tallythor:

wondygirl:

transmissionsgeekroom:

I’ve been wondering this myself.

Mighty Thor #159, December 1968
Jack Kirby and Stan Lee

I always thought it interesting that at least in the early comics Thor thought of himself as Donald Blake first and Thor second, because for all he knew he was just a mere mortal who had gained the power of Thor.

He thought of himself as Don Blake so much that when he suspected that Jane was in love with Thor he got mopey about it for awhile and then just accepted it, but when she tells him she loves Donald Blake he beams with happiness and flies around New York proclaiming to everyone that he’s in love.

There were also several times when Don just wanted to not touch Mjolnir ever again and go back to how things were in his life before he ever got a hold of the hammer. Because being Thor brought him a hold new level of problems and it kept him away from his job, but most importantly it took his time away from Jane.

But up until the issue where this panel comes from (which is where everything about Thor becoming Don because he needed humility is explained) the origin of Donald Blake and Thor was a mystery. Sure Odin referred to him as his son and Loki hated him with a passion and called him brother but the reader didn’t know if this was because Don himself was Thor or had Thor’s power/spirit.

It was an interesting part of the Thor comic, even after he learns about his true self because you had Odin wanting Thor to drop his life in Midgard and go back and resume his life in Asgard (he even conspires with Loki to achieve this) but Thor liked being Donald Blake so he did everything in his power to stay (which brings him so many conflicts, heartaches, tragedies, and frustrations).

Later on Walt Simonson ends the whole Don thing (The enchantment that gives Thor the ability to become Don is transferred to Bill to give him an opportunity to be a normal Korbinite) Thor hesitates a little but eventually accepts eventually for Bill’s sake and closes that chapter of his life.

Later some writers bring Don back but the futz the whole thing up by introducing confusing things like Odin creating Don and housing Thor’s spirit in him, etc… etc…

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the Thor vs Don thing, so I want to reblog this for my readers. It’s a good TL:DR version of the situation in the comics.

I always found this story fascinating, but I am glad that the MCU wrote it out as I think it would have played horribly onscreen. But it’s always exciting for me to read in the comics.