Reading Room: THOR: GOD OF THUNDER "Thor Goes to War"

With World War II still on the horizon for America in 1940, the Golden Age Thor has to contend with a girlfriend who still can't perceive of the horrors to come...

It's amazing how much they jammed into only 12 pages back then!
This rather lively tale was from Weird Comics #2, pencilled by Pierce Rice, inked by Arturo Cazeneuve.

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Video Fridays: Thor vs the Destroyer!

 Since one of the main "set pieces" in the new Thor movie is a battle with The Destroyer, let's look at it as dramatized using Jack Kirby's art on the Marvel Super Heroes Show...

C'mon admit it, it's KOOL!

It's THORSday! All Hail MIGHTY THOR!

Inks by Chic Stone

To celebrate the Mighty Thor big-budget movie opening tomorrow and starring Chris Hemsworth and (yum) Natalie Portman, here's a selection of pix by co-creator Jack (King) Kirby with various inkers...

Inks by Dick Ayers

Inks by George Roussos aka George Bell

Inks by Joe Sinnott

Inks by Joe Sinnott

Inks by Dick Ayers

Inks by Don Heck

Inks by Joe Sinnott

Inks by Joe Sinnott

Inks by Joe Sinnott

Origin of the Golden Age Thor: God of Thunder

He's muscular, super-strong, has long blonde hair, uses a hammer named Mjolnir, and can control lightning, but he's NOT Don Blake!
Nor is he the real Thor!
Confused, True Believer!
Well, read on and all will be made clear...probably...

So, while Grant transforms into a Thor, the real Thor (with the mythologically-correct red hair and beard) sits comfortably back in Valhalla and watches the fun.
This version of Thor would run from Weird Comics #1 (this appearance) to #5, never once making the cover.
Interestingly, issue by issue, he lost elements of Thor's costume (including the helmet, cape, and long hair), until by his final appearance in #5, he just looked like Grant Farrel in a blue swimsuit!
After that, he disappeared until 2008, when he, and an assemblage of forgotten Golden Age heroes, popped up in Savage Dragon #141, in full "Thor" regalia.

We'll be posting the other four adventures of the first Thor over the next few weeks.

Watch for them.

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Before Percy Jackson was...Nature Boy!

Long before Percy Jackson met the Olympians, there was another teen given amazing powers by ancient gods...
Rich teenager David Crandall was yachting with his parents when a storm sank the boat and David was stranded!
Rescued by "gods" who control various aspects of nature, he is given a portion of each of their powers...
Neptune--water
Gusto--wind
Furo--fire
Eartha--earth
Electra--lightning
Allura--love
Azura--skies
Friga--cold
(Yeah, I know a couple of them overlap, and only one was an actual mythological god, but why quibble?)
David used his new powers to return home and reunite with his still-alive family.
He also decided to battle evil in various forms as Nature Boy, since he controlled the forces of nature, and the gods gave him a spiffy new outfit to show off!

He only had three issues of his own title (which started with #3*) before he disappeared from the comics scene..until now!
But, within those three issues, the seeds were planted for an entire superfamily of Nature-heroes including Nature Man (an adult version of the hero from the future) and female counterpart Nature Girl.
This isn't surprising, since he was created by Jerry Siegel (co-creator of Superman) who knew a thing or two about that sort of thing.
To add to his hero cred, Nature Boy was drawn by the great John Buscema who later did Conan, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and damn near everything at Marvel in the 70s thru the 90s, so even if the stories were a bit silly, they looked spectacular!

Technically, Nature Boy should be considered one of the first Silver Age heroes as his premiere was in 1956, just a couple of months before The Flash re-emerged in Showcase #4, but, like Captain Flash, and even the Martian Manhunter, he's thought to be one of the last Golden Age characters instead!
On that basis, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have revived Nature Boy as part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, on t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other kool kollectibles!
It's unlikely that Alex Ross will include him in Project SuperPowers, but we felt he was worth re-presenting to the comics world, even if it's just on tchochkies!
He was one of the last, but hardly one of the worst...

*To save money on paying for a new second-class mailing permit,  comics publishers would often just rename an existing comic, rather than start a new one!
Today, with #1 issues being such "hot" collector's items, publishers wouldn't dream of doing that sort of thing!