In this episode:
Mike and Ed discuss Cobra and Mr. Hyde being released on their own recognizance due to an anonymous individual posting their $500,000.00 bail. Should super-criminals be released on bail of ANY amount? What is the responsibility of the bail poster now that both suspects have immediately returned to a life of crime by kidnapping a woman and getting into a confrontation with Thor? Also: Mike explains to Ed how bounty hunters work.
Behind the comic:
Long before Superman turned back time in his feature film, Stan Lee was arbitrarily adding powers to his superheroes whenever he needed to. In this issue (and the next), Thor gains the power to stop time by creating a swirling whirlwind vortex. That time-stoppage allows Jane Foster to stay alive in a state of suspended animation while Thor battles Hyde and Cobra. His effort in defeating those villains creates the goodwill that inspires Odin to give Jane the magical antidote to her poisoning. Eventually the power sets of these heroes become more defined and writers work around those limitations, but in this early stage of the Marvel Universe, all of that is still being figured out.
In this issue:
Loki disguises himself as a well dressed man, and posts bail for the supervillains Cobra and Mr. Hyde. Once out of jail, Loki explains to this dastardly duo that he is Loki, an Asgardian god, and that he wants them to kidnap Jane Foster. He powers them up and sends them on their way. They kidnap Jane, and Thor is made to look like a coward in front of his father Odin, who banishes him from Asgard as a result (all a part of Loki’s plan). Thor battles through Asgard to meet with his father Odin to beg his forgiveness, which Odin does not really give, and then returns to Earth to battle Cobra and Hyde. Jane is injured during the fight, and Thor saves her life by suspending time around her.
Assumed before the next episode:
Thor is working out his father issues, I think.
This episode takes place:
While time is suspended around an injured Jane.
Episode 161: The Problem with Bail (Journey Into Mystery #110) -- November 1964