Thor is a 1968 comic by Marvel Comics
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".
- 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.
- 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
- Seidring the Merciless was Odin's chief adviser until Thor #127, when he gained control of the Odinpower and tried to take over Asgard.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!)
- 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".
