Appearing in "The Lady and --- the Prowler!"
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Other Characters:
- Mindy McPherson
- Arthur Stacy (First appearance)
- Nancy Stacy (First appearance)
- George Stacy (Only in recap)
- Harry Osborn (Only in recap)
- Mary Jane Watson (Only in recap)
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Synopsis for "The Lady and --- the Prowler!"
Elsewhere in the city, Hobie Brown reflects on how he recently helped Spider-Man out in a jam by impersonating Spider-Man in front of a group of people. He recalls seeing George Stacy in the audience, and wonders if his involvement that day has made him a potential accomplice in the death of Stacy, and decides to bring Spider-Man to justice to clear his own conscious.
Spider-Man meanwhile is blowing off steam by web-slinging to determine what to do about Gwen. When he looks in on Gwen at her home, he's spotted and attacked by the Prowler. Their fight takes them across the city. When the end up in an elevator shaft, the Prowler is knocked down the shaft, and Spider-Man manages to save him from serious injury with his webbing. He then strips off Hobie's costume and delivers him to a hospital and calls Hobie's girlfriend Mindy. When Spider-Man hears Mindy telling the unconscious Hobie that she will stick by him no matter what, he decides that in spite of everything Spider-Man should reveal his true identity to the woman he loves.
Swinging to Gwen's apartment, Spider-Man finds the landlady cleaning the place up. He learned from her that Gwen had left for the airport to go to England. Rushing there, Peter arrives moments too late and watches in agony as her plane takes off. Realizing that his slow decision cost him the girl he loves, Peter leaves the airport.Appearing in "The Golden Ghost!"
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Synopsis for "The Golden Ghost!"
—MelterIf I'm the fool, how come you're dancin' a jig while I let loose some melting blasts around your feet?
The Melter has escaped from prison and is now forcing Tony Stark to build a new melting gun out of Stark Industry technology. Now armed with a new device that melts more than just metal, the Melter switches it to "flesh" and turns the weapon on Stark, and then begins to go on a rampage.
Tony lives, however, because when the Melter fired his melting ray on the "flesh" setting, Tony was protected by the iron plate which keeps his heart pumping. Donning his original armor, Iron Man then tracks down the Melter and fights him head on. Although the Melter begins to get the upper hand because of Iron Man's limitations in his original armor, Iron Man succeeds in defeating the Melter, because when he was building the melting gun as Tony Stark, he built in a flaw that would cause the weapon to overheat and explode after a certain amount of usage.
With the Melter defeated, Iron Man turns him over to the authorities.Appearing in "The Way It Was!"
Featured Characters:
- Thor (Main story and flashback)
- Dr. Don Blake
Antagonists:
- Stone Men from Saturn (Only in recap)
- Gorr (Only in recap)
- Korg (Only in recap)
- Margus (Only in recap)
- Ard (Only in recap)
- Mechano-Monster (Only in recap)
- Loki (Only in recap)
- Cobra (Klaus) (Only in recap)
- Executioner (Only in recap)
- Ulik (Only in recap)
- Rock Trolls (Only in recap)
Other Characters:
- Heimdall (Only in recap)
- Odin (Only in recap)
- Karnilla (Only in recap)
- Destroyer (Only in recap)
- Balder (Only in recap)
- Warriors Three (Only in recap)
- Hercules (Only in recap)
- Jane Foster (Only in recap)
- Sif (Only in recap)
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Synopsis for "The Way It Was!"
This issue then reprints Thor's debut appearance in Journey Into Mystery #83..
Donald Blake, a doctor from the United States, is visiting Norway. At the same time, a ship from Saturn lands nearby as advance scouts for a planned invasion. A local fisherman spots them and alerts the villagers, but they dismiss him. Blake overhears and goes to look for himself. When he steps on a twig, the aliens notice him. He flees into the hills, where he loses his cane. He runs into a cave, but the other entrance is blocked by a giant boulder. A secret door opens, revealing a chamber where Blake finds a walking stick. He tries to move the boulder with the stick but is unable to get the leverage. Frustrated, he hits the boulder with the stick, and in a flash of light, the stick transforms into a hammer, and Blake transforms into Thor, the mythical Norse God of Thunder.
Thor easily lifts the boulder and leaves the cave. He verifies that the hammer has all the powers of Mjolnir, Thor's legendary weapon. Meanwhile, the alien armada shows up on Earth's radar screens. When fighter jets scramble to meet them, they project an image of a huge dragon and frighten away the pilots. When the ground forces fire missiles, they explode harmlessly the ships' force fields. Thor speeds to the defense of the Earth.
When Thor attacks the aliens they drop a cage over him but he tears the bars open. They aim their disintegration beams at him, but his hammer smashes their guns. They unleash their Mechano-Monster, but he smashes it to bits. The aliens return to their ships and give up their invasion. Thor changes back to Dr. Blake, whom the soldiers ignore when they come to look for the invaders.
Following this recounting, Donald Blake begins to think about his further adventures and how they eventually brought him to the fabled realm of Asgard, where his life would never be the same again. He recalls his meeting with Odin, the All-Father, and meeting his allies Balder, Hercules and the Warriors Three, and also recalls his battles against such foes as Loki, Karnilla, the Destroyer, Pluto, Cobra and Ulik.
Finally, Blake thinks back of the two loves in his life, his lost and former love Jane Foster, the nurse who worked for him in the early days of his career as Thor, and his new lover the goddess Sif. With his recollections over with, Blake begins to wonder who he really is: Donald Blake or Thor? And if he is really Donald Blake, a mere mortal granted with the power of the Thunder God, what happened to the original?
This story is continued next issue...