Great Pages: THOR #159

From Thor (Vol. 1) #159 (1968)

Jack Kirby’s cosmic designs were always fantastic. Between his work on beings like Galactus, the Silver Surfer, and the New Gods, Kirby knew how to make things look otherworldly and impressive. His work on this Odin here is no exception. Even if readers don’t read the dialogue between father and son, Odin’s garb alone indicates his station above everyone else in the room. It’s an impressive outfit. I can’t stop staring at his gloves, trying to figure out what they do and if they have another purpose besides simply clothing Odin’s body. It’s a wonderful design.

Stan Lee’s Thor Speak perfectly molds itself with Kirby’s images. They’re both over-the-top and grand, perfect for depicting a Norse god requesting an audience with his father. Once again, the Lee / Kirby relationship struck gold.

Comments

  1. Maybe its just me being a younger reader (16)… but I hate the colors they used in alot of comics before the 2000’s (sometimes still do for whatever god awful reason). Drawing was great, story was great… but the COLORS ARE SO OUT OF PLACEEEEEE! Red/orange helmet, gold shoulders, light blue chest plate, pink gloves/shins, and a silver finish. I just can’t bring myself to understand it.. was there a reason? Ink issue? SOMEONE EXPLAIN! Other then that golden age and silver age comics are AMAZING!

    • Before digital (photoshop) coloring was done manually by a guy who was cutting up transparent color sheets to the size of the drawings… Imagine how long and limited that was!

      Personaly I LOVE it! Vintage comics that didn’t look like photoshopped stuff but like a comic should look like! 😉

      Back in my youth in the 90’s, you could actually see the pixels of the printer’s ink it was full of dots of varied colors to make shadows and stuff, brilliant! 😉

    • The reason is simple. Odin cares more about stats than style. Sure that orange help doesn’t look right with the purple gloves, but they both give a huge Endurance boost and if you know ANYTHING about the all-father, it’s that he likes to stack END.

  2. Also, darker or more muted colors were avoided because they didn’t reproduce as well and generally came out muddy. I also love half-tone patterns. Plus, this was back when comics were for kids and bright, nutty colors were definitely part of the joy of reading a Marvel comic. Excelsior!

  3. This is the first time I’ve seen this in color, which is another good argument for the Marvel Essentials program. Even the much-disputed Colleta inks are better digested in living black and white. Bring on the Marvel Monochrome Age of flashbacks!

  4. Yeah the coloring does look like it was done by a 10 year old. I agree that black & white would be best for some of these old comics, as the colorist was no Kirby.

  5. In Black and White, this is spectacular.

  6. For what it’s worth, I think the coloring on this page is great. It’s got a pop art aesthetic. Everything’s bright, almost as though it was technicolor. I dig it.