It is hard to say when or where I was introduced to Marvel's The Mighty Thor. It was probably from some re-run of the 1966 animation ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR61nWNr03o ). I know why I liked it: Thor had medieval armor and weapons and he spoke in an elevated olde style. He was, in effect, a mediation between the concept of chivalrous heroes and super heroes. Now, why those elements appealed to me, well, that is the mystery. (Good grief, could it all possibly go back to ... What's Opera, Doc?)There were some random intermediary encounters (in one crossover Thor - temporarily demoted in power - fights Ben Grimm from the Fantastic Four, and I remember a comic where Thor and the Heroes Three find an anthropomorphic Fafnir).
I really became ready to spend time and treasure on the comic book when I found the issue on the 'Origin of Odin' (April 1980 #294), in Eckhard's Pharmacy, I think. I had already by then become enamored by Norse mythology, and when I discovered they were adressing elements of that mythology (in fact, leading up to an entire retelling of Wagner's Ring Cycle) I was hooked for a while. When that strand involving the Eternals, various pantheons, and Celestials played itself out in a final Ragnorokian battle (October 1980 #300), the comic fell back into ordinary superhero shenanigans and I quit paying attention. I did seek out and find more issues leading up to that grand epic. The issue of What If gives a clue to what the next post on comic books involves.
I used to have a copy of this issue - in fact, 2 copies, if I'm remembering right. Wha' hoppened?
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