Journey into Mystery #85
Trapped by Loki, The God of Mischief
In the realm of Asgard, Loki the god of mischief is trapped inside a tree as punishment for past transgressions.[1] There he will remain trapped until someone sheds a tear for him. Trying to find a way out of his prison, Loki has managed to take control of his prison. When Heimdal passes the tree, Loki makes a leaf fall from a branch and hit him in the eye. This causes Heimdal’s eye to tear up, breaking the spell and freeing Loki.
Loki’s first order of business is to get revenge against Thor. He casts a spell to see where the thunder god is, through a connection he has with Thor’s hammer. He sees Thor on Earth, using his powers to entertain sick children. Crossing the Bifrost Bridge, Loki arrives on Earth and disguises himself as a human. He decides that the best way to draw out his enemy, Loki casts a spell that causes people on the street to become negative. As it happens, Don Blake and his nurse Jane Foster are passing by. Seeing the trouble, Blake runs off to a nearby alley to change into Thor. Thor begins spinning his hammer to summon anti-matter particles that quickly restore the people to normal.
Loki then reveals his presence and tries to escape on a magic carpet. Thor tries to follow after him, but Loki quickly hypnotizes his foe. Landing in a nearby park, Loki orders Thor to hand over his hammer, but the thunder god refuses. Loki then commands him to throw Mjolnir into a nearby river, but it comes back to him right away. Creating an illusion of a second Thor, Loki orders him to hand over the hammer to the illusion. This plan works and he then orders Thor to go to the nearby zoo and free the animals. However, Thor cannot be out of contact with his hammer for a minute and he reverts back to Don Blake before he can carry out Loki’s task. Free from Loki’s hypnosis, Blake doubles back and finds people trying — in vain — to lift his hammer. Touching Mjolnir causes Blake to transform into Thor once more and he confronts Loki again.
This time his enemy flees on a flock of pigeons into a crowded theater where Thor cannot safely throw his hammer. When he rushes Loki on the stage, the god of mischief drops the curtain on Thor, covering his escape. Fleeing into a nearby subway station, Loki shoves some people onto the tracks as Thor starts catching up. With a train coming, Thor has to break off pursuit to save the innocent people by lifting up the tracks so the train sails over them. Returning to the streets, Thor spots Loki flying around on a horse statue wrecking billboards in town. Spotting some road construction, Thor gets an idea and grabs a large sewage pipe. He tosses it at Loki, knocking him off the horse and into New York Bay. As it turns out, water is the one thing that renders Loki powerless.
Recovering his foe from the bay, Thor then carries him up to the top of the Empire State Building. There he ties Loki to Mjolnir and tosses it to Asgard where Loki is dumped before Odin, Balder, and Tyr. Odin is proud that his son was able to defeat Loki. Moments later, Mjolnir returns to Thor before a minute can elapse and trap Don Blake atop the Empire State Building.
Later, Don Blake catches up with Jane Foster who is still breath taken by her encounter with Thor and Loki. She asks him if these beings make their lives feel dull by comparison and Don muses that it is all a matter of perspective.[2]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Loki, Jane Foster, Heimdal, Balder, Odin, Balder, Tyr
Continuity Notes
For more on how Loki ended up here see Journey into Mystery #-1.
A somewhat different accounting of events of this battle are told in Thor: First Thunder #2. In that version of events. In that version, Thor attempts to return to Asgard and is barred by Heimdal. It’s when Heimdal sheds a tear for Thor that Loki gets free. He later kidnaps Jane Foster, but in this accounting, Loki escapes. See more on this below.
Accounting This Story with Thor: First Thunder
As stated above, Thor: First Thunder #2 retells Thor’s first clash with Loki in the modern age. That version of events is starkly different from the one detailed above. Marvel does not provide an explanation for the two differing accounts. A possible in-universe explanation can be provided when considering other unrelated series, specifically Captain America: Forever Allies, Marvel Boy: The Uranian, and All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes. Those stories state that old Timely era comics weren’t “true” accounts of wartime heroes but adaptations created by Timely/Atlas Comics that adapted the adventures of superheroes to match the sensibilities of the time. It’s been established in Fantastic Four #10 that Marvel Comics exists in the Marvel Universe and publishes officially licensed comic books detailing the adventures of super-heroes, with creative teams using artistic license to embellish stories or fill in narrative gaps. I would like to think that this is a reasonable explanation for the two different accounts with Journey into Mystery #85 being the “fictional account” and Thor: First Thunder #2 being the “true” story.
