The Mighty Thor

“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

Stan Lee (1922-2018)

Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby made comic book history in 1961 with The Fantastic Four #1. Lee oversaw the creations for over a decade before handing over the editorial reins at Marvel to others.

Jack Kirby (1917-1994)

Jack Kirby cocreated with Joe Simon Captain America in 1940. Over the next decade, Kirby and Lee would introduce new characters that formed the foundation of the Marvel Universe.

Larry Lieber (1931-)

Larry Lieber was a member, alongside his older brother Stan Lee, of the handful of writers and artists contributing 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, Rick Riordan is the author of five New York Times #1 bestselling series with millions of copies sold across the globe, including Percy Jackson and the Olympians, now a hit live-action show on Disney+.

Charles Hatfield

Charles Hatfield is a professor of English at California State University, Northridge, and the author of Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby (2011), Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature (2005), and myriad essays and reviews.

Ben Saunders

Ben Saunders is a professor of English at the University of Oregon. He has curated several museum exhibitions of comics art, including “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes.”

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