In this episode:
Mike and Ed discuss the third attempted large scale alien invasion in as many weeks. These aliens seem as powerful as the Impossible Man, but there were a lot more of them in this invasion. They debate whether Thor was only involved because he was acting at Donald Blake’s bodyguard, and whether any of these shape-changing aliens are still among us.
In this issue:
Aliens from the planet Xarta decide to travel from another galaxy to invade the Earth for some reason. The Xartans can change their shape to impersonate others, and they use these abilities to replace various highly placed people in New York City and have them act erratically, thereby throwing the city into chaos. Thor notices that people are acting strangely and decides to investigate. He finds a Xartan ship, and he is then separated from his hammer for more than 60 seconds, which causes him to revert to his Donald Blake form. Thor, as Blake, is captured by the Xartans, who explain their invasion plan to him. First, they cause chaos through a complicated body snatching plan; and second, they invade with their space ships. The Xartans are tricked by Blake into letting him secretly turn into Thor, who then battles the two leading Xartans and defeats them, which leads to the mighty Xartan fleet hovering above Earth’s atmosphere to leave. Thor then commands the remaining four Xartans from the landing party to turn into trees, condemning them to long, dull lives as non-sentient plants.
Assumed before the next episode:
The world has learned of this latest alien invasion and are left to wonder why the Xartans didn’t just invade with their superior galaxy-hopping technology.
This episode takes place:
After the failed Xartan invasion.
Episode 45: Punch the Bully in the Nose (Journey Into Mystery #90) -- Mar 1963