Stan Lee (1922- 2018) and artist Jack Kirby made comic book history in 1961 with The Fantastic Four #1. Lee oversaw the adventures of many super hero creations for over a decade before handing over the editorial reins at Marvel to others. For the remainder of his long life, he continued to serve as a creative figurehead at Marvel and an ambassador for the comics medium. Born to Jewish-Austrian parents on New York's Lower East Side, Jack Kirby (1917-1994) came of age at the birth of the American comic book industry. Horrified by the rise of Nazism, Kirby co-created the patriotic hero Captain America with Joe Simon in 1940. In 1958, Kirby began his collaboration with Stan Lee. They co-created the foundational text of the modern Marvel Universe – The Fantastic Four – and introduced new characters, including the Avengers, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the Silver Surfer, and the X-Men. Today, Kirby is regarded as one of the most important and influential creators in the history of American comics. Larry Lieber (1931-), alongside his older brother Stan Lee, contributed to the fantasy and big monster titles of the nascent Marvel line in the late ’50s and early ’60s. In addition to scripts for Thor in Journey Into Mystery, the Human Torch in Strange Tales and Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish, Lieber also scripted the very first Iron Man story in Tales of Suspense #39. Rick Riordan, dubbed 'storyteller of the gods' by Publishers Weekly, is the author of five #1 New York Times best-selling middle grade series with millions of copies sold throughout the world, including Percy Jackson and the Olympians, now a live-action series on Disney+. Ben Saunders is a professor of English at the University of Ore­gon. He is the author of Desiring Donne: Poetry, Sexuality, Inter­pretation and Do the Gods Wear Capes?: Spirituality, Fantasy, and Superheroes, as well as numerous critical essays on subjects ranging from the writings of Shakespeare to the recordings of Little Richard. He has also curated several museum exhibitions of comics art, in­cluding the record-breaking multimedia touring show Marvel: Uni­verse of Super Heroes-a retrospective exploring the artistic and cultural impact of Marvel Comics from 1939 to the present.

“A groundbreaking example of comics representation in literature.”—Publishers Weekly“Penguin provides introductory essays; superb analyses by the series editor, Ben Saunders; and extensive bibliographies.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post“Stories become classics when generations of readers sort through them, talk about them, imitate them, and recommend them. In this case, baby boomers read them when they débuted, Gen X-ers grew up with their sequels, and millennials encountered them through Marvel movies. Each generation of fans—initially fanboys, increasingly fangirls, and these days nonbinary fans, too—found new ways not just to read the comics but to use them. That’s how canons form. Amateurs and professionals, over decades, come to something like consensus about which books matter and why—or else they love to argue about it, and we get to follow the arguments. Canons rise and fall, gain works and lose others, when one generation of people with the power to publish, teach, and edit diverges from the one before ... A top-flight comic by Kirby—or his successor on “Captain America,” Jim Steranko—barely needed words. You could follow the story just by watching the characters act and react. Thankfully, Penguin volumes do justice to these images. They reproduce sixties comics in bright, flat, colorful inks on thick white paper—unlike the dot-based process used on old newsprint, but perhaps truer to their bold, thrill-chasing spirit.”—Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker

• Series Introduction by Ben SaundersForeword: The Mighty Thor and Me by Rick RiordanVolume Introduction by Charles HatfieldTHE MIGHTY THORJourney into Mystery #83, August 1962, “The Stone Men from Saturn!” Journey into Mystery #85, October 1962, “Trapped by Loki, The God of Mischief” Adrift Between Genres: Thor’s Early Days Journey into Mystery #114, March 1964, “The Stronger I Am, The Sooner I Die!” Journey into Mystery #115, April 1964, “The Vengeance of the Thunder God!” Journey into Mystery #116, May 1965, “The Trial of the Gods!” Journey into Mystery Annual #1, 1965, “Asgard” (a "bonus feature" pinup)The Sprawl: Thor Goes Epic Thor #128, May 1966, “The Power of Pluto!” Thor #129, June 1966, “The Verdict of Zeus!” Thor #130, July 1966, “Thunder in the Netherworld!” Thor #131, August 1966, “They Strike from Space!” Thor #132, September 1966, “Rigel, Where Gods May Fear to Tread!” Thor #133, October 1966, “Behold ... the Living Planet!” The Blockbuster Era Thor #154, July 1968, “ … To Wake the Mangog!” Thor #155, August 1968, “Now Ends the Universe!” Thor #156, September 1968, “The Hammer and the Holocaust!” Thor #157, October 1968, “Behind Him … Ragnarok!” Origins Revisited Thor #159, December 1968, “The Answer at Last!” Thor #160, January 1969, “And Now … Galactus!” Thor #161, February 1969, “Shall a God Prevail?” Appendix: Comic Book Mythography: "Tales of Asgard"Journey into Mystery #113, February 1965, “The Boyhood of Loki!” Thor #129, June 1966, “The Hordes of Harokin!” Thor #130, July 1966, “The Fateful Change!” Thor #131, August 1966, “The Warlock’s Eye!” Thor #132, September 1966, “The Dark Horse of Death!” Thor #133, October 1966, “Valhalla!” Suggestions for Further ReadingNotes