Appearances: 

Absorbing Man, Loki, Balder

Significant Events:  none

Synopsis:  The Absorbing Man begins attacking Thor relentlessly, taking Mjolnir away and throwing it back at Thor with full force.  They are matched in strength, but Thor begins to outfight him.  Mjolnir returns with a bunch of debris in tow, which blinds him, allowing Absorbing Man to get away.  Absorbing Man then absorbs the strength of the buildings themselves, growing to gigantic size.  Thor forces him to shrink back to normal size, while they continue their battle.  Nearby, Jane continues to watch the battle, until the mysterious hooded figure tells her to come away for her protection.  Loki, now free from Ularic, begins making sinister plans.  Thor tricks Absorbing Man into changing into glass, he then runs into a bank and into the vault.  Absorbing Man then begins attacking again, Thor turns to try and save a child, and Absorbing Man strikes from behind, knocking him out.

Journey Into Mystery #122                November 1965
"Where Mortals Fear to Tread!"
Tales of Asgard - "The Grim Specter of Mutiny!"

Writer:  Stan Lee
Artist:  Jack Kirby
Inker:  Vince Colletta
Letters: Artie Simek

Appearances:  Absorbing Man, Loki, Odin

Significant Events:  none

Synopsis:  Thor was merely stunned and begins to fight back, striking too quick for Absorbing Man to retaliate.  Loki uses the attractor bean of Ularic to transport Absorbing Man to Asgard.  Jane then causes an explosion to attract the attention of Thor, who saves her.  Thor then changes to Blake to treat her wounds, when a camera flash goes off.  The mysterious figure has photographed Thor changing into Blake.  The hood then comes off revealing Harris Hobbs.  In Asgard, Loki confronts Absorbing Man and he is about to strike Loki, when he is transported somewhere where there is nothing but ice and snow, and even Absorbing Man cannot take the intense cold.  He is then transported back before Loki.  Loki then takes Absorbing Man into the throneroom, where he begins to fight through the palace guard.  Don is tending Jane in the hospital when Hobbs calls, wanting to meet with him.  Thor tells him to hand over the photo or else.  Hobbs refuses, knowing that Thor would not harm him.  Thor then transports Hobbs to the distant past, threatening to leave him to the mercy of the dinosaurs, which would not be breaking his oath.  He then takes him to the far distant future, where mankind has left the planet entirely.  They then return to the present, where Hobbs promises to destroy the picture, if Thor will take him to Asgard just to see it, to which Thor agrees.  In Asgard, Loki and Absorbing Man have broken through to the throneroom, where Odin blasts Absorbing Man with a cosmic bolt.  Absorbing Man just absorbs it, and hurls it back at the unsuspecting Odin.

Journey Into Mystery #123                   December 1965
"While a Universe Trembles!"
Tales of Asgard - "The Jaws of the Dragon"

Writer:  Stan Lee
Artist:  Jack Kirby
Inker:  Vince Colletta
Letters:  Artie Simek

Appearances:  Odin, Absorbing Man, Loki, The Demon

Significant Events:  none

Synopsis:  Thor transports Hobbs to Bifrost, but is concerned when he doesn't see Heimdall.  They race into the city and encounter what's left of Odin's guard, who tell Thor about Absorbing Man.  Thor goes inside too late to warn Odin about Absorbing Man's powers.  Odin has reabsorbed the cosmic bolt, and hurls a molecular cyclone, which is promptly absorbed.  Back on Earth, a witch doctor is being hunted by communist guerillas, only to have the lost Norn Stone land at his feet.  After grasping it, he is granted tremendous power.  He then attacks the guerillas, and decides that he was meant to conquer.  Back in Asgard, Absorbing Man has grown to gigantic proportions, and Loki steps from the shadows, demanding the royal scepter.  So Asgard won't be destroyed, Odin hands it to Loki.  Then Absorbing Man decides that he wants to rule, so he grabs the scepter as well.  They begin to argue back and forth, until Odin reveals his plan.  Neither of them can let go.  Odin then uses his power, which is really within himself and not the scepter, to send them both flying off helplessly into space.  The attack ended, Hobbs comes to and finds his camera smashed.  Odin then realizes that he's there and commands he be removed from Asgard.  Back on Earth, Thor tells Hobbs that he has granted him the gift of forgetfulness, but some nights, in his dreams, he will know.  Elsewhere, the Demon forces a village to bow before him, swearing that they are but the first.

Journey Into Mystery #124                   January 1966
"The Grandeur and the Glory!"
Tales of Asgard - "Closer Comes the Swarm!"

Writer:  Stan Lee
Artist:  Jack Kirby
Inker:  Vince Colletta
Letters: Artie Simek

Appearances: 

The Demon, Odin, Zeus, Hercules, Atlas

Significant Events:  none

Synopsis:  Thor is reading about the Demon in a paper, when a little girl asks about her father.  Thor then goes to visit Jane in the hospital, only to discover that she's getting worse.  Back in Asia, the Demon attacks another outpost, and storms over it.  Blake talks to Jane and discovers that she's suffering from depression, due to him disappearing for days or weeks at a time due to being Thor.  Seeing her this way is breaking his heart, so he changes to Thor in front of her, revealing the truth.  In Asgard, Odin instantly knows what he's done and is enraged.  After treating a patient, Blake changes to Thor and flies off to confront the Demon.  In Olympus, Zeus sends Hercules to Earth.  The Demon is attacking another fortress, but from within, the gates are blown outward and there stands Thor.

Journey Into Mystery #125            February 1966
"When Meet the Immortals!"
Tales of Asgard - "The Queen Commands"

Writer:  Stan Lee
Artist:  Jack Kirby
Inker:  Vince Colletta
Letters: Artie Simek

Appearances: 

The Demon, Hercules, Odin, Balder

Significant Events:  none

Synopsis:  Thor attacks the Demon, demanding the return of the Stone, and the Demon fights back.  Elsewhere, Hercules is awakened by a train stopped by a fallen tree laying across the tracks.  Hercules easily lifts the tree and tosses it aside.  When Hercules finds out that they are going to the city, he demands that they take him as well.  Thor causes one of the Demon's captured cannon's to explode, knocking the Demon out.  Thor then retrieves the Stone, and returns it to Asgard.  When he gets there, he is confronted by Odin, who knows what Thor has done.  Odin then calls Balder and tells him that Thor must endure the Ritual of Steel.  On Earth, Hercules is enjoying himself in a restaurant, when robbers come in to hold the place up.  He begins to tear the place up stopping them, when he is noticed by Jane up in her hospital, who mistakes the distant figure for Thor.    A movie producer tells the police that Hercules works for J.B. and he'll take care of everything.  Jane has rushed to the street, only to discover that it's not Thor.  Hercules has noticed her now and leads her off.  Thor has managed to fight his way out of Asgard, and back to Earth.  Thor lands and is told about Hercules.  Thor looks in the soda parlor window to see Jane with Hercules.  Jane tells Thor that she's tired of him disappearing without a word.  Thor then demands to know why Jane is with Hercules, this offends Hercules who strikes Thor and they begin to fight over Jane.