Journey into Mystery #98
Challenged by the Human Cobra
Having lost Jane Foster to Basil Andrews, Thor vents his frustrations by trashing the office of Donald Blake. Changing back to human form, Don Blake continues to lament his loss due to the fact that he has been forbidden to share his secret identity to Jane. Worse, Odin has denied his request to marry the Foster woman, leading her to leave him.[1]
That’s when Thor is summoned back to Asgard. Odin knows that his son is upset and advises him to put all thoughts of Jane Foster out of his mind or else he will never know peace. Thor flat out rejects this recommendation and storms out of the throne room. However, once back on Earth, Don Blake decides he does want to forget and plans a trip to take his mind off things.
Meanwhile, in a distant jungle, Professor Shecktor has almost completed a new anti-venom.[2] His assistant, Klaus Voorhees, feigns interest but secretly resents Shecktor who he believes will get all the credit for the discovery while Klaus works as his lowly assistant. Eyeing the cobra they have captured and contemplates having Shecktor suffer an accident so he can take all the credit himself.
Later, Donald Blake arrives in Bombay and hears the news that Professor Shecktor had been bitten by a snake and is in dying. Shecktor was one of Don Blake’s old teachers and he quickly changes into Thor and rushes to the nearby village where he is being cared for. There, Shecktor tells Thor that he was betrayed by his assistant who had their captive cobra bite them both to make it look like an accident. Shecktor then reveals that he irradiated the cobra and when Klaus took the antidote it mutated his body, giving him the powers of a cobra. Klaus then took on the name Cobra and fled the village. Thor vows to destroy the Cobra and races to a nearby airport and learns that he just missed Voorhees.
Thor races back to America and spots the Cobra fleeing the airport after arriving in New York. Thor follows the Cobra to a nearby chemical manufacturing plant. There, the Cobra confronts the owners and demands they give him control of the facility so he can devise more of the cobra serum so he can create an army of warriors just like him. That’s when Thor comes crashing in the window to try and stop him. He evades the Cobra’s cobra darts but is stunned by his gas bombs. As he fans the gas away with Mjolnir, the Cobra snares Thor in a coil separating him from Mjolnir. The villain then tosses Thor out a window. Moments later he changes back into Donald Blake because he has been away from Mjolnir for over a minute.
This allows Don to get free from the coils and sneak back inside to retrieve his hammer when the Cobra goes out to look for his enemy. The two continue their battle on the factory floor, but the Cobra escapes when he knocks over a tank of chemical gas. This allows the Cobra to escape. The villain then goes to the first doctor’s office he can find the chemicals he needs to recreate the formula. This happens to be the office of Doctor Basil Andrews the man who stole away Jane Foster. Jane is shocked to see how much of a coward Basil is when his life is threatened. Spotting Thor passing by the window, Jane grabs a flask off the counter and throws it out the window. Thor arrives just in time to prevent the Cobra from hitting her with more of his darts.
Still, the Cobra manages to nab Jane and escape out the window. Thor follows after them and kicks the Cobra off the side of the building he is crawling across. Thor then grabs Jane and leaves the Cobra to fall into the river below. In the aftermath of her botched kidnapping, Jane quits working for Dr. Andrews and returns to Donald Blake who is more than happy to have her back. Meanwhile, the Cobra has survived his fall and pulls himself the river.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Cobra, Jane Foster, Odin, Basil Andrews
Continuity Notes
Thor was forbidden from revealing his secret to Jane Foster in Journey into Mystery #90. Blake has been pining over Jane since issue #84. Last issue, Jane got tired of waiting and quit working for Blake to be with Basil Andrews.
Professor Shecktor’s first name is revealed to be Ezekiel in the Cobra entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #2.
Errors
Dr. Basil Andrews is named Bruce Andrews in this story.
Topical References
The airport in New York that Klaus flies to is identified as Idlewild Airport. This should be considered a topical reference as it has since been renamed to the JFK International Airport following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Odin Battles Ymir, King of the Ice Giants
A long time ago, in the days of the gods, the Frost Giants were converging on the city of Asgard. As the battle trumpets are played, Odin leads the charge on his chariot drawn by two winged horses. When he is knocked free from the chariot, Odin strikes the ground with his sword opening a wide chasm that swallows most of the Frost Giants.
The only one left is Ymir, the king of the Frost Giants. Odin leads Ymir on a chase, luring the massive Frost Giant into a trap. Once they reach a volcanic area of Asgard, Odin plunges his sword into the ground once more. This time, he causes Ymir to be trapped in a ring a fire so thick that the Frost Giant cannot penetrate the trap. With the battle over, Odin then returns to his throne.
Recurring Characters
Odin, Ymir
A Note About Asgardian Mythology
The above Tales of Asgard clashes with other stories that tell different accounts, some that contradict the story summaries above. To explain away these inconsistencies it was revealed in Thor #294 that Asgard undergoes a cycle of death and rebirth about every 2160 years. As a result, the Asgardians relive events over and over, each time being slightly different with each new iteration. Marvel Legacy #1 states that the Asgardians existed as far back as 1000000 BC. That said, the origins of the Asgardians are murky at best and there is no way of knowing what iteration is being detailed above.
That said, in Thor #294 the disembodied eye of Odin told Thor that the above story was a myth crafted by Odin to give his people a creation story following their most recent rebirth cycle. The credibility of the eye’s story was later called into question by Buri himself years later after he took on the name Tiwaz in Thor #355. However, credibility for the death/rebirth cycle of Asgard was later reinforced in Thor: Ages of Thunder #1, Thor: Trial of Thor #1, Thor: Rage of Thor #1, Thor: Reign of Blood #1, and lastly Thor: Man of War #1. One could presume that a version of this myth is true somewhere down the line.
Yet in Thor Annual #5 a different story is told: It states that Ymir was slain by Odin and his siblings Ve and Vili. Ymir’s melting body caused a massive flood that drowned all the other giants. This same story claimed that Odin used Ymir’s carcass to create the Earth. This contradicts the legends of other religious pantheons in the Marvel Universe which have their own tales that speak of the creation of Earth. It also refutes the creation of the universe following the Big Bang (first told in Thor #169.) The Earth’s creation as a result of the Big Bang is verified in Silver Surfer Annual #2, Thor Annual #10 and History of the Marvel Universe #1.
The fate of Ymir is further refuted by Ymir’s next chronological appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 3) #5, when he leads the Frost Giants on a renewed attack on Asgard only to be repelled by Thor and Vidar who trap him below the surface of Asgard.
What is true and what is a myth is a matter of interpretation in lieu of an official explanation.
