THOR
Thor
Comic Books
For Sale
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The Thunder God landed his
first complete solo book in 1966 after a significant run
that started in the pages of Journey into Mystery with issue #83 in 1962.
The Marvel Age of Comics exploded out of the pages of the
Fantastic Four and created a sensation in the comic book world.
Marvel was quick to act on it by converting several of
its existing monster and mystery titles into superhero books.
Thor became the star of the Journey into Mystery which he
shared with other mystery stories that the title was
featuring up to that time.
Due limitations by the printers Marvel
could not add Thor as another title and keep Journey
into Mystery running. They had to end the title with issue #125 and then change
it to Thor
with issue #126.
That amazing run from #83 through #125 remains one of the
major highlights during Marvel Comics' early years and are
some of the most highly sought after books of the Silver
Age.
Those issues laid the groundwork for this incredible
character and his world and introduced so many of the key
characters that was and still remains the foundation for
Thor.
We would not only see the introduction of Thor, but his evil
step brother Loki, his father Odin, his love interest the
beautiful lady Sif and his loyal companion Balder the Brave.
There was Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg, Heimdall, the Destroyer,
the Enchantress, the Executioner, Surtur and a host of
characters from the world of Asgard and of course Jane
Foster his other love interest.
All made their debuts in this title.
There were so many other non-Asgardian super-villains that
made their first appearances as well in the Journey Into
Mystery to fight Thor like the Grey Gargoyle, Mr. Hyde, the
Cobra, the Absorbing Man, the Radio-Active Man and Zarrko.
The wonderful Tales of Asgard
stories were introduced and featured in the title and
continued in Thor when the title change was made.
Jack Kirby was probably at
his best next to his Fantastic Four run while doing the Thor
issues and a lot of collectors and historians even today
rave about his work and vision he showed during his tenure
here.
With sustained good sales and fan approval, it was a natural
for Marvel to make the title change to The Mighty Thor.
In the early part of 1966
Thor #126 debuted on the newsstands and Marvel never looked back.
With Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
firmly at the helm immediately
got the ball rolling with a long storyline involving the
Thunder God and his equivalent from Mt. Olympus-Hercules in
an all-out brawl to set the stage for the new title.
Lee and Kirby would create
some ground-breaking stories in their run which lasted until
issue #179. The eye-popping covers and detailed
stories and artwork stand out as some of the best from any
comic book publisher.
Pluto, the Planet Ego, High Evolutionary and the Wrecker
would make their debuts in issues #127, #132, #134 and #148
respectively.
The Inhumans would have their
origins told as part of the back-up story in issues #146
through #151 which was never told in the Fantastic Four
issues at that time.
The Origin of Thor would be reprinted in issue #158 in exact
detail from Journey into Mystery #83 and Thor's alter
ego-Donald Blake would have his origin told for the first time in issue
#159.
Warlock made his first
appearances in this book in issues #165 and #166 with
collectors searching for copies.
The origin of the sentient being Galactus would be told over
a course of three issues-#162, #168 and #169 and continually
appears on a lot of collectors want lists.
With issue #179 Jack Kirby would
end his glorious run on the character although he would be asked to
come back and do the artwork on several covers in later
issues in the 200s.
Neal Adams would do the artwork on a rare Marvel assignment
with issues #180 and #181 which are standout issues.
The Silver Surfer's
appearance made for a highly sought after expanded issue
with #193 as sort of a follow up to Silver Surfer #4 from
1969 where Thor made an appearance.
When you look through issues in the 200s, John Buscema's
artwork really stands out with a lot of very affordable
issues that make for a great building block for new
collections or additions to existing collections. He
brings in some old favorites and new additions to the Thor
universe with a style that is unmistakably his.
Thor would go through some
stale times during the late issues in the 290s into the
300s.
It wasn't until issue #337 when Walt Simonson began his monumental run on
the title performing both writing and art that would bring
back the Lee and Kirby grandeur on the book. Simonson
would add his magic to the title doing things so much on a
large scale. His run would last until #382.
