There's nothing about you that I resent, Jane!

-- Dr. Blake

Appearing in "Prisoner of the Reds"Edit

Featured Characters:

• Thor
• Dr. Don Blake

Supporting Characters:

• John Blandings (Only Appearance)^[1] a Scientist
• Sylvia Blandings (Only Appearance)^[1] (John's wife)
• Jane Foster
• Colonel Edward Harrison (First appearance)

Villains:

• Soviet Union
  • Soldiers
  • Agents
  • Scientists

Locations:

• USSR
  • Russia
  • Soviet Base
• United States of America
  • New York City
    • Dr. Blakes office
  • Washington D.C.
    • Capitol Building

Items:

• Mjolnir - Thor's Enchanted Hammer

Vehicles

• a ship
• a Soviet plane
• a commercial airplane
  
  

Synopsis for "Prisoner of the Reds"Edit

Five scientists have apparently given up on the American way of life and have defected to Russia, causing the government to exercise grave concern. While in New York, Donald Blake decides to do something in his godly identity of Thor. As part of this plan, Blake travels to Washington D.C. where he meets Colonel Edwards Harrison of the US Army Intelligence and offers himself as bait for the Russians by reporting that he has come up with a new biological weapon. When asked why he wants to help, Blake makes up a story about how his lame leg prevented him from fighting in the Korean War and he wants to do something for his country to make up for it.

When the story about Blake's "discovery" hits the newswire, a Russian agent posing as a photographer for National Magazine visits Blake's office. As expected, the spy's camera is rigged to spray a will sapping gas that puts Donald in a hypnotic trance. The spy then has Blake write a similar defection letter and flies him to Russia where he is put in a cell with the other "defected" scientists.

When left alone in his cell, Donald taps his cane changing into Thor and easily breaks out of his cell. The Russian soldiers have rigged the dungeon with various traps, which Thor easily bypasses. However, the Russians get Thor at a stalemate when their commanding officer threatens to activate a self-destruct device that would destroy the dungeon and everyone in it, including the captured American scientists.

Forced to relinquish his hammer and be shackled in "electronically treated" chains that even Thor apparently cannot break out of, the Russian soldiers leave Thor unattended figuring that he is no longer a threat. As the 60 second time limit that Thor can be away from his hammer runs out, he changes back into Donald Blake, who is lithe enough to limber out of the shackles and recover his hammer changing back into Thor.

The Thunder God then frees the captured American scientists and then gets the drop on his Russian captors and easily destroy their dungeon. Reverting back into Donald Blake, Thor joins the scientists as they smuggle themselves out of the country and are shipped back home to America. Later, Donald recounts the tale (while keeping his identity of Thor secret) to Jane, who once more moons over Thor, leaving Donald Blake to wonder if the woman he loved could ever love him as Donald Blake, and not Thor.

Appearing in "I Know the Secret of the Sea Monster"Edit

Synopsis for "I Know the Secret of the Sea Monster"Edit

• Synopsis not yet written.
  
  

Appearing in "The Man on the Endless Stairway"Edit

Synopsis for "The Man on the Endless Stairway"Edit

A criminal breaks out of a jail cell and steals a car. When he runs out of gas, he finds himself outside of an old folks home, which he plans to rob. During the holdup, a police car pulls up, and he runs up a staircase to hide. After climbing for minutes he can see no top, and there is swirling mist that obscures his view. He thinks the police must have left by now and so he starts back down. It takes even longer to descend to the bottom than the amount of time he spent climbing and he begins to smell smoke. It starts to feel warm and he wonders if there's a fire. In truth, the flames of hell await him at the bottom of the stairs.

NotesEdit

• Curiously, the Thor story opens with the revelation that five scientists have gone missing, but when Thor finds them, there are only four. No one mentions the missing fifth scientist.
• Colonel Harrison appears again in Iron Man: The Iron Age #2 and the Conspiracy limited series.
• Don Blake is seen smoking a pipe.
• The Thor story is reprinted in Essential Thor 1, Marvel Masterworks: Mighty Thor 1, Marvel Tales Annual 5
  

TriviaEdit

• No trivia.

See AlsoEdit

• Write your own review of this comic!
• Discuss Journey into Mystery Vol 1 87 on the forums
• Cover gallery for the Journey into Mystery series
• Images from Journey into Mystery Vol 1 87

Recommended ReadingEdit

• None.

Links and ReferencesEdit

• None.

 

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