Thor #165
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThor #165 delivers the first full, uncocooned appearance of the artificial being known only as 'Him' — the character who would be revamped by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in 1972 into Adam Warlock, one of Marvel's defining cosmic figures and a central player in the Infinity Gauntlet saga and beyond. The issue bridges Him's cryptic debut in Fantastic Four #66–67 (1967) with his first extended humanoid confrontation, letting Jack Kirby's kinetic late-Silver Age layouts showcase the character's god-like power at full throttle. It also marks the first appearance of Haag, an Asgardian sorceress, adding another thread to the long-running Karnilla/Balder subplot that threaded through the entire Lee-Kirby Thor run. As one of the last substantial new-character introductions of Kirby's tenure at Marvel before his 1970 departure for DC, the issue sits at a creatively and historically charged crossroads of the Silver Age.
In "Him!", Thor faces a mysterious human known only as "Him" in a clash that tests both god and man. As the battle unfolds, the fate of Sif hangs in the balance, caught between divine forces and an enigmatic stranger with unknown intentions. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic art by Jack Kirby, this 1969 issue features inks by Vince Colletta and letters by Artie Simek, with a cover by Kirby and Colletta that captures the tension in bold, striking detail.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The story titled 'Him!' was written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby with inks by Vince Colletta and letters by Artie Simek, produced during the final stretch of the celebrated Lee-Kirby collaboration on Thor. The character Him had been conceived by Kirby for Fantastic Four #66–67 (1967) as an ironic commentary on the idea of engineered human perfection, though Lee's scripting of those earlier issues reframed the premise; historians including Mark Evanier have documented this creative tension as a factor in Kirby's growing disenchantment with Marvel in this period. The 'Him' plot in Thor had been seeded across issues #163–164 before paying off here in #165, part of Kirby's pattern of building multi-issue story arcs into his final years on the title. The issue was on sale April 3, 1969 with a June 1969 cover date, at the then-standard 12-cent cover price — the last Thor issue at that price point before Marvel's line-wide increase.
Trivia · 6 facts
- Written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Vince Colletta, lettered by Artie Simek; Stan Lee also served as editor.
- Story titled 'Him!' — Him breaks free from his cocoon inside a U.S. scientific complex, reveals his origin to Thor, Sif, and Balder, then absconds with Sif as a chosen mate, setting up the conclusion in Thor #166.
- First appearance of Haag, an Asgardian sorceress employed by Karnilla the Norn Queen in her ongoing scheme to compel Balder's love.
- The Watcher (Uatu) appears in flashback, depicted as having violated his oath of non-interference by placing Him's cocoon aboard a returning Earth satellite.
- Him's third overall comics appearance, following Fantastic Four #66 and #67 (both 1967); this is the first issue in which he appears fully humanoid and in a lead-character role.
- Collected in the Adam Warlock Omnibus (Marvel, 2023), a 904-page hardcover that gathers the complete Him/Warlock saga from FF #66–67 through the 1970s Starlin era.
Cast · 9 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Marvel Comic Annual #1971 (1971), Hit Comics Thor #206 (1972), Il Mitico Thor #64 (1973), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #137 (1975), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #138 (1975), Thor le fils d'Odin #4 (1979), O Espectacular Homem-Aranha #8 (1983), Essential Thor #3 (2006), Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor #8 (2009), Marvel Classic #12 (2013), Thor Epic Collection #4 (2015), The Mighty Thor Omnibus #3 (2017), Adam Warlock Omnibus #[nn] (2022), Adam Warlock Omnibus #[nn] (2023), De machtige Thor Classics #6
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