Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: February 2, 1967
Cover: April 1967
12 cents
A Stan Lee and Jack Kirby rhapsodic rabelaisian romp
Inked by Vince Colletta
Lettered by Art Simek
5 pages
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| Thor #139 | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #80 |
| Thor #139 | Thor | Thor #140 |
There can be no doubt– ’tis Zanadu, wherein the accursed Mogul dwells!! Zanadu– whose hidden spires have been sought for ages– sought by those whose souls strive for justice– and for righteous retribution!! Zanadu– where the murderous Mogul rules with power absolute! But, he shall rule no longer! This doth Hogun swear!!
At last Thor and his three warrior friends find the Mystic Mountain.
But, as Volstagg astutely notes, there seems to be no mountain. Maybe it’s like how Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island.
But no, there is a mountain of a sorts. It’s just upside down and underground. Like a giant stalagmite, its base is the ground and it reached deep downwards.
While not quite the same as it’s not upside down, I’m reminded of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It’s the tallest mountain on Earth, but that’s not obvious when you look at it. Mount Everest is often mistaken as the tallest mountain, rising almost 30,000 feet, yet Mauna Kea is almost 5,000 feet taller. The difference is the base. Mount Everest’s base is the continental shelf, just above sea level, whereas in the Pacific, the shelf is deep beneath the ocean, so Mauna Kea rises not from sea level, but from the ocean floor. We see but the top 14,000 feet which rise above the sea.
Mogul’s land is known as Zanadu, a name likely inspired by Xanadu. Xanadu was itself inspired by the city of Shangdu, an idyllic city in Kublai Khan’s empire, which had been named Kaiping before the Khan conquest.
Marco Polo referred to the city as Chandu. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called it Xanadu in his imaginative poem about Kubla Khan from the late 18th century.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery...
The popularity of the poem has led to many fictional places with similar names.
Here’s the letters page for the issue.
I understand you are all quite keen to learn if the Jinni Devil of Zanadu overwhelms our heroes, but I’m going to pause here and check in on other heroes about to be embroiled in various battles with various secret empires. We’ll come back to this thrilling saga eventually.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 54/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Mogul
- Thor
- Hogun
- Fandral
- Volstagg
- Jinni Devil
Story notes:
- In his kingdom, Mogul grows weary of revels.
- Enchanted crystal shows Mogul the intruders.
- Volstagg sees a barren land and no mountain. The mountain reaches downward and is made of crystal, containing the city of Zanadu.
- Ends with confrontation between Thor and three warriors with Jinni Devil.
| Previous | #563 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Thor #139 | Reading order | Tales to Astonish #80 |
| Thor #139 | Thor | Thor #140 |
