Featuring: Thor
Release: June 30, 1966
Cover: 1966
25 cents
Scripted in solemn splendor by: Stan Lee
Illustrated in idealistic imagery by: Jack Kirby
Delineated in delicious delicacy by: Vince Colletta
Lettered in living luminescence by: Sam Rosen
Unaffected by the unabashed utterances of Irving Forbush
30 pages
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|---|---|---|
| X-Men #24 | Reading order | Daredevil #20 |
Would that I, too, might share the coming glory of clashing combat! But alas, it may not be! Imperial Odin must only be judge! To the young belongs the glory! Yet, well do I remember those hallowed days of yore… when the bludgeoning blade of Odin did strike with the fury of a thousand storms! ‘Twas then the summer of my life… when tall and straight as oak stood Odin! And now, though minstrels still sing of Odin’s feats… while campfires flicker…thy father has reached the twilight of his years… ‘Tis for the young to seize the torch of gallantry, and hold it high! Thus has it ever been! Thus shall it ever be! Even the aging lion must one day allow the eager cub to lead the hunt!
The Tournament of Titans is declared. Warriors from every land are summoned.
Among those who see the beacon to the tournament are Wind Giants. We’ve met all manner of giants. Wind Giants may be new to us. However, the name is so similar to that of the Storm Giants that I wonder if they are the same. We’ll make a note of the Wind Giants and be on the lookout for context clues.
Thor’s three warrior friends invite him to revels. This is the modern introduction of Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg. We’d seen seem in tales of the distant past as Thor’s friends and companions, but not in modern times. They seem as close to this Don Blake-Thor hybrid person as they ever did to Thor.
Brawling before the tournament is forbidden. That doesn’t seem to stop anyone.
Brok, Tyr, Galp, and Drom all claim to be brothers. Only their mother can tell them apart.
We’ve met a Tyr before. He was among the gods who saw Thor drop Loki in Asgard in Journey Into Mystery #85. In Journey Into Mystery #106, we learn Tyr was Asgard’s master archer, and he fired an arrow at Balder as part of some weird game.
Since that Tyr is Asgardian and this one was not, I’m going to assume they are two different characters. Also, everyone already knows that Tyr, and they are just meeting this one. Marvunapp and the MCP agree this is a different Tyr.
From his space prison with the Absorbing Man, Loki had also heard the summons and sends his mind to Earth to what he calls undiscovered ruins. But of course plenty of people including Thor have been to those ruins recently. Beneath them lies the Destroyer.
The Destroyer has no mind of its own, but we’ve seen it powered by the minds of others before. Presumably it is now Loki’s mind that powers the Destroyer.
The form of the tournament appears to be a free-for-all brawl, little more structured than the prior night’s fight in the tavern. Tyr and his brothers seem to cheat in the tournament, using forbidden spells.
Volstagg has a sore bottom.
In the end, they defeat the Destroyer, after Balder finds Loki’s imprisoned body.
Who wins the tournament? Odin declares everybody a winner. And so begins the everybody-gets-a-trophy events and the downfall of the millennial generation.
It’s always hard to place annuals quite where they go. This came out the same day as Thor #132, when Thor was off in space fighting Ego. There was simply no time then to have Thor participate in such a tournament. Which leaves two options for the reading order: read it alongside the Thor stories it’s published with, or try to slot it in a good spot. The Marvel Chronology Project wants it even later, after Thor #141. I’m comfortable with it here, Thor’s first breathing space after when it came out. This also matches where we are generally in the Marvel reading. We are up to June 30, 1966. We had read ahead in Thor because of the nature of the stories, and hence had already read up to November in Thor’s main title.
It’s June 30. That’s close enough to July. Let’s peek at what else was going on in comicdom in July 1966.
- Adventures into the Unknown #167, ACG
- Archie #167, Archie
- Attack #3, Charlton
- Shadows from Beyond #50, Charlton
- Capt. Storm #15, DC
- Batman #184, DC
- Mystery in Space #110, DC
- Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #68, DC
- I Dream of Jeannie #2, Dell
- G-8 and his Battle Aces #1, Gold Key
- Walt Disney Uncle Scrooge #65, Gold Key
- Little Dot #107, Harvey
- Wendy, the Good Little Witch #38, Harvey
- Captain Marvel #3, MF Enterprises
- THUNDER Agents #8, Tower
- Eerie #6, Warren
Rating: ★★★½, 63/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
My copy of this comic is a 2nd printing, from a 1994 pack of reprint comics sold by JC Penney.
Characters:
- Odin
- Thor
- Loki
- Absorbing Man
- Fandral the Dashing
- Volstagg
- Hogun the Grim
- Brok the Crusher
- Tyr
- Galp
- Drom, the Spirit-Weaver
- Destroyer
- Heimdall
- Balder
Story notes:
- Odin declares Tournament of Titans; the winner of each event will receive a suit of golden armor; every warrior from every land is summoned.
- Odin lights the flames and the torch-bearers take them to the Beacon of the Brave on the Mount of Eternity. The glow of the beacon will be seen in every corner of the cosmos.
- A warrior from Gymirsgard sees the beacon. Wind giants view the beacon.
- In non-space, imprisoned Loki and Absorbing Man absorb the bolt.
- Odin reminisces on being young, and a contestant instead of a judge.
- Odin laments that he is Loki’s father.
- Brok throwing people around
- Fandral’s challenge answered by Tyr, of the Blinding Blade.
- Drom appears to be a Troll, but claims to be brother to Brok, Tyr, and Galp of the Stell Arm. They come from the World of a Thousand Galaxies, and battle is everything to them.
- Since everyone else has claimed foes, Volstagg claims Drom. Hogun notes Volstagg watched the battle from a safe distance.
- Thieves are searching area when Destroyer emerges from ruins.
- Thor suspects enchantment, and indeed Drom has placed a spell on him to make him fight endless hordes.
- Brothers attack Volstagg for pendant.
- Destroyer created long ago by Odin to guard Earth from disaster.
- Destroyer defeats Heimdall and proceeds with plan to kill Odin.
- Volstagg mistakes Destroyer for Drom’s spirit image.
- Odin suspects Loki powers the Destroyer.
- They note Balder, like a brother to all of them, is missing. Balder had been off locating Loki’s body.
- Odin hurls beam of forgetfulness at Loki.
| Previous | #552 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| X-Men #24 | Reading order | Daredevil #20 |
Not a lot of actual story herein, but an excellent close to the Loki story – it thrilled me to pieces, and I entered high school in a few months, I was betting that Kirby would move the story further from Asgard.
I couldn’t have guessed that he wanted to end the Asgard story, but it shouldn’t have surprised me – fandom was rumoring even then.
None of us thought that Stan or Martin would permit that to happen. Neither would we guess that Kirby would explode the 4th World at DC.
Thanks for the comments. The contemporaneous perspective is always appreciated, as these stories still predate me.