The Mighty Thor - Paperback

The legendary Stan Lee is the most recognized name in the history of comic books. He is the creator of such top superheroes as Spider Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange, The Savage She-Hulk, The Silver Surfer, The Avengers, The Invincible Iron Man, and The X Men. Publisher Emeritus of Marvel Comics, he lives in Los Angeles.

Born Jacob Kurtzberg in 1917 to Jewish-Austrian parents on New York's Lower East Side, Jack Kirby came of age at the birth of the American comic book industry. Horrified by the rise of Nazism, Kirby co-created the patriotic hero Captain America with Joe Simon in 1940. Cap's exploits on the comic book page entertained millions of American readers at home and inspired US troops fight­ing the enemy abroad. Kirby's partnership with Simon continued throughout the 1940s and early '50s; together, they produced com­ics in every popular genre, from Western to romance. In 1958, Kirby began his equally fruitful collaboration with writer- editor Stan Lee, and in 1961 the two men co-created the foundational text of the modern Marvel Universe: The Fantastic Four. Over the next de­cade, Kirby and Lee would introduce a mind- boggling array of new characters-- including the Avengers, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the Silver Surfer, and the X-Men. Kirby's groundbreaking work with Lee formed the foundation of the Marvel Universe. In the early 1970s, Kirby moved to DC Comics, where he created his intercon­nected Fourth World series, as well as freestanding titles such as The Demon. He returned to Marvel in 1975, writing and illustrat­ing The Black Panther and Captain America, and introducing series such as Devil Dinosaur, and The Eternals. Kirby died in 1994. Today, he is generally regarded as one of the most important and influential creators in the history of American comics. His work has inspired multiple generations of writers, artists, designers, and film­makers, who continue to explore his vast universe of concepts and characters. He was an inaugural inductee into the Eisner Hall of Fame in 1987.

Stan Lee (1922- 2018) 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) 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-) 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 (foreword), dubbed "storyteller of the gods" by Publishers Weekly, 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 (introduction and volume editor) 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 (series editor) 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."