THOR #134November 1966
"The People Breeders!"
Co-written and penciled by Jack Kirby
Co-written by Stan Lee
Inked by Vince Colletta
Lettered by Sam Rosen
Edited by Stan Lee
THIS IS ANOTHER GREAT ONE!
With the successful conclusion of their mission to the Black Galaxy, Thor and the Recorder go to Rigel for a debriefing by the Colonizers. Thor is eager to get back to Earth to find Jane, but he stops a moment to be congratulated by the Rigellians. They assure him that Earth will be freed.
And then there's a lovely full-page panel that's just GALACTUS BECAUSE REASONS!! He has detected a very powerful planet-like entity in the Black Galaxy. (It's Ego.) Not just powerful but also very nourishing! Galactus decides to search him out AND EAT HIM! YUM!
Thor tracks Tana Nile to the police station from Car 54, Where Are You? and asks her where Jane has gone. Tana Nile shrugs her shoulders and says, "I no know." She is given over to the custody of the Rigellian Secret Police that is in charge of things like this. And Tana is not actually in trouble. They are taking her back to Rigel because the High Commissioner has chosen her TO BE HIS WIFE!
Yeah. So that's a thing that happened.
Tana actually seems to like the idea.
So anyways, Thor has a Psych-Search Gauge that the Rigellians gave him. It's supposed to help him find Jane. It looks like a cellphone. There's a great panel where it looks like Thor is ignoring the cops because he's watching cat videos on his phone.
Meanwhile, in GET JANE FOSTER!, Jane is driving around in the obscure, random European nation of Somewherevia. She's in a big old car like something that the prince of Somewherevia would use to drive to a state dinner in the capital city, Blorpstadt. Jane is riding around with a pig-man and Count Tagar, who is as big as a tiger.
It's such a great car! One of the greatest cars in a Marvel comic in the 1960s. They're passing through the town square. I'm not an expert on these European villages, but I think this is Vasaria.
Some of the villagers run out to the car to tell Count Tagar they mustn't take the road to Wundagore. There are bandits.
Jane starts thinking about what she has just heard.
"THE WEALTH OF WUNDAGORE! ARMED BANDITS!
INVINCIBLE KNIGHTS! WHY DID I ACCEPT THIS JOB OFFER?
WHAT AM I GETTING INTO?"
It's too late now, Jane! Your traveling companions are really good at this game we call GET JANE FOSTER! You are GOT, and it's your own doing!
Tagar has no intention of taking another route. the bandits attack and Tagar fights them off.
Meanwhile, Thor is using the doohickey to look for Jane and he meets some wounded bandits. He asks them what happened, and they can't really blubber out anything helpful. IT'S TOO FANTASTIC! THEY CAN'T SAY! STOP ASKING US!
Thor investigates the surrounding area and runs into the Knights of Wundagore! They are wearing armor styled after knights of old and riding around on "atomic steeds," small, flying vehicles vaguely shaped like a horse. They keep their visors down. They get him with a metallic lasso, and he pretends to be helpless in the hopes they will take him to Jane. It's not Thor's first rodeo! He knows that Jane is probably around here somewhere, that little rascal!
The Knights escort Thor to Wundagore, and WHOO it's another great panel as we see Wundagore rising up in the distance, constructed on the side of the mountain. You can see why they picked Somewherevia! All the lovely scenery!
He beats them all up and tosses them around as soon as they get inside the mountain. One of them takes off his helmet and Thor is surprised to see ... we have to wait a couple of pages to see what the big deal is.
In a valley below Wundagore, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are frolicking in the mountains. Wanda is now a fast-car aficionado ... BECAUSE REASONS. This is when they left the Avengers because they lost their powers and they have come to Somewherevia to regain their mutant abilities. They see the lights on Wundagore and remember that they were told that there were lights on the mountain the night they were born. They wonder if there is any connection.
Not in this story! The story keeps going and Wanda and Pietro just go on their way.
Wanda has black hair (with blue-gray headlights) in this reprint. I have always preferred Wanda with black hair. And she also has a hilarious head band.
Meanwhile, back on Wundagore, the High Evolutionary is really focused on his work, subjecting a wolf to his magical evolution ray. His work is interrupted by the New Men trying to subdue Thor. The next panel is another one that's so great! The New Men have their helmets off and they all have animal heads! One is part lion. I think that guy is a Chow-Chow. The guy in back is an otter, I think.
Thor asks about Jane Foster and the High Evolutionary is like, "Is that all? She is in the classroom in Wing Two! Now begone!"
And Thor finds her, teaching humanoids that look like zebras, lizards, camels, rhinos, monkeys ... I love this panel! This issue has so many great panels and so much great artwork! Jane is happy to see Thor, but she also seems quite content with her new job!
Anyway, the High Evolutionary was distracted at a crucial moment and he left the wolf in the oven too long and now he's super-evolved into the Man-Beast and HE HATES EVERYBODY! Oh boy! I bet Thor is going to have to deal with that in the next issue!
TO BE CONTINUED!
COMMENTARY: So many great images! I forgot to mention that the creation of the Man-Beast is also a series of wonderful illustrations. This story is just overflowing! It's almost too much! I love the way Kirby just keeps it moving along and doesn't even introduce the real menace until the last page!
TALES OF ASGARD: "When Speaks the Dragon!": This issue ... it's the whole package! Not just the main Thor story, but Tales of Asgard also. That final panel ... Maybe I should discuss the story first.
A new adventure! Thor, Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg are investigating Nastrond, an evil land that Odin destroyed long ago. The All-Father has sent them on an inspection tour to see what has developed in this region since he destroyed it.
They make camp and fall asleep. Volstagg is awakened by an old man who leads him away, telling the Voluminous One that he will show him the Cave of the Ancients!
Once, he's led him far enough away, the old man turns into Fafnir the Dragon and picks Volstagg up! It's such a great full-page panel! Volstagg is like a donut in Fafnir's hands! It always makes me laugh. But I think Volstagg should be saying something. It seems like a great place for a Volstagg quip. That's my only criticism.
