Thor: Warriors Three

by Robert Greenberger

Asgard is a gleaming city, home to the immortal Norse gods, and a largely unexplored realm. The focus is normally on Thor, his step-brother Loki, and their father the all-seeing Odin. Sure, they fight norns, trolls, Orcs, goblins, and the like and we see armies charging back and forth, but really, what do they do between wars?

Also, Thor was never a solitary type, the prince of the realm grew up well liked and had many friends. It just took us a while to learn who they were. When the feature debuted in Journey into Mystery, no one seemed to have a good handle on what to do with a god-as-a-superhero. After Stan Lee and Jack Kirby kicked off the series, it was quickly turned over to Larry Lieber and Joe Sinnott among others. The series slowly began to develop an identity and in time, Stan and Jack returned as the regular creative team. The two had finally figured out the Mighty Marvel formula and were showing everyone how it was done.

There was a creative period where their science fiction efforts on Fantastic Four and their fantasy stories in Journey into Mystery demonstrated two titanic talents at their pinnacle. As a result, in Journey into Mystery #119 (August 1965), they gave Thor peers. They were Fandral the Dashing, Hogun the Grim, and Volstagg the Voluminous. Lee has made his love for Shakespeare quite public so its clear he intended Volstagg to be his Falstaff and to provide some much needed comic relief from the dire doings on Asgard.

In time they came to be known as the Warriors Three, steadfast and loyal. They grew in popularity to the point where they were featured in their own exploits every now and then. Fortunately, with the characters showing up in next year’s feature film version of Thor, Marvel has decided to collect these earliest exploits in Thor: Warriors Three.

Thor: Warriors Three variant

The first story is a short piece from the one-time Thor creative team of Len Wein, John Buscema, and Joe Sinnott. First published in 1971’s Marvel Spotlight #30, the story pits the Asgardians on Midgard (Earth), taking on a Manhattan mob. Pure super-heroics with lovely art and a nice fish-out-of-water take on the trio.

That’s just the appetizer because the main course is page after page of lush art from award winning fantasy artist Charles Vess. He partnered with educator turned comics writer Alan Zelenetz for several stories, beginning in 1982 with Marvel Fanfare #13. The 13-pager as the fair Idunn asks the Warriors to find her husband Bragi, god of poetry, is a mere taste of what’s to come.

Issues #34 through 37 spotlighted each of the Warriors in solo adventures, aided and abetted by their friends. Vess’ wonderful artwork is ably colored by Elaine Lee (best known for Starstruck, also back in print). “Life with Volstagg” kicks things off in a lively manner and features all manner of the Asgardian mainstays, including Loki, Heimdall, Odin and the Norn Sisters. All return for “Hogan’s Goat” and “Fandral’s Follies” which also includes a cameo from the Thunder God himself. Things are neatly wrapped up in the whimsically titled “How you Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm After They’ve Seen Asgard?”

The trio have remained fixtures in the Marvel Universe and poor Volstagg was used as the catalyst for the current Siege storyline. J. Michael Straczynski did some nice stuff with the three as he established a reborn Asgard over Oklahoma. Additionally, they were featured in the Thor: Blood Oath story which remains in print, but it’s well worth your time to look at these earlier tales by creators having plenty of fun.