balder – Coke & Comics

Thor Annual 2

If Asgard Falls…

Featuring: Thor
Release: June 30, 1966
Cover: 1966
25 cents
Scripted in solemn splendor by: Stan Lee
Illustrated in idealistic imagery by: Jack Kirby
Delineated in delicious delicacy by: Vince Colletta
Lettered in living luminescence by: Sam Rosen
Unaffected by the unabashed utterances of Irving Forbush
30 pages

Previous	#552	Next
X-Men #24	Reading order	Daredevil #20

Would that I, too, might share the coming glory of clashing combat! But alas, it may not be! Imperial Odin must only be judge! To the young belongs the glory! Yet, well do I remember those hallowed days of yore… when the bludgeoning blade of Odin did strike with the fury of a thousand storms! ‘Twas then the summer of my life… when tall and straight as oak stood Odin! And now, though minstrels still sing of Odin’s feats… while campfires flicker…thy father has reached the twilight of his years… ‘Tis for the young to seize the torch of gallantry, and hold it high! Thus has it ever been! Thus shall it ever be! Even the aging lion must one day allow the eager cub to lead the hunt!

The Tournament of Titans is declared. Warriors from every land are summoned.

Thor #135

The Maddening Menace of the Super-Beast!

Featuring: Thor
Release: October 4, 1966
Cover: December 1966
12 cents
A Stan Lee * Jack Kirby feature fantasy!
Delineation by: Vincent Colletta
Lettering by: Artie Simek
16 pages

Previous	#544	Next
Thor #134, Story B	Reading order	Thor #135, Story B
Thor #134, Story B	Thor	Thor #135, Story B

“The universe is vast, beloved– and doth contain worlds without limit! One such world shall someday be home for the Knights of Wundagore! Then mayhap a new star shall burn more brightly!”
“And when it does, we two will know the reason why!”

It will be later in the issue before anybody names this new villain. The title and cover suggest his name is the Super-Beast. So that is what we will call him. Though the next issue blurb last issue had referred to him as the Man-Beast.

Super-Beast’s thing is that he has undergone a million years of evolution. He’s a mix not just of man and wolf, but of where man and wolf will be in a million years.

So he knows future karate and generally has knowledge of future combat. He knows science that won’t be discovered by humanity for tens of thousands of years.

But does any of that make sense? Is knowledge an evolutionary or genetic trait?

Thor #129

The Verdict of Zeus!

Featuring: Thor
Release: April 5, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, writer
Jack Kirby, penciller
Vince Colletta, inker
Artie Simek, letterer
16 pages

Previous	#501	Next
Thor #128, Story B	Reading order	Thor #129, Story B
Thor #128, Story B	Thor	Thor #129, Story B

I have received plaudits and accolades from the highest and mightiest of mortals, yet, the words you have spoken shall gladden my heart for as long as memory endures!

Thor and Hercules have beaten back Pluto in Los Angeles, but Pluto escaped, and still has Hercules’ signed contract, which will condemn Hercules to rule the Netherworld in his place. Thor has returned to New York.

People usually credit the turnaround in the Thor stories to Kirby taking more control and bringing in his interest in mythology. But Stan also pulls his weight. I actually have to make a hard choice to get a pull quote out of the issue. I found at least four good options. The first I considered was the most humorous, where Thor shouts to the New York crowd: “The endless prattle of thy voices proves wearisome to mine ears!” Stan seems to have Thor’s Shakespeare-lite dialogue down now.

This unnamed taxi driver is a favorite character of mine. Thor’s sentimental words to him are what I chose for the pull quote above. The cabbie had been a soldier, and thus Thor finds a kindred spirit. He’d fought in World War II, and been wounded in Anzio, Italy, which would have been in 1944.

Thor #128, Story B

Aftermath!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: March 3, 1966
Cover: May 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Pencilling: Jack Kirby
Delineation: Vince Colletta
Lettering: S. Rosen
5 pages

Previous	#500!	Next
Thor #128	Reading order	Thor #129
Thor #128	Thor	Thor #129

For this is the destiny of god and man alike… this is the lesson supreme… all that live must die… but, all that die shall live!

Hey, we come to the 500th Marvel story in our reading order. That’s cool. Thanks to everybody who’s been reading along since the beginning and to those who have joined us recently. We’ve covered almost 5 years of Marvel history and have many more years ahead of us.

I admit somewhat to wishing it were a different comic for this anniversary. It was almost a really cool comic in an early draft of the reading order. But at least we get probably our best Tales of Asgard story yet to mark the occasion. How much can one do in 5 pages? Let’s find out.

Thor #128

The Power of Pluto!

Featuring: Thor
Release: March 3, 1966
Cover: May 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, writer
Jack Kirby, penciller
Vince Colletta, inker
Artie Simek, letterer
16 pages

Previous	#499	Next
Thor #127, Story B	Reading order	Thor #128, Story B
Thor #127, Story B	Thor	Thor #128, Story B

Let silence reign! The God of Thunder doth take his rest!! By order of Imperial Odin!

After the battle with Siedring, the wise and mighty Odin has issued an imperial decree: Thor needs a nap.

I like to imagine the herald yelling extremely loudly about how Thor needs his rest.

