From the beginning of this blog, I've tried to stay away from talking a lot about artists/writers and debating the history of comics. Often, this is because such "conversations" seem to turn way more acrimonious and bitter than I'm interested in...that, and it's just not as interesting to me as talking about the superheroes and villains. Today, however, I'm going to break with my standard practice.
Like most everyone blogging about comics, I enjoy reading other blogs to discover new things. Recently, I was reading an old post from fellow blogger bchat that highlighted a story from Fox Publications' Blue Beetle #6 (March-April 1941) featuring a hero I'd heard of, but wasn't real familiar with--Dynamite Thor.
Being primarily a Marvel reader in my younger years, I was expecting a character related somehow to Norse mythology. As it turns out, Dynamite Thor seems to have absolutely nothing to do with Asgard, or mythology, or even uru! Dynamite Thor was simply the crimefighting name of former mine owner Peter Thor who uses his expert knowledge of explosives in the war against injustice. The particular story I read never really explains the how, but it does claim that Thor is "immune from the effects of explosives."
As I read the story, however, I discovered a second familiar name. The non-arboreal and very human leader of the saboteurs Dynamite Thor fights is...wait for it...Groot!
This seemed like too much of a coincidence. I tried to figure out if "groot" was a more common word back in the 1940s, but as near as I could tell all the slang uses of the word seem to be much more recent. Back in the early forties, it looked like it would've only arisen as a variant spelling from Dutch or Old German or something for the word "great."
I knew that both Marvel's "Mighty" Thor, and Groot were collaborative creations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (as well as Stan's brother, Larry, in the case of the Mighty Thor). This made me wonder if any of these guys had history with Dynamite Thor.
Turns out, part of Jack Kirby's sojourn through the world of comicdom included a three month stint (from January-March) in 1940, where he drew the Blue Beetle comic strip for Fox Publications. Even though Kirby would've been gone from Fox for about a year when Blue Beetle #6 came out, I don't think it's unimaginable that he might've kept up with the work of people he'd met at his previous employer.
According to the Public Domain Superheroes Wiki, Wright Lincoln gets credit for actually creating Dynamite Thor. However, Chris Gavaler has already argued that Stan Lee "stole" the idea for the Mighty Thor from Pierce Rice and Wright Lincoln's 1940 "Thor, God of Thunder."
It should be noted that where Gavaler credits both Rice and Lincoln for Fox's 1940 Thor, the Public Domain Superheroes only recognizes Rice as the creator of the 1940 Thor. However, it may not matter much because Dynamite Thor also debuted in 1940, so Gavaler's case could still hold true...just for a different character.
In any case, the fact that the names of two Kirby-Lee creations pop up in the same title published by a company Kirby had once worked for, twenty years before character appeared in Marvel strikes me as--at least--a very interesting set of coincidences.
Like most everyone blogging about comics, I enjoy reading other blogs to discover new things. Recently, I was reading an old post from fellow blogger bchat that highlighted a story from Fox Publications' Blue Beetle #6 (March-April 1941) featuring a hero I'd heard of, but wasn't real familiar with--Dynamite Thor.
Being primarily a Marvel reader in my younger years, I was expecting a character related somehow to Norse mythology. As it turns out, Dynamite Thor seems to have absolutely nothing to do with Asgard, or mythology, or even uru! Dynamite Thor was simply the crimefighting name of former mine owner Peter Thor who uses his expert knowledge of explosives in the war against injustice. The particular story I read never really explains the how, but it does claim that Thor is "immune from the effects of explosives."
As I read the story, however, I discovered a second familiar name. The non-arboreal and very human leader of the saboteurs Dynamite Thor fights is...wait for it...Groot!
This seemed like too much of a coincidence. I tried to figure out if "groot" was a more common word back in the 1940s, but as near as I could tell all the slang uses of the word seem to be much more recent. Back in the early forties, it looked like it would've only arisen as a variant spelling from Dutch or Old German or something for the word "great."
I knew that both Marvel's "Mighty" Thor, and Groot were collaborative creations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (as well as Stan's brother, Larry, in the case of the Mighty Thor). This made me wonder if any of these guys had history with Dynamite Thor.
Turns out, part of Jack Kirby's sojourn through the world of comicdom included a three month stint (from January-March) in 1940, where he drew the Blue Beetle comic strip for Fox Publications. Even though Kirby would've been gone from Fox for about a year when Blue Beetle #6 came out, I don't think it's unimaginable that he might've kept up with the work of people he'd met at his previous employer.
According to the Public Domain Superheroes Wiki, Wright Lincoln gets credit for actually creating Dynamite Thor. However, Chris Gavaler has already argued that Stan Lee "stole" the idea for the Mighty Thor from Pierce Rice and Wright Lincoln's 1940 "Thor, God of Thunder."
It should be noted that where Gavaler credits both Rice and Lincoln for Fox's 1940 Thor, the Public Domain Superheroes only recognizes Rice as the creator of the 1940 Thor. However, it may not matter much because Dynamite Thor also debuted in 1940, so Gavaler's case could still hold true...just for a different character.
In any case, the fact that the names of two Kirby-Lee creations pop up in the same title published by a company Kirby had once worked for, twenty years before character appeared in Marvel strikes me as--at least--a very interesting set of coincidences.
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