Four & Thor 9

Fantastic Four #17
Story/Pencils: Jack Kirby.  Inks: Dick Ayers.  Plot/Dialogue: Stan Lee.

Story:  Dr. Doom is on the loose, and our heroes are doing everything in their power to find him (Reed even builds a Radar designed to detect people wearing a lot of metal over flesh.  I'm not joking).  Eventually they give up the search, and get ready to relax and hit the town.  Unfortunately, FF fans are mobbing the building.  A friendly janitor helps the FF escape, and shakes their hands.  WAIT!  That wasn't a Janitor!  That was Dr. Doom in disguise!  Turns out, Doom put a tiny little disc on all of the FF's hands.  Doom releases these bizarre looking funny looking creatures he calls "Followers".  The Followers literally follow around the various members of the FF until they finally get fed up and regroup at HQ.  Reed discovers the discs, and after removing them the Followers vanish.  Doom decides he's had enough fun screwing with the FF, so he uses a machine to lift Alicia Masters into the air, pulling her into his secret flying base hidden in the clouds (crazy).  Needless to say, this upsets Ben just a bit.  Anyway, Doom threatens to do all sorts of bad stuff to New York if the FF try to stop him, and, just in case that's not enough, he reminds them that he's got Alicia too.  Doom then puts in a call to JFK, demanding a Cabinet Position (seems a little low key for Doom, really), or else.  When the Prez doesn't give in, Doom starts wrecking havoc all over the place.  Don't panic, though, Reed has a plan.  Reed has found Doom's flying fortress, but there's one problem:  It's surrounded by Disintegrator Rays that are specifically mapped to the FF's individual atomic structures (which Doom discovered thanks to the information those pesky Followers provided (see, there was a point to those stupid things)).  There's only one solution, turn the Thing back into Ben Grimm so he can slip past the Rays.  So, that's what they do.  Ben, flying in a weird looking ship (more on that later), barely slips through the Ray Defenses, turns back into the Thing, and wrecks up the Controls so the other members of the FF can safely enter on their...Magnet Ship (not kidding, it's a jet with a big U shaped Magnet on the end of it).  Our heroes split up to cover more ground.  The Human Torch gets caught in a centrifuge, nearly dousing his flame.  He unleashes one final massive burst of flame, causing the centrifuge to destruct.  Reed gets caught in a room that instantly fills with quick drying cement.  Using his flexible body, Reed slips through the pores of the cement and makes his way under a tiny crack in the door.  Ben falls down a trap door, but manages to climb his way out.  Doom sends out his power spheres, which are attracted to heat.  The spheres engulf Reed, Ben, and Johny, and send them off to another dimension, never to return!  Well, that would have happened, except that Johny used Flame Illusions to lure the Spheres Away.  Anyway, the three attack Doom, but Doom uses a Force Screen to stop them.  Meanwhile, Sue finds and rescues Alicia.  Sue confronts Doom.  Doom tries to use a series of Moving Steel Bars to trap the Invisible Woman, but she outmaneuvers him.  The entire FF catch up to Doom, but not wanting to be captured, Doom chucks himself out of an escape hatch and seemingly falls to his...um...Doom.

Notes:  This is one of the stranger Dr. Doom issues.  Doom has so many odd devices and traps in this issue.  I mean, those Followers are weird.  And speaking of weird... there's a scene where Ben invades Doom's ship.  And, well, Ben's ship kinda looks like... well, it looks like a Sperm cell.  And, Doom's ship... kinda looks like an Egg.  I can't imagine Kirby & Lee were intentionally throwing Sex Education into an issue of the Fantastic Four... still, it's a pretty weird coincidence.  Also, the metal detecting radar and the Magnet Ship are kinda silly.  And Doom as a Janitor?  Really?

Oh, and the Thing is looking less like Clay and more like solid rock.

The Art:  Dick Ayers's blorpy inks are really starting to get old.  How long before Chic Stone takes over?  Still a ways a way?  Sigh.  Anyway, lots of weird looking stuff in this one, so there's that.

Whatta I Think:  On the one hand, Dr. Doom continues to be the premier FF villain.  The sheer deluge of evil schemes and devices Doom throws at the Four in this issue alone would be enough to pad out an entire comic book mini-series in our modern time.  On the other hand, woo, this issue is silly and odd.  Probably the weakest Doom issue to date.  Also, Doom's "Death" in this issue is a bit of a repeat from the Apartment in Space Issue.  Not bad, but not great.  Oh, and this is a rare instance where not only does Sue Storm NOT get captured, she actually saves the Day.  Good for her.

