Loki + Mr. Hyde + Cobra Finally Give Thor a Run For His Money
It takes a lot to challenge a god. And, that seems to be the overall theme of this issue of Journey Into Mystery.
In the first story, Loki finds a clever way to not reveal that he knows Thor's secret identity (something he is forbidden to do) as well as use his standard tactic of using proxies to attack Thor. He bails Cobra and Mr. Hyde out of jail, augments their powers, then tells them to abduct Jane Foster to lure Thor to them.
The majority of this issue actually feels like Thor is a bit powerless to stop foes that are far weaker than himself - a major achievement for this title. While it does go a bit to pieces toward the end when Thor takes on Heimdall with the "Winds of a thousand worlds!" and later - in another example of what I call "power creep" he reveals yet another power, creating a time warp using Mjolnir, to make time stand still.
Still, the story is definitely better than most Journey Into Mystery Thor stories.
There is a letters page, and a thoroughly unnecessary pin-up of Thor before we get to the second story, 'The Defeat of Odin', part of the 'Tales of Asgard' series. This is probably the best Tale of Asgard to date. It gives some insight into Odin that makes him seem a lot deeper than the two-dimensional ruler of the gods he comes across as in most Thor stories (such as the one above).
This is one of the better issues of the Kirby/Lee Thor run, recommended for fans interested in checking out the highlights.
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