Thor's 6th appearance of 1996.
Cover by Luke Ross
Interior art by John Statema and Tom Palmer
Concluding chapter of the 4 part AN AVENGER EVENT: FIRST SIGN
Thor's previous 1996 appearances:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #449
Thor is not on the cover. He does appear on the last 2 pages.
Part 1 of AN AVENGER EVENT: FIRST SIGN
THOR #496
Part 2 of AN AVENGER EVENT: FIRST SIGN
IRON MAN #326
Thor is not on the cover. He does appear on 8 pages. Many of them battling alongside Captain America against a horde of Zodiac agents.
Part 3 of AN AVENGER EVENT: FIRST SIGN
MARVEL VERSUS DC/DC VERSUS MARVEL #2
Thor is on the cover and on 7 pages. He battles DC's Captain Marvel.
HULK #439
Thor is not on the cover but he does appear on 1 panel inside (the last panel).
This is the earliest that Thor had reached that many appearances in the first 23 days of a year, a record that wouldn't be broken for 18 years