Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Atomic Age, marvel, thor, Venus

Thor's Marvel Debut and Loki Saves the Day in Venus #12, at Auction

There were several comic book depictions of the mythological god Thor before the famous Marvel character we know today which appeared Journey into Mystery #83 by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.  Kirby himself did work on several prior versions, including in Adventure Comics #75 (June 1942), Boy Commandos #7 (Summer 1944), and Tales of the Unexpected #16 (August 1957).  Steve Ditko created a noteworthy version of Thor for Charlton's Out of This World # 11 (January 1959).  There have been others.  But Thor's Marvel debut may not be quite what you think.  Long before Journey into Mystery #83, the god Thor appeared alongside Loki in Venus #12 (Marvel 1951) — and at one time, Marvel acknowledged this comic as the first Marvel appearance of Thor.  There's a rare chance to get a nice copy of Venus #12 (Atlas, 1951) CGC FN+ 6.5 Cream to off-white pages at auction in the up for auction in the 2022 March 31 The Black Cat Collection and Pre-Code Horror Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40186 at Heritage Auctions.

Atlas Comics was the brand that publisher Martin Goodman used during this period for the comic line that we know as Marvel today, spinning out of the name of his relatively short-lived distribution company of this period.  Stan Lee was the editor of the line when Venus #12 hit newsstands in 1951.  The cover and artwork of this Venus story are by Werner Roth, who also worked for Marvel on X-Men in the Silver Age. While this is obviously not the same Thor that debuted in Journey into Mystery #83, there's been a lot of debate over the years as to exactly how the Venus version of the character fits into the scheme of things, since Venus is considered to be part of Marvel's primary continuity.  For a time, Venus #12 was listed as the first appearance of Thor in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and apparently, it was in early versions of Marvel.com as well.  This discussion interestingly side-steps the notion that there was a character named Thor in Venus #11 as well, but that character was dressed like a Roman soldier and has a club (!?) and not a hammer, while the Thor of Venus #12 has a traditional look and hammer-wielding powers.  Marvel may have simply decided that other version was a bridge too far, and it's hard to disagree.

What does all that mean?  The Venus #12 Thor is obviously not the same character as the one who debuted in Journey into Mystery #83, and is not as important — but Venus #12 still probably deserves more attention from this perspective than it gets.  There's only six entries higher on the CGC Census than this Venus #12 (Atlas, 1951) CGC FN+ 6.5 Cream to off-white pages at auction in the up for auction in the 2022 March 31 The Black Cat Collection and Pre-Code Horror Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40186 at Heritage Auctions.

Venus #12 (Atlas, 1951) CGC FN+ 6.5 Cream to off-white pages. Thor and Loki make appearances (not the Marvel characters from Journey into Mystery). Werner Roth devil cover and art. Gene Colan and Carl Burgos art. Overstreet 2021 FN 6.0 value = $243; VF 8.0 value = $518. CGC census 2/22: 1 in 6.5, 6 higher.

View the certification for CGC Certification ID 1199076012 and purchase grader's notes if available.

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