Thor #182

	Issue - 182 Title - The Prisoner, the power, and Dr. Doom! Writer - Stan Lee Art - John Buscema Summary: Having recently been framed by his evil half-brother Loki, Thor contemplates on how to restore the public's trust in him. A small protest outside the Latverian embassy catches his eye. As Donald Blake he investigates. A lone teenage girl pickets outside the embassy entrance. The crowd watching her accuses her of being communist and soon becomes violent. She is then trampled on by the crowd. Dr. Blake tries to help but turns into Thor to save her. When she reawakens, Dr. Blake is tending to her wounds. Cosette, explains to Dr. Blake that her father was a French scientist who was kidnapped by Dr. Doom some years ago. Doom has kept her hostage so that her father would design and create missiles for him. Having recently escaped to America, she strives to protest in order to free her father. Blake tells her he will contact Thor in order to help her. He then calls the local newspaper and has them run a story wherein he claims that with plastic surgery he can repair any face. Doom takes the bait and kidnaps Dr. Blake, taking him back to Latveria. There he removes his mask in order to have the doctor examine him. Dr. Blake is horrified at what he sees stating that the damages is beyond repair. Doom becomes angry and has Blake sent to the dungeon. As Thor he escapes his prison. This leads Doom to launch a missile to bring him down. However with the missile so close, Thor fears that his imploding it will destroy a nearby village. Notes: Collected in Marvel Masterworks: Thor Volume 9 and Essential Thor Volume 4

	Issue - 183 Title - Trapped in Doomsland Writer - Stan Lee Art - John Buscema Summary: Using his hammer, Thor flings the missile skyward where it detonates harmlessly above the village. However his hammer does not return and he reverts to being Donald Blake. The hammer fell to the ground following the explosion, arousing the interest of Doom. Doom tries unsuccessfully to lift the hammer. He leaves it encased in bubble. Later, Blake tricks Doombots into digging a hole beside the bubble allowing him to go underneath and retrieve it. Once more Thor appears and heads directly for the castle. Doom threatens to unleash his missiles on cities around the globe unless he surrenders the hammer. Thor does so, but Doom once more fails to lift the hammer. Thor takes the advantage and destroys the missile controls. Taking hold of his hammer again, Thor then destroys the missiles. Finally he goes to rescue Cosette's father only to learn that he does not want to leave. He wants only to complete his work and the money which Doom promised him. The man begins to fire a Thor with a gun until one of his bullets ricochets and kills him. Notes: This marks Doom's first attempt at lifting Thor's hammer. He would try again years later in Fantastic Four #537 Collected in Marvel Masterworks: Thor Volume 9 and Essential Thor Volume 4
	Comments: This is one of the better stories to deal with Doom and the issue of his disfigurement. The scene where he removes his mask to Donald Blake is to me, classic. It provides a nice contrast to a Fantastic Four # 85 where Doom claims that his burnt face should be the benchmark for "masculine beauty." The issue of his disfigurement isn't really touched upon these days, so its nice to read a past story showing Doom taking an interest in restoring himself. However it should be noted that when Doom receive ultimate power, he does tend to fix his face [see Avengers Children's Crusade and Secret Wars]. *Bottom Line: * * out of 5**