Journey Into Mystery #96

(September 1963)

Defying the Magic of... Mad Merlin! (Table of Contents)

The Mighty Thor! / comic story / 13 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Stan Lee (plot); Robert Bernstein (script) [as R. Berns]

Pencils:

Joe Sinnott

Inks:

Joe Sinnott

Colors:

?

Letters:

Artie Simek

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Thor [Doctor Donald Blake]; Merlin [Maha Yogi] (introduction); Jane Foster; Loki (cameo); President John F. Kennedy (cameo); Caroline Kennedy (cameo); Pierre Salinger (cameo); King Arthur (cameo, flashback)

Synopsis:

Merlin is awakened after a thousand years and immediately decides to try and take over the world; He battles Thor using familiar Washington D.C. monuments. Thor defeats Merlin and forces him to return to sleep.

Reprints:

• in Thor Annual (Marvel, 1966 series) #2 (September 1966)
• in Il Mitico Thor (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #6 (22 Giugno 1971) [as "Il mitico Thor contro la magia di...Merlino!", Italian translation]
• in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #18 ([October] 1991)
• in Essential Thor (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (February 2001) [black and white]
• in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor (Marvel, 2010 series) #1 ([August 11] 2010) [TPB]
• in The Mighty Thor Omnibus (Marvel, 2010 series) #1 ([November] 2010)
• in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003)

Indexer Notes

This 'Merlin' was revealed to be an imposter in Avengers Annual #22. In most of his appearances he calls himself 'Maha Yogi'. He has been said to be a mutant, but this is also false.

The Traveler (Table of Contents)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Letters:

typeset

Job Number:

[J-865]

Content Information

Genre:

science fiction

Characters:

Bill Swift; Mr. Allen

Synopsis:

A bored man working on an assembly line is taken to outer space in his dreams, and is given an idea for an otherworldly invention.

Reprints:

• from World of Fantasy (Marvel, 1956 series) #2 (July 1956) [page 1]

Indexer Notes

Continues in next issue.

Call Her...Medusa! (Table of Contents)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Stan Lee (plot); Larry Lieber (script)

Pencils:

Larry Lieber

Inks:

Paul Reinman

Colors:

?

Letters:

Artie Simek

Content Information

Genre:

science fiction

Characters:

John

Synopsis:

The gorgons of myth were aliens and send an agent to modern Earth preceding an invasion. She cannot turn the first men she encounters to stone, but since she doesn't know that they're blind the invasion is cancelled.

Reprints:

• in Fantasy Masterpieces (Marvel, 1966 series) #8 (April 1967)
• in I Fantastici Quattro (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #87 (6 Agosto 1974) [Italian translation]

Marvel Comics Group Ushers in the Marvel Age of Comics! (Table of Contents)

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Indexer Notes

Advertises the Fantastic Four Annual (Marvel, 1963 series) #1 (1963) and Strange Tales Annual (Marvel, 1962 series) #2 (1963), as well as the launch of the X-Men (Marvel, 1963 series).

Frederick Fenton's Future! (Table of Contents)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Stan Lee

Pencils:

Steve Ditko

Inks:

Steve Ditko

Colors:

?

Letters:

Artie Simek

Job Number:

X-386

Content Information

Genre:

science fiction

Characters:

Frederick Fenton

Synopsis:

An arrogant rich man builds a time machine in order gain the secret to eternal life from the future. When he arrives he finds that the Earth that humanity has gone to a paradise planet, and his time machine will not take him back.

Reprints:

• in I Fantastici Quattro (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #88 (20 Agosto 1974) [as "Il futuro di Frederick Fenton!", Italian translation]

Indexer Notes

This is a retelling of "The Man in the Iron Box" drawn by Carl Burgos in Strange Tales (Marvel, 1951 series) #69 (June 1959); the earlier story uses suspended animation to achieve the same effect. Job number from Tom Lammers and Ger Apeldoorn via the Atlas/Timely discussion group.