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Journey Into Mystery #105: Review

Jun 1964
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Story Name:

The Cobra and Mr. Hyde!

Review & Comments

Rating:
5 stars

Journey Into Mystery #105 Review by (August 20, 2011)
Review: Another exceptionally cool issue has the two baddies Cobra and Hyde teaming up for the first time to double their chances of destroying Thor, sort of like an evil Laurel and Hardy. They plot, they plan, they scheme, and Hyde forgets he once wanted to kill Don Blake! (BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES had this trouble with both Mr. Freeze and the Riddler being introduced as guys with a vendetta against their former employers, and completely forgetting this as of their second appearances. Oh yeah, and Toyman too on Animated SUPERMAN.) No matter, Thor whups ‘em though it doesn’t occur until part two of this tale.

Comments: 1. The first teaming of the Cobra and Mr. Hyde. First appearance of Captain America in the title. Revelation: Don Blake turns into Thor even when someone else taps the cane. It seems odd that the Cobra wants to use brute force to defeat Thor and it’s Hyde who devises the complex plan. Classic Line: Wasp: “Other girls get flowers, candy, jewelry! I get a flying ant!” Story continues in the next issue. 2. First (and last?) appearance of the Vanna.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Journey Into Mystery #105 Synopsis by Arcturus Jackson
As the regular meeting of the Avengers breaks up, Thor heads back to the office but senses danger is near. He looks around and spots the Cobra slinking atop a nearby steeple. Thor attacks but the villain bombards him with chemical pellets that daze the Thunder God, then he uses his Cobra Cable to yank Thor off balance. By the time Thor has recovered, the Cobra is gone—but where? Cobra has crawled into a random window to hide—but it turns out to be the apartment of Dr. Calvin Zabo, who detects the invader and swiftly drinks the potion that transforms him into Mister Hyde. The two baddies scuffle to a standstill—and then they realize they have both suffered defeat at the hands of Thor. They decide to make common cause against their hated enemy. Thor, meanwhile, has returned to his office and transformed back into Dr. Don Blake, where Jane Foster again tries to make him jealous in her lame romantic scheming. Back with the villains, Hyde has produced his Time Reversal Ray machine, which, when aimed at a person, will display that person’s recent activities in reverse order. They carry out their scheme: Hyde robs a jewelry store which brings Thor to the scene; Hyde ducks away and transforms back into Calvin Zabo, vanishing into a crowd. Meanwhile, Cobra has trained the Time Reversal Ray on Thor and later the two bad guys trace the hero’s movements back until they see he emerged from the office of Dr. Donald Blake. They head over and capture Don and Jane, demanding to know how he summons Thor; Don tells them to tap his walking stick at the window; when they do Don becomes Thor behind their backs and the stick becomes the Uru hammer which pulls Hyde to the floor (for some reason he doesn’t think about the implications of this). Pausing briefly to tell Jane Don risked his life because he loves her (priorities, man!), Thor launches himself at the baddies. They dodge and use their agility to escape and proceed with Plan B, luring Thor to another venue where the odds will be in their favor. Hyde uses a transmitter to lure the Thunder God after him as he heads to the          at the convention center. Hyde begins hurling pieces torn off the machines at Thor whose chief concern is protecting the spectators from flying shrapnel. Meanwhile, Cobra has taken the controls of an atomic-powered hydraulic hoist and uses it to snatch Thor’s hammer out of his hand, depositing it into the machine’s storage compartment. Thor then faces his two dangerous foes as the sixty-second limit begins to tick down until he reverts to his Don Blake form….


Story #2

When Heimdall Failed!

Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: George Roussos. Colorist: ?.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Brimer, King of the Storm Giants, wants to invade Asgard but knows there is no way his forces can sneak past Heimdall, guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. Queen Nedra has an idea: she dispatches a tiny air spirit called a Vanna to spy out Asgard. The small and quick spirit zips past Heimdall as he stands at his post; the guardian senses something but sees nothing, confusing him. The Vanna easily discovers all of Asgard’s defenses and military capabilities without anyone suspecting it is there. In the royal chamber, however, Odin receives word from Heimdall that he suspects great danger. Odin exerts his powers and detects the sprite in the room and commands it to appear, allowing Odin to capture it. He summons Heimdall who confesses that he failed and is not worthy to be the guardian. Instead Odin commends him in that he sensed the evil Vanna even though he did not see it, and risked ridicule in reporting his suspicions to Odin. He returns to his post to serve faithfully.

Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Jack Kirby
Chic Stone
?
Letterer: Art Simek.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Thor
Thor

(Odinson)

Plus: Cobra (Klaus Voorhees), Mr. Hyde (Calvin Zabo).

> Journey Into Mystery: Book info and issue index

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