Most artists who need to draw a bed just draw a bed. But this is Jack Frigging Kirby. And that’s the bed of Thor.

Thor #127

The Hammer and the Holocaust!

Featuring: Thor
Release: February 3, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Delineator: Vince Colletta
Letterer: Sam Rosen
16 pages

Previous	#497	Next
Avengers #29	Reading order	Thor #127, Story B
Thor #126, Story B	Thor	Thor #127, Story B

For one brief, fleeting instant of eternity, a god hath dared to love a mortal! Till the universe crumbles, my heart is ever thine! Let that be our epitaph… and our glory!

Now that’s a cover.

We discussed Pieta-inspired covers with Journey Into Mystery #110. This is a much better example of such a cover. I would call this awesome.

As with Avengers, I want to note where Thor is during an upcoming Fantastic Four story, published concurrently with the last few issues. What keeps him away from helping the FF? I don’t believe his short fight with the Demon nor his tiff with Hercules would do it.

Also, the last year of Thor stories still must have taken very little time, as there has been little room for pausing. So it’s likely these Thor stories take place before a lot of the other stories we’ve been reading, and the adventure that seemed more important than helping the FF is still ahead. We’ll be on the lookout for it!

In that sense of there being not a lot of time passing, this picks up precisely where last issue left off, with Jane trying to comfort a moping Thor, who has just lost his first fight, because his daddy halved his powers. Notably, Odin finally seems to support the relationship.

Of course, now there’s a new reason Thor and Jane can’t be together. It’s not about his bum leg or his daddy issues. How could she love a man who can’t even beat Hercules in a fight?

Thor #126, Story B

The Summons!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: January 4, 1966
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: V. Colletta
Lettering: Artie Simek
5 pages

Previous	#466	Next
Thor #126	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #34
Thor #126	Thor	Thor #127

Thy mission is ended! The danger you have been seeking is here– in the City of the Golden Spires! Return then at once– to Asgard!

Thor and his crew sail to find an unknown foe, but keep facing random dangers. At present, Loki has been captured by Queen Ula of Thryheim, and Thor has come to save him.

Ula wants Thor to be her King. If he agrees, she will release Loki. Else, she will kill his crew.

It’s important to note that Ula had nothing to do with cracking the Odinsword. She is not the unknown foe they are searching for, just a woman who wants to marry Thor.

Thor #126

Whom the Gods Would Destroy!

Featuring: Thor
Release: January 4, 1966
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee the literary lion!
Jack Kirby the pencilling pussycat!
V. Colletta the delineating dragon!
Artie Simek the lettering looks it!
16 pages

Previous	#465	Next
Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B	Reading order	Thor #126, Story B
	Thor	Thor #126, Story B

“By the cloven hooves of Pan!! What doth it take to defeat the Son of Odin!??!” “A stronger arm! A stouter heart! A nobler soul! And none doth Hercules possess, thou blabbering, blustering, boastful buffoon!”

This is the first issue of Thor. It’s also the 126th issue of Thor.

Which is a little confusing. Last month (well, last week for us), we read Journey Into Mystery #125, which starred Thor, as it has for the last 40+ issues. Now the comic will just be called Thor.

Why not call it Thor #1?

For complicated and probably shady legal and financial reasons, they found it more sensible to keep the numbering of the old magazine.

Thor’s name has been prominent on cover going back to issue 104. But it’s no longer “Journey Into Mystery with the Mighty Thor”. It’s just: “The Mighty Thor”. The official title as seen in the indicia is simply “Thor”.

Starting a new superhero title that keeps the numbering of the horror title will become a common practice… though not soon. We’ll talk more at the end of this post about Marvel’s history of naming comics. Let’s get into the comic, starting with the title.

Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B

The Queen Commands

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: December 2, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
None but Marvel’s Stan Lee could tell such a tale!
None but Marvel’s Jack Kirby could draw such a tale!
None but Marvel’s Vince Colletta could ink such a tale!
None but Marvel’s Artie Simek could be such a pussycat!
5 pages

Previous	#464	Next
Journey Into Mystery #125	Reading order	Thor #126
Journey Into Mystery #125	Journey Into Mystery

We seek no needless battle– though we surrender to none!

“By the bristling beard of Odin”, says the Narrator. An oath Thor exclaimed in the first part of this issue.

Journey Into Mystery #125

When Meet the Immortals!

Featuring: Thor
Release: December 2, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Bombastically written by: Stan Lee
Brilliantly drawn by: Jack Kirby
Beautifully inked by: Vince Colletta
Bashfully lettered by: Artie Simek
16 pages

Previous	#463	Next
Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B

But even a Thunder God has the right to love!

We come to Thor’s final adventure in Journey Into Mystery, the series concluding after 125 issues. We’ll see next month what they have instead. Such a finale would be a good time for an overview of the series as a whole, but I gave a summary to celebrate the 100th issue, so I’ll just point to that. It may even spoil what’s coming next month.

“By the bristling beard of Odin,” Thor exclaims. We’ll start hearing that oath a lot. Have we heard it before? I failed to note it if we did.

Thor’s battle with the Demon concludes pretty readily and Thor takes the final Norn Stone to return to Odin.