the other is the bad guy who shorted it out. Misplaced priorities: Thor causes an earthquake to stop a kid from being hit by a truck; good but what about the serious damage to the city and the other casualties we see when it happens? But then Loki defeats Thor by having him step in a seven-foot-deep hole and Thor gets his revenge with a bushel of woodchips so everyone is having an off day.

Comments: 1. First appearance of Dr. Strange in a Thor comic, though Thor and Dr. Strange met in STRANGE TALES #123 the previous month. Since Strange’s malady is said to be other than physical, it’s not clear what Don Blake does to save him in the operating room. Like father, like son: Thor can be just as cranky and unreasonable as his old man.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Journey Into Mystery #108 Synopsis by Arcturus Jackson

A stunned crowd looks on as Thor stands in the middle of a city street, raises his mighty Uru hammer and strikes it to the ground sending a shock wave though the metropolis. The vibration causes a truck to hop over a child who had run into the street. His act of mercy done he continues on his way only to receive a psychic summons from Dr. Strange. He heads to Strange’s Greenwich Village home to find the sorcerer gravely ill, weakened after a mighty magical battle with his enemy Baron Mordo. Thor has Strange rushed to the hospital where, as Dr. Donald Blake, he performs surgery which saves his mystic friend’s life, aided by the supernatural knowledge of Thor. While in the midst of the operation, Don hears a call from Odin, summoning Thor to battle, but he is forced to ignore it if his patient is to survive. An angry Odin sends down a bolt of lightning which shorts out the power to the hospital before riding to face his enemy. The operation is successful and Dr. Strange promises that he will do anything he can for Don in return. The confined Loki takes advantage of the All-Father’s absence to come to Earth where he visits Don Blake’s office disguised as an old man. He pretends to stumble against Don but it is a ruse to switch canes; he then hurls Don’s stick out of the window and stands revealed in his true form. Loki then carries off the drugged Jane Foster. Don heads outside to search for his cane but it is gone. Odin does not answer his summons so he hurries to the hospital and asks Dr. Strange for his aid in recovering the stick. Strange’s astral form spans the city until he discovers a pair of vagrants using it for a fishing rod. Strange frightens them off and Don seizes the stick, using it to take on the form of Thor. As the Thunder God rushes to find his evil brother, Odin appears to him but an angry and anxious Thor rebuffs his Father. On the way, Iron Man, Wasp, and Giant-Man spy Thor and offer to help him in his mission but he brushes them off too. Thor stands atop the Empire State Building and uses his Asgardean aura to detect Loki’s coming from the Adirondack Mountains. He spots the God of Mischief but not Jane so he calls on Dr. Strange once more before confronting his foe. After a violent battle, Loki manages to trap Thor in a pit and announces he is going to sends a psychic bolt into Limbo to kill Jane where she is imprisoned. He looses the bolt but Jane is unharmed, kept safe by a force field cast by Strange. Thor finally pulls himself out of the hole he’s in, and uses his hammer to chop up several trees, blinding Loki with the flying woodchips and splinters. Thor then forces the trickster to release Jane; Loki tries to fight back but he is apprehended by Heimdall and carried off to Asgard to face the music. Thor apologizes to Odin, who continues to show anguish over Thor’s love for the human woman.

Story #2

Trapped by the Trolls!

Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: Vince Colletta. Colorist: ?.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

By Arcturus Jackson

A lone traveler appears at the court of Sindri, king of the Dwarfs, seeking shelter from the storm. Sindri, who owes the Trolls a slave as the price of keeping them from invading his realm, drops the visitor through a trap door. He is seized by a waiting band of Trolls and carried through the underground labyrinth to their dungeon, where the captive is chained. The new prisoner reveals himself to be Thor, defeats the trolls, and frees all their slaves, as he was ordered by Odin. Thor then seals up the opening to the underworld.

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