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Journey Into Mystery #124

Jan 1966
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Story Name:

The Grandeur and the Glory!


Synopsis

Journey Into Mystery #124 synopsis by Arcturus Jackson
Rating: 4.5 stars
Image from Journey Into Mystery #124

Thor reads in the newspaper about the Demon and his hordes threatening Asia and decides to take action. Launching himself from the top of a tall building he first stops by the hospital to check on Jane Foster, whose condition is getting worse. Changing into Don Blake he enters her room and finds she is suffering from depression, questioning her sanity because Don keeps disappearing on her. To calm her mounting hysteria, Don transforms into Thor before her eyes, revealing his secret to her. She makes him promise never to leave her again and he returns to his Don Blake persona and leaves. Odin watching from Asgard is enraged that his son has disobeyed his express command and betrayed his heritage for love of a mortal….

Over the next few days, Don Blake tends to his medical practice but brood over the reports of the Demon—an Asian shaman given superhuman powers by the missing Norn Stone—overrunning Central Asia on a crusade of destruction. Yet his promise to Jane to not leave her wears on him—until he decides the God of Thunder cannot stand idly by. Transforming into Thor he flies out to Asia….

Meanwhile atop Mount Olympus, Zeus, King of the Greek Gods, is fed up with the bored and idle Hercules hanging around and causing trouble, so he gives him a mission, to go to Earth after long centuries of silence….

In Asia, the Demon and his army stand outside the gate of the next city in their path of conquest and demand its surrender. They are answered by Thor, who slams the heavy gate into the Demon and demands that he surrender.  Thor then spies the Norn Stone on a cord around the villain’s neck and realizes it is the source of his power The Demon and Thor face off in battle….



Story #2

Closer Comes the Swarm! (Tales of Asgard series)

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

Synopsis

By Arcturus Jackson
Rating: 5 stars
Queen Ula of Thryheim dispatches her flying trolls (resembling armored insect-men) to attack the Odinship which has been sighted in the nearby ocean. Meanwhile, aboard the ship, Balder has collapsed from the exertion of blowing the mighty horn which destroyed the Utgard Dragon. Hogun the Grim rushes to his side and makes him drink of the Elixir of Recovery. When Balder awakens, the crew gives a great cheer as the heroic loner Hogun fades into the background. As Loki and his cronies plot Thor’s downfall, Volstagg is given charge of the great horn. The bulky warrior attempts to blow the horn without success but at that moment the warriors witness the approach of the Flying Trolls of Thryheim….

 

Review / Commentaries


Journey Into Mystery #124 Review by (February 10, 2013)
Review: The best part of this issue is the opening featuring a series of comical reactions to the God of Thunder in downtown Manhattan. A little girl, daughter of a soldier in Vietnam, gives him a hug. His hair causes a fellow to think Thor should be a rock star. A policeman tells Thor he needs a license to swing a hammer in public. A banker thinks Thor is coming to apply for a job as guard. His hair also reminds a woman she is due for a permanent. The first joke is the best: the newspaper headline about the Demon is listed as the “Back Page Special,” since that where Kirby put it. Another good but fundamentally flawed issue: The hero and the villain don’t meet until the last page! Meanwhile we have the setup for Thor’s day of reckoning for disobeying Odin as well as the beginning of the Hercules story arc which will run through issue 131. With all these scattered bits of story, this leaves the main plot of the issue as Don Blake’s agonizing over whether to go fight the Demon, certainly not your typical focus in a superhero comic book. The action will resume next issue.

Comments: At the newsstand on the opening page can be seen the following comics: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #33, FANTASTIC FOUR #47, and STRANGE TALES #141, all from February 1966—the month after this issue of JIM.


> Journey Into Mystery comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
Kotobukiya Marvel Universe: Thor The Bronze Age ARTFX Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Jack Kirby
Vince Colletta
?
Jack Kirby (Cover Penciler)
Vince Colletta (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Art Simek.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Balder
Balder

(Balder the Brave)
Hercules
Hercules

(Heracles)
Loki
Loki

(Loki Laufeyson)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Warriors Three
Warriors Three

(Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg)

Plus: Demon, Kroda the Duellist, Magrat the Schemer, Queen Ula.