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Thor #139

To Die Like a God!

Featuring: Thor
Release: February 2, 1967
Cover: April 1967
12 cents
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inked with the prowess of Vince Colletta
Lettered with the pen-points of Sam Rosen
16 pages

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Thor #138, Story B	Reading order	Thor #139, Story B
Thor #138, Story B	Thor	Thor #139, Story B

Mighty are the warriors of Asgard! Though hopelessly outnumbered… though faced with alien weapons… they did not succumb! Never hath Orikal seen the like!

“To Die Like a God!” I find that a compelling title and cover image.

At the end of last issue, Thor’s hammer was stolen, which means he will change back to Don Blake in 60 seconds. Thor then gave a long and melancholy speech, which must have taken most of that 60 seconds. As this issue opens with him still being Thor, this must be only a couple seconds later.

Thor #138

The Flames of Battle!

Featuring: Thor
Release: January 3, 1967
Cover: March 1967
12 cents
Garnished with grandeur by Stan (The Man) Lee and Jack (King) Kirby
Inked by: Vince (The Prince) Colletta
Lettered by: Artie (The Smartie) Simek
16 pages

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Thor #137, Story B	Reading order	Thor #138, Story B
Thor #137, Story B	Thor	Thor #138, Story B

To thine avenging master, eternal Mjolnir!

While they get a different nickname every issue, these nicknames we’ve seen several times and they are the nicknames which will endure. Stan The Man Lee. And Jack King Kirby.

An army of Trolls attacks Asgard, while Ulik attacks Manhattan. Thor has chosen to confront Ulik to save Sif and Midgard.

Thor #137

The Thunder God and the Troll

Featuring: Thor
Release: December 1, 1966
Cover: February 1967
12 cents
In all the unmeasurable universe, surely there be none, save Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who couldst create such wonderment!
And, ne’er again shall we see the like of
Vince Colletta, inker, and
Sam Rosen, letterer
16 pages

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Amazing Spider-Man #43	Reading order	Thor #137, Story B
Thor #136, Story B	Thor	Thor #137, Story B

The invasion is begun! Asgard must fall!

Last issue ended with Thor and Sif meeting. We pick up here with them hanging out. It’s not impossible he went to Earth between that meeting and now, but there’s no evidence he did. And I will need him with the Avengers on Earth soon. A new 3-part arc begins here. Thor will briefly travel to Earth in this story, but be busy. In the next arc, he travels to Earth and seems like he might have a bit of time on his hands.

This is to explain why we’ve gotten a bit far ahead in our Thor reading. We’re about to reach February 1967 for Thor, when we’re still in March 1966 for Hulk. Thor’s just been too busy for an Avengers meeting…. and Peter Parker already has his motorcycle for that meeting… and Matt Murdock was captured by the Owl when Spider-Man fought the Rhino… before Senator Byrd shut down Stark’s factories…

As last issue, Thor describes Sif as the raven-haired sister of Heimdall he knew as a child. But again, when we met Sif in her youth in Journey Into Mystery #102, she was described as the sister of Balder, and appeared to be blonde. Unless they are implying Heimdall and Balder are also brothers, this seems to be a contradiction. Or maybe there are two different women named Sif, sisters to Heimdall and Balder respectively.

Thor #136

To Become an Immortal!

Featuring: Thor
Release: November 3, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
A proud phantasmagoria of pageantry, presented by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Delineated by Vince Colletta
Lettered by Artie Simek
16 pages

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Thor #135, Story B	Reading order	Thor #136, Story B
Thor #135, Story B	Thor	Thor #136, Story B

I did but provide the time– the setting– But, only in the heart can be found the final enchanted ingredient– men call love!

Let’s reflect on the relationship between Jane, Don, and Thor. To understand this love triangle, we first need to understand the relationship between Don and Thor. And we don’t.

We reflected on the nature of their relationship back in issue 129. It seems Don is Thor and Thor is Don. They have two bodies, but one mind, one set of thoughts, and one heart, one set of feelings.

There is plenty of evidence to contradict that interpretation, but that is how they are usually written. Don is Thor and Thor is Don. Don is mortal and Thor is immortal. Thor is ancient, older than humanity, and had a life long before Don. And Don presumably had a life before Thor, before he found that cane in the mountain. Though we have learned very little about that life, only that he had studied medicine and become a world-renowned surgeon and robotics expert. We’ve seen no glimpses of his past life, nor met any relatives. But presumably he has these things. But now he is Thor. Mind, heart, soul.

In fact, Thor and Don seem closer than Hulk and Banner. Who definitely seem to to be two distinct characters with opinions about the other, who share only some thoughts and feelings.

So where does Jane fit in?

Journey Into Mystery #102, Story C

“Death” Comes to Thor!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: January 3, 1964
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Paul Reinman
Lettered by: Art Simek
5 pages

Anybody else feel like this title would be more dramatic without the quotation marks, which seem to imply that death is not actually coming for Thor.

This completes a trilogy of stories of the Boyhood of Thor. The focus has been on his attempts to earn the right to wield Odin’s magic hammer. We learn from the title that Thor is now 18, a little older than in the last adventures. This is the tale of how Thor finally lifts his magic uru hammer.