JUST IMAGINE! Oh, the Things a Thunder God Can Do

Thor’s go-to powers of flight, super-strength and super-durability were suggested by the Captain Marvel/magical transformation template he was apparently based on. And weather control was inherent in the concept of a thunder god.

But beyond that, for a while, the sky was the literal limit. What, after all, couldn’t a god do?

In short order, we learned that Thor could travel through time (Journey into Mystery 86, Nov. 1962) and possessed “hurricane breath” (ditto).
Thor’s vast super-strength could be increased if the Valkyries flapped down from Asgard to give him his enchanted Belt of Strength (Journey into Mystery 91, April 1963).

His “cosmic power” could be channeled into super-magnetism and used to lift large metallic weights (Avengers 4, March 1964) or levitate himself (Avengers 5, May 1964).

He could unflinchingly bear the heat of being submerged in molten lava (ditto).

It seemed that Thor could also move at invisible “blinding speed” (Journey into Mystery 99, Dec. 1963), but that turned out to be Mr. Hyde disguised as Thor. Where Hyde got the idea he could move at super-speed, I never quite understood.

All this power could go to a guy’s head. When Iron Man exclaimed about the fact that Thor, Yoda-like, had managed to raise an alien spacecraft from the ocean with his cosmic power, the thunder god replied smugly, “Was that not my intention?”

I don’t think Thor ever used his super-breath again, though. Perhaps he became aware of how often Superman was mocked for that same power, and thought better of it.

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