Fantastic Four #18
by Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, and Stan Lee

The Story:  The FF go about their normal business, free of the burden of worrying about Doom's latest scheme.  Meanwhile, in Space, the Skrulls are still pissed about Reed defeating them way back in Issue 2.  So, they devise a way to conquer the Four and create the Super Skrull.  This particular Skrull has all of the Powers of the Fantastic Four... AMPLIFIED!  The Super Skrull goes to Earth and declares the planet to be conquered.  The Four fight the Skrull, but the Skrull's amplified powers allow him to counter all of their abilities.  Throw in his natural shapeshifting abilities, and the FF are a smidge outgunned.  The Four retreat and regroup so Reed can come up with a new plan.  Reed figures that the Super Skrull's powers are coming from an outside source, so he builds a jammer.  The FF challenge the Super Skrull to a fight on an abandoned, rocky island. Reed, Ben, and Johny dogpile the Skrull, but between his Amped Up Powers, and the fact that he's also got... HYPNOTISM (man, did every villain have hypnotic powers back then?), the three can't defeat the lone Skrull.  Luckily, it was just a stall tactic to allow an invisible Sue to sneak up on the Skrull and plant Reed's Jammer.  The Jammer works, blocking the Super Skrull's powers.  The Skrull gets ticked at Sue and tries to chase down her invisible form, but ends up falling into a crater.  Johny then seals the Super Skrull inside the crater, and that's that.

Notes:  This is a pretty straightforward story compared to a lot of what we've been getting.  The most notable thing we get this issue is the debut of the Super Skrull.  Obviously, I could mention that the Skrull has appeared on Cartoons and Toys (maybe a video game or two as well...not sure, I'd have to research that one).  The Super Skrull has also been a mid-level holiday villain (and occasional anti-hero) in the Marvel U for a long time, and has even played a part in a handful of major crossovers, not to mention he served as an inspiration for the army of Super Skrulls that appeared in the "Secret Invasion" cross over.  But for me, the Super Skrull holds a special place in my imagination, because the Super Skrull was a major supporting character in several of the Silver Surfer stories I read when I was growing up.  So I've always been fond of the character for that reason.

The Art:  Dick Ayers's Inks do no favors for the Skrulls.  Still, there's some neat-o Jack Kirby stuff going on here, with the Skrull doing lots of crazy stuff with his powers.  My favorite moment is when the Super Skrull turns his head into a literal Battering Ram (complete with Ram's Head) and smashes Ben all the way out to the Empire State Building.  Kirby's fights (which were already better than everybody else's fight scenes) just keep getting better and better.

Whatta I Think:  Again, a very straight forward episode, compared to the previous issues.  The introduction of a new villain who will stick around for years to come, and a pretty good fight scene or two.  Plus, Sue saves the day for the second issue in a row, and doesn't get captured!  Now, if only we could get someone else on inks... Oh, and Ben is almost full-on Rocky now.

Journey Into Mystery Featuring Thor & Tales of Asgard #99
Main Story:  Art- Don Heck, Story: Stan Lee.
Tales of Asgard:  Story/Art: Jack Kirby (no Inker credited), Dialogue/Plot: Stan Lee.

Main Story:  We are briefly introduced to the horrible Mr. Hyde.  Thor still wants to marry Jane Foster, but Odin still says no.  Odin says that if Jane Foster can prove herself worthy, he'll make her an immortal.  So, there's some hope there.  Meanwhile, we get the origin of Mr. Hyde.  Originally a crook named Calvin Zabo, Zabo wanted to get a job working as Dr. Blake's assistant so he could rob Blake blind, but Blake didn't hire him.  Zabo got pissed and made a nasty concoction that turned him into the monstrous Mr. Hyde (yep).  Turns out that even Hyde's fingerprints are different than Zabo's, so that gives Mr. Hyde carte blanche to wreck havoc and commit crimes.  Hyde attacks Blake at his office and chucks Don out of a window.  Blake manages to stamp his cane against the side of the building, turning him into Thor.  Hyde escapes.  Then, on the last couple of pages, Thor robs a bank.  Huh?

Tales of Asgard Story:  It's Odin vs. the Trolls!  Odin stomps the Trolls, who reveal the location of their pal Surtur.  Odin goes after Surtur, and the massive fire demon turns his hand into a Hydra, and attacks Odin.  Odin counters by summoning Icy Meteors from Outer Space, which damages Surtur.  Surtur counters by traveling to Earth, and ripping a giant chunk of rock out of the middle of the Earth.  This becomes the Moon.  Odin creates the Rainbow Bridge, Bifrost, in order to get to Earth faster, and upon arrival, uses his magic sword to make the Earth begin spinning on its rotation.  The Rotation of the Earth traps Surtur in the Earth's core (which is where the heat at the center of the earth comes from, of course).  Surtur tries to appease Odin by giving him a winged horse.  Probably didn't work.

