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Thor, the Villain From Valhalla
Personal information
Real Name: Norbert Fenton
Residence: Mobile
Occupation: Professor, metallurgist, professional criminal
First Appearance
(Golden Age):Adventure Comics #75 (June 1942)
First Appearance (Post-Golden Age): All-Star Squadron #18 (February 1983)
Character History
Little is known of Norbert Fenton’s life before he turned to crime. The first public knowledge of his life came when he was a professor of material science at a university in New York with a specialization in metallurgy. For reasons unclear, Fenton abandoned his position and turned to crime. His fascination with mythology earned him the nickname “Fairy Tales” Fenton among the police and the underworld.
In 1942, he had had enough success to build up a modest criminal
empire, replete with lackeys and equipment.
Using his knowledge of engineering, Fenton created an identity based on
the Norse God of Thunder, Thor. He
crafted a novel form of lucite into transparent armor strong enough to repel
bullets and he created an electromagnetic hammer, that could inflict enormous
amounts of concussive force. He built a
Viking langskip sufficient to carry him and his gang and, outfitting himself as
Thor and his men as Viking warriors, sailed into New York Harbor.
After dispatching police guards, “Thor” strolled boldly into
the city and robbed a local bank. The
police arrived in force but found their bullets bouncing of Thor and his
men. Blows and throws of the armor
reduced police cars to scrap and sent officers fleeting for their lives. After pillaging as much as they could carry,
the criminal returned to their ship and set sail. The officers of the robbed bank decided to
write off the plunder as a loss but a board member, Wesley Dodds, insisted that
the Sandman could recover their money.
The following evening, the langskip appear again and this time the police were joined by Sandman and Sandy. Again, they agents of the law ran up against the impervious Vikings and Sandman was quickly stunned insensate. A fan of Nordic mythology himself, Sandy was keen to leap into the fray but was viciously swatted aside by Thor, leaving him with a significant head injury. The Vikings took their bounty and retreated, leaving the police in disarray.
Finding Sandy injured, the Sandman became enraged and
rallied the remaining police to charge after the criminals. Arriving as the Vikings boarded the boat and
removed their armor, the tides shifted in the favor of the law. The sound of
the battle attracted reinforcements and after a significant effort, all the
Fenton’s gang was brought to heel. The
next day, as Sandy was being discharged from the hospital, Fenton, in a body
cast, was brought in raving about dreams of Sandman before being returned to
prison (Adventure Comics #75).
A short time later, Fenton was liberated by the Ultra-Humanite
to join a team of villains he was assembling.
The Humanite had become aware of a mallet created by an elder race that
Hawkman had acquired as part of his collection of weapons. He had used the mallet against criminals
masquerading as fire creatures and lost it in a volcano. Fenton was charged with retrieving the weapon
also known as the “hammer of Thor” but the energy from it unhinged his mind,
already weakened from constant nightmares about Sandman. He lapsed more fully into his identity as
Thor and sought to punish the hero who has bested him.
Stalking the rooftops of New York, he spied the Tarantula
who in those days was garbed in a yellow and purple costume that closely
resembled Sandman’s. Spying the hero
swing into JSA headquarters, Fenton attacked the assembled heroes who were instead
members of the All-Star Squadron. His
weapon far more powerful than his previous hammer, Fenton held off heroes as
powerful as Robotman and Steel until the
Tarantula goaded him into smashing his fist into electrical conduits in the
wall. The massive charge subdued Fenton
and he was separated from the hammer and returned to prison (All-Star Squadron
#18). The hammer was later stolen by
Cyclotron and taken to the Ultra-Humanite (All-Star Squadron #21).
The later activities and final fate of the “Villain of Valhalla” are
unrevealed.
Powers and Abilities
Fenton was an accomplished engineer and metallurgist capable of created advanced equipment for criminal use. This included an extremely strong Lucite steel polymer that was wearable and bullet proof and an electromagnetic hammer that administered powerful concussive force. In possession of the "hammer of Thor" artifact, he was further empowered with super-strength, a measure of invulnerability and the superior proprieties of the hammer as a weapon. He was a reasonably successful criminal at one point to at least evade capture until he could build up the resources to adopt the Thor identity and had sufficient leadership skill to recruit a small army of minions to aid in the execution of his crimes.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Separated from his equipment, Fenton was an ordinary human who could be subdued as such. Encounters with Sandman and exposure to alien technology may have damaged his mind so that some of his prior abilities are no longer what they once were. The extent of this derangement is unknown.
Multiversity
Appearances
Issue |
Comment |
Reprinted in |
||
Adventure Comics #75 |
First Appearance , vs. Sandman |
|
||
All-Star Squadron #18 |
vs. the All-Star Squadron |
Showcase Presents All-Star Squadron #1 |