Thor debuted in Journey Into Mystery 83, cover-dated August 1962. This was, of course, the very early days of modern Marvel. The Fantastic Four had only 5 issues under their belts, and the Incredible Hulk had just 2. JIM was a monthly title (FF and Hulk were bi-monthlies), so Thor was actually the first super-hero headliner to appear every month, beating out Ant-Man by a month. Spider-Man also debuted in Aug '62, but would have to wait 7 months to get his own magazine.
Of all the Silver Age Marvel books, JIM/Thor seems to get a lot less love and respect than other creations. That may be because Thor is not really a creation of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee as it is their adaptation of the Thor of Norse myths. There is one aspect of Marvel's Thor that is possibly borrowed from the Fawcett Captain Marvel, and in some of the early stories, Thor comes across as a poor man's Superman.
In the first year or so, Stan sometimes was credited as the writer, sometimes only the plotter. It's debatable how much he did or didn't do - it always will be, I suppose - but one thing for sure, he very obviously didn't do the dialogue every issue. Jack did the pencils on JIM 83-89, 93, and 97, and then was the regular penciller every month starting with 101. Jack also did the backup feature, Tales of Asgard, starting in JIM 97, a very significant - and excellent - strip on its own.
Inspired by the Baron, I'm going to re-read the Thor stories starting with JIM 83 and give you my thoughts. I may stop at Kirby's last issue, or I may keep going, I haven't really decided yet. Like Bob, I'm going to try to be succinct, even though it's not my strong suit - I'm sure I'll be long winded from time to time. I'm looking forward to what you guys think of these stories as well.
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Journey Into Mystery 88 (1/63)
"The Vengeance of Loki!"
Plot-Lee, Script-Lieber, Pencils-Kirby, Inks-Ayers
Cover - Kirby & Steve Ditko
The story opens with the events that happened at the end of JIM 85, when Thor sent Loki back to Asgard after defeating him. Odin decrees that Loki must remain in Asgard forever. Using his magic to spy on Thor, Loki discovers he becomes a mortal when not holding his hammer for over 60 seconds. Loki muses being totally dependent on the hammer is Thor's weakness, and this is how he will defeat him. Disobeying Odin, Loki heads for Earth to find Dr. Donald Blake!
Loki goes to Blake's office, hypnotizes Jane Foster, and confronts Blake. Blake changes to Thor, and Loki issues a challenge for battle, in one hour, in "Center Park". Thor's response:
The battle begins with Thor throwing his hammer at Loki. Loki sidesteps it, as a still hypnotized Jane walks toward them - which Loki had commanded her to do earlier. Loki changes a tree into a tiger, and Thor is forced to save Jane from it rather than catch his hammer. He dispatches the tiger, but before he can reach the hammer, the 60 seconds is up. Loki traps the hammer in a magic force field. Loki wins! LOKI WINS!
Loki celebrates by indulging in some mischief - turns several people into blank beings, cars and buildings into candy, and (humorously) turns a Communist atomic bomb into a dud, unintentionally doing something heroic.
Blake comes up with a plan - having the media announce Thor will defeat Loki by the end of the week. Loki worries that Thor has found a way to somehow get his hammer back, and races to the park. The force field is still intact, but Thor is there! Loki removes the force field, and Blake emerges from hiding and grabs the hammer - "Thor" was a mannequin! Loki flees, but Thor catches him without much trouble, and returns him to Asgard.
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My rating: 8/10
I really enjoyed this story. Loki used a clever and wily plan to trick his way to victory, and Blake was also clever enough to out-trick the trickster and regain his hammer. It's amusing that once Loki was free to do what he wanted, he was more Dennis the Menace than pure evil. So the whole thing comes across as two brothers squabbling - when Loki wins, he makes no attempt to harm Blake, he just wants to have his fun. And when Thor returns him to Asgard, Odin seems more mildly exasperated with Loki than truly angry.
A few firsts here - the first time Thor declares "So Be It!", and the first time we see Thor in Asgard, although this is only the last two panels of the story. Odin does all the talking, so there's really nothing special to it. This also might be the first issue where the hammer doesn't have a new fancy power.
Also, as Cap alluded to a few pages back, Asgard is nothing special so far, just a few fancy looking buildings.
Things are starting to click with this issue, even though Loki is more like Mr.Mxyzptlk here than he would become (more mischievous than evil). From Loki's POV, this story continues on from #85.
I’ve got a bit of time today, and I just caught up reading this discussion from the point I left it.
In mythology, the handle of Thor’s hammer is three feet in length, but in the comics it’s drawn much shorter. In these early appearances, though, it does look to be about three feet long.
I’ve been trying to remember and I think the first Thor story I ever read was from Journey into Mystery #89. I say “from” #89 because I actually read it in Marvel Tales #7. Even that I didn’t buy new, though, but it was one of my earliest back issue acquisitions.
