Journey into Mystery #114 Mar 1965
First appearance and origin of the Absorbing Man in
"The Stronger I Am, the Sooner I Die!"
Loki uses his magic to turn Crusher Creel into the Absorbing Man;
A patient of Blake's, reporter Harris Hobbs, alerts him the existence of the Absorbing Man;
Blake breaks a dinner date with Jane in order to investigate as Thor;
Thor and Creel meet and fight;
Hobbs witnesses the battle and is injured;
Thor tends to Hobbs before resuming his battle;
Balder then interrupts the fight by transporting Thor to Asgard;
It seems that Loki has abducted Jane and brought her to the Golden Realm; Thor and Balder ride off to save her.
Script by Stan Lee,
pencils by Jack Kirby,
inks by Chic Stone