Challenged By The Human Cobra!
Despite Sinnott making quite the impression two issues prior, then Kirby doing the same just last month, this time around the Journey into Mystery series is once again passed around to another artist, this time in the form of Don Heck. Under his guise as well as Lee's usual pen, Don Blake finds himself all angst and fury at the opening of this issue as it draws on the cliffhanger ending of the previous issue involving his beloved Jane Foster. For Blake and Thor, it's a nice change of pace and adds some dexterity to the characters for the better, but in neglecting to take much more risk than that, Lee and Heck opt to wrap things up in a neat little bow by story's end to the point where the whole thing will probably be forgotten a few issues down the line.
I wish I could say that this was the most disappointing aspect of the outing too, but I can't. After reading the terrific Amazing Spider-Man #6 in which The Lizard makes his debut, much of this month's villain The Cobra comes off as incredibly two dimensional and cookie-cutter in retrospect. Not only is he written with as much attention to detail as any other Villain of the Month, but Don Heck who's work so far seems to be rather hit or miss, doesn't really render poor Cobra to be anything close to threatening or remarkable. And that really is the summary of this issue—great setup and premise; dull, uninspired finish. Oh well, back in the gutter, Thor.
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