Time! The one commodity I never had enough of! The one luxury I was always denied! Now, at last, I can pause... to ponder the paradox of my life! 
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)
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for "The Way It Was!"
Following the victory against Mangog, Thor returns to Earth where he resumes his Earth identity of Dr. Donald Blake. In both the form of Thor and Donald Blake, the Thunder God ponders the paradox of his life, that of being both a mortal and a God, and begins to recount the events that led to how Donald Blake came to become Thor:
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...