Thor #396 [Direct]
(October 1988)

Marvel, 1966 Series
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Volume
1
Price
0.75 USD; 0.95 CAD; 0.50 GBP
Pages
36
Indicia Frequency
monthly
On-sale Date
1988-06-30
Publisher's Age Guidelines
Approved by the Comics Code Authority
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
Marvel Comics
Brand
Marvel [standalone or inside vertical box]
Editing
Ralph Macchio (credited) (editor)

Issue Notes

On sale date from Amazing Heroes #142.
This issue has variants:

Into the Realm of Death! (Table of Contents)

Thor / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
Ron Frenz (signed)
Inks
Brett Breeding (signed)
Colors
?
Letters
Joe Rosen
Genre
superhero; fantasy-supernatural
Characters
The Black Knight [Dane Whitman]; Thor [Thor Odinson]
Universe
Marvel : mainstream
Reprints
Cover Thumbnail for Thor (Marvel, 1966 series) #396 [Direct] Cover Thumbnail for Thor (1966 series) #396 [Newsstand]
Edit cover
Cover gallery

We'd Like to Shed a Little Light on Our Upcoming Hits (Table of Contents: 1)

Ultragames / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Characters
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Synopsis
Ad for three games from Ultragames.

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover

Into the Realm of Death (Table of Contents: 2)

Thor / comic story / 22 pages (report information)

Script
Tom DeFalco (credited)
Pencils
Ron Frenz (credited)
Inks
Don Heck (credited)
Colors
Christie Scheele (credited as Max Scheele)
Letters
John Workman (credited)
Feature Logo
The Mighty Thor
Genre
superhero; fantasy-supernatural
Characters
Warriors Three: Fandral; Hogun; Volstagg
Balder; The Black Knight [Dane Whitman]; Heimdall; Sif; Thor [Thor Odinson]; the Earth Force [Earth-Lord; Skyhawk; Wind-Warrior]; Seth; Grand Vizier; Grog the God-Crusher
Universe
Marvel : mainstream
Synopsis
Thor, the Black Knight and the Earth Force trick Grog the God-Crusher into taking them to Seth's lands where they attack Seth while he invades Asgard.
Reprints

"Look Ma, no more wires." (Table of Contents: 3)

Camerica / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ad for Freedom Stick wireless remote control from Camerica.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 4-5 of story.

[New England Comics Catalog - October 1988] (Table of Contents: 4)

New England Comics / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Comic book ad featuring Wolverine #1 for $1.50 and many others.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 5-6 of story

America's Finest Discount Comics Subscription Service (Table of Contents: 5)

Westfield Comics / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Peter Manesis (signed)
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ad for discount comic subscription service; all titles discounted at least 25%.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 7-8 of story

East Coast Comics (Table of Contents: 6)

East Coast Comics / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ad for comic books.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 8-9 of story

Marvels 1965-1979 Stocked in Depth (Table of Contents: 7)

Koch Dolgoff Koch / advertisement / 0.5 page (report information)

Script
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ad for comic books.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 16-17 of story

[Miscellaneous small ads] (Table of Contents: 8)

advertisement / 0.5 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
? (photos)
Inks
? (photos)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Small ads: Space-shuttle in 3-D; Golden State Comics; Charles Atlas; more.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 16-17 of story

Prizes or Cash (Table of Contents: 9)

Olympic Sales / Olympia Sales Cards / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ad seeking salespeople to sell cards and gifts.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 17-18 of story

"We know your startled sensibilities are still reeling…" (Table of Contents: 10)

Bullpen Bulletins / in-house column / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Feature Logo
Bullpen Bulletins [two lines]
Synopsis
Items: New staffers at Marvel; Geof Isherwood weds Sonja Skarstedt; new babies for Marvel staffers; Pro file: Terry Kavanagh (with caricature); Checklist

Indexer Notes

Between pages 19-20 of story

[Miscellaneous small ads] (Table of Contents: 11)

advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ads for baseball cards, Rogofsky comics, Blacktop handball game, more.

Indexer Notes

Between pages 20-21 of story

Mutants and Mayhem and Cloak and Dagger (Table of Contents: 12)

Cloak and Dagger / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Bill Reinhold (signed)
Inks
Bill Reinhold ?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Genre
superhero
Characters
Cloak; Dagger
Synopsis
House ad for new "Cloak and Dagger" series.
Reprints
  • After last page of story

We're Sinking Really Low!! (Table of Contents: 13)

Marvel Comics Subscription Dept. / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Characters
Wolverine
Synopsis
House ad for Marvel subscriptions.

Territorial Expansion (Table of Contents: 14)

TSR Hobbies / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ad for Forgotton Realms fantasy game world.

Indexer Notes

Inside back cover

Bigger Than You Figure (Table of Contents: 15)

Candilicious / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
?
Editing
?
Synopsis
Ad for Candilicious candy.

Indexer Notes

Back cover

Editing
Issue at my.comics.org
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. Into the Realm of Death!
    Thor
  2. 1. We'd Like to Shed a Little Light on Our Upcoming Hits
    Ultragames
  3. 2. Into the Realm of Death
    Thor
  4. 3. "Look Ma, no more wires."
    Camerica
  5. 4. [New England Comics Catalog - October 1988]
    New England Comics
  6. 5. America's Finest Discount Comics Subscription Service
    Westfield Comics
  7. 6. East Coast Comics
    East Coast Comics
  8. 7. Marvels 1965-1979 Stocked in Depth
    Koch Dolgoff Koch
  9. 8. [Miscellaneous small ads]
  10. 9. Prizes or Cash
    Olympic Sales / Olympia Sales Cards
  11. 10. "We know your startled sensibilities are still reeling…"
    Bullpen Bulletins
  12. 11. [Miscellaneous small ads]
  13. 12. Mutants and Mayhem and Cloak and Dagger
    Cloak and Dagger
  14. 13. We're Sinking Really Low!!
    Marvel Comics Subscription Dept.
  15. 14. Territorial Expansion
    TSR Hobbies
  16. 15. Bigger Than You Figure
    Candilicious
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Katie
  • Dwayne Best
  • Ray Bottorff Jr
  • Nick Caputo
  • Peter Croome
  • Michael Hoskin
  • Kelly Langston-Smith
  • Darrel McCann
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Per Sandell
  • Douglas Sederberg
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