Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor Odinson is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, based on the god from Old Norse religion and mythology, Thor. Created by artist Jack Kirby, writer Stan Lee, and scripter Larry Lieber, the character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and first received his own title with Thor #126. Comic books featuring Thor have been published across several volumes.
Thor is one of the gods of Asgard and the son of the Asgardian king Odin. In addition to his Asgardian strength and extended lifespan, Thor wields control over the weather, including rain and lightning. He also carries the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, that enhances his abilities and grants him the ability to fly. Thor was first introduced as the alter ego of surgeon Donald Blake, who acquired Thor's power, which was later revealed to be a fabrication by Thor's father. Thor has since assumed other human identities and sometimes ruled as king of Asgard.
Thor's cast of supporting characters includes his fellow Asgardians Odin, Sif, The Warriors Three, and Balder the Brave, as well as other allies such as Jane Foster, Beta Ray Bill, and Hercules. Thor's arch-nemesis is his adoptive brother Loki. Thor is a founding member of the superhero team the Avengers, and has played a significant role in Marvel crossover storylines, including "Avengers Disassembled", Siege, "Fear Itself" and "The War of the Realms". Chris Hemsworth portrays the cinematic adaptation of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in Thor.
Publication history
Creation and premiere
Thor was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Larry Lieber. After initially drafting the character, Lee gave the project to his brother Lieber to write the stories. Kirby developed Thor's visual design, and he had an interest in ancient mythology that lent itself to the character's creation and design. Bulfinch's Mythology was used as a reference during Thor's creation. As superhero comics became more popular, Marvel began replacing its previous comic book lines with superheroes. Thor first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83. Like other superheroes created at the time, Thor usurped a comic book anthology that had previously been dedicated to monster fiction. Thor arose from Lee's desire to create a superhero who was more powerful than Hulk or the Fantastic Four. Lee in 2002 described Thor's genesis early in the Marvel pantheon, following the creation of the Hulk:The idea for adapting Thor as a superhero was first developed when Lee and Kirby heard of Marvel being discussed as "twentieth-century mythology". Thor was well-suited to be recreated as a superhero, as the mythological character already had an established supporting cast, superpowers, and sense of justice. At the time Thor was created, there were approximately 15 million Scandinavian Americans, and the United States had a general cultural awareness of historical Scandinavian culture through ideas of Vikings and Leif Erikson. A previous adaptation of Thor had first appeared in Venus #11, published by what is now Marvel Comics. Kirby had previously adapted Thor for DC Comics in Adventure Comics #75, Boy Commandos #7, Tales of the Unexpected #16.
1960s
Shortly after Thor premiered, Lieber moved on to other projects, and Thor was given to other writers. Various artists worked on Thor in his first issues, including Don Heck and Joe Sinnott. Lee soon took over writing duties for several Marvel superhero titles, as the writers did not meet his expectations, and he became the writer for Thor beginning in Journey into Mystery #97. Kirby became the artist shortly afterward, beginning in Journey into Mystery #101.When Marvel's distributor allowed them more monthly releases, The Avengers was developed as a new comic book series. Thor was included as an inaugural member of the titular superhero team. By 1965, the difficulty of maintaining continuity between The Avengers and the titles of the individual characters prompted Lee to write the original cast out of The Avengers, including Thor.
Lee created a second series that centered on Norse mythology, "Tales of Asgard". First appearing in Journey into Mystery #97, this series focused on Thor's mythological adventures and greatly expanded his roster of supporting characters, including Sif, Balder the Brave, and the Warriors Three. Journey into Mystery was eventually renamed to Thor, beginning with Thor #126. This marked a significant shift in Thor's characterization: the primary setting was moved from Earth to Asgard, Thor's love interest Jane Foster was written out of the story in favor of Sif, and Hercules became a major character. "Tales of Asgard" continued until Thor #145. The character's backstory was changed in Thor #159, when it was revealed that Thor was the actual mythological Thor rather than a mortal who obtained Thor's power and that his secret identity of Donald Blake was a fabrication created by Odin to teach him humility. As Kirby's work on Thor came to an end, the setting shifted back to Earth and Jane Foster was reintroduced.
