Thor (comics)
Encyclopedia
Thor
has appeared as a character in various comics
over the years, appearing in series from a range of publishers.
superhero
, based on the thunder god
of Norse mythology
. The superhero was created by editor Stan Lee
and penciller Jack Kirby
, who co-plotted, and scripter Larry Lieber
, and first appeared in Journey into Mystery
#83 (Aug. 1962).
On a mission from his father, Odin, Thor acts as a superhero while maintaining the secret identity of Dr. Donald Blake, an American physician with a partially disabled
leg. Blake can transform by tapping his walking stick on the ground; the cane becomes the magical hammer Mjolnir and Blake transforms into Thor.
Thor often battles his evil adoptive brother Loki
, a Marvel character adapted from the Norse god of mischief, and was a founding member of the superhero group the Avengers
. He is among Marvel's most powerful superheroes. Many recurring characters in his stories are based on Norse Mythology
. Apart from this main superhero, Marvel features a number of characters based on him.
Chris Hemsworth
portrays Thor in films set within Marvel Studios
' cinematic universe
, first appearing in the 2011 film Thor
. Hemsworth reprised his role for 2012's The Avengers and is set to return again in Thor 2.
's Sandman series. In "Seasons Of Mists", he, Odin and Loki try (and fail) to get the key of Hell
. In "Seasons Of Mists", Thor is generally portrayed as being drunk and lewd. This is in contrast to the Marvel Comics portrayal of Thor, where Thor is portrayed as very noble and earnest. Later in the "Kindly Ones", he helps Odin bring Loki back (after he escaped them and caused chaos).
comic book
series Elementals. He was created by Bill Willingham
and first appeared in Elementals #23 (Volume 1).
comic artist Willy Vandersteen
started three series in which a Thor was featured. His very first published newspaper comic series (when World War II
stopped US-import in 1941) was "Tor de Holbewoner", about a caveman called Tor. Taking into account that "Tor" is a Dutch word for beetle, in Dutch the difference between T
and Th
is hardly (if at all) heard and that it was about a caveman living way before the invention of orthography, it is no miracle that this caveman returned (still during the war) with his name changed to "Thor".
In "De Rode Ridder
" series the existence of the thunder god Thor is shown in #45, (The Hammer of Thor, 1970) and the Thunderer has a role in #63 (The Valkyrie, 1974), in which the Rode/Red Knight has been chosen by Odin to complete a mission the gods cannot do themselves without causing Ragnarok. Both albums are by Karel Biddeloo. Unlike the Marvel Thor, Biddeloo's Thor is more or less a country boy, with enormous powers but bound by responsibility (avoidance of Ragnarok
). The hammer of Thor was a weapon mortals could and did carry and use, but it was too powerful to control.
In the most popular series started by Vandersteen, Suske en Wiske (Spike and Suzy
), Thor is featured once in #158 in a story by Paul Geerts
. Thor in this version is a cruel, grey-bearded god, going a bit bald on top, thundering and lightninging with his hammer, without throwing it. (Odin in this story is the young-looking, bearded redhead). Like Biddeloo’s Thor, this one is also dressed in animal skins, and that may be seen as a reference to the caveman.
, Lucky Luke
etc. with the difference that where those series are using history as source material, Peter Madsen uses mythology for his series Valhalla
(1978), with the same freedom to make jokes about current reality or other works of fiction, mostly following the Edda
s.
Thor is one of the main heroes of the series and can be seen as a central character.
Thor is here rather correctly put, as the honest, red bearded muscular, powerful god, with a bit of extra human weaknesses to keep the comic funny. Statements that he would be fat are false, but may be based on his disguise in #3 as Volstagg
, thus parodying Marvel's Asgardians.
Thrud and Modi are his firstborn children (in #2), their mother is Sif (pregnant from the start of the series). Magni has Jarnsaxa as mother and shows up in #9.
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
has appeared as a character in various comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
over the years, appearing in series from a range of publishers.
Marvel Comics
Thor (often called The Mighty Thor) is a Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
, based on the thunder god
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
of Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
. The superhero was created by editor Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and penciller Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, who co-plotted, and scripter Larry Lieber
Larry Lieber
Lawrence D. "Larry" Lieber is an American comic book artist and writer, and the younger brother of Marvel Comics' writer, editor and publisher Stan Lee....
, and first appeared in Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery was an American comic book series published by Atlas Comics, and later its successor Marvel Comics. It featured horror, monster, and science fiction stories...
#83 (Aug. 1962).
