#peter thor

Despite a "next issue" blurb in the previous issue stating that Thor - God of Thunder would return, WEIRD COMICS (vol. 1) #6 (September, 1940) finds him missing from its pages.

Instead, jammed all the way in the back of the book, is a new feature: Dynamite Thor!

The byline still reads "Wright Lincoln, and still features a blonde hero, but has no connection to the Nirse god, other than the guy's last name is Thor.

Anyway, let's dive right into it and you can see for yourself:

This guy wears a belt containing sticks of dynamite! How freakin' safe is that?

And don't even get me started on his power line tightrope walking!

"The roof is leaving town!"

"Won't you tell us your real name?"

"No, I'm a famous, wealthy mine owner and society man who wears a costume with no mask, so I can't tell you my real name."

Apparently, Glenda is the only woman's name that Wright Lincoln knew. "Glenda" was the name of Grant (Thor - God of Thunder) Farrel's girlfriend in the previous five issues.

Yeah, tightrope walking on a power line while dragging a fully-grown man behind you is really that easy!

Lemme get this straight: he put out a huge fire, wandered down a long tunnel, dragged a man all the way back to the city police department, took a car ride out to the country, and returned to police headquarters in the city - all during a theatre intermission?

And the big bad turned out to be one of the most notorious porn stars of all time?

It started out with Thor being held after class by his math teacher. He failed yet another test and was close to getting removed from the football team and the wrestling team.

"Listen, Mr. Odinson. If you don't get an A on your next three tests you will be removed from all extracurricular activities," his teacher said, a frown in her face.

"What am I supposed to do?" Thor asked, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at his recent test. An 'F'. He was pretty sure that she would have given him a 'G- if possible.

The teacher handed him a piece of paper that was filled out. "For tutoring. Go to the library after school and you'll be assigned someone to help you."

---

Thor got to the library and felt uncomfortable. This wasn't his zone and he felt like all the books were staring at him. He handed the card to the librarian and she led him to a table in the back of the stacks.

"Peter, darling, Mr. Odinson is here for tutoring. Is now a good time?"

Peter...did he know a Peter at school. There was Peter Quill but he was in the Galaxy Tech School. Quill was also dumb and couldn't tutor anyone.

"Now is great, thanks," Peter answered, standing up and reaching a hand out to greet Thor. Shit, it was Parker the Nerd. This was going to be humiliating.

"Hi, Thor. I'm Peter Parker," Peter said with a shy smile. Thor noticed he didn't make eye contact. Odd.

"I know who you are, Parker. Let's go ahead and get started. How do fractions work?"

---

They had been working together three times a week to improve Thor's math grade. It was slowly coming along and the homework seemed to get easier and easier as Peter tutored him.

"Is this right?" Thor asked, leaning over the table to give Peter the paper.

Peter looked it over for a moment before shaking his head. "No, it isn't. You forgot about the exponent here," Peter said, pointing at the error.

"I'll never make this work," the athlete lamented, tossing his math book aside and laying his head on the desk with a small bang.

"Don't say that," Peter admonished, his voice soft and but shaky, "We all have things we need to work hard at. You need help with math. I need help with...well, anyway. You can do this."

Thor was pulled out of his downward spiral due to Peter's encouragement.

"Thank you, Parker. That means a lot."

---

"I got a 'C' on the pop quiz!" Thor exclaimed, rushing to show Peter proof of his work. Peter smiled brightly, so bright and sweet it blinded Thor.

"That's amazing, Thor! I told you that you can do it!" Peter said, holding the quiz and looking it over like it was a piece of art.

Thor was proud. He was happy with his progress. He was happy that Peter was happy.

They got started on the next chapter of Thor's homework. He was working out a factoring problem when he heard Peter sigh, prompting him to look up and see Peter rubbing his exposed arms.

"Where's your jacket?"

"Oh...um...Flash took it and threw it in the dumpster. He said it was...uh...it was trash."

Thor set his pencil down and looked Peter over.

"He did what now? And no one did anything?"

Peter scoffed. "You do know I'm one of the least popular kids in school, right? This stuff has been happening since kindergarten."

Thor frowned. How could he help? Maybe...

He took off his letter jacket and handed it to Peter. "Hold onto that for a while. I doubt Flash will mess with that."

---

Thor slid his first test across the table to Peter. A red 'A-' was at the top of the paper.

Peter jumped up and clapped softly, all sunshine and sweetness. "You're doing fantastic. You almost don't need me anymore. "

Why did that make Thor sad?

---

He aced all his other tests and suddenly Peter fell off the face of the earth. Total radio silence. It took a week for Thor to get Peter cornered. They were by the water fountain in the hall, Peter's back to the wall.

"Look, if this is about the jacket I will give it back. It's in my locker right now and-"

"Don't bother. It's good look on you."

Peter turned an adorable shade of red from his cheeks and down his neck.

"Hey Peter, do you want to go to prom with me?"

