Featuring: Thor Release: October 5, 1965 Cover: December 1965 12 cents Fantasy to dazzle thy senses, written by: Stan Lee Drama to quicken thy pulse, illustrated by: Jack Kirby Beauty to nourish thine eyes, embellished by: Vince Colletta Balloons to compound thy confusion, lettered by: Artie Simek 16 pages
…It’s like being in the center of the universe! Like being part of– eternity!
Notice the credits use “thy” and “thine” everywhere, words Thor is today famous for using, but that Stan is only slowly starting to pepper into his speech. On this very page, he refers to Hobbs as “you” and not “thee”.
Where did we leave off? Harris Hobbs kidnapped Jane to get a picture proving Thor was Donald Blake. Thor seems to have forgiven Hobbs and agreed to take him to visit Asgard. Meanwhile, Loki and the Absorbing Man have declared war on Asgard. When we left off, the Absorbing Man was confronting Odin with his own power.
Featuring: Thor Release: September 2, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents Written with compassion by: Stan Lee Drawn with comprehension by: Jack Kirby Inked with competence by: Vince Colletta Lettered for compensation by: Artie Simek 16 pages
I gave him strength to challenge a god– but even Loki could not give him valor to match that of Thor!
Odin gets the center stage on a pretty awesome cover.
Thor had been merely stunned at the end of last issue. Absorbing Man really seems unable to best Thor, so Loki brings him to Asgard.
It is of course against the law of Odin to bring mortals to Asgard.
Three basic dangling plot threads: Absorbing Man; Jane’s kidnapping; the lost Norn Stone. Plus the general overarching plot that Loki is probably scheming. We won’t check in on the Norn Stone this issue. After all, it’s a rock. It’s just sitting there where Thor dropped it. We’ll resolve the Jane subplot.
Let’s look to that now. We saw Jane’s kidnapper last issue in a hood, his identity unrevealed.
Featuring: Thor Release: August 3, 1965 Cover: October 1965 12 cents Another towering triumph for Stan Lee, writer! Another fabulous feat for Jack Kirby, illustrator! Another amazing achievement for Vince Colletta, delineator! Another day, another dollar for Artie Simek, letterer! 16 pages
But, no matter how awesome the odds may be, I am son of Odin, Prince of Asgard! I would ever choose the eternal sleep, rather than a moment’s cowardice!
Kirby’s taken some artistic license with that cover. He metaphorically depicts Thor as gigantic compared to the city and bystanders caught in their battle. Absorbing Man is literally gigantic. But Thor is not, and I don’t think forced perspective is enough to justify Thor’s apparent size compared to those buildings.
As the length of stories is expanding, so is the length of action scenes. We pointed out that Fantastic Four #42 was entirely action start to finish, with the set-up and wrap-up in surrounding issues. This isn’t entirely that, as there are some interludes. We need to check on Jane. And Loki. And that lost Norn Stone. But most of the page count is just Thor battling Absorbing Man.
Featuring: Thor Release: February 4, 1965 Cover: April 1965 12 cents Story by: Stan Lee the sage of the Marvel Age! Penciling by: Jack Kirby the rage of the Marvel Age! Inking by: Frankie Ray for his wage in the Marvel Age! Lettering by: Artie Simek from his cage in the Marvel Age! 16 pages
Recall last issue Thor and Absorbing Man were locked in battle when Balder transported Thor away to Asgard because Loki had imprisoned Jane Foster.
I noted that starting just about last issue, the Thor title is finally getting good. In the old stories, Mr. Hyde or Cobra would kidnap Jane and Thor would fight them.
Admittedly the plot of this issue is that Loki kidnaps Jane and Thor fights him. But it’s good.
At least Loki imprisoning Jane makes sense, as Loki is well aware of Thor’s secret identity– which makes one question the value of the secret identity. Mr. Hyde would just pick the right victim by chance.
Admittedly the plot of next issue is that Enchantress and Executioner kidnap Jane, but I still maintain these stories are getting better.
Featuring: Thor Release: January 5, 1965 Cover: March 1965 12 cents Written at white heat by: Stan Lee Drawn with purple passion by: Jack Kirby Inked with golden serenity by: Chic Stone Lettered on a blue Monday by: Sam Rosen 16 pages
Well, damn. That’s maybe the most compelling title yet. It turns out to also make complete sense into the context of the story. I like it.
“souped up bucket racing car”
This is the issue Thor finally gets good.
Quality-wise, Thor’s been turning around since about a dozen issues back. It went from being the single worst title to a pretty decent one. The stories still haven’t been much to speak of, but the art and action have been excellent. There’s been great storytelling of late, even if not applied to many stories worth telling.
The great storytelling has been owed to the pairing of Kirby and Stone. We just bid farewell to Stone’s tenure on FF. Now we must bid farewell to him on Thor (recall we’ve jumped back in time, so this is a month before his final FF issue). Vince Colletta will graduate from the Tales of Asgard backups and start on the main strip. There are those who love Colletta’s work on Thor, and there are many others who… don’t. We’ll see what we think in the months to come.
We are jumping back in time a couple months. Thor is changing. It has so far mostly consisted of identifiable discrete stories, usually one or two issues long. No more. Stories will flow into each other; it will be hard to tell where one begins and ends. It will be hard to identify where Thor gets enough of a breather to go be an Avenger. (Though we know that soon won’t be an issue.) We’re already behind on our Dr. Strange and Hulk reading because they’ve started the “saga” approach to storytelling.
To that end, the plan is to read the next 6 issues of Thor basically together, pausing only to check in on Daredevil, because it’s relevant to the happenings in Thor.
Most of the issue is dedicated to Thor’s battle against the Absorbing Man, but it ends indecisively. It’s over for the moment, but Thor’s foe remains at large. Meanwhile, we get a second conflict in the final pages. Loki has kidnapped Jane and holds her in his stronghold. Thor must go battle Loki and rescue Jane. Next issue will pick up both of these plots, but the Absorbing Man story still won’t conclude, and it will bleed into the Trial of the Gods” arc, which has already been hinted at in our Avengers reading because we got 2 months ahead.
We’ll talk in more detail about chronology next issue, but my loose idea is that this story takes place between the pages of Avengers #15. After the first Thor scene but before the second. The MCP disagrees, placing this squarely after Avengers #16.