1970s–1990s
Kirby stayed on as Thor's artist until Thor #179. Lee eventually ceded control of the titles he worked on to other writers, and Thor was given to Gerry Conway, who at the time was a teenager. John and Sal Buscema were the artists for this run. After Conway gave up the series, editor Len Wein took over as its writer. After returning to the Avengers, Thor was again removed in Avengers #151 because writer Steve Englehart believed that Thor was too powerful for the group. Fan backlash ensued, and the subsequent writer, Jim Shooter, returned him to the team in Avengers #159.In the mid-1970s, Marvel considered giving the character a second series as part of parent company Magazine Management's line of black-and-white comics magazines. A story written by Steve Englehart for the aborted project appeared in Thor Annual #5.
Doug Moench wrote for Thor from 1981 to 1983. This run was poorly received, which Moench argued was due to the limitations imposed by editor Mark Gruenwald. Walter Simonson subsequently took over the series, revitalizing it and increasing sales. Simonson's run was highly regarded by critics, and it included several major milestones in Thor's history, including "The Surtur Saga", "Skurge's Last Stand", "Mjolnir's Song", and "The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill". His introduction of Beta Ray Bill shifted the dynamic of Thor introducing a second character who Odin recognized as worthy of Thor's power. In the 1990s, Marvel briefly supplemented its main superheroes with more violent anti-hero versions. During this time, Thor was replaced with Eric Masterson.
During the Heroes Reborn event, many of Marvel's superheroes were given new volumes, restarted at issue #1, but Thor's series was not renewed. A new volume of Thor instead launched during the subsequent Heroes Return event. This volume was written by Dan Jurgens and illustrated by John Romita Jr. To humanize Thor, he was again bound to a mortal, this time giving him the alter-ego of paramedic Jake Olson.
21st century
The subsequent period of Marvel's history reflected the political turmoil that followed the September 11 attacks and the war on terror. For Thor, this involved becoming the king of Asgard, giving him political power that he abused. An alternate version of the Avengers, the Ultimates, debuted in 2002 as part of the Ultimate Marvel branding that re-imagined Marvel characters in an alternative universe. This universe's version of Thor has the same powers, but he is a pacifist and it is left unclear whether he is truly a god or mentally unstable.Thor volume two ended with a tie in to the Avengers Disassembled storyline that saw major changes to Marvel's main characters. Issues #80–85 follow the events of Ragnarök as the story's primary setting, Asgard, is destroyed. This story arc was written by Michael Avon Oeming and illustrated by Andrea Di Vito. A third volume of Thor began publication in 2007, written by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Olivier Coipel. This volume began by addressing the ramifications of Avengers Disassembled and slowly reintroducing Thor's supporting characters. Thor was then a central character in the Siege event in 2010, which featured Marvel's cast of superheroes defending Asgard from Norman Osborn.
To coincide with the Thor film, Marvel launched a number of new series starring the character in mid-2010. These included Thor: The Mighty Avenger by Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee, Thor: First Thunder by Bryan J. L. Glass and Tan Eng Huat, Thor: For Asgard by Robert Rodi and Simone Bianchi, and Iron Man/Thor by the writing duo of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. The limited series Thor: The Mighty Avenger was published across eight issues from 2010 to 2011, following Thor in his earlier years as a less serious, family friendly interpretation of the character. This series was written by Roger Langridge and illustrated by Chris Samnee, and was met with critical praise.
The next Thor series, , began publication in 2012 during the Marvel Now! relaunch. This run was written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Esad Ribic. The first eleven issues followed Thor, accompanied by an elderly Thor from the future and a young Thor from the past, battling Gorr the God Butcher. In the 2010s, Marvel began substituting its main characters with a new diverse cast of characters. Thor was replaced by Jane Foster as part of this trend during the 2014 Original Sin story arc, and she became the main character in the Thor franchise. The original Thor was called The Odinson during this period, and he starred in a separate series, The Unworthy Thor, written by Aaron and illustrated by Olivier Coipel. Thor was relaunched with Marvel's Fresh Start branding, still written by Aaron, restoring The Odinson as Thor and leading up to "The War of the Realms".
A new volume of Thor began publication in 2020, written by Donny Cates and illustrated by Nic Klein, which follows Thor as the ruler of Asgard. The next series, The Immortal Thor, premiered in 2023.