Journey into Mystery #88

 "The Sun is melting my convertible!"

Let's start by briefly running through the plot, shall we, and marvelling at its bonkersness as we often do?

So... after the events of issue #85, Loki is returned to an Asgard that now shows some hint of how superbly Jack Kirby will render it. He's grounded by Odin, but spies on Thor, essentially by reading last issue in an almost metatextual touch(!), and learns all about Donald Blake and the sixty second rule. He then tricks Thor and seals away his hammer, forcing him to remain as Blake while Loki gets to all sorts of magical mischief in New York. Unfortunately for Loki, though, Blake has a cunning plan involving a suspiciously realistic plastic dummy of Thor and what can only be described as ventriloquism superpowers.

So far, so bonkers. But there are a few things about this issue to make us ponder. One is that, at long last, they've finally settled on a surname for Jane Foster. We also have an intriguing contradiction as to the ongoing question of which is the true self- Thor or Blake? Loki describes Thor as "his accursed true self", yet Blake refers to himself as "my normal self". And then there's Loki- at this point they're still leaning heavily into the "god of mischief" side.

Thor is still, like much of what will soon become the Marvel Universe, working out what it wants to be, issue by issue. And that's fascinating.