August 1962

Journey into Mystery #83 (vol. 1)
“The Stonemen from Saturn!”
EIC: Stan Lee
Cover Artists: Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott
Writers: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
Pencilers: Jack Kirby
Inkers: Joe Sinnott
Letterers: Artie Simek
Editors: Stan Lee
Cover Date: August 1962
Release Date: June 1962
Pages: 13
Cover Price: $0.12
First Appearance and Origin of:
- The Might Thor/Dr. Donald Blake
SYNOPSIS:
Dr. Don Blake is an American physician vacation in Europe.

As he explores the countryside, he overhears an old man telling people of stone men from outer space. They of course think he is nuts, but Dr. Blake believes him and decides to have a look for himself.

These stone men come from the planet Saturn and have increased strength and invulnerability thanks to Earth’s atmosphere. Dr. Blake overhears the stone men speaking about killing any who discover them and flees to hide in a nearby cave.


Unable to find another way out of the cave, Dr. Blake leans back against a wall revealing a hidden door. In the secret chamber he finds a very old walking stick, which he uses as a lever to try to move the huge boulder blocking a secondary exit from the cave. Unable to budge the enormous stone, he strikes the boulder with the cane in a fit of frustration. Suddenly, there is a blinding light, and the feeble Dr. Blake is transformed into…

As Thor, Dr. Blake is easily able to move the boulder and escape the cave. Outside he tests his abilities based on what he had read about Norse mythology. If he lets go of the hammer for more than 60 seconds, he returns to his normal self.
He tests the hammer’s ability to return to him when thrown, throwing it through a tree, summons storms, and stops them before hitting the hammer on the ground once to return himself to normal and the hammer back into a walking stick.
At that time, the remainder of the stone men attack fleet enter the atmosphere and are picked up by military radar. The stone men’s ships are protected so that the missiles cannot harm them. Seeing this, Dr. Blake transforms back into Thor and hurls himself with his hammer into the middle of the landing party. The stone men cannot match strength with Thor and his hammer, and are quickly defeated.
Thinking that all humans are like Thor, the stone men flee the planet. As soldiers arrive to the scene, Thor transforms back into Dr. Blake and is able to walk away without anyone taking a second look.
<<<Previous Issue in Reading Order—-Next Issue in Reading Order>>>
No Comments