Journey Into Mystery #100: Review

Jan 1964

Stan Lee, Don Heck

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Story Name:

The Master Plan of Mr. Hyde!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Journey Into Mystery #100 Review by Arcturus (July 18, 2011)

Review: Aaaaand Thor’s first two-part story goes downhill rapidly. Mister Hyde’s master plan (which is radically different from his previous master plans of killing Don Blake then destroying Thor) involves becoming a pirate king (proving he’s eight years old). He doesn’t seem like the nautical type for one, and probably can’t pilot a massive submarine and certainly not single-handedly. And what with a bomb set to go off in twenty-four hours? If the principal players have enough time to go home, sleep, take a shower, and have breakfast before completing the urgent mission, the suspense kinda dissipates. Meanwhile it is never explained how the police knew Thor had been framed by Hyde or even how the stocky and brutish Hyde was able to impersonate a Norse god. The highlight? How could Thor jump to the conclusion that if he was framed, Hyde must have done it? Simple: because Hyde was the villain he was battling that day. This introduces us to one of the lesser known comic book rules: heroes can only face one villain at a time. If they face two bad guys they must be working together. Can’t wait for Hyde to team up with Cobra so they can take turns being stupid.

Comments: 1. Conclusion to the series’ first two-part story. 2. First appearance of Thor in this backup series. First installment of “The Boyhood of Thor” sub-series. First appearance of Loki in this backup series.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Journey Into Mystery #100 Synopsis by Arcturus Jackson

Unaware he has been framed by Mister Hyde for bank robbery, Thor is surprised when he appears in public and is greeted by fear and police bullets. Learning of the frame-up, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that Mr. Hyde is behind it. Returning to the office and his guise as Dr. Don Blake, he is reminded by Jane Foster that he had promised to take her to dinner for her birthday. Telling her he will take her to the Ritz Terrace, Don is unaware that the conversation has been overheard by Hyde, lurking in a nearby alley. Later at the restaurant, Hyde takes them hostage at gunpoint and orders Don to drive them to a remote castle out of town. There he ties Don to a post with a bomb set to detonate in twenty-four hours unless Hyde returns to shut it off. The villain then takes Jane to the Naval Yard to witness the "crime of the century:" Hyde plans to hijack a Polaris submarine and embark on a career of piracy—with Jane as his queen. Back at the castle, the bound Don manages to stretch enough to reach his cane; striking it on the floor, he becomes Thor and easily snaps his bonds. Searching the city rapidly he finds Hyde and Jane at the Naval Yard and attacks his foe. Hyde holds off Thor by pelting him with pieces broken off the sub until the baddie can lock himself in with his hostage. Thor smashes his way in and Hyde tries to bind him with what appears to be a fire hose. As they scuffle, Jane, fearing that Don will be killed by the bomb if anything happens to Hyde, covers up Thor’s fallen hammer. The brute gets the drop on Thor with a gun as the hero realizes his sixty seconds has almost run out—so he whirls his cape to create a tornado inside the sub’s cabin. Under cover of the windstorm, Don crawls around the floor until he locates his hidden hammer and returns to his Thor form. Jane stops Thor from pursuing Hyde, who leaps into the water and swims away. The police arrive to inform Thor they know it was Hyde impersonating him at the bank. Jane is worried about Don so Thor flies off to Hyde’s castle to "rescue" him, leaving Jane to wonder how the Thunder God knew where the castle was to that Don was being held there. Odin appears to Thor and angrily informs him that he saw Jane help Hyde in his battle against Thor and therefore she is not worthy of immortality. Thor, unable to explain, can only despair.

Story #2

The Storm Giants

Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: Paul Reinman. Colorist: ?.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

By Arcturus Jackson

Two sons of the Storm Giant have stolen the Golden Apples of the goddess Iduna, and young Thor and Loki set out to recover them. Sneaking into the giant’s dining room, Loki pushes Thor out into the open where the giants see him. Thor, drawing on his dignity as one of the Aesir, demands the return of the Golden Apples. The giants respond by trying to drown Thor in an enormous bowl of broth. Thor fights back, chopping a leg off the kitchen table and hurling a giant pepper shaker into their faces. Thor is captured though, so Loki throws wet leaves on the fire, filling the room with smoke. The two Aesir find the Golden Apples with the imprisoned Agnar, king of the Eagles. Loki plans to abandon Thor and ride the giant bird to safety but the young Thunder God cuts the rope holing the eagle and rides off on its leg. Back in Asgard, Odin knows who the real hero is; Loki is disgruntled and Thor lifts the Uru hammer a little higher than before. When he can lift it all the way, it will be his….

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