Mjolnir (comics)

Mjolnir
Mjolnir held aloft on the cover of Thor #494 (Jan. 1996). Art by Mike Deodato Jr.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Journey into Mystery #83 (August 1962)
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby Joe Sinnott
In story information
Type	Mystic item/artifact, Weapon
Element of stories featuring	Thor

Mjolnir (/ˈmoʊlnᵻr/ MOHL-n(ee)r) is a fictional weapon appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is depicted as the favored weapon of the superhero Thor. Mjolnir, which first appears in Journey into Mystery #83 (August 1962), was created by writer Stan Lee and designed by artists Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott.

Mjolnir was typically depicted as a large, square-headed gray lump hammer. It has a short, round handle wrapped in brown leather, culminating in a looped lanyard. The object is based on Mjölnir, the weapon of the mythological Thor.

Mjolnir debuted in Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962) for Marvel Comics. Prior to this time, "Mjolnar," invented by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, appeared in "[Adventure Comics]" #75 (Jun. 1942), in the Sandman story, "The Villain from Valhalla." For Marvel, the hammer was immediately established as the main weapon of the Thunder god Thor. The weapon's origin is revealed in Thor Annual #11 (1983), although another version is presented in Thor vol. 2, #80 (Aug. 2004).

In a 2002 documentary with Kevin Smith, Lee says his brother Larry Lieber made up the name of Thor's hammer referring to the hammer's original name, the "Uru Hammer". Later, writer Roy Thomas changed the name of the hammer to the mythologically correct name of "Mjolnir" and used the name "Uru" created by Larry Lieber as the name of the fictional metal that the hammer is made from.