Finally, after all these years the Walt Simonson Thor series from the 1980s is getting time in the sun. Previously, only Thor #337 the first Beta Ray Bill had sold at a premium. After three Thor movies and Thor highlighting the first 15 minutes of Avengers: Infinity War. Finally, the Walt Simonson storyline is starting to get some investment vitamin D and become a value to collectors. Simonson was both the writer and artist on Thor #337 thru #367 (Source: Wiki). There are many keys in these books, namely: first appearance Beta Ray Bill (#337), Beta Ray Bill vs. Thor (#338), Ray gains Thor's powers (#339), Donald Blake returns as Thor (#340), Clark Kent, and Lois Lane cameo (Yes, in a Marvel comic!) (#344), Malekith first appearance (#345), Hercules appearance (#356), and the untimely death of Odin (#353) (Source: Overstreet 47th Edition). Whew! That is not all the keys in this Walt Simonson saga. There are eight key comic books in this bunch or series. Until now they have been dirt cheap, some of them even circled the $1 bins a decade ago. But that is apparently slowly changing. We are going to focus on primary keys Beta Ray-Thor power transfer, first key villain appearance, and the death of the patriarch Odin. Should speculators and collectors alike be buying up this Thunder God Super-Pack?
Thor #339 is a shocker for any Thor fan as he loses his powers to Beta Ray Bill. Beta Ray is an alien superhero of comparable honor to Thor and can wield the hammer like Thor. Up until now, as mentioned this book has been a zero. But that is changing. The current fair market value of the mint condition (9.8) is $70. Sure these prices don't exactly set your hair on fire, but there were many of these printed back in the 80s that greatly reduced the collectivity of this series. Finally now almost forty years later that is changing and this particular book has returned across the board green profits. The mint condition (9.8) has managed to pump out a +16.5% return, but that is nothing compared to the (9.4) which has returned an Odin-Force blast of positive +140.3% ROI. This Thor #339 is a key to own.
The primary villain in the Simonson storyline is Malekith the Accursed (evil elf). He first appeared in Thor #344, written and penciled by Walter Simonson. This villain goes on to take on the entire world forcing the 101st Airborne to have to step in and kick his tail up the cosmic chimney. This is another book that is starting to pop like jiffy pop, and if you are a fan or speculator try to get your hands on one. Current fair market value is $65 for mint (9.8); the return on the first appearance of Malekith over the last ten months is positive +33.3% ROI for a grade (9.2). The smart speculator might buy up the evil elf before he puts coal in your stocking.
The Odin-Force is a power so great it has literally allowed Odin to acquire all the Infinity Stones at one time, defend the realm of Asgard from the world of the Frost Giants, and turn Odin into one of the most incredibly powerful beings in the universe. Unfortunately, he dies in Thor #353 but the good thing is this makes that comic a key, Odin's death comic. This comic book is still in its infancy of growth and return (what a great time to buy one). Current fair market value for a mint condition is $40 FMV back in 2009. The returns have been good to this book with grade (9.6) profiting to the tune of positive +61.9% ROI. If the Thor books by Simonson are in play; this is a must own part of the Thunder God Super-Pack.
