VOLUME 3: Journey into Mystery #111-120 & Annual #1:
"Thor" really begins for me circa #112-113. The first volume of Marvel Masterworks Thor was a real slog to get through, largely becuse of too much non-Kirby art and lackluster plots; volume two was worlds better, as Chic Stone joined Jack Kirby and Stan Lee really seemed to knuckle down; but it is volume three that really sings. The pacing is such that, with overlapping plot-threads and such, wherever you start it makes it difficult not to pick up the next issue. (I'm going to be discussing the main stories here, not the "Tales of Asgard" backups.)
Issue #111, which leads the volume, would have been better suited for volume one. For one thing, it is more representative of the more "super-heroey" stories presented in that volume and, for another, it's the concluding chapter of a two-part Cobra/Mr. Hyde story begun in volume one. But Marvel Masterworks was very strict in those days of ten issues and ten issues only, in sequence, per volume. Not only would #111 have fit better in v2, but #121 would have fit better in v2. JiM #112 is a classic Thor/Hulk battle, the first really, and a true example of "retroactive continuity" before the term was even coined. #113 is another super-heroey tale, featuing the Grey Gargoyle as villain, but it begins with a distinctive splash page of Thor setting off on a quest which signals a clear beginnning. The opening caption reads...
When Imperious Odin commands, thor must obey! Thus, we find him aboard a giant Asgard sky ship, lending his own awesom might against the demon men of Jotunheim! (This doesn't have too much to do with the main part of our story, but you've got to admit it makes a spectacular beginning!)
What's more, in this issue finally "mans up" and defies Big Daddy Odin by revealing his true identity to Jane Foster... or rather he tries to, anyway. One of the main complaints about Thor's early adventures in Journey into Mystery (see John Dunbar's discussion) is that Thor is too subservient to Odin and the stories rely too much on his father getting him out of too many scrapes. As good as #112 and #113 are, however, they are both "done-in-one" stories; it is with #114 that Lee begings plotting in such a way that subplots carry over from issue-to-issue. It begins with Thor subduing a rather minor villain, but once the story gets going, it will be dozens of issues until there is a clear break-point.
The main villain from this point on for the rest of the volume and into the next is Loki. Issue #114 sees the introduction on the Absorbing Man, who will be dealt with in #115 but is fated to return in #120-123. #114-115 also introduces reporter Harris Hobbs, who will return in #122-123. #116 features "The Trial of the Gods" (first mentioned in #115 and which wraps up in #117), but it also introduces the Norn Stones, the Maguffin which drives #116-120 and returns for #123-125. #118-119 introduces the Destroyer (not to mention the "Odinsleep"). Also, thor's hammer is broken in #118 and is not repaired until #120. By that time, Loki and the Absorbing Man are back in the mix, and the mystery of the disappearance of Jane Foster is introduced, which will drive the plot for the first couple of issues in the next volume. There is really no clean break-point at which all of the plots and sub-plots are wrapped up, practically "forcing" readers to return next issue to learn what happens next. Genius.
And the volume ends with Journey Into Mystery Annual #1, the first meeting of Thor and Hercules, set back in the "olden days." It's pretty perfunctory, but paves the way for them to meet again in the present day in volume four.
I believe I will continue this discussion at least one more volume as v4 ties (tangentially) with with my current "Atlas Era Venus" discussion.
Replies
Jeff said - "There is really no clean break-point at which all of the plots and sub-plots are wrapped up, practically "forcing" readers to return next issue to learn what happens next. Genius."
I agree, genius. However those on-going, interweaving plots drove me nuts as a kid when you weren't always able to find every issue of a series on the spinner rack.
The story line that began with the introduction of the Absorbing Man and continued for the next two years maybe one of the all time greatest runs in comics. I think it matches up in quality with what Stan and Jack were doing in the FF at the same time.
I sometimes feel that comic book writing is a lost art. Comics, some comics, are more sophisticated these days, but others are just prolix and convoluted. this trend is further emphacized by the "writing for the trade" mentality. I empathize with your frustration, as a kid, when you weren't able to find every issue of a given series. But the further genius of Lee/Kirby comics during this period is that even middle chapters of an ongoing storyline were accessible, with beginnings, middles and ends of their own. Take, for example, my first "Thor" comic book (the first one I bought new, off the stands, anyway), Marvel Treasury Edition #3.
I'm getting a bit ahead of the discussion here, but MTE #3 reprints Thor's first madern day battle against Hercules, the Prince of Power. The TE reprints JiM/Thor #125-130, The actual (main) story ran seven issues, but Marvel was forced to omit #124 for space considerations. That meant the story began in medias res, with Thor grappling with a witch doctor called the Demon. I wasn't thrilled with that, but the opening caption told me all I really needed to know going forward.
Did you ever sample an instant synopsis? Try this--!
A witch doctor found one of Thor's lost Norn Stones!
It's power changed him into the dreaded Demon! (The witch doctor, not Thor!)
Thor has to defeat him and regain the enchanted stone!
There! Howzat?
I was just as frustrated as you (well, maybe less so in this intance), but the point is I could pick up the story with the second chapter (actually the culmination of the "Norn Stone" subplot, which began in #116) without missing a beat. Over the years, I had to become adapt at piecing together the less expensive reprints when the originals weren't available or were too expensive. Using the stories from this discussion: Thor King-Size Special #3 (JiM #113), Special Marvel Edition #1-4 (JiM/Thor #117-127), then into Marvel Spectacular for Thor #128 and up. But Thor #131-132 were skipped because those issues had recently been reprinted in Thor King-Size Special #4. (I have similar lists for early issues of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.) Nor did I find these issues at the same time; I had to gather them piecemeal as backissues over a period of time. So I am well acquainted with not being able to read every issue of a given series. Yet each of them was complete unto itself, something that, for good or ill, cannot be said of comic books today.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
Yet each of them was complete unto itself, something that, for good or ill, cannot be said of comic books today.
In my recent discussion with the owner of my LCS, I commented that this is one of the things that works against attracting new readers. Starting from scratch or wanting to resume reading comics after a long absence:
1) The cover price is a shock.
2) The new/returning reader who is able to get past the cover price will discover that their $4 to $5 purchase is only one-sixth of a story.
VOLUME 4: Journey into Mystery #121-125 & Thor #126-130:
Volume 4 finishes off the Loki/Absorbing Man plot and reintroduces journalist Harris Hobbs. #124 would almost be a clean starting point, except for the Norn Stone sub-plot which continues through #125. Hercules is introduced, first as a opponent then as an ally of Thor, and Seidring threatens Asgard in #126-128 while Pluto (and Hypollita, Queen of the Amazons) threaten Hercules in #127-130. All the while, the sub-plot of Tana Nile is running in the background in anticipation of becoming the main plot in the next volume.
I am going to pause this discussion at this point but I will leave it open-ended to possibly resume in the future. This run of Thor is one of my three or four favorite runs of SIlver Age Marvel, so that's a possibility that is quite likely. But I wanted to get at least this far so that I could refresh the details of the Pluto/Netherwolrd plot in my mind, which I timed to coincide with the similarly-themed plotline from a decade earlier in my Venus discussion. For now, though, that's it.