Now that we’re done with Captain America, let’s move to the Thor portion of the retrospective.
Thor #67 (1973)
Published by: Corno
For as long as I can remember, my copy has been missing the cover.
The name of the series is officially just “Thor” but all covers show “Il Mitico Thor”. This is either a mistranslation for “The Mighty Thor” or a meaningful double entendre! Because “Mitico” can mean “mythical”, so in one sense it’s like calling the series “The mythical Thor”.
But “mitico” can also mean “exceptional” or “cool”, and it’s also used as an exclamation of joyful appreciation.
To give you a direct example: in the Italian dubbing of the Simpsons, when Homer shouts “who-hoo!” it’s dubbed with him shouting “mitico!”.
So essentially the series title could be read as a combination of all three:
1) The Mythical Thor
2) The Cool Thor
3) Whoo-hoo! Thor!
And come on, isn’t that much better than “The Mighty Thor”? Translations are fun!
Thor #168 (1969)
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
The title of the story is also weirdly translated.
It should be “Galactus Found!”, but the Italian cover has the title translating to “Find Galactus!”, which is kind of the opposite.
Due to convoluted reasons, Odin has decreed that Thor must find Galactus in order to atone for having succumbed to the Warrior Madness.
During the Lee&Kirby run, Asgard was full of weird technology but it was mostly in conjunction with some sort of magic. This is probably the most sci-fi story of the run; Thor of course has A LOT of space adventures on his own, but rarely he actually runs around in a spaceship.
(brief tangent here: why do people always make fun of that scene? Yes the movie is bad, but Kirk’s question makes perfect sense in context. Is it the way Shatner says it?)
Meanwhile on Midgard*, Balder is recovering from the operation that saved his life.
Scenes like this make me wonder why people complain whenever we see any Asgardian who isn’t Thor being hurt like a regular human. If you go by the original run, only Thor and Odin are basically invulnerable: everyone else can be injured easily.
*Earth
I guess even in Asgard doctors are obligated to having an incomprehensible handwriting.
Also, that is definitely not one of Kirby’s best closeups.
I honestly never particularly cared for Balder (outside of the Simonson run, he’s awesome there), but I’ve always had a fondness for the Warriors Three.
Especially Volstagg. Protect that large man at all costs.
Thor is captured by a mysterious force, and he looks uncharacteristically terrified.
That will have to wait, because first we have to set up the menace for the next storyline: a country in the “mysterious Orient” dealing with an out-of-control doomsday weapon.
They manage to subdue it just long enough to shoot it at America.
But that’s a problem for another time. Because Thor has managed to get himself captured by Galactus. Why is he surprised? He was looking for Galactus!!!
Thor wants to fight Galactus, who just isn’t in the mood.
So he just shoots Thor with some Exposition Mist.
This cause Thor to have a vision about a Watcher.
Not THE Watcher we know, Uatu, the one who lives on the Moon. This is a different one.
He’s not named in regular continuity, but through alternate reality counterparts we know him as Ecce.
He discovered the remains of an advanced ship full of dead people.
In exchange for continuing the story, Galactus wants Thor to promise he won’t try fighting him again.
Thor agrees, because A) otherwise there would be no story B) IT’S GALACTUS, how do you think that fight would go?
But that will have to wait for the following issue, which luckily WILL be part of the retrospective. Because the finale belongs to the Warriors Three discovering that the doomsday weapon from earlier is now approaching.
Bless this incredibly large man.
Historical significance: 6/10
It’s the setup for the following issue where we will learn the origin of Galactus. That is of course extremely significant, but there’s barely anything about it here.
Personal significance: 6/10
This this one of the very few two-parters that I fully owned, so I tend to conflate the two issues. As a whole I loved the Galactus storyline, which ensured my eternal interest in the character. But in retrospect, almost nothing happens here!
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Even in the Marvel Universe, that is some serious tech for the “oriental country”.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
This is a tough choice. On one hand, it’s in a golden period for the series and it has great artwork (with some hiccups). But on the other hand, Thor is not even a character in his own series! And as entertaining as the Warriors Three are in their own right, they’re stuck in a boring subplot.
Luckily things will get MUCH better in the second part.
Avengers #55 (1968)
by Roy Thomas & John Buscema
The Avengers were the regular backup feature in this period.
But I’ve already reviewed this for the first Ultron appearance.
Nothing much to add, other that quite hilariously Crimson Cowl is translated “Tonaca Rossa”… which COULD be read to mean “Red Cowl”, but it’s also “Red Habit”.
Did the translator think Ultron was posing as a priest!?
Historical significance: 7/10
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
Personal significance: 10/10
I loooooved this story! Instantly made me appreciate Ultron, Jarvis, the Avengers and John Buscema to the highest degree.
Amazing Adventures #2 (1970)
by Gary Friedrich & John Buscema
It’s not a stretch to think the Avengers would be published in the same book of Thor.
It’s not a stretch to think the Black Widow would be published in the same book of Avengers.
But it IS kind of weird that Black Widow is a backup feature on a Thor series, isn’t it?
No weird translations for her: she’s always been “Vedova Nera”, a literal translation (for the spider as well).
The first half of the book is an Inhumans story, but that’s not published in this issue so I’m not going to cover it.
The Black Widow story actually started in the issue before, but I’m reviewing it in its entirety.
She immediately ends her date because she can’t forget her previous love interests: her dead husband and Hawkeye.
She’s then recruited by some civilian friends. It is kind of hilarious that she thinks she still has a secret identity: not only she doesn’t have a mask, but THAT HAIR gives it away!!!
That’s an excuse to have Buscema draw an AMAZING sequence when she demonstrates her skills. Too bad I didn’t have this page or I would’ve loved Buscema even more!!!
The kid wants to recruit her in order to seize control of a building.
And that is where I began reading the story, because the portion published here begins with the kid barging into the building to threaten the owner.
This is what finally gets Black Widow’s attention.
The kid has good intentions about this whole thing…
…but he picked a building owned by the mob.
Which results into, you guessed it, a big dumb fight.
Both the cops and even Black Widow are not huge fans of the whole deal.
It doesn’t help that Black Widow has been the victim of a smear campaign, and her involvement certainly didn’t help her reputation.
And that’s already the end, but her trouble with the law and the press have only just started.
Historical significance: 0/10
I may be wrong about this, but I don’t think this leads to anything.
Personal significance: 0/10
I completely forgot this was included. Then again it was just a few pages.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
Still pretty relevant in terms of social commentary, and absolutely gorgeous artwork. The short length really hurts it, though, because it doesn’t have much time to do all that much… not helped by a full page dedicated to Black Widow showing off.
Which looks AMAZING, but was it really necessary?
Sounds like the “cool/awesome” definition of “mitico” closely parallels one usage of “epic” in English vernacular, which is also used as an expression (ie “That’s epic!”) in a similar fashion.