Thor Annual #6

History

Writer-editor Len Wein and scripter Roger Stern plotted this annual together expressly to establish Korvac — a character Stern and Wein felt was a natural adversary for the 31st-century Guardians — as a credible large-scale threat before his confrontation with the Avengers. Stern had been building toward a longer Korvac storyline in Marvel Presents, but that series was cancelled with issue #12 (August 1977) due to poor sales, leaving the annual to carry those narrative seeds on its own. Interior art was handled by Sal Buscema with inks by Klaus Janson, while John Buscema supplied the cover; Archie Goodwin served as editor-in-chief over the entire production.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published with a cover date of December 1977 (on-sale July 1977); written by Roger Stern (script) and Len Wein (co-plot/editor), penciled by Sal Buscema, inked by Klaus Janson, with a cover by John Buscema.
• First appearances of Korvac henchmen Brahl and Tork, both members of the Minions of Menace, which also make their debut as a group in this issue.
• Korvac's origin is revealed for the first time in this issue: his background as a 31st-century human collaborator with the Badoon who scanned and absorbed cosmic power from the Grandmaster is detailed in flashback.
• Korvac's scheme in the story involves a power beam aimed at Earth's Sun to cause it to go nova; Thor and the Guardians destroy the beam source and send Thor back to his own era.
• The original (Earth-691) Guardians of the Galaxy roster appearing here — Vance Astro, Yondu, Charlie-27, Martinex, Starhawk, and Nikki — were without a regular series at this point, as Marvel Presents had been cancelled just months before publication.
• Roger Stern and Len Wein intended this annual to set Korvac up as the Guardians' primary villain, with plans to continue the story in Marvel Presents; the series' cancellation collapsed those plans, making the annual a narrative standalone that feeds directly into The Avengers #167 (1978) and the Korvac Saga.
• The issue has been reprinted in multiple collected editions, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers Vol. 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Epic Collection Vol. 1: Earth Shall Overcome (2023), Thor Epic Collection Vol. 9: Even an Immortal Can Die (2023), and Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 16.
• Nikki (Nicholette Gold) appears here as an established Guardians member; her actual first appearance was in Marvel Presents #4 (April 1976), created by Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes, and Al Milgrom — she did not debut in this annual.

Cast · 13 characters

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