Notes:  Alright, ladies and gentlemen, in this issue we get the introduction of the most important Thor villain Not Created by Jack Kirby, namely Mr. Hyde.  Mr. Hyde not only pops up later when Kirby takes the strip over full time, but he also proves to be a rather formidable and recurring villain in the greater Marvel U.  Mr. Hyde not only bedevils Daredevil quite a lot down the road, but Hyde is probably best known as being a member of the Masters of Evil group that nearly conquered the Avengers.  I think Mr. Hyde nearly beat Hercules to death.  I think.  Anyway, he's a pretty significant villain, as far as B-Stringers go.  Other than that, this is the first time that it's revealed that Odin can make normal folks into gods.  This will actually come back up later.

Meanwhile, in Tales of Asgard, Trolls!  Surtur!  The origin of the Moon!  The origin of Bifrost!

The Art:  Again, Don Heck is a solid enough artist, so not bad on that front.  Kirby's art on Tales of Asgard is awesome.  Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Whatta I Think:  The introduction of Mr. Hyde is fairly significant, but otherwise the story is a hunk of crap that makes no damn sense.  But who cares?  We've got Tales of Asgard!  TOA is AWESOME!  I lub eet!

JIM feat Thor & TOA #100-
Main story-  Art: Don Heck.  Story: Stan Lee.
TOA-  Story/Pencils: Jack Kirby, Inks: P. Reinman (who?).  Plot/Dialogue: Stan Lee.

Main Story:  After the confusing last couple of pages of last issue, everyone hates Thor now, and Thor can't figure out why (hey, man, I'm confused too).  Oh well, Dr. Blake takes Jane out to dinner for her birthday.  Hyde follows them and kidnaps them (at gunpoint, which makes no sense considering he's strong enough to easily kill them both with his bare hands), taking them back to his hideout.  Hyde ties up Dr. Blake and puts a time bomb next to him to ensure that Jane Foster won't get out of line.  Hyde takes Jane off with him.  Mr. Hyde wants to steal a Polaris Sub.  Meanwhile, Blake finally gets to his cane and becomes Thor.  Thor catches up to Hyde, and they fight on and inside the Nuclear Sub.  Jane repeatedly interferes in the fight, because she's scared that if Hyde is defeated, Dr. Blake will get blowed up (oh, dramatic irony).  This allows Hyde to escape.  A cop reveals to Thor that they figured out that Hyde was impersonating Thor so everyone's cool with Thor again (wait?  When did this happen?  What?).  Meanwhile, after observing Jane's actions from Asgard, Odin declares that there's no way he's letting Jane Foster become a god.  Screw that bitch!  In Stan Lee's Marvel U, even Thor can't win for losing.

TOA Story:  Young Thor (with a sword and not his hammer yet) and Young Loki see a couple of Storm Giants stealing the goddess Iduna's Golden Apples.  They sneak into the Storm Giant's lair (Note: Thor and Loki are the size of bugs compared to the Storm Giants), and Loki promptly shoves Thor into the open where he's discovered.  Thor cuts down a table leg and chucks a (giant to him) Pepper Shaker at the Giants, causing lots of confusion.  In the end, though, the Storm Giants are too big and capture Thor.  Wanting to save his own skin, Loki creates a smoke screen from the fireplace, allowing Thor to escape.  On the roof of the Giants' Castle, Thor and Loki find Agnar, the King of the Eagles, who is not only a prisoner of the Giants, but also just happens to have the bag of golden apples on his back.  Thor cuts the bird loose, and the two Asgardians escape.  Back home, we see Young Thor attempting to lift Mjolnr. 

Notes:  Nothing worth noting on the main story.  The back up has Storm Giants and a Giant Eagle.  Nice.

The Art:  Main story- eh.  Back Up-  Wonderful.  Storm Giants and a Giant Eagle.  Wonderful.

Whatta I Think:  I always like how Don Heck at least seemed to be trying, but this comic is garbage.  Again, who cares?  Tales of Asgard is awesome!  Storm Giants and a Giant Eagle!

A screwy Dr. Doom story, the introduction of the Super Skrull and Dr. Hyde, and two KILLER installments of Tales of Asgard.  Not bad.  Here's the best news:  Jack Kirby takes over Thor full time again next issue.  (Unfortunately, we get a two issue story arc with Zarrko the Tomorrow Man.  Booo!)