From the Mouths of the Marvels:

"Dr. Don Blake! I have heard of him! He is the famous lame doctor! It should be a simple matter to get a job with him, and then rob him later at my leisure!"

- - Mr. Hyde, developing his diabolical plan, page 4

And then....and then...?!?!?!

Thor and Tales of Asgard
from Journey Into Mystery #99
December 1963 • 18 pages

Publication Date: October 1, 1963

Letters Page: No letters page was published in this issue

I: Feature Story: "The Mysterious Mr. Hyde!"

Pages: 13

Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Don Heck
Inks: Don Heck
Letters: Artie Simek

First Appearance: Mr. Hyde, Clark (NYPD cop)

Villain/Origin: Mr. Hyde/Calvin Zabo

Guest Appearance: Odin, Jane Foster

Cameo Appearance: Clark

Synopsis: Thor takes flight from a crowded city street, and standing aside the admirers who watch the Thunder God in awe is Mr. Hyde, a fearsomely menacing figure. Thor flies off into the heights of the sky, and Mr. Hyde realizes that now is the best time to go after Dr. Don Blake. While Mr. Hyde begins his dastardly plot, Thor flies to Asgard to once again gain audience with Odin to plead his case for the hand of Jane Foster in marriage. Thor and Odin argue back and forth, and when Thor impudently raises his hammer, Odin lashes him with a bolt of lightning. Odin feels empathy for Thor's plight, and gives him a glimmer of hope: if Jane Foster was to prove herself worthy, she could be granted immortality, and he would again listen to Thor's pleas. Overjoyed with this new hope, Thor heads back to Earth.

On his way to Blake's office, Mr. Hyde thinks back on his origins as a villainous super-human with the strength of twelve men: he was a thief named Calvin Zabo who went to get a job with Dr. Blake, in order to rob him when his guard was down. Blake refused him a job in his office, and humiliated, Zabo vowed revenge. Zabo leaned on his fascination with the stories of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and went about to create a potion that would enable him to bring out a dark sided personality he could exploit in a life of crime. His potion was a success. He could change from Zabo to Hyde, increase his strength twelve-fold, and had all new fingerprints, so crimes he committed as Hyde could not be traced to his normal identity.

Just as Mr. Hyde is smashing the door down to the doctor's office, Thor has entered the window and turned into Dr. Blake. As he steps out, he sees Jane Foster being threatened by the hideous man. Hyde picks up Blake and tosses him out the window. Jane flips out seeing her unrequited lover falling to his death, and Hyde breaks into Blake's safe and steals all his money and study papers. On his way down to the pavement, Blake smashes his cane against the wall and turns into Thor. Saved from certain doom, Thor flies back up to the office to find Jane, hysterical. He calms her with news that he saved Blake's life on his way to fight Hyde.

Mr. Hyde reads in the paper how Thor saved the life of Dr. Don Blake, and is furious that his revenge was not exacted against the man who would not give him a job. He realizes now that his top priority is to defeat Thor so he can't destroy his plans any further. His next plan, he says aloud, will take Thor by surprise!

The next day, Thor crashes into a bank and robs the safe of bags full of money. He threatens an armed guard before whizzing away with huge sums of stolen cash. The cops can't explain why Thor- or someone who appears to be Thor- has turned bad, but an APB is out for Thor, now a wanted criminal.

(continued in JiM #100)

--synopsis by Gormuu

Issues Reprinted
Thor and Tales of Asgard from
Journey Into Mystery #83-100

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.

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