Journey into Mystery #105June 1964
"The Cobra and Mr. Hyde!"
The Avengers are finishing up a meeting, so we get a nice splash page of Thor, Iron Man, Cap, Giant-Man and the Wasp getting ready to leave. Cap thinks things are too quiet. And the Wasp tells Giant-Man that she's hungry. I had to look at that a couple of times. I think it's the first time she wants to have dinner before going shopping. It must have been a long meeting.
There's a few more panels of Avengers banter, but soon Thor is flying around the city, and he senses danger! It's the Cobra, nearby, clinging to a steeple BECAUSE REASONS! But the Cobra manages to sneak away while Thor is changing directions. Cobra slithers into an open apartment window and decides to attack and rob the occupant. Because it's just some scientist! He's sure to be an easy mark. Whoever heard of a scientist in Marvel New York who had invented something he could use to defend himself?
Well, it's Calvin Zabo, also known as Mr. Hyde! Sensing danger, he drinks the Hyde potion and quickly becomes his savage other self. They mix it up for a few panels, but eventually realize that they have a common enemy ... JANE FOSTER! They should combine their forces and make sure that Jane Foster doesn't live to see the end of the day.
Heh heh heh.
Wait. I mean Thor. Thor is the common enemy. They should team up and defeat Thor.
And the best way to get to Thor is to go to Don Blake's office and threaten the nurse!
I'm joking! They don't actually interact with Jane very much in this one. Dr. Blake and Nurse Foster are hanging around the office, doing office doctor things, and Blake is thinking to himself that it's a great tragedy that he can't tell Jane he loves her. And Jane is getting rather frustrated that Don is so meek and reserved and won't make a move. So Jane has a little scheme to make Don jealous. She asks to leave early so she can get ready for a date!
Don is like, Sure, Jane. Go ahead.
And Jane storms out, mad that he took it so calmly, unaware that he is dying inside.
Don is not alone. A lot of us are dying inside.
Anyway, getting back to the gruesome twosome, Hyde has this device that he created that is like a reverse movie camera. You aim it at someone and then you project the rays at a wall and it shows what the person was doing backwards, so you can figure out where they came from. It's science!! Hyde stages a jewel shop theft to attract Thor, and while the thunder god is chasing Hyde, Cobra aims the device at Thor. Hyde changes into human form and loses himself in the crowd. Cobra and Hyde use the device to find out that Thor came from Dr. Blake's office! (So, actually, Hyde's scientific gadget is actually a story-engine detector.)
So they go to the office and harass Dr. Blake. Meanwhile Jane fakes a headache to get out of her date and goes to the office, where she is immediately nabbed by Hyde. Cobra and Hyde have been threatening Blake, trying to get him to tell what his connection to Thor is. He has been resisting them, but now he is worried that Jane is in danger, so he tells Hyde to grab his walking stick and go to the window and strike the cane on the floor. Thor will be there.
And it works! Thor is right there! Just like that!
Thor chases them around the city and they lead to him to some kind of exposition at the colosseum. It's a "heavy machinery show" in a crowded venue with lots of bystanders and bulky machines. While Hyde attracts Thor's attention by making a fuss and yelling and throwing things at him, that sneaky Cobra wiggles behind the controls of an "atomic-powered hydraulic hoist" and manipulates the mechanical arm so that it grabs Thor's hammer and sucks it into the interior of the machine.
The Cobra muses that he had suspected that a mechanical device might be able to lift Thor's hammer, even if most living beings cannot. And he was right!
So there's only two panels left! And Cobra and Hyde attack! And he's only got sixty seconds before he turns back into Don Blake!
TO BE CONTINUED!Commentary: I think they are doing a pretty good job of making this conflict almost believable, despite the fact that they are really not in Thor's league. Cobra and Hyde are not cream puffs. And notice, they aren't really tangling with Thor that much. They are threatening Dr. Blake. Then they are threatening Jane. The fights with Thor are short. Then they catch him by surprise with a mechanical arm at the exposition! Who expects an atomic-powered hydraulic hoist? I'll tell you. Nobody expects an atomic-powered hydraulic hoist!
I've always loved this two-part story! I think I've said that before. I'm so happy that it holds up so well.
Tales of Asgard: "When Heimdall Failed!"
This is one of the best Tales of Asgard. I really like the George Roussos inking.
Brimer, the king of the storm giants, is conspiring with Nedra, who seems to a witch or sorceress who like fur. And secondary colors. Brimer complains that they just can't seem to get past Heimdall to find out anything about Asgard's defenses.
No, Nedra says. There is a way. She summons one of the Vanna. They are fairy folk, little naked people with swimming trunks and wings and antennae. One of the Vanna appears before Nedra and eagerly agrees to fly past Heimdall and spy on the Asgardians. Maybe to find out exactly where in his bedroom he keeps that sword that will cause the world to be destroyed if it's pulled from the scabbard.
The Vanna speeds right by Heimdall. The Vanna snorts with disgust. How useless Heimdall is! This is what Heimdall is supposed to do! He's so bad at his only job!
The Vanna flies around and watched the Asgardians testing a giant cannon. He takes note of how many warriors there are, and their capabilities as fighters. The Vanna even flies into Odin's chambers just as a messenger shows up to tell Odin that Heimdall has sensed an evil presence.
Odin just sort of reaches up and grabs the Vanna, like a cat smacking a bat out of the air. "Do you suppose Heimdall meant something like THIS!" (He doesn't actually say that.)
The Vanna pleads his innocence, but Odin is dubious. Heimdall comes to the chamber, begging forgiveness and asking to be punished for his failure. Odin is still holding on to the Vanna, like he's keeping it intact so he can pin it in an album. Odin tells Heimdall he is being silly, there will be no punishment, he can rise and go back to the danged bridge.
They never actually say what happens to the Vanna. Volstagg says they are delicious and he can eat them by the peck.