The Don Blake “origin issue” as discussed above is #158, BTW.
Are you sure that's right, Jeff? My recollection is Loki turned into a horsefly and stung the dwarf who was making it, so the handle turned out a little too short. To be fair, I think the version of the story I remember is the one from D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths.
Journey Into Mystery 89 (2/63)
"The Thunder God and the Thug!"
Plot-Lee, Script-Lieber, Pencils-Kirby, Inks-Ayers
Cover - Kirby & Ayers
We open with a recap of Thor's origin, and then we have Jane Foster daydreaming of having a life with Thor. Reality intrudes with the sound of gunfire. A mobster named Thug Thatcher is wounded escaping from police. His men barge into Blake's office and threaten Jane unless Don comes with them. He removes the bullets, and an ungrateful Thatcher orders his men to kill Blake. The mobsters had his cane while he operated, so he's physically helpless. He mentally contacts Odin, who helps him grab the cane and become Thor. He makes short work of the gangsters but Thatcher escapes with his girlfriend in tow. The gangster tries to evade Thor but is overmatched, and quickly caught. At Thor's request, Odin wipes the girlfriend's memory, so she can be free of Thatcher, and be able "to find one who will be worthy of her".
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My rating: 4/10
Pretty humdrum stuff. A mob leader and his gang shouldn't give Spider-Man or Daredevil this much trouble. This was really dragged out with Thatcher's repeated escapes and Jane being threatened two different times but in the same manner. Kind of sad it took super-breath, super-ventriloquism, and help from Odin for Thor to win.
One noteworthy thing was Jane's astonishment at Thor surrendering his hammer to save her when (she thinks) he doesn't even know her. But that wasn't enough to save the story.
No one probably blinked at Odin wiping the gun moll's memory back then. Today it would probably cause a storyline of its own. Darn you, Identity Crisis!
Journey Into Mystery #89 (reprinted in Marvel Tales #7) may have been my first "Thor" comic. Ten years ago (see below) I was certain of, so it probably was. Today I recall reading Marvel Tales #7 and Marvel Treasury Edition #3 (reprinting #125-130) at roughly the same time, and comparing the art in one with the art in the other. I don't recall whether or not I realized, at the time, that it was the work of the same artist, but I remember preferring the later stuff. (I do remember making a similar comparison between the artist of the Fantastic Four in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics and the artist in Marvel's Greatest Comics and not realizing they were both Jack Kirby. I didn't even realize that both titles were really the same series.) I did eventually acquire all of those thick "25¢" comics. that's why I often refer to myself as a "bastard son of the first generation" of Marvel fans. Although I acquired most of my early Marvels via reprints (and after-the-fact, at that), I did acquire them fairly early on.
I never noticed before how suggestive the panel of Jane "polishing Thor's hammer" is. On page five, Don Blake allows the criminals to escape rather than reveal his secret identity. I just happened to watch Key Largo last night, and it strikes me how perfect Edward G. Robinson and Claire Trevor would be in the roles of Thug thatcher and Ruby.
Regarding the length of the handle of Thor's hammer, I haven't yet been able to find a source to corroborate the version I remember from childhood, but I do have an additional source I didn't have in 2014: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (2017). His version matches Luke's regarding length, but not the reson for it.
From beneath the cloth Brokk produced a hammer, and placed it in front of Thor.
Thor looked at it and sniffed.
"The handle is rather short," he said.
Brokk nodded. "Yes," he said. "That's my fault. I was working the bellows... I failed tp keep the bellows blowing while my brother, Eitri, was forging it."
Unlike many of you, I no longer remember whether I encountered the Norse Gods first in comics or in school (but I'll bet I knew ten years ago).
No one probably blinked at Odin wiping the gun moll's memory back then. Today it would probably cause a storyline of its own. Darn you, Identity Crisis!
Kinda reminds me of the pre-Identity Crisis Superman using Amnesium on various people.
When I discovered yesterday that this discussion is up to the first Thor story I ever read, I went home and read JiM #89 last night. When I was a kid, I had two sources of back issue comics: George (from who I got Fantasy Masterpieces/Marvel Super-Heroes, Collector’s Item Classics/Marvel’s Greatest Comics and Marvel Tales) and Robert (from who I got early issues of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Sub-Mariner and Captain Marvel circa 1968. It was those early issues of Marvel Tales which shaped my opinion of Thor for years to come.
This story seems to me to be almost a “first” issue of sorts, from the cover illustration to the cover copy to the origin recap, but even the hazy mist of memory and the strong pull of nostalgia don’t earn this story more than the 4/10 rating you gave it. I didn’t buy the bit about Thor hurling the costumed dummy yesterday and I didn’t buy it when I was nine. Endings such as the one this story had are the reason I didn’t get too worked up over Identity Crisis.
