DC Comics
"The Villian from Valhalla"
Created by Jack Kirby
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All text and images are copyrighted by DC Comics. Thor first appeared in DC comics in the Sandman series in Adventure Comics #75. The series was drawn by Jack Kirby, who would co-create "The Mighty Thor" series for Marvel Comics in 1962. The character was revived in All-Star Squadron #18 in 1983. Thor, the so-called "Villian from Valhalla" was actually a college professor specializing in metallurgy, named “Fairy Tales” Fenton, who created sheer body armor and an electrical hammer to pose as Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. As "Thor", he and his gang of "Vikings" attack New York city, arriving at New York harbor in a Viking ship to rob a bank and plunder the city. The hero Sandman and his sidekick Sandy respond to the scene, and are beaten by Thor who injures Sandy with a hammer blow to the head. Once aboard their ship, "Thor" and his "Vikings", remove their costumes, knowing the police will be looking for Vikings, not common criminals. However, before they can escape, Sandman and the NYPD spot them. Without his metal bodysuit, Fenton is no match for Sandman, who avenges his partner by sending "Thor" to the hospital. In a 1980s revivial series set in the 1940s, Fenton resumes his "Thor" persona and battles the All-Star Squadron. Later, Fenton's electrical hammer is taken and used by the Ultra-Humanite. |
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 Adventure Comics #75 June 1942 |
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 Adventure Comics #75 Splash Page |
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 All-Star Squadron #18 Feburary 1983 |
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| "The Hammer of Thor" by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff |
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Thor also appeared as a one-shot villian battling Batman and Robin in October 1959. The Dynamic Duo first encounter a red-bearded bandit, who identifies himself as Thor, smashing through the doors of the National Bank of Gotham with a primitive hammer. He exhibits super-strength and the hammer, once thrown, returns to his hand. Soon after, they are introduced to Henry Meke, the proprietor of a museum featuring replicas of mythological curios. He reports the Hammer of Thor missing from his collection. Two nights later, during a thunderstorm, Thor appears again to thwart a robbery at an electronics factory, capturing two robbers. Batman and Robin confront him, but once again the thunder-god escapes. They then pay a visit to Meke, who recounts how some nights past a meteorite had crashed through a museum window, hitting the Hammer of Thor before disintegrating. The hammer began to glow and so he picked it up to examine it. Just then, a thunderclap disrupts his narrative and Meke falls into a trance. He opens a hidden floor panel, removes the hammer and at once is transformed into the mighty Thor. Another thunderbolt strikes nearby and Thor responds to it as if speaking to Odin, vowing to prepare a temple for him once he finds the means to bankroll it. Batman interrupts, angering Thor who threatens the Caped Crusader. Batman tricks Thor into throwing the hammer, hitting an electrical box behind him, causing a discharge which short-circuits the hammer. Thor once again becomes Henry Meke. Batman explains that the meteorite had been inbued with cosmic rays that enabled it to transmit powers to the hammer, and then to Meke himself when he touched it. Batman assures Meke that the reward for nabbing the two robbers will cover any damages he caused and the next day, crowds flock to the museum to see the hammer of Thor that transformed a weak, unassuming mortal into a god. |
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 Batman #127 October 1959 |
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