The Stone Men from Saturn!/The Power of Thor!/Thor the Mighty Strikes Back!
Release: June 5, 1962
Cover: August 1962
12 cents
Writing: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnot
13 pages
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|---|---|---|
| PRELUDE | Venus #1 | |
| Ultimate Spider-Man #5 | POSTLUDE | |
| Amazing Fantasy #15 | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #35 |
| Journey Into Mystery | Journey Into Mystery #84 |
Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor!
The credits are taken from the table of contents for Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1. I don’t see any credits in the story itself.
How wild is it that Thor and Spider-Man were introduced on the exact same day? There are a lot of days in the last 80 years, and only so many super heroes as iconic as those two. In the last year, we’ve met the Fantastic Four and the Hulk. The pace is picking up. Within a year, we’ll meet many of our favorite heroes.
The opening splash page depicts Thor, with a distinctive “T” on his elaborate belt. Except for simplifying the belt, Kirby’s rendition of Thor will last for decades with only minor variations. Notice the smile on Thor’s face; we see that later in the issue as well. Kirby depicts Thor as full of mirth. There is generally a dynamic and playful quality to the art.
The story is this. Dr. Don Blake is on vacation in Europe when he stumbles onto an alien invasion: the Stone Men from Saturn. He hides in a cave, gets trapped, finds an old cane, and discovers that tapping the cane transforms him into Thor.
I haven’t yet caught a single period in these old Marvel stories. They much prefer exclamation points. There’s an egregious example here. “He is Dr. Don Blake, an American visiting in Europe!” I was also excited by my first trip to Europe, but let’s calm down a bit.
One interesting note is that the hammer is described as too heavy for any but Thor to lift. It doesn’t mention a worthiness requirement to merely lift the hammer. The inscription does suggest that one needs to be worthy for the hammer to grant them godlike powers. The implication is that Dr. Blake was sufficiently worthy.
A confusing thing about these early comics is the relationship between Don Blake and Thor. The inscription on the hammer suggests its wielder merely possesses the power of Thor, but Blake immediately starts calling himself Thor. Now, he doesn’t seem to have Thor’s memories; he has Blake’s. He talks about Thor in the third person, trying to remember what he can from high school. But he also talks about Thor in the first person.
He remembers a lot from high school about Thor, like that Thursday is named for him. He even remembers that Thor’s hammer will always return to its wielder when thrown. My class did not go into such detail. He also recalls that Thor is the noblest of the gods… my class had a different textbook on mythology, I think. Not sure Thor is always all that noble in the old myths.
The hammer’s powers are explained in detail, but somewhat odd. If it’s out of his hand for more than 60 seconds, he changes back to human. Touching the hammer again will turn him back to Thor. If he stamps the handle of the hammer once, he becomes human again and the hammer becomes a cane. Stamping the cane transforms them back into Thor and the hammer. Stamping the hammer twice on the ground summons a storm. Stamping thrice ends the storm.
You have to be careful creating a storm. Stamp twice pretty quickly. If you go too slow, the hammer might mistake it for stamping once, which turns Thor human. Not a good mistake to make in battle. Similarly, to end the storm is tricky. Stamping three times is a lot like stamping twice than once, which would summon another storm and then turn Thor human.
If we accept that all these stories take place in the same world, then that world has been invaded by three distinct alien fleets in as many months. As with the last two invasions, an entire fleet is dispelled with ease. This makes the most sense, at least. The FF defeated aliens by showing them comic books; Hulk fired an experimental weapon that repelled an entire fleet. Here, it’s at least clear that they are no match for the power of Thor.
I think this is the first time the phrase “super hero” has been used in these comics. Thor is referred to as a super hero both on the cover and in the next issue blurb.
There are two other stories in this issue, “The Perfect Crime”, and, “The Jungle Sleeps”.
The format is the format this and other series will start using. Journey Into Mystery will feature a Thor adventure, followed by stand-alone short stories. Tales to Astonish will soon adopt this format. Had Amazing Fantasy not been cancelled, it had similar plans, to anchor the issue with a Spider-Man story, and feature a variety of back-up shorts.
The format isn’t new. Action Comics always featured a Superman story plus other stories, going back to Action Comics #1 in 1938. From his debut in issue 27 in 1939, Detective Comics always featured a Batman story along with other stories. It’s fallen out of favor with American audiences, which is too bad.
American comics of the 1980s and beyond had their own “British Invasion”, where a surge of British talent were making American comics. And to this day, you’ll find they are people’s favorite comic creators. Polls reveal fan-favorite writers to be Stan Lee, alongside a bunch of Brits like Moore, Morrison, Gaiman, Ellis, and Ennis. Alan Moore attributes this success to the anthology format itself, which allows for risks and showcasing new talent. Britain’s most popular comic remains 2001, which features a Judge Dredd story and other sci-fi tales, and is where many of our favorite comic creators got their start.
Rating: ★★★½, 61/100
Significance: ★★★★★
Some great art by Kirby. Obviously a significant issue. But the whole thing is wonky from a storytelling perspective, particularly everything about how they’ve set up Thor. This isn’t yet Thor at his best.
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol.1.
Characters:
- Dr. Don Blake/Thor
- Stone Men from Saturn
- Gorr
- Mechano-Monster
Minor characters:
- Old fisherman
Story notes:
- Dr. Don Blake described as a “frail figure”.
- Cover calls him “Mighty Thor”; titles call him “Thor the Mighty”.
- Stone Men resemble Thing.
- Stone Men more powerful in earth’s oxygen atmosphere than own world.
- Fisherman uses phrases, “By the beard of Odin”.
- Inscription on hammer: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor!”
- Thor can lift boulders as though cardboard.
- NATO engages Stone Men fleet.
- Stone Men use monster projections to defeat NATO planes. Similar to the trick Mr. Fantastic beat the Skrulls with, but with more sophisticated projections.
- Earth rockets cannot penetrate atomic force fields of spaceships.
- Hammer pulls Thor like a rocket.
- Mechano-monster defeated in single panel.
- Final note: “Thorr the Mighty”; “greatest superhero of all time”.
- Thor(r) will return next issue
- Thor’s hammer not named.
| Previous | #13 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| PRELUDE | Venus #1 | |
| Ultimate Spider-Man #5 | POSTLUDE | |
| Amazing Fantasy #15 | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #35 |
| Journey Into Mystery | Journey Into Mystery #84 |
Found this blog through a CBR article, and I am really enjoying the subtle comedic commentary in each post! Keep up the good work!
Thanks for reading!