Peter looked like he might faint or cry so Thor reached out to steady him.

"Don't tease me, Thor," Peter mumbled, pushing Thor's hand away.

"I would never. Please go to prom with me. I...I like you."

From BLUE BEETLE COMICS (vol. 1) #8 (August, 1941) comes the final story featuring Dynamite Thor, the character who replaced the earlier her, Thor - God of Thunder.

The story is presented again using the in-house name of Wright Lincoln as the byline, accompanied by yet another noticeable change in the art style. And Dynamite Thor has ditched his yellow cape after only one appearance (in the previous story).

Once more, Peter Thor finds a way to rudely ditch his fiancée, Glenda Grant, for an excuse to put on his superhero duds to become Dynamite Thor. And look: now he has a "T" emblazoned on his chest.

Now here it looks like a page is missing from the story, because Dynamite Thor goes from running toward the old mansion to suddenly being menaced by a goon with a gun. The story was probably trimmed to fit in the space left in the book, and the editors probably thought that the readers wouldn't notice or car.

It's good to see that Dynamite Thor is still using explosive farts to propel himself into the sky.

Even though he is out of "dynamite pills," the writer still found a way for Dynamite Thor to end the villains by blowing up everything.

And there you have it: Dynamite Thor's shortest adventure yet.

Tragically for Glenda and Peter, that "...in the next issue" caption in the last panel is wrong. The characters would never be seen again.

Instead, the following issue of BLUE BEETLE COMICS carried a new feature, The Gorilla, which really needs to be seen to be believed.

I know last time I stated that the Dynamite Thor story from BLUE BEETLE COMICS (vol. 1) #6 was the penultimate tale, but I miscounted.

This story, from BLUE BEETLE COMICS #7 (May-June, 1941), is his almost-last appearance.

The "Wright Lincoln" byline is back again, but Dynamite is in a new costume. He's sporting a yellow cape this time out, while the chest emblem (which seemed to change in each previous story) is completely missing.

It's nice to see, though, that Peter Thor still finds ridiculous methods to leave his fiancée Glenda whenever he has to go into action.

Meierhof, this guy just blew-up your trap door! Do you really think it's a good idea to threaten him?

Ah, the old trap-door-in-the-middle-of-a cave-trick! Why didn't I see that coming?

Anyway, after several stories, we finally now fiancée Glenda's last name: Grant.

The artist is confusing the heck out of me, because his ocean liner looks a lot like a submarine!

And just how the heck is dynamite melting metal?

That Dynamite Thor knew that the easiest way to foil the bad guys is to blow them up!

After only two appearances in WEIRD COMICS, Dynamite Thor was shuffled over as one of the back-up features in THE BLUE BEETLE (vol. 1) in issue #6 (March-April, 1941).

Gone is the "Wright Lincoln" byline that'd been used since the feature first started out as Thor - God of Thunder back in WEIRD COMICS #1. I have no idea who wrote and/or drew this story, but it's a completely different artist from other installments.

Other changes noticed right away: Dynamite ditched his boots for little blue booties, and he had now gained the power of being "immune to the effects of explosives." A very good power to have, by the way, if you're running around with a belt full of dynamite.

Who built Gordon's apartment building? An acid bath underneath the floor does not seem to be a standard amenity.

Counter-acted acid with dynamite? How does that even work without blowing acid all over the place?

Also: Hello, Glenda, I must be going (handshake).

He shakes his fiancées hand goodbye instead of giving her a smooch? And she's fine with it? I don't see that marriage lasting long.

Waitaminute! Groot's in this story, too? And he has a secret ray-gun hiding place?

"Good thing I'm wearing my Neutron Shield! And clean underwear!"

Waitaminute again! If Dynamite had the ray-gun rigged to explode, why did he have to rush to the plant to warn everyone?

Lawdy, the logic (or lack thereof) in these Golden Age stories give me a headache whenever I try to figure them out.

WEIRD COMICS (vol. 1) #7 (October, 1940) presented the second appearance of Dynamite Thor, although he was billed just as plain ole Thor on the cover.

The feature was again signed by "Wright Lincoln," but the art style had changed again. The story was back to the eight-panels-per-page format, as was every other story in this issue.

Now we learn that Glenda (still no last name) is the fiancée of our hero, Peter "Dynamite" Thor.

Apparently Dynamite Thor's belt holds an inexhaustible supply of explosives. How else could he blow himself "far out to sea?"

Not only can the explosions propel Dynamite Thor through the sky, he can also use them to hover and change direction.

Yikes! Despite the narration stating otherwise, I think I figured out how Dynamite Thor really flies:

He's propelled by super-powerful farts!

Dynamite Thor also seems to have the power of being a human stopwatch.

Whew! Dynamite Thor saves the day yet again!

Dynamite Thor

Creator(s): Wright Lincoln

Alias(es): Peter Thor

1st Issue w/Uniform: Weird Comics #6

Year/Month of Publication: 1940/09