Creation and premiere Thor was created by
Stan Lee,
Jack Kirby, and
Larry Lieber. After initially drafting the character, Lee gave the project to his brother Lieber to write the stories. Kirby developed Thor's visual design, and he had an interest in ancient mythology that lent itself to the character's creation and design. ''
Bulfinch's Mythology'' was used as a reference during Thor's creation. As superhero comics became more popular, Marvel began replacing its previous comic book lines with superheroes. Thor
first appeared in
Journey into Mystery #83 (1962). Like other superheroes created at the time, Thor usurped a
comic book anthology that had previously been dedicated to
monster fiction. Thor arose from Lee's desire to create a superhero who was more powerful than
Hulk or the
Fantastic Four. Lee in 2002 described Thor's genesis early in the Marvel pantheon, following the creation of the Hulk: The idea for adapting Thor as a superhero was first developed when Lee and Kirby heard of Marvel being discussed as "twentieth-century mythology". Thor was well-suited to be recreated as a superhero, as the mythological character already had an established supporting cast, superpowers, and sense of justice. At the time Thor was created, there were approximately 15 million
Scandinavian Americans, and the United States had a general cultural awareness of historical Scandinavian culture through ideas of
Vikings and
Leif Erikson. A previous adaptation of Thor had first appeared in
Venus #11 (November 1950), published by what is now Marvel Comics. Kirby had previously adapted Thor for
DC Comics in
Adventure Comics #75 (1942),
Boy Commandos #7 (1944),
Tales of the Unexpected #16 (1957).
1960s Shortly after Thor premiered, Lieber moved on to other projects, and Thor was given to other writers. Various artists worked on Thor in his first issues, including
Don Heck and
Joe Sinnott. Lee soon took over writing duties for several Marvel superhero titles, as the writers did not meet his expectations, and he became the writer for Thor beginning in
Journey into Mystery #97 (1963). Kirby became the artist shortly afterward, beginning in
Journey into Mystery #101 (1964). When Marvel's distributor allowed them more monthly releases,
The Avengers was developed as a new comic book series. Thor was included as an inaugural member of the
titular superhero team. By 1965, the difficulty of maintaining continuity between
The Avengers and the titles of the individual characters prompted Lee to write the original cast out of The Avengers, including Thor. Lee created a second series that centered on Norse mythology, "Tales of Asgard". First appearing in
Journey into Mystery #97 (1963), this series focused on Thor's mythological adventures and greatly expanded his roster of supporting characters, including
Sif,
Balder the Brave, and the
Warriors Three.
Journey into Mystery was eventually renamed to
Thor, beginning with
Thor #126 (1966). This marked a significant shift in Thor's characterization: the primary setting was moved from Earth to Asgard, Thor's love interest
Jane Foster was written out of the story in favor of Sif, and
Hercules became a major character. "Tales of Asgard" continued until
Thor #145 (1967). The character's backstory was changed in
Thor #159 (1968), when it was revealed that Thor was the actual mythological Thor rather than a mortal who obtained Thor's power and that his secret identity of Donald Blake was a fabrication created by Odin to teach him humility. As Kirby's work on
Thor came to an end, the setting shifted back to Earth and Jane Foster was reintroduced.
1970s–1990s wrote a celebrated run of
Thor in the 1980s. Kirby stayed on as Thor's artist until
Thor #179 (1970). Lee eventually ceded control of the titles he worked on to other writers, and
Thor was given to
Gerry Conway, who at the time was a teenager.
John and
Sal Buscema were the artists for this run. After Conway gave up the series, editor
Len Wein took over as its writer. After returning to the Avengers, Thor was again removed in
Avengers #151 (1976) because writer
Steve Englehart believed that Thor was too powerful for the group. Fan backlash ensued, and the subsequent writer,
Jim Shooter, returned him to the team in
Avengers #159 (1977). In the mid-1970s, Marvel considered giving the character a second series as part of parent company
Magazine Management's
line of black-and-white comics magazines. A story written by
Steve Englehart for the aborted project appeared in
Thor Annual #5 (1976).
