Appearing in "The Trial of the Gods!"
Journey Into Mystery #116
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Loki
- Executioner
- Enchantress
- Yagg the Invincible (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Asgardians (Unnamed)
- Avengers
- Rick Jones
- Daredevil (Matt Murdock)
- Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie) (Mentioned)
- Frightful Four
- Fantastic Four (Mentioned)
- Human Torch (Johnny Storm) (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Asgard
- City of Asgard
- Nidavellir
- Skornheim (First appearance)
- Spiny Cactus Field (First appearance)
- Forest of Eternal Nightmare Plants
- Skornheim Mountains (First appearance)
- The Glowing Bolder-Road of Skornheim (First appearance)
- Skornheim (First appearance)
- Earthspace
Items:
- Mjolnir
- Norn Stones
- Iron Man Armor Model 2
- Captain America's Uniform and Shield
- Wasp's Suit and Bio-Synthetic Wings
- Giant-Man's Suit
- Paste-Gun
Vehicles:
- Wizard's Anti-Gravity Airship
Synopsis for "The Trial of the Gods!"
Journey Into Mystery #116
With his foe defeated, Thor returned, and the trial began. Odin asked his son to yield his magic hammer to him, so that they would be unarmed when they were sent to "Skornheim, the deadly land beyond the pale of Asgard". As they arrived there, Loki insulted Thor's intelligence by saying that without his magic hammer, he was now unarmed, whereas he still had his cunning and wits. He produced a bag containing his enchanted Norn Stones, then used one to show Thor his minions, the Enchantress and Skurge as they were entering Foster's office. This distracted Thor as the sun came out and melted the ground he stood on, turning the solidified lava to quicksand. Loki used a Norn stone to harden a path for himself and walk away. Thor then escaped using his awesome strength.
At the next obstacle, a forest of spiny plants, he used one of his enchanted stones to change himself into "an unsolid, ghostly figure" and slipped through. Thor was on his heels though, as he used his helmet and cape, tightly wrapped around his arm, to smash through the plants, and catch up with his half-brother. Thor then subdued him, and demanded that he call off his villainous allies from his love Jane Foster. Before anything else could be said, Yagg the Invincible attacked them with one of his deadly energy blasts, throwing the two apart. Again, Loki used a stone to escape, flying out of harm's way, leaving his "accursed half-brother, still trapped". Thor then dodged numerous blasts of energy, grabbed a rock and "hurls it - straight and true, with force of a comet, felling the giant Yagg, even as David felled the mighty Goliath many ages before!", hitting Yagg in the head. Thor then pressed onward toward Loki, despite the time for him to gain a sizable lead.
Meanwhile, Loki was "facing a new obstacle, the withering heat of the glowing Boulder Road of Skornheim". He once again used a magic stone, and created a whirlwind around himself to cool him as he moved on. He then found the next danger in his path, a horde of hungry, carnivorous plants. He employed yet another stone, which "contains a repellent which no form of plant life can approach!"
Back on Earth, Jane Foster was trying to evade her pursuers, the Enchantress and the Executioner (Skurge). A small group of local citizens briefly tried to help her, but they were subdued by a sleeping spell from the Enchantress. As this took place on the streets, one of Rick Jones' Teen Brigade, tried to sound the alarm, to no answer. The next moment though, Balder the Brave arrived on Earth, atop the Baxter Building, and quickly found and challenged the villainous pair.
Back in Skornheim, Thor braved his way along the Boulder Road, to the carnivorous plants. He then found the river that feeds the plants, and dived in, to avoid them, and tried to catch up with Loki. As he does, they come to a rocky gap over a fiery pit, which Loki uses a stone to levitate over, as Thor grabs him and also crosses the pit. As they get across, Loki senses the fatigue that is taking its toll on Thor, and knocks him off, giving him just enough time to run through the portal to Asgard.Appearing in "Into the Blaze of Battle!"
Journey Into Mystery #117
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Odin's Imperial Guard
- Kim (First appearance)
- Kim, Cho, and Hu's Mother (First appearance; dies)
- Cho (First appearance; dies)
- Buddha (Mentioned)
- Army of the Republic of Vietnam (Topical Reference)
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
Events:
Synopsis for "Into the Blaze of Battle!"
Journey Into Mystery #117
While on Earth, Balder the Brave is busy trying to defend Jane Foster from the Executioner and the Enchantress. Balder manages to hold his own, however it's not until the timely arrival of Thor do the two villains release Jane and flee the scene. Leaving Jane in Balder's care, Thor goes searching for the Enchanted Stones, using his Uru hammer to track them. His search brings him to Vietnam, where he flies into a conflict zone and finds himself attacked by the Viet Cong army. Knocked out by an artillery blast, Thor revives later to find himself taken in by Vietnamese villagers who have tended for them. Thanking them for their kindness, Thor resumes his search for the stones.
This brings him deep into the jungles of Vietnam, forcing Thor to change into Donald Blake so that he can more easily maneuver through the dense foliage. As he continues his search, he is unaware that Loki is watching, and to the God of Mischief's glee, is wandering right into an enemy camp. When Blake is captured by the Viet Cong, he is taken to their leader who consider him a spy. Blake tries to explain that he's in the region to treat people because he is a doctor, however Commander Hu Sak does not believe him, due to sightings of Thor in the area.
When more villagers are taken in as prisoners it turns out that they are Hu Sak's family, who are upset to find that their long lost brother has joined with the Viet Cong. As attentions are turned toward this reunion-of-sorts, Blake uses the momentary distraction to escape. Getting out of sight, he manages to tap his cane and transform into Thor who resumes his search for the stones.
He finds them hidden in the artillery cash and recovers them, when he hears gun shots. These shots are fired by Hu Sak who murders his parents in cold blood, but realizes at the last minute what he has done and is horrified. When his sister Kim flees, Thor goes to her rescue, smashing up the soldiers chasing her. When they are once again met by Hu Sak who allows Thor to take the girl to safety. In order to repent for his past sins, Hu Sak sacrifices himself by detonating the artillery, killing himself and destroying his base.