Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #97
Published October 1963
Frequency monthly
Cover Price 0.12 USD
Pages 36
Editing Stan Lee
Notes Distributed to newstands in August 1963. This issue includes 10 pages of paid advertisements. Distribution date from Joseph Marek's Marvel Comics Group history website.

Cover Details - "Lava Man!/Tales of Asgard"

Characters Thor; Lava Man; Odin
Genre superhero
Pencils Jack Kirby
Inks George Roussos
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #18 (1991); in Essential Thor (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (2001) [black and white]; in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003); in Thor: Tales of Asgard (Marvel, 2009 series) #1 (July 2009); in Mighty Thor Omnibus, The (Marvel, 2010 series) #1 (December 2010)

13 page The Mighty Thor! story "The Lava Man"

Characters Thor [Donald Blake]; Lava Man (introduction); Jane Foster; Odin; Loki; Dr. Bruce Andrews (introduction)
Synopsis Thor battles the Lava Man, a monster created by Loki who claims all the dry surface of Earth for his people. Odin forbids Thor to love Jane Foster, leading to her leaving her job as Dr. Blake's nurse.
Genre superhero
Script Stan Lee
Pencils Jack Kirby
Inks Don Heck
Letters Artie Simek
Notes Dr. Andrews is first called Basil by Jane Foster on page 6 but then is called Bruce by Dr. Blake on the last page. Apparently in the Marvel Universe nurses can't work for doctors that they're not pursuing a romantic relationship with.
Reprinted in Journey Into Mystery Annual (Marvel, 1965 series) #1 (1965); in Mighty Thor Collector's Album, The (Lancer, 1966 series) #72-125 (1966) [abridged]; in Mighty Thor, The [Golden Book and Record Set] (Marvel, 1966 series) #[nn] (1966); in Mitico Thor, Il (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #6 [as "l'Uomo di Lava", Italian translation]; in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #18 (1991); in Essential Thor (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (2001) [black and white]; in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003); in Mighty Thor Omnibus, The (Marvel, 2010 series) #1 (December 2010)

1 page text story "[The Traveler]"

Characters Bill Swift; Mr. Allen
Synopsis A bored man working on an assembly line is taken to outer space in his dreams, and is given an idea for an otherworldly invention.
Genre science fiction
Letters typeset
Notes Continues from last issue. Reprinted with new illustration.
Reprinted from World of Fantasy (Marvel, 1956 series) #2 (July 1956) [page 2]

5 page story "The Perfect Defense!"

Characters John
Synopsis In the future, Earth has conquered all planets except one, which no expedition returns from. The military thinks they have some horrific defense, but in fact they are simply so kind to the humans that arrive to conquer that they don't want to leave.
Genre science fiction
Script Stan Lee (plot); Larry Lieber (script)
Pencils Larry Lieber
Inks George Roussos (as George Bell)
Letters Artie Simek
Notes Job number from Tom Lammers and Ger Apeldoorn via the Atlas/Timely discussion group.

1 page promo (ad from the publisher) "Another Marvel Masterpiece"

Notes Advertises Fantastic Four (Marvel, 1961 series) #20 (November 1963).

5 page Tales of Asgard story "Tales of.....Asgard! Home of the Mighty Norse Gods"

Characters Odin (origin); Surtur (introduction); Ymir (introduction, origin); Buri (introduction, origin, cameo); Borr (introduction, origin, cameo); Audhumbla (called "Magic Cow"); Vili (unnamed, origin, cameo); Vé (unnamed, origin, cameo); Bestla (unnamed, cameo)
Synopsis Beneath Asgard lies the Well of Life. From it came Ymir, greatest of the Frost Giants and Buri, the first Norse God who gave life to Borr. Borr had three sons. Odin was one of them.
Genre Fantasy
Script Stan Lee
Pencils Jack Kirby
Inks George Roussos [as G. Bell]
Letters Artie Simek
Notes This is the first "Tales of Asgard" story.
Reprinted in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics (Marvel, 1965 series) #1 (1965); in Mighty Thor Collector's Album, The (Lancer, 1966 series) #72-125 (1966) [abridged]; in Tales of Asgard (Marvel, 1968 series) #1 (October 1968); in Mitico Thor, Il (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #2 (April 21, 1971) [as "La casa degli dei", Italian translation]; in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #18 (1991); in Essential Thor (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (2001) [black and white]; in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003); in Thor: Tales of Asgard (Marvel, 2009 series) #1 (July 2009); in Mighty Thor Omnibus, The (Marvel, 2010 series) #1 (December 2010)