“When Magneto Strikes!” from the Mighty Thor Feature in  Journey Into Mystery #109 is one of those tales that has mostly been forgotten by the passage of time.   It also brings with it, a new and different approach to ‘cross over’. You see, right from the cover, we know this tale will feature Thor Vs. Magneto, as well as include The Brotherhood: Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mastermind, And Toad.   But what we don’t know, is how its not just about including a guest villain from another book, but the hero’s as well.

Story

In this tale, we have Magneto and his brotherhood searching for the X-Men; but while Magneto’s minions are off on the hunt, our Magnetic guest draws the attention of Thor. While this could lead to a fairly standard battle in comic books, the twist comes in, when an almost defeated Thor is ‘saved’ by news that the X-Men are following the brotherhood back.

In this hunt, we never see the X-Men, but in a few panels we see the effects of their powers, from  Cyclops Optic beam, to Iceman’s ice.  But none the less, the X-Men in an uncanny and bad-ass way save the god without knowing it, or without us -the readers – or Thor ever laying eyes on them.   I found that approach quite creative.

Originality & Continuity

While I did find odd was how this fits in with the ongoing continuity for Magneto and the X-Men.  Based on the Cover date of Oct. 1964, this issue should fall between X-Men #7 and #8.  But that does not seem to fit, feel right;   Even when considering all points between X-Men #5 and 10 it would not go.  The Ship, the hunt, the timing feels so off: If anyone feels they know how and where this story fits, I would love to hear from you.

I also have a problem with the X-Sub,  it is the icing on the cake of fitting in with the ongoing continuity.

Artwork

The Artwork did a great job of drawing me into the action,  and I took a particular likeness to the panel where Cyclops optic blast is seen from off to the right, and the brotherhood is on the run. Another feature i found strong in this comic, is the feeling of depth,  in all the panels and lips – forms one characters being further off, to the room and object all scaling in the distance