Issue(s): Thor annual #6
Cover Date: 1977
Title: "Thunder in the 31st century! / And they shall be Guardians of the Galaxy! / The master plan of Korvac! / This battleground Paradise!"
Credits:
Len Wein & Roger Stern - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Klaus Janson - Inker

Review/plot:
Along with his run on the Hulk, this is one of Roger Stern's earliest works in the mainstream Marvel Universe. As on the Hulk, he is writing under Len Wein's lead (he did write the Guardians of the Galaxy stories for three issues of Marvel Presents prior to this.)

Thor gets accidentally pulled forward in time by the man-machine Korvac (who we learn was created by the Badoon and, like all good robotic creations, subsequently rebelled against them)...

...who quickly teleports him into the cold depths of space. At this point in time Thor has been shown to need a space ship (such as the one provided by Odin during the search for Galactus) to survive in space; later he'll be able to fly around in space no problem. When the Guardians of the Galaxy find Thor floating in space (reminding me of the line in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy about the odds of finding people floating in space), he is covered in ice.

As they dethaw him, the narration comments on the similarities with the Avengers when they first found Captain America.

The Guardians head to Korvac's technological planet and while Starhawk and Thor go after Korvac, the others fight Korvac's assortment of super-powered alien minions.

Korvac uses mind-control to force Thor and Starhawk to fight each other, but they cleverly get around that by hitting each other so hard that Korvac's entire base is destroyed.

This was a nicely written fight/adventure story with some decent dialogue. It serves as a decent prelude to Jim Shooter's upcoming Korvac saga in the Avengers.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - prelude to the Korvac saga

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Thor #266-267. Note that i don't count the locals in time travel stories. So Thor is of course listed as a character appearing, and Korvac is also listed since he reaches into the present to grab Thor, but the Guardians, and Korvac's minions (who will appear again) are not.

References:

• Starhawk "more or less" abandoned the Guardians in Marvel Presents #10, and Captain Major at one point thinks he might be doing so again this issue (although he's really just holding the Guardian's ship together during one of Korvac's attacks).
  
• Korvac and his alien minions faced the Defenders in Giant-Size Defenders #3.
  
• Thor is familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy, having read the report filed by Captain America after he ran into them in Marvel Two-In-One #5. This is in contrast to the Beast, who will attack the Guardians when he runs into them during Shooter's Korvac saga, since he's not as diligent about reading the files.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I actually got a trade of the Korvac saga...and for some reason I always keep coming back to this issue. For people who obsess with the whole thing, Korvac was much more entertaining in this one-shot than anything he did as "Michael". The minions, the weirdness of the future and those epic angry and pissed-offed faced. A particular favorite of mine is him literally gritting his teeth with a contorted face like some internet meme...they don't make comics like that anymore.

It is a little strange that Thor seems to be keeping up with the files better than more computer/reading -friendly characters such as Beast (with the Guardians) or Iron Man (with the Growing Man)

Also Thor must have been sweating extraordinarily profusely to become covered in ice in space.

I got the Essential volume at work but I liked the mass of growth henchman since he seemed polite and wanted to keep the group unified. I know there are folks that are bad guys and work with other bad guys but I like when some are given actual manners.

Now I haven't finished the story yet I admit but that was my impression.

This was penciled by Sal Buscema, who'd drawn the Guardians so beautifully in MTIO and DEFENDERS, and only inked by Janson. Wein, by the way, co-plotted both this and Korvac's debut (with Grott and most of the other minions) in GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #3.

Thanks Matthew. Updated the art credits.

Maybe ad Korvac to "Characters Appearing"?

And add a "d" to my prior comment? :-)

That makes sense, since he reaches into the present to grab Thor. Thanks Matthew.

The lizard-man and the blob monster from GS Defenders #3 are named here as Teju and Dumog. It's not in scope for this site, but several of Korvac's minions here will turn up as a team of villains in the 1990s Guardians of the Galaxy series, where they'll get the team name "the Intimidators."

Only Thor can lift the magic hammer, but the Guardians can lift Thor onto a gurney while he's holding the hammer. No, wait, maybe they floated Thor and the hammer onto the gurney in the gravity-less weightlessness of space. Yet the artificial gravity appears to be switched on, since pints of melted icy god-sweat can be seen pooling on the floor.

So maybe anyone can lift the hammer in zero gravity? Or maybe one or more of the Guardians is hammer-worthy? Or maybe anyone can lift Thor and the hammer together, with Thor, though unconscious, supplying the necessary worthiness? Maybe the enchantment doesn't work without a massive object like Earth for the hammer to "stick" to?

Again we see Thor wielding the hammer with his left hand, contrary to Stan Lee telling us that it's "incorrect" in Daredevil #30.

In Avengers 120-123, it's explained that anyone can lift the hammer in "zero gravity". This is weird because if you remember your science classes, "zero gravity" is basically falling.
And yes, we've seen people lift the hammer by lifting Thor while he's holding it.

It's definitely magic, and not related to inertia or anything conventional in physics. "Moving" the hammer in any direction, relative to its starting position and direction in the outer space reference frame, would be a close physical equivalent to the concept of "lifting" the hammer, while both you and the hammer are, basically, "falling" through space alongside one another. I have to chalk it up to comic book magic, as opposed to comic book science.

Someone on Reddit pointed out that the Thor-on-the-table scene is homaged by his Infinity War meeting w the MCU GotG equivalents.