Thor #197
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThor #197 is the pivotal third chapter of a multi-issue Mangog story arc that stands as one of the earliest high-stakes Asgard-in-peril epics of the Bronze Age — the kind of sweeping mythological storytelling that would define the title through the 1970s and eventually inspire Walt Simonson's celebrated run a decade later. It marks the first appearance of both the Twilight Well, a new piece of Asgardian cosmology that deepened Marvel's Norse mythological world-building, and Silas Grant, a mortal outsider from the alien Blackworld who would go on to appear in nearly twenty subsequent issues as an unusually durable supporting character. The issue also dramatizes the creative transition from the Lee–Kirby era: a teenager, Gerry Conway, was now scripting Marvel's high-fantasy flagship title, and the results — dense, operatic, and tonally earnest — show exactly how the post-Kirby Thor found its Bronze Age voice through pure ambition. As one of the earliest issues to weave together simultaneous Asgard and alien-world subplots, it helped establish the dual-narrative structure that became a hallmark of the Conway–Buscema run.
In "The Well at the Edge of the World!", Thor and the Warriors Three clash with the sorceress Satrina and the warrior Kartag—only to find common ground in the face of a greater threat. As Mangog lays waste to Asgard, Thor teams up with his unlikely ally Kartag to stand against the beast, while Odin’s desperate bid to save their realm leaves him near death. With John Buscema’s dynamic art and Gerry Conway’s bold storytelling, this 1972 classic delivers high-stakes drama and mythic weight, all capped by John Romita’s striking cover.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Thor #197 was released on November 30, 1971 (cover-dated March 1972), with script by Gerry Conway, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Vince Colletta, and letters by Artie Simek, under editor-in-chief Roy Thomas. Conway was approximately eighteen to nineteen years old when he took over scripting Thor from Stan Lee — an extraordinary editorial handoff from one of Marvel's founding architects to a writer barely out of high school. John Buscema had been the title's regular penciler since Thor #182 (1970) and would continue nearly without interruption through #278 (1978), making this issue part of the longest single artistic tenure in the title's Bronze Age history. The cover was drawn by John Romita Sr., and the Marvel Fandom wiki notes that Thor's image on this cover was later recycled, flipped and adjusted, for marketing materials and cover logo artwork.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Twilight Well, a new Asgardian cosmological location that Thor seeks in order to save Asgard from Mangog.
- First appearance of Silas Grant, a mortal steamship captain from the alien planet Blackworld, who goes on to appear in approximately nineteen subsequent issues alongside Thor, Sif, and Hildegarde.
- Story titled 'The Well at the Edge of the World!' — written by Gerry Conway, penciled by John Buscema, inked by Vince Colletta, lettered by Artie Simek; cover by John Romita Sr.
- Released November 30, 1971; cover-dated March 1972; published under editor-in-chief Roy Thomas.
- Part of a multi-issue Mangog story arc in which Mangog lays waste to Asgard and is on the verge of killing a severely weakened Odin — the cliffhanger leads directly into Thor #198 ('And Odin Dies!').
- Thor is defeated in combat by Kartag, but the three Norn Fates (Urd, Skuld, Verdandi) intervene, grant him water from the Twilight Well, and command Kartag to join the Asgardians against Mangog.
- The Bifrost (Rainbow Bridge) is depicted as dissolved in this issue, creating a notable continuity question noted by the Marvel wiki, as it appears intact again in Thor #199.
- The issue has been reprinted in Essential Thor Vol. 5 (2011), Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 11 (2012), Thor Epic Collection Vol. 6: Into the Dark Nebula (2020), and The Mighty Thor Omnibus Vol. 4 (2023), as well as in international editions in Mexico, Denmark, and France.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Thor el Dios del Trueno #49 (1972), Thor den mægtige #1/1974 (1974), Thor le fils d'Odin #14 (1981), Essential Thor #5 (2011), Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor #11 (2012), Thor Epic Collection #6 (2020), The Mighty Thor Omnibus #4 (2023), De machtige Thor Classics #15, Thor e i Vendicatori #102
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