It’s finally here: the debut of Spider-Man and Thor. Spidey is arguably Marvel’s biggest super hero. The relatable hero with the iconic outfit and the diverse skill set. Thor, however, is seemingly less iconic. Even his movies aren’t as widely praised until Thor: Ragnarok came around. He is the definition of an unoriginal hero, considering Stan Lee stole him out of Norse mythology. Maybe it’s Lee’s weird twist on the character, maybe it’s Kirby’s exceptional art in this issue, maybe it’s Loki. It’s hard to pinpoint why Thor has stood the test of time, but we’ll look at a couple reasons this week.
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While Jack Kirby does draw a striking Spider-Man cover, this is actually the first issue we’ve looked at that hasn’t been drawn by Kirby. Steve Ditko is the new artist we’ll be enjoying who was eventually driven away from Marvel. So, make sure you appreciate as much of his beautiful art as you can.
Enter Peter Parker. Without parents, Pete grew up under the care of his Aunt May and his Uncle Ben. Despite being an orphan, he has a happy home and shows promise at school. Unfortunately, his social life isn’t everything he wants it to be. He’s bullied and mocked by all his peers. Very relatable and believable.
So, as these things tend to happen, Peter gets bitten by an irradiated spider. This gives him the proportionate speed and strength of a spider. The nonsense of the last sentence has been debated by nerds for decades, so let’s just say he’s really strong and quick. He also has the ability to stick to walls and has his vaunted spider sense. Suffice to say, he has a lot of powers. This makes his power set as complex as Peter is himself.
Naturally, Peter decides to use these powers to make money. He dons a shabbily put together outfit and wrestles Crusher Hogan. Crusher didn’t stand a chance. Peter gets an agent and starts his career in television.
We’re still missing the two most important aspects of Spider-Man: his web-shooters and the outfit. The outfits speaks for itself, although it should be noted that at this point it’s indistinguishable whether the outfit is red and blue or red and black. This is something else that nerds have debated for decades. However, it’s been pretty much settled that the webs under the armpits are always there; it’s due to artistic license that some artists don’t draw it.
The web-shooters are such an important part of Spider-Man. He gets all of his abilities from the spider bite, but Peter Parker is still brilliant. It’s his sense of responsibility and his genius that really define him as a character. Also, his Parker luck makes him super relatable. The fact that he designed his own web-shooters, which makes web-slinging through the city possible, is probably the most important part of Spider-Man.
I’m sure the story is nothing new. Peter gets arrogant and selfish; Uncle Ben pays the price when he is gunned down by the same burglar he let escape turns out to be the same man who murders Uncle Ben. Peter, enraged with this development, almost gives into vengeance, but he stops himself.
Thus, an origin story is born. We learn that with great power there must also come great responsibility. This defines Peter as a hero and psychologically changes him forever.
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Well, folks, we’re finally here. The moment we’ve all been waiting for: Donald Blake! Wait, you have no idea who Donald Blake is? Then you have clearly come to the right place.
Donald Blake, Ph.D.: Our protagonist for the series. He is a frail man with a walking stick. As far as this issue gets into, that’s all you really need to know.
In lieu of the Skrulls from Fantastic Four and the Toad Men from Incredible Hulk; Journey Into Mystery brings us the Stone Men from Saturn. More aliens. I promise that Marvel Cosmic really is a wonderful place, but so far (aside from the Skrulls) it’s not super memorable. The Stone Men are strong due to the weaker gravity of Earth, which makes them an invading force to be feared.
The only thing about them that you should remember, is one of them is named Gorr. After Stan Lee making another Human Torch and taking Betty Ross from the Golden Age, current writers decided to revisit origin stories and other Silver Age stories for ideas. If anyone wants to read some fantastic Thor stories, they should look to Jason Aaron’s Gorr the God Butcher from his Thor: God of Thunder series. A great starting place with a smaller quantity of issues to play catch up with.
Speaking of Thor, where is he? Well, see, here’s where things get weird. So, Donald Blake loses his cane and stumbles into this cave. He finds this walking stick and tries to use it as a lever to move a boulder. He strikes the boulder with the staff in frustration and changes into the God of Thunder: Thor. Below, we have the famous inscription on the hammer, stating that only the worthy can hold the hammer. So, for the unforeseeable future of the series, Thor is the magical secret identity of mild mannered Donald Blake. It’s pretty bizarre, but in Marvel fashion, quite unique.
Now, you might be thinking ‘Unique? Sounds like the Hulk!’ And there is some merit to that. However, change the gamma radiation with a magic hammer that transforms a significantly less impressive doctor into a deity from Norse mythology and we’re dealing with a different beast entirely. As is the case with most magical system, there’s rules.
So first, he taps the walking stick to turn into Thor and does so again to transform back. Two taps creates rain or snow and three taps ends storms. He also can’t let go of the hammer for sixty seconds or he’ll revert back to Donald Blake. Remember, this is not like Bruce Banner who stopped the invasion of the Toad Men; Donald Blake is a frail man and nowhere near as brilliant as Bruce.
However, as Thor he’s comparable to the Hulk in strength and actually in control of it. Did I mention he can swing the hammer and fly from it’s momentum? Thor is a force to be reckoned with; in fact, he is literally a force of nature. Donald may have his shortcomings, but Thor’s strengths make up for it in spades.
He easily defeats the Stone Men, but one man can’t stop an entire invasion. However, do to some clever writing from Stan Lee, the aliens assume that any earthling could be as strong as Thor and that they’re in over their rocky heads. They leave to never be seen from again. Hopefully.
So, that’s it for this week. We’ve been introduced to Spider-Man, who will take a couple months before he’s back at it in his own series. Thor doesn’t get his own self-titled series yet, but that’s nothing to fret about. Iron Man, Human Torch, Ant-Man and Silver Age Cap got their own stories in series like Tales of Suspense, Strange Tales, and Tales to Astonish. Besides, as an avenger, you can expect to see a lot more of everyone’s favourite Norse god. Unless your favourite is Loki, in which case you can expect to see a little more of him. Until next week!
Wandering Jade 