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: Tales of Asgard Release: September 2, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents A Stan Lee story spectacular! A Jack Kirby pencilling panorama! A Vince Colletta delineation drama! An Artie Simek lettering landmark! 5 pages
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: Tales of Asgard Release: August 3, 1965 Cover: October 1965 12 cents Writer: Stan Lee Illustrator: Jack Kirby Delineated by: Vince Colletta Lettered by: Artie Simek 5 pages
According to the legends, the Pillars are merely the feet of the Utgard Dragon! Beneath the waves his jaws lie open, waiting for every ship that passes!
It’s not obvious to me how this ship knows where it’s going. All we’ve been told is they are searching for some hidden evil. Not much of a clue. Undeterred by his own ignorance, Thor decides the “Sea of Fear” is as good a place to start as any.
I expect better of the Asgardians, but maybe the Sea of Fear has some effect on people.
After 5 issues of waiting for the ship to set sail, now it has. The issue opens with the ship caught in a storm headed toward these deadly Pillars, and ends… with the ship caught in a storm headed toward these deadly Pillars.
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.
“What madness is this, Volstagg!!? I thought thou feared neither man nor beast!!” “In truth, I do not–!! But that is neither man nor beast– It is– my wife!!”
This is the fourth chapter of the Odinsword Saga. Let’s recap. The Odinsword was cracked by a mysterious enemy, so Thor is embarking on a quest to discover who is responsible. They are almost ready to leave.
Featuring: Thor Release: July 1, 1965 Cover: September 1965 12 cents Written in the fire of inspiration by: Stan Lee Drawn in the flame of dedication by: Jack Kirby Inked in the heat of devotion by: Vince Colletta Lettered in the other room by: Artie Simek 16 pages
There! It is done! My hammer can strike once more!
Continuity. How do these many titles all fit together? At present, Thor is the character making it the most difficult. It’s been over 6 issues since his title has given him a chance to breathe, yet we squeezed his last Avengers adventure in there somehow. We’re going to have to squeeze in a wedding somewhere. By the time of the wedding, his hammer should be intact, and he should have formally resigned from the Avengers.
At present, his hammer is broken and he is not yet aware of the new Avengers.
There will be difficulties and contradictions to come, so just remember where we are. Loki cheated in the Trial of the Gods. Thor must get the Norn Stones to Odin as proof. En route, he encountered the Destroyer, who destroyed his hammer. Loki has been punished and sentenced to serve Ularic for his role in awakening the Destroyer. Prior to the Trial of the Gods, Thor had defeated the Absorbing Man by turning him into helium and sending him drifting into space. Somewhere in all that, he also fought the Viet Cong and joined the Avengers against the Masters of Evil. He has not been in contact with the Avengers since that battle, and much has changed. He has not returned to Asgard since the Trial of the Gods.
We open with Thor at a Pittsburgh factory, repairing his hammer. I would have guessed more mystical means would be needed. With Dwarves or such. Maybe Pittsburgh is more mystical than I think. (I have at least one regular reader from Pittsburgh; perhaps he can tell me.)
Featuring: Hulk Release: September 2, 1965 Cover: December 1965 12 cents Dreamed up by: Stan Lee! Designed by: Jack Kirby! Drawn by: Bob Powell! Delineated by: Mickey Demeo! Doodled by: S. Rosen 10 pages
I am the Watcher! That is enough! That answers all!
Tales of Suspense #60 was released in September 1964, a full year earlier. That began Marvel’s first extended saga. The threat of the Leader has united the disparate threads and arcs from that issue until this one. At the time, Marvel stories were self-contained things. Just a few years earlier, they tended to fit into under 10 pages. The full-issue 20-page long Fantastic Four epics stood out in their length. Since then we’ve had the occasional 2-part arc, often two standalone issues that tie together. Because Dr. Octopus or Dr. Doom hadn’t quite been defeated in the previous issue.
This month, Dr. Strange begins a proper 2-part arc against Dormammu. About 4 months after the debut of Tales of Suspense #60, Thor’s title followed suit. Journey Into Mystery #114 moved away from discrete stories to a series of interconnected threads, which we are still untangling 6 issues later and nowhere near done with. Three months later, Dr. Strange’s story (also by Ditko) would follow suit, beginning a 17-part saga we are almost ready to sit down to read.
Thor and Dr. Strange have the benefit of a consistent creative team. Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Vince Colletta have brought consistency to Thor, just as Lee and Ditko have with Dr. Strange.