Doug Moench wrote for
Thor from 1981 to 1983. This run was poorly received, which Moench argued was due to the limitations imposed by editor
Mark Gruenwald.
Walter Simonson subsequently took over the series, revitalizing it and increasing sales. Simonson's run was highly regarded by critics, and it included several major milestones in Thor's history, including "The Surtur Saga", "Skurge's Last Stand", "Mjolnir's Song", and "The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill". His introduction of
Beta Ray Bill shifted the dynamic of
Thor introducing a second character who Odin recognized as worthy of Thor's power. In the 1990s, Marvel briefly supplemented its main superheroes with more violent anti-hero versions. During this time, Thor was replaced with
Eric Masterson. During the
Heroes Reborn event, many of Marvel's superheroes were given new volumes, restarted at issue #1, but Thor's series was not renewed. A new volume of
Thor instead launched during the subsequent
Heroes Return event. This volume was written by
Dan Jurgens and illustrated by
John Romita Jr. To humanize Thor, he was again bound to a mortal, this time giving him the alter-ego of paramedic Jake Olson.
21st century The subsequent period of Marvel's history reflected the political turmoil that followed the
September 11 attacks and the
war on terror. For Thor, this involved becoming the king of
Asgard, giving him political power that he abused. An alternate version of the Avengers, the
Ultimates, debuted in 2002 as part of the
Ultimate Marvel branding that re-imagined Marvel characters in an alternative universe. This universe's
version of Thor has the same powers, but he is a pacifist and it is left unclear whether he is truly a god or mentally unstable.
Thor volume two ended with a tie in to the
Avengers Disassembled storyline that saw major changes to Marvel's main characters. Issues #80–85 (2004) follow the events of
Ragnarök as the story's primary setting, Asgard, is destroyed. This story arc was written by
Michael Avon Oeming and illustrated by
Andrea Di Vito. A third volume of
Thor began publication in 2007, written by
J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by
Olivier Coipel. This volume began by addressing the ramifications of
Avengers Disassembled and slowly reintroducing Thor's supporting characters. Thor was then a central character in the
Siege event in 2010, which featured Marvel's cast of superheroes defending Asgard from
Norman Osborn. The Ultimate Universe version of Thor received a four-issue miniseries,
Ultimate Thor, in 2010. To coincide with the
Thor film, Marvel launched a number of new series starring the character in mid-2010. These included
Thor: The Mighty Avenger by
Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee,
Thor: First Thunder by
Bryan J. L. Glass and
Tan Eng Huat,
Thor: For Asgard by
Robert Rodi and
Simone Bianchi, and
Iron Man/Thor by the writing duo of
Dan Abnett and
Andy Lanning. The limited series
Thor: The Mighty Avenger was published across eight issues from 2010 to 2011, following Thor in his earlier years as a less serious, family friendly interpretation of the character. This series was written by
Roger Langridge and illustrated by
Chris Samnee, and was met with critical praise. It was followed by a new
The Mighty Thor series in 2011, written by
Matt Fraction and illustrated by
Olivier Coipel. Thor also appeared in the "
Fear Itself" event and was a main character of the
Fear Itself miniseries in 2011. was an influential writer for Thor in the 2010s. The next Thor series, ''
, began publication in 2012 during the Marvel Now! relaunch. This run was written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Esad Ribic. The first eleven issues followed Thor, accompanied by an elderly Thor from the future and a young Thor from the past, battling Gorr the God Butcher. In the 2010s, Marvel began substituting its main characters with a new diverse cast of characters. Thor was replaced by Jane Foster as part of this trend during the 2014 Original Sin story arc, and she became the main character in the Thor
franchise. The original Thor was called The Odinson during this period, and he starred in a separate series, The Unworthy Thor
, written by Aaron and illustrated by Olivier Coipel. Thor'' was relaunched with Marvel's
Fresh Start branding, still written by Aaron, restoring The Odinson as Thor and leading up to "
The War of the Realms" (2019). A new volume of
Thor began publication in 2020, written by
Donny Cates and illustrated by
Nic Klein, which follows Thor as the ruler of Asgard. The next series,
The Immortal Thor, premiered in 2023. == Characterization ==