Comic Book Resources

I would like to own a giant Thor head on a stick.

So were these groups just wandering the streets separately, one with Thor’s head on a stick and one with the Hulk’s, and then just happened to run into each other? Or did they plan in advance an outdoor argument over who was stronger, which is why they knew to bring props? It’s questions such as these that keep me up at night.

Were hats really still in such vogue among 60′s youth? These guys look like Leo Gorcey and the Dead End Kids for cripe’s sake!

Teenagers and unemployed comic book nerds rancorously bickering in a public forum about which super hero is stronger, with members on each side holding avatars of their favorite? Why that’s out and out ridiculous! Lee was so out of touch with reality.

@Cass: It was the 60′s Cass, people were stupid back then. Thankfully people have matured. Everybody knows that Thor is the strongest anyways.

Also, I find it hilarious that Thor goes ahead and swings his hammer in order to take off barely giving the kids enough time to duck out of the way. Look at them scatter!

@Joe: Thor – the strongest? Are you retarded? Dont you remember issue 347 when Hulk chucked that boulder at Thor and Thor…

“Teenagers and unemployed comic book nerds rancorously bickering in a public forum about which super hero is stronger, with members on each side holding avatars of their favorite? Why that’s out and out ridiculous! Lee was so out of touch with reality”

BEST. COMMENT. EVER…

This reminds me of Thor #356–a Bob Harras-written fill-in during the Simonson run, in which Hercules is boasting to some kids in a park, mostly falsely, about beating Thor in a fight. He ends up changing his story to make a kid without a father feel better, or something. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I recall it being a fun issue. It shares this framing device almost exactly. It’s got a fun cover, too–Herc pushing Thor out of the way, and saying, “Walt Simonson is on vacation, and so art thou!”

Now that Cass mentions it, I bet that splash page was the inspiration for the internet itself. Impressive.

I like how the kid in the lower right of the splash page looks like Kirby himself.

There was a similarly cool moment in the Jurgens/Romtia 90s Thor run where Thor sat in a bar and drank with some dock workers while sharing tales of mighty battles past.

What made it a moment is when the narration revealed that Thor…was lonely.

Yeah, why has nobody licked Hulk yet??

What flavour is he anyway??

My favorite part is the member of the Hulk mob who’s well-thought, intuitive addition to the proceedings is an emphatic “Yay, Hulk!”

Can’t argue with that logic.

Why is anybody rooting for the Hulk, anyway? I thought he was considered a public menace back then. Of course, their giant Hulk head looks…pleasant….so maybe they’ve got a warped perception, the way some people think Alaskan timber wolves are cuddly.

another cool moment and showed why stan lee and his co worker had magic with the characters. for love the look on Thor’s face as if its one of defeat as he tries to answer the question and reveals the lesson he learned instead the one kid looks like rick johnes

@jazzbo: Now that Cass mentions it, I bet that splash page was the inspiration for the internet itself. Impressive.

Jack and Stan created the internet!

Maybe one opf those teenagers dressed like old men is Steve Jobs or Wozniak.

Of course, a week later, the Beatles came on Ed Sullivan, and everything changed. Within days, the Hulk head on a stick was re-painted to be Ringo, the Thor head was repainted to be that guy in the Monkees with a baseball cap, and they were back at the corner again, doing a battle of the bands.

The Thor/Monkee head disappeared soon after, but the Hulk/Ringo head reemerged quite tragically, five tears later. Young Johnny Wdejivneski (the boy in the hat yelling “Yay, Hulk!”) was by this point a long-haired dope-smoking college-protesting pinko draft-avoider, and he repainted the Hulk/Ringo head one last time, to a pretty good likeness of then-President Richard Nixon.
It was allegedly the sight of Nixon’s head on a stick that so infuriated the National Guard commander at Kent State that day, and, well, we all know the rest.

“Jack and Stan created the internet!”

Bah. I bet it was all Jack’s idea, and Stan just added some words and took credit for it.

In the 60′s, flame wars were much more “up-close-and-personal”, I see.

Thor vs Hulk, Wolverine vs Hulk, I want to see the time when Batman took down the Hulk. Now THAT was cool!

Funny to note how the Hulk, in all but his own series, was generally portrayed as a serious comic book villain.

Good call, John Trumbull! All he needs is the cigar.

This whole intro cracks me up. Brian, a cool moment from this fight is when the Hulk forces Thor to the ground, and then Thro just lifts the Hulk over his head.