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| What I find really remarkable here is how little difference there is between the Fox Thor and the later Marvel Thor. Sure, it's a public domain mythological character, and Jack Kirby could sure draw rings around Pierce Rice (even in 1940), but consider...
Fox's Thor has a mortal identity of a blond-haired young man who transforms into a caped, helmeted, clean-shaven Thor who has *long* blond hair. There are hints of a 'love-triangle' between the hero's girlfriend and his alter-ego.
I'll admit Stan Lee brought a little more panache to the dialogue, but the basic blueprint here in the Fox version is very close to the Silver Age Marvel hero as initially conceived (at least before Kirby took the character back much closer to his mythological roots in the mid-to-later '60s). |
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| Blond Grant Farrel loses the helmet, the cape and the long hair after the third issue, but retains the power of Thor. Thor would only last five issues whose place in the roster is taken by a more earthbound character named 'Dynamite' Thor in issue 6. |
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| Thought I’d take a look at this as people were commenting and I’m a die-hard rubbernecker.
Art was…ummm….can’t think of a polite way to put it….but I did quite like the Sorceress of Zoom and her flying kingdom, some mileage in that idea - and Dr Mortal held a surprising amount of menace. The Voodoo Man had the makings of a decent plot and the monster in Typhon was most unexpected – very original…I like the idea of living seaweed (always been a bit suspicious of that stuff waving away beneath my feet – don’t tell me the fronds don’t follow you as you move, reaching up to you in an eldritch kind of way – yeeuch!) |
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| ' sure, it's a public domain mythological character' Like Hercules and Mercury, my memory tells me that there was more than one Golden Age Thor.
Interestingly, there are three features here ('Sorceress of Doom','Dr Mortal' and 'The Voodoo Man' where the title characters ae villains. Are Fu Manchu and Dracula the archetypes for th Villain as central character. (Or Shakespeare's Richard the Third? he art on 'The Bird Man' is excellent. |
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| Additional Information |
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| Publication | April 1940 | Price: 0.10 USD | Pages: 1 | Frequency: monthly |
| Notes | Updated pencil and ink credit from Jon B (February 25, 2006). Credit for both originally given to Lou Fine. |
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| Cover | Brent's Gun Blazed Away and Stopped the Fiend |
| Content | Genre: Adventure | Characters: Gary Brent; Dr. Mortal |
| Notes | Updated pencil and ink credit from Jon B (February 25, 2006). Credit for both originally given to Lou Fine. |
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| Comic Story | The Origin of Thor (12 pages) |
| Synopsis | Thor, the son of Odin, chooses a mortal, Grant Farrel, and imbues him with the God of Thunder's powers and abilities. Thereafter, Grant is known as Thor when he changes shape and assumes the form and powers of the Thunder God. |
| Content | Genre: Adventure; Fantasy | Characters: Thor; Grant Farrel [Thor]; Glenda |
| Notes | Inks credit from Jerry Bails via the GCD Main List (21 March 2006); the original indexer credited Pierce Rice.
Grant can change forms between his human self and that of the Thunder God at will. Thor is also referred to as the mighty Thor within the story. |
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| Comic Story | The Coming of the Sorceress (8 pages) |
| Content | Genre: Fantasy | Characters: Sorceress of Zoom; Tom; Janice; The Stranger |
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| Synopsis | Solar is tasked with delivering a message to Mars. |
| Content | Genre: Humor | Characters: Solar Plexis |
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| Comic Story | The Pirates and the Meteor (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | Blast and Red explore a meteor that crosses their path. |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Blast Bennett; Red |
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| Comic Story | The Man Who Made Monsters (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | Dr. Mortal is about to operate on his niece, Marlene, but is stopped in the nick of time by Gary Brent. |
| Content | Genre: Adventure | Characters: Dr. Mortal; Marlene Mortal; Gary Brent |
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| Comic Story | The Voodoo Man Cometh (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | Bob frees Petro and Lana from the clutches of the Voodoo Man. |
| Credits | Pencils:? [as Alan Spectre] |
| Content | Genre: Adventure | Characters: The Voodoo Man; Bob Warren; Petro; Lana |
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| Text Story | The Invisible Planet (2 pages) |
| Credits | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Bill Swift; Victor; Nadine |
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| Comic Story | Introducing the Bird Man (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | Bird Man helps a father find his missing daughter in Lone Canyon. |
| Credits | Pencils:? [as Arnold Inagos] |
| Content | Genre: Adventure | Characters: The Bird Man; The Stone Man |
| Notes | The protagonist of the story is referred to as Bird Man and Birdman. |
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| Comic Story | Master of the Serpent-Men (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | Exploring the ocean depths, Typhon fights off a giant electric eel and a many-headed sea monster. |
| Credits | Pencils:? [as Phillips Judge] |
| Content | Genre: Adventure | Characters: Typhon; Master of the Serpent-Men |
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| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.
More details about this comic may be available in their page here |
