The Stone Men From Saturn!

Journey Into Mystery #83, August 1962
(Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby)

Right, then. We've met Hank Pym, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and Spider-Man. Who's next?


Oh, him! Yes, I'm afraid it's time for the smuggest, most self-satisfied, most downright annoying superhero of them all to show up. Sorry. Let's get on with it, shall we?


Obviously, in a tale which deals with the return of a mythical Norse god, what we need is space aliens. Here they come.


The invading Saturnians are spotted by a local fisherman, and word quickly catches the ear of the visiting Dr Donald Blake, who sets out to investigate this improbable tale. Unfortunately, our Donald is spotted by the aliens, who pursue him into some nearby caves. Whilst hiding out from the aliens, Dr Blakes makes a shocking discovery.


Failing to use the cane to shift a fallen boulder, Dr Blake hits it off the wall of the cave, and-


Thus transformed, Thor quickly busts out of the cave, and, after bit of practice with the hammer, sets off to stop the Saturnian Stone Men.

Things go badly for the aliens.



And that's that. Thor turns back into Donald Blake, and heads back home.

At this point, you'll note that Blake retains his human persona whilst in Thor form. It's also pure coincidence that he becomes Thor at all. In the years to come, this origin story will get somewhat more complicated, but we'll get to that, later...