I did eventually read some better Thor stories (reprinted in Marvel Treasury Edition and Special Marvel Edition, but it wasn’t until Walt Simonson’s run that I was inspired to seek out the rest of the Lee/Kirby run.
NOTE TO LUKE: Regarding the length of the hammer’s handle, let me put it this way: I was sure… until you questioned it.
"Trapped by the Carbon-Copy Man"
Plot-Lee, Script- LIeber, Pencils & Inks - Al Hartley
Cover - Kirby & Ayers
In a galaxy beyond our own, we meet an alien warlord, Ugarth, and his son, Zano. Ugarth has lead many conquering campaigns, and this next one will be his last. His son will take over for him as he retires. Their race, the Xartans, have never been stopped because they possess "The Great Power". They are headed for Earth!
Don Blake has decided to reveal to Jane Foster that he loves her, and that he is Thor. He is about to do this, when there is a sudden thunderclap. An image of Odin appears, and he forbids Thor from revealing his identity. He obeys, and Jane believes the thunder scared him. If only he could be as brave as her idol, Thor!
Blake is heading to work at a hospital when he sees strange events - cars on sidewalks, polka dots painted on pavement, and others, and when he returns to his office, a summons is waiting for him. Treating charity patients is now against the law! Jane admonishes him for helping the poor, calls him a quack, and quits. Thor goes to see his good friend Mayor Harris to see what's going on with all the new nonsensical laws. But the Mayor calls him a menace and orders his arrest. Thor gets away, and tries to figure this all out. He thinks back to a day Odin counselled his sons (complete with a panel showing him speaking to two Thors ???) that nothing is truly impossible, and sometimes the explanation of a puzzle is the simple and most obvious. Thor deduces that people not acting like themselves must be imposters. But how, and why?
Thor scours the city, and finds a spaceship. No door is visible, so Thor lays down his hammer to find one with his hands. Suddenly, a magnetic force binds him to the ship, and after 60 seconds he is Don Blake again. The aliens find him and take him aboard their ship, where Jane and Harris are also prisoner. The aliens reveal the "great power" is shape-shifting. They impersonated the mayor to make foolish laws and cause chaos, their first step in conquering Earth. Harris and Jane tell them Thor will stop them, and Blake offers to take them to Thor. Once outside, he grabs his hammer again. The warlord's son, Zano, challenges Thor to combat, and is defeated. Then Ugarth challenges Thor as well, and is also quickly dispatched - in fact, Thor flings him into space, and the alien armada retreats. Some aliens are left behind, and Thor commands them to change into trees. This renders them harmless, because as trees they cannot think, and therefore can't transform into anything else. Thor also tells Jane and Harris that Blake was only pretending to help the aliens, and was actually helping him all along.
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My rating: 2/10
This is the first Thor story without Kirby's art, and suffers for it. Al Hartley's faces and proportions are weird, probably better suited to a horror comic. The plot is lifted pretty heavily from Fantastic Four #2 - Alien shape-shifters cause chaos as they prepare to invade and conquer Earth, and after they are defeated, some are left behind and transform into things they (supposedly) can't transform back from. Ugarth describes himself as the victor of a thousand campaigns, but Thor defeats him quite easily. Impersonating one politician isn't much of a plan, and impersonating one nurse seems pointless. And that panel with Odin and the twin Thors is just wacky - maybe Thor and Thorr?
The ending makes no sense - Thor hurls Ugarth into space, and the armada goes to rescue him. The Xartans left behind include Ugarth's son Zano. Thor says if they hold them hostage, the Xartans will never invade again. If being hurled into space didn't kill Ugarth, I would think he would want revenge on Thor and also to rescue his son. If he died, I would think a warlike people would want to avenge him and rescue his son, who would be their new leader. Also, Thor would have no idea if the Xartans can transform from trees into other forms, he just made that up. But since the Xartans are just low-rent Skrulls, I doubt they were ever used again.
This is the point at which I recall the first volume of MMW became a real slog to read: the non-Kirby issues. At this time Marvel was transitioning from a company that published monster and suspense stories to one that published superhero comics, and sometimes alien/monster aspects sneaked in to early superhero comics. this is an axample. Just as Tomorrow Man was done better as Kang, so too was the "twist ending" of this story lifted directly from FF #2. The only significant thing that happened this issue is Odin's ban on Thor revealing his secret identity. Early on in the story, Don Blake grows a pair and sets off to tell Jane that he is Thor and to reveal his love for her. Odin appears and tells him specifically not to reveal his identity, but he didn't say anything about him falling in love with a mortal. Perhaps it was implied. But at this point, I'm still thinking of Don Blake and Thor as two separate people. I see no reason why Don Blake couldn't've manned up and told Jane he loved her.
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