Reading stories of the Marvel Bullpen in the sixties, and how Stan Lee managed to dream up characters which would become cultural icons passed on down through the years almost on a whim, is bonkers. Even more bonkers is the fact that Lee gets most of the credit for creating all these characters despite rarely giving more than that original basic concept. In the case of The Mighty Thor, Lee himself said Journey into Mystery needed a shot in the arm, so I picked Thor to headline the book. After writing an outline depicting the story and the characters I had in mind, I asked my brother, Larry, to write the script because I didn't have time, and it was only natural for me to assign the penciling to Jack Kirby. So there you have it, straight from the horses mouth, True Believers! Lee was the one who looked to the pantheon of gods when brainstorming a character more powerful than his recent creation the Hulk, but Kirby did all the actual design work, and it was his brother Larry Lieber and Robert Bernstein who wrote all the early adventures of the character.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
