fandral – Coke & Comics

Thor #136, Story B

There Shall Come a Miracle!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: November 3, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
Garnished with glory in the Marvel tradition by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Delineated by: Vince Colletta
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
5 pages

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Thor #136	Reading order	Daredevil #19
Thor #136	Thor	Thor #137

Never before hath a blessed blanket of rain so caressed the barren wasteland of Nastrond! Rain… which is truly the harbinger of life… the promise of the new day which is yet to be! And, in time to come, the soil shall turn green once more… the grass shall grow, and plants shall sprout above the place where Fafnir fell! For, such is the way of life… life universal.. which can never vanish whilst faith endures!

We come to the finale of the battle in Nastrond. Its king Fafnir had once rebelled against Odin and he and the entire land were sentenced to death in Odin’s wrath. But Fafnir lived on, transformed into a dragon. He now battles Thor for the fate of Nastrond.

It is claimed that if Thor can defeat Fafnir, there will be a miracle in Nastrond.

Thor #135, Story B

The Fiery Breath of Fafnir!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: October 4, 1966
Cover: December 1966
12 cents
Proudly produced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Delineation: Vince Colletta
Lettering: Sam Rosen
5 pages

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Thor #135	Reading order	Thor #136
Thor #135	Thor	Thor #136

So be it! No matter what may now befall… the flesh of my flesh shall face it as one to the manner born… as only the Thunder God can! The Son of Odin knows full well… evil hath many faces… And, wheree’er it may be found… no matter what its guise… it must be summarily crushed… for such is the will of Odin! Only with the defeat of Fafnir can the dead domain of Nastrond live again! Thus must it be! And that which must be, ever shall be! For such is the wonder! Such is the way! Now, verily… I have spoken!!

We continue the Fafnir saga. Last issue, Volstagg was captured by the dragon king Fafnir.

This issue Thor and his remaining two warrior friends confront Fafnir.

Thor #134, Story B

When Speaks the Dragon!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: September 1, 1966
Cover: November 1966
12 cents
A Stan Lee * Jack Kirby pictorial presentation
Delineated by: Vincent Colletta
Lettered by: Artie Simek
5 pages

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Thor #134	Reading order	Thor #135
Thor #134	Thor	Thor #135

In this land once lived an evil race who dared defy regal Odin himself! So monumental was Odin’s wrath, that he laid waste to the countryside, so that nothing here could live!

We get a clean beginning to a new arc. The cleanest break between stories in a while, but I’m still just reading these Tales of Asgard stories alongside the main Thor adventures without regard to their flow.

Thor and his three warrior friends ride to Nastrond. Here there once lived “an evil race” who “dared defy Odin”. So Odin laid waste the countryside so that nothing could live there. This is referred to as Odin’s kingly wrath.

Perhaps it’s worth reflecting on how righteous Odin really is here. Or how wise. Thor does not take this time to reflect. He just seems rather impressed by what to me seems like Odin’s utter madness.

Thor #133, Story B

Valhalla!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: August 2, 1966
Cover: October 1966
12 cents
A Stan Lee-Jack Kirby production
Inked by: Vince Colletta
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
5 pages

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Thor #133	Reading order	Thor #134
Thor #133	Thor	Thor #134

From out of the mists she hath come… She… before whom all who live must one day bow!

As we saw in the last post, my version of this comic has been well looted of pages, and this entire story has been absconded with. So we’ll look to the digital version for our images.

The battle with Harokin and his Warlock’s Eye to retake Muspelheim was entirely forgettable. But it led to this fairly unique coda, two issues devoted to the death of Harokin. Last issue was an ominous and ritualistic issue about acceptance of death. A drumbeat, an approaching black horse…

Now is time for Harokin to make his last journey.

Thor #132, Story B

The Dark Horse of Death!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: June 30, 1966
Cover: September 1966
12 cents
Script writing: Stan Lee
Picture drawing: Jack Kirby
Panel inking: Vince Colletta
Word lettering: Sam Rosen
Armor polishing: Irving Forbush
5 page

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Thor #132	Reading order	Thor #133
Thor #132	Thor	Thor #133

Well do I know that ominous drumbeat! It summons the Great Black Stallion of Doom! It means the death of a mighty warrior is near at hand!

The battle is won. Harokin defeated and Muspelheim liberated.

Thor and this three warrior friends take a bath.

Thor #131, Story B

The Warlock’s Eye!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: June 2, 1966
Cover: August 1966
12 cents
Lee wrote it!
Kirby drew it!
Colletta inked it!
Simek lettered it!
5 pages

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Thor #131	Reading order	Thor #132
Thor #131	Thor	Thor #132

So! Thou wouldst trifle with Volstagg? Know you that my very belly is more than a match for a dozen such as thee!

It’s been a minute. We were in the middle of the Harokin/Warlock’s Eye saga. I’ve decided not to worry about the flow of the Tales of Asgard feature, and just read them as back-ups to the Thor comics, as they were published. So because we paused Thor’s story in the main stories, we paused here.

But now it’s been 9 months and we need to remember things. Harokin has used the Warlock’s Eye to conquer Muspelheim. Thor looks enough like Harokin that he thinks he can disguise himself as Harokin and do some subterfuge.

Thor #130, Story B

The Fateful Change!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: May 3, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Vince Colletta
Lettering: Sam Rosen
Costumes: Asgard Haberdashery
5 pages

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Thor #130	Reading order	Daredevil #16
Thor #130	Thor	Thor #131

My glorious record proves that Volstagg knows not the meaning of fear! But, why do we race so quickly into a land where death lurks everywhere?

The meandering Odinsword Saga came to an unclimactic resolution, but this led into a couple good issues showing us Ragnarok, the end of Asgard and the death of the gods. That’s led into this story of Thor and friends battling Harokin to retrieve the Warlock’s Eye.

Kirby does cool things with the 5-page/at-most-17-panel format when doing sweeping arcs of abstract history, but it’s limiting when trying to tell a piece of a more standard story. It just doesn’t get very far.

Thor #129, Story B

The Hordes of Harokin!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: April 5, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Fabulously written by… Stan Lee
Fantastically drawn by… Jack Kirby
Fastidiously inked by… Vince Colletta
Finally lettered by… Artie Simek
5 pages

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Thor #129	Reading order	Thor #130
Thor #129	Thor	Thor #130

Yet, the Lord of Asgard must first be a monarch– and then a father!

Clean story breaks are hard to find. The Odinsword Saga seems to be over. It bled into stories about the prophecies of Ragnarok. Which brings us here. For his role to be in Ragnarok, Loki is to be punished.

I don’t know if I approve morally of punishing someone for what he might do in the future.

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

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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 #127, Story B

The Meaning of… Ragnarok!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: February 3, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Pencilling: Jack Kirby
Delineation: Vince Colletta
Lettering: Artie Simek
5 pages

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Thor #127	Reading order	Thor #128
Thor #127	Thor	Thor #128

In the name of the omnipotent Odin– in the name of eternal Asgard– by the power of my hammer– for the glory of our cause– onwarrrrd– to victory!

The Odinsword Saga might be over now. Unclear. The story never seemed to be going anywhere and in the end it didn’t go anywhere. The whole thing was a ruse by Odin, who felt his warriors needed a bit of adventure.

So why was the Odinsword cracked if there was no enemy? Was it really cracked? Had it just always been cracked? We’ll never know. We’re moving on.