Plot by Stan Lee – Script by Larry Lieber – Art by Al Hartley – Letters by Terry Szenics

March 1963 is one of the most important months in Marvel history so far.

Spider-Man gets his own series.

Iron Man debuts.

The Marvel Universe is expanding rapidly.

And then there is Journey Into Mystery #90.

A comic that feels like it accidentally wandered in from 1961.

Al Hartley takes over the art duties, and his style feels very different from the artists who have defined Marvel’s superhero line so far.

Kirby’s work is explosive. Ditko’s is anxious. Heck’s characters look like movie stars. Hartley feels closer to a traditional cartoonist.

Which makes sense. Most of Hartley’s career has been spent drawing humor and teen comics, including work on Archie and Patsy Walker. His storytelling is clear and energetic, but he feels slightly out of place in a book about Norse gods.

The issue itself doesn’t help.

After months of mythology, Asgard, Odin, and questions surrounding Thor’s identity, the comic abruptly pivots back toward the kind of science-fiction anthology story Marvel built its business on.

The result feels strangely old-fashioned.

Donald Blake begins the issue determined to tell Jane Foster both that he loves her and that he is Thor.

Which raises another interesting point.

The comic still seems unsure exactly what the relationship between Blake and Thor is supposed to be.

Earlier issues suggested they might be separate beings. Here they feel much closer to the same person. Blake will begin a sentence and Thor will finish it. Their thoughts and motivations feel completely aligned.

Before Blake can reveal the truth, Odin intervenes and forbids it. That conflict works. In fact, it may be the single most important thing in the issue. The idea that Thor wants Jane to know the truth while Odin forbids it becomes a recurring thread that survives countless reinterpretations of the character across comics, television, and film.

Everything else in this book?

Not so much.

People across the city begin behaving strangely. Drivers ignore traffic laws. Citizens paint bridges with polka dots. Buildings become covered in advertisements. General chaos spreads everywhere.

Thor eventually discovers the cause:

Aliens.

Specifically, shape-shifting aliens from the planet Xarta who are secretly replacing humanity. And this is where the story completely loses me.

The Xartans feel like a rough draft of the Skrulls. Their plan makes very little sense. The logistics make even less sense. Apparently they’ve replaced enough people to throw Manhattan into chaos, which feels like a full-time job all by itself.

The issue repeatedly relies on Thor making questionable choices simply so the plot can continue. At one point he voluntarily sets Mjolnir aside to investigate a spaceship. Which immediately leaves him trapped as Donald Blake.

It’s all very anthology-coded.

The most enjoyable sequence arrives during the final confrontation. A Xartan turns invisible, forcing Thor to use his weather manipulation powers to create a rainstorm and reveal his location.

It’s one of the rare moments where the comic remembers Thor is a god. The solution feels clever and uniquely suited to the character.

Unfortunately, the story quickly returns to its nonsense.

The Xartans retreat, while those left behind on Earth are transformed into trees.

Thor explains that because the aliens fully take on the characteristics of whatever they imitate, they’ll now think like trees and never transform back.

It’s certainly a solution.

Whether it’s a reasonable one is another matter entirely.

By the end of the issue, I’m left with the same feeling I’ve had several times during Thor’s early run.

This isn’t really a Thor story.

It’s a science-fiction anthology plot that happens to feature Thor.

And after spending March watching Marvel launch Spider-Man and Iron Man, those steps backward feel especially noticeable.

The good news is that the issue does contribute one important piece of Thor mythology. His desire to reveal his identity to Jane. Odin’s refusal to allow it.

The tension between love, duty, and obedience.

That thread survives.

The alien invasion doesn’t.

And that’s probably for the best.

Marvel in the 60s – Entry #43