On a mission from his father, Odin, Thor acts as a superhero while maintaining the secret identity of Dr. Donald Blake, an American physician with a partially disabled
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
leg. Blake can transform by tapping his walking stick on the ground; the cane becomes the magical hammer Mjolnir and Blake transforms into Thor.
Thor often battles his evil adoptive brother Loki
Loki (comics)
Loki is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in publications by Marvel Comics. He is the adoptive brother and archenemy of the superhero Thor. He is based on the being of the same name from Norse mythology...
, a Marvel character adapted from the Norse god of mischief, and was a founding member of the superhero group the Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
. He is among Marvel's most powerful superheroes. Many recurring characters in his stories are based on Norse Mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
. Apart from this main superhero, Marvel features a number of characters based on him.
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth is an Australian actor most notable for portraying Thor in the Marvel Studios film Thor. Hemsworth is set to reprise his role as Thor in the upcoming films The Avengers in 2012 and Thor 2 in 2013. He also starred as Kim Hyde in the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
portrays Thor in films set within Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios, originally Marvel Films, is an American television and motion picture studio based in Manhattan Beach, California. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, a self-contained part of the The Walt Disney Company conglomerate....
' cinematic universe
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a shared fictional universe that is the setting of superhero films independently developed by Marvel Studios, based on characters published in Marvel Comics. The setting is much like the Marvel Universe in comic books. The universe was established by crossing over...
, first appearing in the 2011 film Thor
Thor (film)
Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the comic book character of the same name published by Marvel Comics. It is the fourth film released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
. Hemsworth reprised his role for 2012's The Avengers and is set to return again in Thor 2.
DC Comics
Thor appears briefly in Neil GaimanNeil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
's Sandman series. In "Seasons Of Mists", he, Odin and Loki try (and fail) to get the key of Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. In "Seasons Of Mists", Thor is generally portrayed as being drunk and lewd. This is in contrast to the Marvel Comics portrayal of Thor, where Thor is portrayed as very noble and earnest. Later in the "Kindly Ones", he helps Odin bring Loki back (after he escaped them and caused chaos).
Comico Comics
Thor is also a fictional character in the ComicoComico Comics
Comico: The Comic Company was an American comic book publisher, headquartered in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Its best-known comics include the Robotech adaptations, the Jonny Quest continuation written by co-creator Doug Wildey, and Matt Wagner's Mage: The Hero Discovered and Grendel...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series Elementals. He was created by Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
and first appeared in Elementals #23 (Volume 1).
Willy Vandersteen group (Flemish)
The FlemishFlemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
comic artist Willy Vandersteen
Willy Vandersteen
Willy Vandersteen was a Belgian creator of comic books. In a career spanning 50 years, he created a large studio and published more than 1,000 comic albums in over 25 series, selling more than 200 million copies worldwide....
started three series in which a Thor was featured. His very first published newspaper comic series (when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
stopped US-import in 1941) was "Tor de Holbewoner", about a caveman called Tor. Taking into account that "Tor" is a Dutch word for beetle, in Dutch the difference between T
T
T is the 20th letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used consonant and the second most common letter in the English language.- History :Taw was the last letter of the Western Semitic and Hebrew alphabets...
and Th
TH
- Places :* Thailand, ISO 3166-1 country code** .th, the country code top level domain for Thailand* Thuringia, a state of Germany* Territory of Hawaii, a term referring to Hawaii prior to statehood-People:...
is hardly (if at all) heard and that it was about a caveman living way before the invention of orthography, it is no miracle that this caveman returned (still during the war) with his name changed to "Thor".
In "De Rode Ridder
De Rode Ridder
De Rode Ridder is a Belgian Flemish comic book series set in medieval Europe. It stars the titular character Johan, the Red Knight, easily recognizable by his red tunic. It appeared six days a week in the newspaper De Standaard and a few other ones.-Summary of the story:The series are...
" series the existence of the thunder god Thor is shown in #45, (The Hammer of Thor, 1970) and the Thunderer has a role in #63 (The Valkyrie, 1974), in which the Rode/Red Knight has been chosen by Odin to complete a mission the gods cannot do themselves without causing Ragnarok. Both albums are by Karel Biddeloo. Unlike the Marvel Thor, Biddeloo's Thor is more or less a country boy, with enormous powers but bound by responsibility (avoidance of Ragnarok
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
). The hammer of Thor was a weapon mortals could and did carry and use, but it was too powerful to control.
In the most popular series started by Vandersteen, Suske en Wiske (Spike and Suzy
Spike and Suzy
Spike and Suzy, the British title for Suske en Wiske in Dutch, is a comics series created by the Belgian comics author Willy Vandersteen. The strip is known as Bob et Bobette in French and Willy and Wanda in the U.S. It was first published in De Nieuwe Standaard in 1945 and soon became popular...
