Journey Into Mystery 113 (Feb. 1965) was equal parts soap opera and super heroics.
Dr. Don Blake attempts to reveal his secret identity to nurse Jane Foster, not knowing that the perpetually pissed-off Odin has already robbed him of his power to transform into Thor. Jane naturally thinks he’s mentally unbalanced for claiming to be a thunder god.
Then, when the Medusa-themed Grey Gargoyle invades Blake’s office trying to trace his enemy Thor, the mortal physician and his lady love find themselves on the run with a monotone monster hard on their heels.
“Anybody who can make a paper airplane into a dangerous weapon is a force to be reckoned with!” noted David Brosky.
The ensuing chase sequence by artist Jack Kirby, which wrecks a good part of Blake’s office building, has the vibe of one of Kirby’s pre-hero monster stories such as Monster at My Window (Tales to Astonish 34, Aug. 1962).
“Among other things, this well-done sequence reaffirms my sense that Thor worked better as a comics character when he was still vulnerable to shifting into mortal form,” observed Matthew Grossman. “Given the character’s power level, it made sense to me for him to have a weakness reminding him that mortality was, literally, always just a minute away.”
“Good on Jane!” remarked comics historian Mark Engblom. “Despite thinking Don may be mentally unstable, she still won’t ditch him... Also, as humble as this sequence appears to modern eyes, it can’t be overstated how radically different this approach was for superhero comics of that era! Could you imagine ANY DC superhero revealing his secret identity to his girl for ANY reason? Marvel once again turns the conventional superhero comic completely upside down!”
This story anticipates the 1981 film Superman II. In both, the protagonist renounces his superhuman powers for love of a woman, only to face an immediate superhuman threat that teaches him that he must sacrifice his own happiness for the safety of humanity.
Jim Kosmicki wrote:
ReplyDeletei have long found it interesting that at the time of Hulk #1, it was difficult to have a consistent gray tone for a character, hence Hulk becoming green with #2, but relatively soon after that, we have the Grey Gargoyle appear. I wonder if the character was a bit of an experiment to test coloring methods (hint: I've always like Grey Gargoyle as a villain)
Andrew Buckle wrote:
ReplyDeleteSome classic issues especially the Frightful Four / Medusa. Grey Gargoyle was never a favourite though.