The Unworthy Thor #1

History

Writer Jason Aaron — already deep into his Thor tenure spanning Thor: God of Thunder, the 2014 Thor series featuring Jane Foster, and the concurrent Mighty Thor — was the natural sole author of this companion miniseries, launched under the Marvel NOW! (2016) publishing initiative. Artist Olivier Coipel, who had previously drawn major Thor stories for Marvel, returned to the franchise as penciler, inker, and cover artist for the series, with Matthew Wilson providing colors and Joe Sabino lettering; editor Wil Moss oversaw the book under executive editor Tom Brevoort. The issue shipped on November 2, 2016, carrying a January 2017 cover date, and was accompanied by a substantial array of variant covers at launch, including retailer incentive editions by Bryan Hitch (1:15), John Cassaday (1:25), a Stonehouse Hip-Hop variant, a Pasqual Ferry Divided We Stand variant, a John Tyler Christopher Action Figure variant, and a blank cover — reflecting strong retailer and editorial confidence in the title.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published November 2, 2016 (on-sale date); cover-dated January 2017; part of Marvel's 2016 Marvel NOW! publishing wave.
• Written by Jason Aaron; art and cover by Olivier Coipel; colors by Matthew Wilson; letters by Joe Sabino; edited by Wil Moss, with Tom Brevoort as executive editor.
• The miniseries (issues #1–5) is the first extended solo spotlight for Thor Odinson (referred to throughout only as 'Odinson') following Jane Foster's assumption of the Thor mantle in Thor vol. 4 #1 (2014).
• The central MacGuffin introduced in #1 is the Mjolnir of the deceased Ultimate Universe Thor (Thunderer Thorlief of Earth-1610), a relic that survived the Secret Wars multiverse collapse and landed on Old Asgard.
• Issue #1 re-establishes the Unseen (Nick Fury, punished to eternal watchfulness on the Moon after Original Sin) as a supporting character who tips Odinson off to the existence of the second hammer.
• Beta Ray Bill, Ulik, and Toothgnasher (Odinson's goat) appear as supporting characters in the first issue; the Collector and Thanos's Black Order (Proxima Midnight, Black Swan) serve as the series' primary antagonists.
• The series' final issue (#5) contains the first appearance of War Thor — Volstagg of the Warriors Three lifting the Ultimate Mjolnir and taking on the War Thor identity — a debut that feeds directly into The Mighty Thor ongoing.
• The five-issue run was collected in the trade paperback The Unworthy Thor Vol. 1 (May 2017) and later reprinted as part of Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Vol. 4 (2021).

Full credits

Key issues in The Unworthy Thor

Variants (7)