55 YEARS AGO TODAY

The first Marvel comic I ever bought was fighting for attention on the nation's spinner racks.

Thor's 8th appearance of 1967. His 96th appearance of all time.

Balder's 2nd appearance of 1967. His 22nd appearance of all time.

Sif's 5th appearance of 1967. Her 8th appearance of all time.
Sif's 2nd cover appearance of 1967 and of all time.

Plus the epic introduction of Brona, Forsung and Magnir - the Enchanters!!

The issue was so good that I didn't even mind that both the lead story and the Tales of Asgard back-up were continued stories.

Stan Lee prided himself on making sure that every comic he worked on was a good jumping on point for new readers. He certainly succeeded with THOR #143. First, the Kirby cover had to get my attention!

The least important page in the issue?

Marvel waited 8 years to reprint THOR #143 in MARVEL SPECTACULAR #14. By then, to stay competitive, they had raised the price of their books and cut the page count by one.  Fortunately a full-page pin-up of Odin with a voice-over by Thor explaining who Odin is wasn't vital to the plot?!