Journey into Mystery #91
Sandu, Master of the Supernatural!
Now
In fabled Asgard, Odin has retrieved the Belt of Strength. He reminisces on how Thor once used it to enhance his already great strength. So far, Thor has not needed it but Odin vows that it will be available to his son if he should ever have a need for it.[1]
On Earth, Thor is flying across the city when he spots a bank floating in the air. When he tries to investigate, the bank suddenly vanishes and the people inside appear on the street. Changing back to his mortal guise, Don Blake overhears how they don’t remember what happened.
Thor later goes to a nearby mountain top to summon his father Odin to ask if Loki had a part to play in the bank’s disappearance. Odin assures Thor that Loki is still imprisoned on Asgard after his last defeat at the hands of Thor.[2] Later, at a horse betting track, the day’s entire take suddenly flies away. Watching this from Asgard is Loki, who is amused that neither Thor nor Odin are able to figure out what he is up to.
A Few Days Ago
Don Blake and Jane Foster have gone to a local carnival that features a mind reader as its star attraction. This mind reader is named Sandu, and he is able to deduce that Don is in love with a woman with the initials J.F.[3] When Jane presses him for who that is, Don dismisses Sandu as a phony because he still hasn’t mustered up the courage to tell Jane how he really feels.
They are unaware that Loki has been watching this from Asgard and decides to use Sandu as a pawn to get revenge against Thor. Loki casts a spell that boosts Sandu’s mental powers to a great degree. Suddenly, Sandu discovers that he can use his mental powers to telekinetically remove the wallets from his patrons and teleport them into his own pocket. Sandu decides to use his newfound powers to become incredibly wealthy.
Earlier
This led to the incident with the bank. After levitating it into the air, Sandu spotted Thor heading his way and teleported himself and the bank outside the city. There the bank guards try to shoot him, but Sandu uses his powers to steal the bullet’s momentum making them fall harmlessly onto the ground.
Satisfied with his newfound powers, Sandu then teleports the people in the bank back to the city, stripping them of their memories of what happened. As Thor searches for the missing bank, Loki laughs from his vantage point in Asgard because Sandu used his powers to send all of the buildings he plundered to the surface of the moon.
Now
Sandu decides he needs a palace to call his home and transport a massive palace from India to New York City. Alerting the world authorities to his abilities, Sandu flies above the city until Air Force jets are scrambled to stop him. He easily blasts them out of the sky with a wave of the hand. He then uses his power to levitate the UN Building off the ground, demanding that they make him the ruler of the world or else he will destroy the building and everyone inside.
Hearing the news, Don Blake makes an excuse to leave the office so he can change into Thor and confront Sandu. When he arrives at the scene, Sandu knocks Thor to the ground by hurling a bunch of girders at the thunder god. Falling to the ground, Thor is then bound in chains and has the UN Building dropped on top of him. Injured and trapped, Thor is too weak to free himself.
Seeing his son in danger, Odin sends down two Valkyrie to bring him the Belt of Power.[4] With his strength boosted, Thor is able to break free and dig his way out. With Thor about to foil his plans, Loki warns Sandu that Mjolnir is the source of Thor’s power. When Thor throws his weapon at Sandu, the mystic teleports out of the way. He then teleports Thor’s hammer to another dimension. With time running down, Thor worries that after a minute he’ll revert back to Don Blake. Luckily, Sandu tries to use his power to lift Thor’s hammer but cannot channel to the strength to do so. This short circuits his abilities, sending Sandu and Mjolnir back to Earth. Recovering Mjolnir, Thor hands Sandu over to the authorities. Stripped of his powers, everything Sandu had done is reversed. As Thor thanks his father for his aid, Loki vows to defeat Thor next time.[5]
Recurring Characters
Thor, Sandu, Loki, Odin, Jane Foster, Valtrauta, Hildegard
Continuity Notes
This is not just something they made up for the comics. Per Norse mythology, this belt was referred to as Megingjord (roughly translating to “power belt”) It is first referred to by its true name in Thor #363.
Loki was last defeated by Thor in Journey into Mystery #88.
The source of Sandu’s mind-reading powers is not revealed here. However, Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook and Thor: First Thunder #3 confirm that he is a low-level mutant.
The Valkyrior entry in X-Men: Earth’s Mutant Heroes #1 identifies these Valkyrie as Valtrauta and Hildegard.
This story is expanded upon in Thor: First Thunder #3, and tells a slightly different story. For more on this see below.
Accounting This Story with Thor: First Thunder
As stated above, Thor: First Thunder #3 retells Thor’s clash with Sandu. Instead of the battle at the United Nations building, Thor has his final battle with Sandu at an oil refinery. There Sandu’s powers burn out and Thor almost leaves him to die in a fire when the humanity of Donald Blake convinces him to save Sandu’s life instead. Marvel has yet to provide an explanation for these 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 #91 being the “fictional account” and Thor: First Thunder #3 being the “true” story.
