#wright lincoln

From WEIRD COMICS (vol. 1) #1 (April, 1940).

Methinks Grant is over-reacting a tad much to a bad date.

Methinks Grant is not reacting enough to a man in a Speedo suddenly appearing in his bedroom!

And WTF? "Thor mounts with Grant?" Double-WTF? Ain't this a kid's comic?

For those just joining us: Real Thor = red Speedo and cape; Grant Thor = blue Speedo and cape

And there ya have it: Thor's first superhero appearance in comics!

From WEIRD COMICS (vol. 1) #4 (July, 1940):

The first thing we notice with this story is that the art style is very different than the previous three stories. "Wright Lincoln" was a house name used by the various creators that produced these yarns. House names were very much in use in comic books, as well as in pulp magazines, to give the appearance that one person was producing the stories with a singular vision.

Not only is the art style different, but the eight panel-page layout of the previous stories has been abandoned.

The god, Thor, is now white haired instead of blonde, as he first appeared in this series (he's a redhead in the Norse myths), perhaps to make him different from Grant Farrel. And Thor's helmet, boots and cape - which Grant wore when becoming Thor - are gone this issue. It is interesting, though, that the artist knew enough about Norse mythology to give the real Thor his iron glove, Jarngreipr, and his belt of strength, Megingjord.

As for why Grant's girlfriend, Glenda, is in Tibet, or why the original Thor cares, we never learn.

Apparently Glenda is invulnerable!

How else do you explain her getting hit by anti-aircraft flak AND falling to the ground far below, yet still able to walk it off?

Why the heck are there giant dynamos in a hidden Tibetan monastery?

Grant/Thor displays the new powers of being invisible and having a floating head.

And there you have it: Grant Farrel's penultimate adventure as the Golden Age 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?

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.

Thor, God of Thunder's third appearance, from WEIRD COMICS (vol. 1) #3 (June, 1940).

I somehow think Glenda's fibbing in that last panel. She only started to like Grant when she suspected that he was Thor.

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!

From WEIRD COMICS (vol. 1) #5 (August, 1940).

Grant Farrel returns as Thor, but his fortunes have changed. The storyteller seem to have forgotten his last name, Glenda is girlfriend is now his secretary, his page count has been cut by 33% (down to 8 pages from 12) and, as a sure sign that things are not good, he is no longer the headliner of the book. Both cover and first story position have been taken over by some schmo called The Dart.

"Wright Lincoln" is still credited as the creator of this yarn, but it looks like yet another anonymous artist has taken over the art chores.

It's rather odd that in Shanghai a Chinese doctor would have a Japanese servant named Mako; at the time much of China was under the heel of Imperial Japan. The Japanese would have Chinese servants, not the other way around.

Thor to Grant: Get yer lazy @$$ out of bed and save yer girlfriend!

Is "weirdsome" even a word???

For seemingly no reason, Grant no longer has use of Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, which he used in the previous four stories. Instead, Thor sends Grant the gauntlet Jarngreipr, which is used to handle Mjolnir.

Also note, Grant's costume now only consists of swim trunks and boots. Gone are Thor's helmet and cape (which seemed to change color with every story).

Grant doesn't even bother going by the name Thor anymore, nor does the narration refer to him as such.

Wait, why does Grant have lightning bolts coming out of his butt in panel 6?

And there you have it: the final appearance of Thor, or at least this version of him, in Weird Comics.

The second comic book appearance of Thor from WEIRD COMICS (vol. 1) #2 (May, 1940).

And thus, Paris is saved from conquest and the Second World War is ended, and they all lived happily ever after.