Thor in 1966

Hercules! There’s a marked improvement this year. Credit for this goes to a de-emphasis on the human alter-ego and a full lean-in on the broader mythological pantheon.

Multiple pantheons, actually. Bringing the Greek gods into the Norse universe really adds a lot of color and potential to the broader story.

Factoid: did you know the Romans picked up gods as they went, adding conquered gods to their own pantheon? While Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva, etc. are quite ubiquitous, there was eventually also Elagabal (imported from Syria), Quirinus (from the Sabines), Mithra (from Persia) and so on.

Hercules and the herculiad kicked the series up a notch and introduced mythological intrigue.

And just like that, the series finally gets interesting. All it took was jettisoning the alter ego and diving head first into the mythos. Hell, even the loopy Tana sci-fi arc is interesting enough, as it was foreshadowed enough and avoided the temptation of villain-of-the-weak monotony. That aforementioned arc also integrated Galactus, Ego the Living Planet, and the High Evolutionary into Thor’s world. It was a fairly smooth, continuous storyline also. Even the throwaway monster story with the New Men’s wolf was fairly strong.

All in all, it’s an incredibly successful year of changing fortunes for this series. Hope it lasts.