Reading Room: WEIRD COMICS "Origin of 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 in 1940-41 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 week since the new movie, Thor: the Dark World is opening this weekend.

Watch for them.

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Reading Room: OUT OF THIS WORLD "The Hammer of Thor"

With Thor: the Dark World opening this week,we're looking at the earlier Thors in comics...

In 1959, three years before Mighty Thor's debut in Marvel's Journey into Mystery #83, Charlton's  Out of This World #11 ran a tale, drawn by Steve Ditko, about a young man with a hammer named Thor.

While he does have a beard, this Thor, like Marvel's Mighty Thor, was blonde, not red-headed as described in the myths.
In 1962, Ditko became the co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr Strange at Marvel, and was considered the #2 artist at the House of Ideas (behind Jack Kirby) during the Silver Age of Comics.
Considering Kirby had drawn a pretty accurate (to the myths) version of Thor, albeit as a villain wearing a disguise...

...why did The King go with a blonde, beardless version when he designed the Marvel character?

Could editor Stan Lee have been influenced by seeing Ditko's version?
Only the gods know...

Nick Cardy 1920-2013

For decades, one of the most prolific artists in the industry...

...Nick Cardy was one of the unsung heroes of the business.

While never receiving the acclaim of a John Buscema or Gil Kane, Nick Viscardi produced over 1800 covers and stories (from shorts to book-length tales) for almost every major comic company from 1940 to 2008!

Every generation knew him for different things...

In the Golden Age, he was the co-creator of the long-running Senorita Rio.

In the Silver Age his work defined the look of Aquaman and the Teen Titans.

In the Bronze Age he was the primary cover artist for DC Comics, giving everything from superheroes to horror to romance to westerns his distinctive stamp.

We've featured a number of his tales on our blogs...

True Love Comics Tales

Heroines

Femmes Fantastique

...and there'll be more to come, since he left such a huge body of work covering every genre.

Thank you, Mr Cardy, and rest in peace.

Design of the Week: Bah! Humbug!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
With Christmas approaching, let's celebrate with the most famous phrase of the man who personifies the XMas Spirit ... Ebenezer Scrooge is a kool retro Victorian-era font!

 Available in either white/silver on dark items or red/green on white or light-colored items.

Reading Room: NOT BRAND ECHH "He's Mighty Sore!"

One wrrk from today, Thor: the Dark World will debut...

...and Thor-mania sweeping the blogosphere, I thought I'd add to the cacophony with this atypical take on the God of Thunder by co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (with Frank Giacoia) from Not Brand Echh #3 (1967).

And, if you want something even funkier, check out the Origin of the Golden Age Thor at Hero Histories™!
(Bet ya didn't even know there was a Golden Age Thor!)