This saga opened with a variety of artists attempting the impossible task of inking Ditko before Kirby took over again briefly, before moving to the current state where Kirby does the layouts for another artist to fill in with art. Too many artists across these 15 issues. No consistency of anything.
Let’s review the story so far. It began with an unnamed spy stealing a robotic suit of armor Banner had designed for the military. Hulk dealt with the robot, but found himself a prisoner of General Ross. Meanwhile, Major Talbot joined the base with the express intention of learning Banner’s secrets, and also possibly stealing Betty’s heart. Then Chameleon attacks the base, working for the mysterious Leader, whose face we don’t see. We learn the spy from the previous issues had also been an agent of the Leader. See how the loose connections work? We finally meet the Leader, and learn he is also a victim of a Gamma-based accident, which gave him green skin and a powerful mind. He has created something called the Humanoid, which he sends against the Hulk. Rick reveals Hulk’s secret to the President to clear Bruce’s name. When Banner is conducting his next military experiment, more Humanoids attack. In the wake of the battle, he finds himself a prisoner aboard a Soviet sub and taken behind the Red Curtain. His adventures there don’t have much to do with the Leader, but it spins directly out of and into confrontations with the Leader. There’s always a cliffhanger to tie the arcs together. Hulk breaks free of the Soviets and ends up in Mongolia. And soon becomes a prisoner of the Leader. The military raid the Leader’s complex and shoot and kill Banner. By transforming into Hulk and staying that way, Hulk is able to stay alive. But then the military raid Hulk’s lab and he has no choice but to turn to the Leader for help. This time, Hulk willingly joins the Leader. The Leader sends Hulk to the planet of the Watcher to steal the Ultimate Machine. But first he will have to battle the most powerful creature in the galaxy.
Whew. That’s almost a story. Let’s see how it all ends.
Hulk is famous for battling monsters. But he hasn’t had much of a chance to yet in his career, usually facing off against the US military. Here we go. Finally. A Hulk-sized foe for the Hulk.
The Watcher relocates their battle to a barren land. While this might seem like an act of interference from one forbidden to interfere, there’s an explanation…
Featuring: Hulk Release: August 3, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents You’ll never forget Stan Lee’s script! You’ll never forget Jack Kirby’s layouts! You’ll never forget Bob Powell’s art! You’ll never forget Artie Simek’s –eh– let’s see now, what did Artie do? 10 pages
I’m no good to anyone– including myself! The world hates me– fears me–
Mike Esposito has drawn the last few issues over Kirby’s layouts. This time the art goes to Bob Powell, a semi-regular name by this point. Powell brings a distinctive level of details to Hulk’s facial expressions. The failure to find a consistent creative team over this extended story arc is one of the things keeping Hulk from greatness. It would have been better if Ditko could have stayed on, but he clearly never had his heart in this title. Still, the work Ditko phoned in was enough to lay a foundation for the character that writers have spent decades building on.
Notice these need longer and longer exposition boxes at the beginning to explain the plot so far. Hulk is about to turn back into Banner, at which point the bullet in his brain will kill him. But he is also helpless against the Leader’s Humanoids.
Featuring: Hulk Release: July 1, 1965 Cover: October 1965 12 cents Thrills, as only Stan Lee’s story can provide them! Power, as only Jack Kirby’s layouts can create it! Drama, as only Mickey Demeo’s artwork can present it! Sound effects, as only Sam Rosen’s pen point can letter them! 10 pages
I mustn’t change… I won’t let myself change…!! For… if I change… I die!!
Where were we. Banner has a bullet in his brain. Only alive so long as he stays in Hulk form. He has Banner’s intelligence, but his personality seems darker, more like Hulk’s. The equipment he needs to maintain his Hulk state is in his secret lab, which has been uncovered by the military, who are closing in.
His only way out is to accept an offer of help from his enemy, the Leader.
The Leader is Hulk’s opposite. Both exposed to gamma radiation, Hulk received the world’s most powerful body, while Leader received the world’s most powerful brain. Together, they could be unstoppable.
The Leader transforms Hulk into electro-waves to transport him to Italy. “Matter-portation”, he calls it. Star Trek premieres next year; did the writers read this comic?
I appreciate the Leader’s science experiments; they’ll get this story a higher score. His ambition is to create a new life.
He secretly exposed Hulk to a gas that he himself has built up an immunity to. Similar to what one might do with iocaine powder.
