Comic Book / Thor (1966)

Thor is a 1968 comic by Marvel Comics starring The Mighty Thor.

Originally titled Journey into Mystery, the comic was renamed The Mighty Thor, starting with issue #126. The title lasted from 1966 to 1996, ending with issue #502 (September, 1996). At that point, Thor was supposedly dead. The series was renamed back to Journey into Mystery and continued featuring the tales of the surviving Asgardians.

Thor: provides examples of:

• Big Damn Heroes: Scuttlebutt, Beta Ray Bill's ship, does this for Sif as she is fighting an endless horde of demons in #340.
• Big "NO!": When Jane Foster is killed (don't worry, she gets better) in Thor #371, Thor spends an entire page smashing stuff up while shouting "NO!". He ends up kneeling in the wreckage, saying one final, very small, "No".
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: In issue #380, Thor managed to slay the Midgard Serpent — a giant dragon among giant dragons — with a massive hammer blow to the head. He was already in constant pain and obliged to wear a full-body armor suit for support due to a curse by the goddess of death, but the death blow reduced him to a pulped (yet still living) mass of flesh contained within said armor. Given he was prophesied to die after killing the Midgard Serpent, as per Norse Mythology, this is actually a plus.
• Captain Obvious: In Thor #382, Walt Simonson's final issue, Thor decides to give Loki a reminder that although he puts up with a lot from Loki, this is not a sign of weakness, nor is it without its limits:

  Loki: Aaarrgggggggggghhhhh! My arm! You've broken my arm!
  Thor: There speaks the wily Loki at last! As always, his cunning mind pierces to the heart of the matter!

• The Commies Made Me Do It: Thor #358 features a Soviet plot to destroy the USA's economy; one of the key players is an immigrant who's being blackmailed into helping for the sake of his parents who are still in Soviet hands.
• Crossover Finale: While not labelled as an Onslaught tie-in, issue #502 was the last one for Vol. 1 with Thor's adventures; the title was retitled Journey into Mystery and continued publication, while Thor was shunted to the Heroes Reborn reality.
• Do Not Go Gentle: Issues #360-362: "...and though The Executioner stands alone, and the warriors of Hel seem numberless... Not one sets foot upon the bridge across the river Gjoll.
  They sing no songs in Hel, nor do they celebrate heroes, for silent is that dismal realm and cheerless. But the story of the Gjallerbru and the god who defended it is whispered across the Nine Worlds... and when a new arrival asks about the one to whom even Hela bows her head, the answer is always the same. "He stood alone at Gjallerbru."... and that answer is enough".
• Elemental Absorption: In Thor #288, Thor absorbs all of the electricity directed at him, using it to regain his strength.
• Energy Absorption: One of Mjölnir's greatest feats occurred in Thor #407, where the hammer managed to contain the galaxy-destroying power of a Null Bomb before using the power to reignite a dying sun.
• Evil Chancellor:
  • Seidring the Merciless was Odin's chief adviser until Thor #127, when he gained control of the Odinpower and tried to take over Asgard.
    I did think Odin missed the boat there; would you trust an adviser on your staff named Seidring the Merciless?
    — Walt Simonson, Foreword to Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson
• Facepalm: Thor #359 has a Dramedy plot in which Lorelei and Loki conspire to put Thor under magical mind control. Their scheme is eventually defeated when Lorelei is rendered similarly magically infatuated with Loki. After Loki has been forced to lift the enchantment on Thor, and nearly had his brains smashed in along the way, Lorelei asks if he's angry with her. Loki's facepalm is a minor classic of the trope.◊
• Flaming Sword: Thor's "atomic flare" attack, which is performed by spinning Mjölnir so fast that its own atoms are set ablaze, creates a weapon that "burns with the might of a thousand suns", according to Thor #351.
• Forced Transformation: The memorable storyline, beginning in Thor #363, where Thor is turned into a frog.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: Issue #356 makes a pause in the dramatic aftermath of the destructive Surtur Saga, and features Hercules instead, narrating a completely made-up fight against Thor.
• Good Hurts Evil: In Thor #180, the "power of good" in Thor's soul was so strong that exposing it to Mephisto left the demon begging for mercy.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Justice Peace and Thor in Thor #371. This one has consequences: the fight delays Justice Peace's pursuit of the serial killer Zaniac, who kills several more people before they catch up with him.
• Lightning Can Do Anything: Lampshaded in Thor #390, after Thor seals a hole in the ground with a "pin-point accurate" lightning bolt.
  Black Knight: But—but that's scientifically impossible!
  Captain America: Not to a Thunder God!
• Literal Surveillance Bug: In Thor #357-8, the villains' secret base has an insect infestation that's actually a swarm of Literal Surveillance Bugs created by their own Gadgeteer Genius, who is working with them unwillingly and wants to know what they say when he's not around.
• More Expendable Than You: In issues #360-362, Thor insisting on covering the escape of his colleagues and several innocent human souls from Hel, only to be cold-cocked by his former enemy Skurge, who insists on protecting their flight on his own.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In Thor #381, Hela has Thor on the ropes, completely incapable of lifting a finger to help himself — until Loki decides to make things a bit more entertaining, and inadvertently gives Thor an out. In general this trope and Nice Job Breaking It, Hero could be Loki's middle names, he is the God of Unintended Consequences.
• No More for Me: In Thor #364, a drunk stumbles into an alley and runs into the irate goats pulling Thor's chariot, who've been stranded in the alley while Thor is... temporarily discommoded. He promptly declares he's going on the wagon. At the end of the following issue, the same guy, drunk again, winds up in the same alley, where he's confronted with the goats, the chariot, and a 6'6" frog in full Thor regalia. As he flees, he swears that this time he really really is never going to touch the stuff again.
• Poorly Disguised Pilot: Issue #411, set during the Acts of Vengeance crossover, showcases the New Warriors, who received their own book months later.
• Power Nullifier: In Thor #429, Thor created a vortex that negated all mystical energy within, robbing the Juggernaut of his invulnerability for a time.
• Richard Wagner: In The Mighty Thor #294-299 (1980) Roy Thomas and Keith Pollard adapt The Ring of the Nibelung as an event that happened in the past with Thor and Valkyrie taking the parts of Siefried and Brünnhilde.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong:
• Splash Panel: Thor #380, chronicling Thor's epic battle with the Midgard Serpent, contains (with the exception of the final page) no panels less than a full page in size.
• Standard Hero Reward: In Thor #364, a dying king offers it to Thor if he will save the kingdom from its attackers. Thor does save the kingdom, and the princess seems quite keen on the idea, but Thor politely declines the reward and suggests she should rule the kingdom in her own right.