), Thor is featured once in #158 in a story by Paul Geerts
Paul Geerts
Paul Geerts is a Flemish comics artist who succeeded Willy Vandersteen as the main artist of the Spike and Suzy series.-References:...
. Thor in this version is a cruel, grey-bearded god, going a bit bald on top, thundering and lightninging with his hammer, without throwing it. (Odin in this story is the young-looking, bearded redhead). Like Biddeloo’s Thor, this one is also dressed in animal skins, and that may be seen as a reference to the caveman.
Madsen’s Valhalla Thor (Danish)
This is Thor in the European "comedic adventure" tradition of AsterixAsterix
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
, Lucky Luke
Lucky Luke
Lucky Luke is a Belgian comics series created by Belgian cartoonist, Maurice De Bevere better known as Morris, the original artist, and was for one period written by René Goscinny...
etc. with the difference that where those series are using history as source material, Peter Madsen uses mythology for his series Valhalla
Valhalla (comic)
Valhalla is a Danish comic book series. Originally commissioned for and published by Interpresse, it has been published by Carlsen Comics since 1987.-History:...
(1978), with the same freedom to make jokes about current reality or other works of fiction, mostly following the Edda
Edda
The term Edda applies to the Old Norse Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, both of which were written down in Iceland during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching into the Viking Age...
s.
Thor is one of the main heroes of the series and can be seen as a central character.
Thor is here rather correctly put, as the honest, red bearded muscular, powerful god, with a bit of extra human weaknesses to keep the comic funny. Statements that he would be fat are false, but may be based on his disguise in #3 as Volstagg
Volstagg
Volstagg is a fictional character, a charter member of the Warriors Three, a trio of Asgardian adventurers and supporting cast of Thor in the . He is not taken from mythology but an original creation, modeled on Shakespeare's Falstaff in character and name....
, thus parodying Marvel's Asgardians.
Thrud and Modi are his firstborn children (in #2), their mother is Sif (pregnant from the start of the series). Magni has Jarnsaxa as mother and shows up in #9.
Other uses of Thor in comics
Other uses of the name Thor in comics include:- In issues 1-5 of the Golden Age anthologyAnthologyAn anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
Weird Comics, a scientist given the powers of the Thundergod by lightning strike is active as Thor, while in issues 6-8 Dynamite Thor’s adventures were shown. - Thor, along with the other Norse gods, appears in David Brin's comic, The Life EatersThe Life EatersThe Life Eaters is a 2003 science fiction graphic novel written by David Brin and art by Scott Hampton. It was published by Wildstorm. The story is based on Brin's Hugo-nominated novella Thor Meets Captain America, featuring an alternate history scenario where the Nazis won World War II.-Story:The...
. - Thôrr-Sverd: The Sword of Thor #1-3, published ca. 1987 by Vincent Creations, began the telling of the story of the impact of the gods on the Proto-Indo-European people. It suggested that perhaps, contrary to canonical mythology, the giants were the good guys and the gods were the villains.
- A villainous Thor appeared in Rob LiefeldRob LiefeldRob Liefeld is an American comic book writer, illustrator, and publisher. A prominent artist in the 1990s, he has since become a controversial figure in the medium....
's comic book YoungbloodYoungblood (comics)Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...
. - Johnny HartJohnny HartJohnny Hart was an American cartoonist noted as the creator of the comic strip B.C. and co-creator of the strip The Wizard of Id. Hart was recognized with several awards, including the Swedish Adamson Award and five from the National Cartoonists Society...
's comic strip BC also features a caveman named Thor - The Quality ComicsQuality ComicsQuality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
version of ManhunterManhunter (comics)-Golden Age:The first of DC's Manhunters was a non-costumed independent investigator, Paul Kirk, who helped police solve crimes during the early 1940s. Though the series was titled "Paul Kirk, Manhunter", Kirk didn't use the Manhunter name as an alias...
had a (later revealed to be a robot) dog named Thor that assisted him. - Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon has its own version of Thor, a red-headed villainous thunder god.
- El Cazador de AventurasEl Cazador de AventurasCazador is an Argentine comic that was published since 1992, during different time periods. It is famous for initiating a new age of adult comics in Argentina. It was written and drawn by Ariel Olivetti, Jorge Lucas, Mauro Cascioli and Claudio Ramirez...
from Argentina included in its 32-34 issues a remake of the RagnarokRagnarökIn Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
, with Cazador in the middle of it.