Thor #364

Feb 1986 · Marvel · 0.75 USD; 0.95 CAD; 0.50 GBP

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“Thor Croaks!”

★ 1st appearance — Throg

About this Issue

Thor #364 is the anchor issue of Walter Simonson's celebrated 'Frog of Thunder' arc — one of the most audacious creative swings in the character's history — in which Loki's curse leaves the actual God of Thunder stranded in Central Park as an ordinary-sized frog, waging an anthropomorphic war against rats alongside a community of amphibians. The issue introduces Puddlegulp, the frog who is secretly a cursed human named Simon Walterson (a deliberate pun on creator Walter Simonson), a character who would eventually become the independently worthy hero Throg, wielder of the miniature Mjolnir splinter Frogjolnir. By playing the premise completely straight — as a thrilling small-scale epic rather than a gag — Simonson demonstrated how far a superhero title could stretch its own genre conventions without abandoning its emotional core, a lesson that has influenced writer-artists ever since. The issue's cultural footprint extends to the MCU: the frog-transformation is referenced in Thor: Ragnarok's in-universe Asgardian play, and Throg appears as a jar-imprisoned Easter egg in Disney+'s Loki Season 1, Episode 5.

In "Thor Croaks!", the mighty god of thunder is mysteriously transformed into a frog and stranded in Central Park, while Asgard holds the Althing to choose its next ruler. With Thor missing and Loki’s spell casting chaos, a group of frog-thor-like creatures must band together to fight off a sinister swarm of rats, all while Hildy uncovers the legendary sword of Surtur. Written and illustrated by Walter Simonson, with inks by Simonson and colors by Paul Becton, this 1986 classic features cover art by Walter Simonson.

writer, artist, inker Walter Simonson · colorist Paul Becton · letterer John Workman Jr. · cover Walt Simonson

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $7

CGC 9.8 · 244 in census $95*

CGC 9.6 · 191 in census $56

CGC 9.4 · 102 in census $46

CGC 9.2 · 66 in census $46

CGC 9.0 · 41 in census $37

CGC 8.5 · 53 in census $37

Show all 17 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 36 in census $30

CGC 7.5 · 17 in census $26

CGC 7.0 · 13 in census $26

CGC 6.5 · 11 in census $22*

CGC 6.0 · 5 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

F/VF $4 FN $6.1 Newsstand $7 FINE $7.29 VG · Newsstand $7.99 FINE $8 VF/NM $9.62 Newsstand $9.95

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 98 total · seen 29 days ago

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History

Thor #364 was written, penciled, inked, and cover-drawn entirely by Walter Simonson, published with a cover date of February 1986 (on sale November 12, 1985), under editor Ralph Macchio and editor-in-chief Jim Shooter; Paul Becton colored it and John Workman Jr. lettered it. Simonson had taken over the title as sole writer-artist with issue #337 in November 1983, having been handed unusually wide creative latitude by then-editor Mark Gruenwald, and #364 falls near the tail end of his artist tenure — he handed penciling duties to Sal Buscema with issue #368, though he continued writing through #382. The frog transformation arc was part of Simonson's broader approach of pushing the title into genuinely unexpected tonal and genre territory while keeping multi-threaded Asgardian subplots — Loki's manipulation of the Twilight Sword, the Althing succession crisis, and Harokin impersonating Thor — running in parallel across the same issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Puddlegulp (Simon Walterson), the cursed human-turned-frog who later becomes Throg, Frog of Thunder, wielding the hammer fragment Frogjolnir — his full origin backstory is not revealed until Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1 (2009).
First appearances of several Central Park frog-community characters: King Glugwort, Queen Greensong, Bugeye, Gullywhump, and Dewlap, plus rat antagonist Ratso.
The issue's cover bears the self-aware tagline 'Possibly the most unusual Thor story ever published,' and is titled internally 'Thor Croaks!' — Simonson playing the premise for genuine adventure rather than pure comedy.
Thor's transformation into a frog began in issue #363; in this issue he fights as a frog; he lifts Mjolnir and becomes the armored Thunder Frog in the following issue #365 — so #364 is the middle chapter of a three-issue arc, not the transformation or resolution issue.
Simon Walterson is a deliberate name pun on writer-artist Walter Simonson, the character's creator.
The Asgardian subplot running through the issue features Harokin impersonating Thor at the Althing, while Hildy and the Asgardian children alert Heimdall to Loki's machinations involving the Twilight Sword.
The issue was collected in the Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson trade paperback series (five volumes, 2001–2009) and later in the complete Walter Simonson Omnibus (Marvel, 2011), which was recolored by Steve Oliff.
A Throg variant (frog Thor trapped in a jar labeled 'T-365') appeared as an Easter egg in Disney+'s Loki Season 1, Episode 5 (2021); a scene filmed for the season premiere in which Throg 'pummeled' Loki was cut before broadcast.