Thor #133

Behold… The Living Planet!

Featuring: Thor
Release: August 2, 1966
Cover: October 1966
12 cents
Star-studded script: Stan Lee
Planet-pounding pencilling: Jack Kirby
Real Rigellian rendering: Vince Colletta
Lots of little lettering: Artie Simek
16 pages

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Every part of this planet upon which we stand is verily a part of Ego! He is everywhere– he is everything! He is a living world!

I’d like to say I own this comic, but really I own some fraction of this comic, as a lot of pages have been ripped out of my copy. I’m sure I didn’t know that when I bought it. I’m not too picky about condition. I look for “readable” copies… but readable includes having all the pages.

Wonder what I paid for it. I have no idea because I have tens of thousands of these things. Not even sure where I bought it. Probably at some comic convention with a couple hundred other comics I thought would help me complete the Marvel Universe so that one day I could read through all of them in order. Presumably it was pretty cheap– that’s what I was always looking for.

I spoke at length about how cool I thought it was when Ditko introduced a being that was also a universe. So of course I also think it’s cool when Kirby introduces a being who is also a planet. Not as cool as being a universe, of course. But still cool.

Thor is also impressed, and you figure this is a guy who’s been around and seen some stuff. He says that the planet developed a face right in front of them and then they heard it speak.

Now, even if a planet could speak, there’s presumably no way it could transmit that voice across space. Unless the substance of this Black Galaxy is really different from our universe. Or unless the planet is broadcasting its speech through some other means than sound, some form of transverse wave.

Reminder of where we are. Tana Nile has conquered Earth via a Space Lock. The Space Lock was controlled from Rigel, so Thor went there to free Earth. The Rigellians agreed to free Earth if Thor dealt with the menace of the Black Galaxy. So here is Thor, accompanied by a Recorder, confronting Ego, the living planet.

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Thor #132

Where Gods May Fear to Tread!

Featuring: Thor
Release: June 30, 1966
Cover: September 1966
12 cents
Astonishing script: Stan Lee
Awesome artwork: Jack Kirby
Artful delineation: Vince Colletta
Amazing lettering: Sam Rosen
Alien translations: Irving Forbush
16 pages

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Already the Stygian darkness looming ahead… blotting out the comforting glow of a thousand stars…!

Where were we. While Thor was fighting Pluto in the Netherworld, Jane’s roommate Tana Nile sent her away with mind control. Tana Nile has since been revealed as a Rigellian and conquered earth via a Space Lock from Rigel. Thor has traveled to Rigel to destroy the Space Lock.

The Rigellians have some pretty advanced technology, and aren’t used to losing. But Thor is Thor.

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Thor #131

They Strike from Space!

Featuring: Thor
Release: June 2, 1966
Cover: August 1966
12 cents
Script: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art: Jolly Jack Kirby
Inks: Vivacious V. Colletta
Lettering: Affable Artie Simek
Celestial guided tours: Honest Irving Forbush
16 pages

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Ay! The gladness in his heart doth make mine own regal soul rejoice! Too long hath he been brother to sorrow! Too long hath grim duty o’ershadowed his days! Yet, a feeling of unease lies within my heart! I fear that happiness may still be denied to the so-richly-deserving, most noble Thor!

Thor’s comic has become one ongoing saga to the point where it’s hard to figure out where to cut. We obviously did cut after the last issue, which basically ended the Hercules/Pluto saga. But here we are picking up right where that left off, with Thor and Hercules returning from the Netherworld to Olympus.

We’re just going to plow through the next 6 issues of Thor, getting a bit ahead in time of the rest of the Marvel Universe. There are probably 3 distinct arcs among them, but they all just flow together. Really, the main plot of this issue has been building for a bit now. Jane has had a strange roommate named Tana Nile, who’s up to some stuff. It’s been in the background, but now comes to the foreground. And Jane’s encounter with Tana Nile will be the springboard for the next two arcs.

Of course the other springboard is Thor’s decision to marry Jane, even though a god and a mortal may not marry. Thor is ready to surrender his immortality for this.

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