• This Was His True Form: In Thor #375-376, Thor battles a succession of foes that are actually innocent bystanders transformed by Loki. Each reverts to their own true form when they're defeated.
• Tonight, Someone Dies: Spoofed at the end of Thor #363:
  Next issue: Not a hoax! Not a dream! Not an imaginary story!! The story they didn't think we had nerve enough to tell! Thor croaks!!! (Ribbit! Ribbit!)
• Unreliable Narrator: In issue #356, Hercules and Jarvis are taking a stroll in the park, and a group of kids ask him if he's stronger than Thor or not. Hercules begins to narrate their last encounter. Humbled and ashamed by the vast superiority of Hercules over him, Thor asked him for an arm wrestle, to see if he could regain the will to live. Jarvis laughs at the idea of Thor trying to defeat Hercules, and points out that he doesn't remember any such scene. "Oh, of course, it happened while you were on vacation, dear Jarvis!". So, Thor was defeated in a second, hit Hercules in the head with his hammer, began to destroy the city in a tantrum... Mr. Hercules, that doesn't make sense, aren't you making it up? Oh, this Jarvis may be a prince among butlets, but as a spectator he leaves much to desire. Where were we? Oh, that the fight got into the Empire State Building which was destroyed... but such a thing never made it to the newspapers, because the Avengers repaired it immediately! And he goes on, on, and on... that is, until he realizes that the kid asking isn't his fan but a fan of Thor, who feels sad for his hero. Where were we? Oh, that Thor was about to receive the final blow... and suddenly showed that he was holding his strength, beat the crap out of Hercules, and sent him to another state with a single punch. Yes, it really happened! Would Hercules lie to you?
• Weather Dissonance: The Casket of Ancient Winters is opened during Walt Simonson' run. This ends up being a godsend for continuity-mad fans to explain away appearances of winter weather in other comics that couldn't have actually happened in winter because of the floating timeline.
• What Year Is This?: In Thor #371, time-travelling lawman Justice Peace appears out of thin air and asks a bystander "What's the date, citizen?" He has to ask a second time, less politely, before the bystander pulls himself together enough to reply.
• World War Whatever: Thor #371-372 features a time traveler from the future trying to prevent a chain of events that will result in World War VII.
• You Didn't Ask: In Thor #337 — though, since it's Thor, it's "Thou didst not ask".