Journey into Mystery #87
Prisoner of the Reds
When the wife of scientist John Blandings returns home she finds a note from him saying that he has decided to renounce the American way of life and has left for Russia. This is the fifth scientist to defect in so many days, leaving American authorities concerned. When Donald Blake watches the latest news report on these defections he decides to look up his old friend, Colonel Harrison in Washington to see what he can do to help.
Don soon starts packing an overnight bag with the help of his nurse, Jane Foster, who dotes after him. She apologizes for doing so, but Don tells her that it’s fine. As he flies to Washington, Don once again wishes he could tell Jane how he feels about her, but still believes that she could never love someone with a disability like him. Meeting with Colonel Harrison, Don suggests planting a false story in the newspaper about how he is developing a new biological weapon to see if he attracts the attention of Russian spies. Harrison okays this, but asks Blake why he is putting his life on the line like this. Don explains that due to his condition he was unable to serve in the military, and believes this is the best way to serve his country.
With this task out of the way, Blake changes into Thor to return to New York as quickly as possible. There he beings working on this bogus bio-weapon after the story is planted in the news. Sure enough, a Russian spy reads the story in the newspaper and decides to pay Don Blake a visit. Posing as a photographer for a national magazine, the spy asks to take Don’s picture. However, this camera actually releases a hypnotic gas that puts Don under the spy’s control. The spy then orders Blake to write a letter stating he is defecting to Russia and he is quickly flown to Russia.
When the hypnotic gas finally wears off, Don finds himself a prisoner inside a Russian fortress with the other doctors. They too were forced to defect and are now prisoners as well. So far, however, they have refused to lend their scientific expertise to the Russians. When the Russians decide to put their prisoners in separate cells, Blake uses this privacy to change into Thor. Breaking free from his cell, he fights his way through Russian troops and various traps until he reaches the commander in charge of this facility. He orders Thor to surrender, threatening to throw a switch that will blow up the other scientists. With no other choice, Thor drops Mjolnir and allows his captors to bind him in electrically powered shackles. Left alone, Thor reverts back to Don Blake after a minute has elapsed, allowing him to wriggle free from the chains.
Recovering his hammer and becoming Thor again, our hero frees the scientists and digs an escape tunnel. When they ask about Don Blake, Thor tells them that he is going back for him. In reality, he has returned to tear the Russian fortress down around his former captors. With this done, Thor changes back to Don Blake and reunites with the other scientists. They eventually find a resistance group that helps the scientists get safely back to the United States.
Back on the job, Don tells Jane Foster everything that happened. Jane is completely taken away by the stories of Thor’s heroism. Thinking to himself, Blake wishes he could get Jane to love him like she loves Thor, while Foster knows that she may never find Thor, but promises to never stop dreaming.[1]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Jane Foster, Colonel Edward Harrison
Continuity Notes
Events of this story are expanded upon in Thor: First Thunder #3.
Topical References
This story uses a lot of Cold War terminology, referring to Russians as “The Reds”, referring to Russia as the “Iron Curtain” and so on. All of these Cold War references should be considered topical.
Out-dated technology: The newsroom in this story is depicted using 60’s era television cameras, Don Blake is seen watching the news on a massive black and white television.
Don states here that he wants to help after having to sit out the Korean War due to his disability. Reference to the Korean War here should also be considered topical. Per History of the Marvel Universe #1, modern readers could assume that Don “regrets” not being able to participate in the Sin Cong Conflict, a fictional war used to replace all World War II/Korean War/Vietnam War references made by Marvel characters who exist in the modern age.
