Thor #192
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThor #192 occupies a singular place in Marvel history as the final regular writing credit for Stan Lee on the Thor title — closing a run that stretched back through Journey into Mystery to 1962 and defined the sweep and grandeur of Marvel's mythological storytelling voice. The issue is also the last Marvel comic to carry a 15-cent cover price before the line's jump to 25 cents with the November 1971 shipping date, making it a tangible marker of the end of one commercial era and the dawn of the Bronze Age. Beyond its transitional status, the story functions as a deliberately escalating setup: Balder's desperate summoning of the Silver Surfer in the final panel is one of the great cliffhangers of the early Bronze Age, designed to pull readers directly into Gerry Conway's debut issue (#193). It is the capstone of Lee's Loki-Durok arc and the last time, outside the commemorative issue #200, that Lee's voice would shape the ongoing Asgardian mythology he helped build.
In "Conflagration!", Thor faces a dire threat as Loki usurps the throne of Asgard, forcing the God of Thunder into a brutal clash with the relentless Duroc. With the fate of Asgard hanging in the balance, Balder and Karnilla race to aid Thor—only to summon an unexpected ally whose arrival could change everything. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic art by John Buscema, inks by Sam Grainger, and lettering by Artie Simek, this 1971 classic features a cover by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
In mid-1971, Stan Lee stepped back from his monthly writing assignments to develop a film screenplay, an absence initially announced as brief but which proved effectively permanent for Thor and Captain America. Issue #192 was the last chapter he completed before handing the title to newcomer Gerry Conway, who took over with #193. Penciler John Buscema, who had inherited the artistic reins from Jack Kirby with issue #180, continued on the book without interruption; Sam Grainger inked Buscema's interiors while the cover was produced by Sal Buscema and John Romita Sr., a division of labor visible in the credits listed on the Marvel Database. The issue shipped on July 6, 1971, carrying a September 1971 cover date.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Stan Lee's final regular writing credit on Thor — his run on the character spanned from Journey into Mystery #83 (1962) through this issue, a continuous stretch of nearly a decade.
- The story is titled 'Conflagration!' and carries the promotional subtitle 'The Day of the Demolisher,' pitting Thor against Durok the Demolisher — Loki's magically engineered creature — across settings that include a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade and a South American nation ruled by a military dictator.
- Durok the Demolisher makes his second appearance here, having debuted in the immediately preceding issue, Thor #191, where Loki created him to serve as an unstoppable weapon against Thor.
- The Silver Surfer appears in a closing cameo — summoned by Balder atop Mount Everest — setting up his full guest-star role in the Conway-written Thor #193.
- Interior art is by John Buscema (pencils) with Sam Grainger inks; the cover is a collaboration by Sal Buscema and John Romita Sr.
- At a cover price of 15 cents, this is the last issue of Thor (and one of the last across the Marvel line) at that price point — the very next issue (#193) shipped at 25 cents as part of a brief, single-month expansion to an oversized 48-page format.
- The full supporting cast of the Asgardian corner of the Marvel Universe appears: Sif, Balder, the Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg), Karnilla, and Loki — the entire ensemble Lee and Buscema had developed across the prior two years.
- As of this research, the issue has not been identified as reprinted in any Marvel trade paperback, omnibus, or Epic Collection volume; the collecting guides note that Thor #192–194 fall outside the currently collected range in those formats.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Thor #19 (1982), Essential Thor #4 (2009), Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor #10 (2011), The Mighty Thor Omnibus #3 (2017), Thor Epic Collection #5 (2018), De machtige Thor Classics #10, Il Mitico Thor #97
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