Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby famously introduced the mighty Thor in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83 in 1962. But before that, there were a number of antecedents for that story and that character, based as he was on actual Norse mythology. For example, here’s an obscure story from OUT OF THIS WORLD #11 in 1956 written by Joe Gill and illustrated by a young Steve Ditko. While this isn’t quite Thor as we know him, there are some parallels that can be seen.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
Very Silver Age. The blond hair for Thor. Almost like Siegfried in P.Craig Russell’s opera adaptations. Or Gil Kane’s in “The Ring”. . Early Ditko. Good stuff. Thanks, Tom.
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A few years later, Kirby produced yet another short story about a mortal magically transformed into Thor, not to mention the much earlier Golden Age Sandman story featuring a villain calling himself Thor, both for DC. Hadn’t known about this Ditko story, but elements of both this story and Kirby’s later short story show up in the first Marvel Thor story and I doubt it’s pure coincidence. At least Lee & Kirby later made a major revision to the Mighty Thor’s origin, and incorporated more aspects of Norse mythology into their tales, albeit with major alterations.
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