Ron Frenz came on the scene directly after Simonson with
issue #383 and maintained that grand scale of the Thor
mythology that were reminiscent of the Lee and Kirby days. He
contributed to the series as artist and co-writer for closed
to 6 years. These are issues that a lot of collectors
have missed out on which sit in a lot of dealers/sellers'
boxes. It won't be too long before collectors begin to
realize how incredible these issues are and they are very,
very affordable.
Thor has been a major player in the Marvel Universe in not
only his own title, but in the Avengers and other Marvel
books.
This is one title that continually flies under the radar
while so many continue to pursue the likes of Spider-Man and
the Fantastic Four.
When you compare his run from the 1960s especially to other characters of the same
time period or the same level like Silver Surfer or Iron Man or
Captain America or Daredevil, you start to notice just how
under appreciated these issues really are.
Thor's visibility became most prominent with the release of
his first motion picture in 2011 and continued with his
appearance in the Avengers
Movie in 2012. There will be Thor 2 in 2013
and other appearances in future Marvel movies.
Thor continues to receive a
strong fan following in his various titles that are
published today and typically a lot of buyers and collectors
tend to gravitate to a characters previous incarnations as
it is natural to want to get even more of a character that
they currently enjoy.
Purchasing Thor Comics
When reviewing sources to acquire
Thor issues, I like to check
out local comic book shops and conventions. I get to see
the comics in person and can examine more issues at one time than I could online.
Eventually local sources go only so far since they rely on
collectors and other sellers in the area to bring them in.
Sources on the internet tend to travel and pick up
collections and will buy a lot of books online to add to
their inventory. They also have a lot of people from
all over the world who will contact them since they are not
tied to a local area to sell to them. These sellers
also tend to advertise on a more global scale than the local
comic book shop since their marketplace is the entire world
essentially.
mycomicshop
is a great place to find Thor issues. They're a
national online seller and have been selling comic books
through the mail since the 1960s. They try to stock every issue of every
title that has ever been published.
You'll
see a large amount of
Thor
covers of key books in the run
as well as general issues in the title on this page that I
think will interest any
Thor
collection which will take
you directly to mycomicshop's inventory of that issue.
There you
will see every condition of that issue they currently have
in stock so you can choose the right condition of the book
that you're looking for.
Don't be
worried if you do not see an issue in stock when you click
on any of the links. Often times they will receive an
issue into their inventory on a fairly regular basis as they
purchase books and collections daily. Just go ahead
and bookmark the link after you've clicked on the issue here
or check back here and click on the link to see if the issue
has come into stock. The links will stay permanently
connected.
I've
purchased books from mycomicshop before and will continue to use them.
Their grading is accurate and they are a reliable source.
They have great customer service in providing you books in a
timely manner.
Ebay is a
great option as there’s a lot of
collectors/sellers/dealers always looking to move in
and out of product and use Ebay as their avenue.
You may find some good deals on Ebay, but be careful to check out
the auctions and or Buy it Now listings carefully. Some
sellers’ terms are not right for everyone and sometimes the
items are not what you expect.
If condition is important to you, then be sure to ask a lot
of questions. If you don’t get the right kinds of answers
you’re looking for, then move on and try another listing.
Always check out the seller’s profile to see how their past
selling has been. If they’re new to selling and have only
been buying, ask questions.
You always want to be comfortable with the person you’re
potentially going to be buying from and you really need to
know what it is you’re getting.
If you're looking for CGC Thor comics, then ComicLink is
your best choice. They focus primarily on CGC books
and you can find some of the top notch
Thor issues available on
their site. Expect to see from time to time CGC
Journey Into Mystery #83 (Thor 's first appearance), Thor #126 and others of that era as well as CGC
Thor comic books from the
Bronze age.
I hope
this page has been informative to you regarding the world of
Iron Man
comic books.
Happy Collecting!!!
Johnson's Collectibles
