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Beta Ray Bill
Beta Ray Bill is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the character was initially intended to be a surprise; an apparent monster who unexpectedly turns out to be a great hero. As such, Bill is the first being outside the Marvel Universe's Norse pantheon to be introduced as being worthy to wield Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. After an initial rivalry with Thor for possession of the weapon, the alien warrior was granted a war hammer of his own, called Stormbreaker, and the two reconciled as staunch allies, going on to fight side by side.
Beta Ray Bill has been featured in other Marvel-endorsed products, such as animated television series, video games, and merchandise.
Beta Ray Bill debuted in The Mighty Thor #337 (November 1983), being established as an alien of the Korbinite race.
Bill was created by Walt Simonson as a new concept for the title Thor. Simonson said,
I wanted to start fresh, and I thought a new character would be the way to go on that. My thinking was that comics are a short form, and one of the things that's mostly true about comics characters are what they look like ... I designed Bill deliberately as a monster, because I knew that people would look at it and go, "Oh my God, it's this evil guy." I deliberately wrote them so you weren't sure in the beginning if he was a good guy or a bad guy ... I chose the name for its alliterative qualities. Originally I was going to call him 'Beta Ray Jones' because I really wanted a common name. My feeling was Bill was Everyman for this alien race ... I deleted 'Jones' because ... there were too many Joneses floating around the Marvel Universe.
During a "Thor Spotlight" panel at the Baltimore Comic Con, August 28, 2010, Simonson further stated:
One of the cool things about Thor was the enchantment around Mjolnir and the original inscription on it. So I thought, well that means someone else can pick up this hammer and get this power, if they're worthy! So since then, some other big characters, people's favorites, have picked up the hammer, Captain America, Superman, whoever. But at this point, no one had ever picked up the hammer. I liked the idea of Cap walking to the bathroom and seeing it, and grabbing and just tugging, not being able to. So this had to be someone new. This is the most powerful weapon of the Norse gods. This hammer is a killing weapon. It's used to kill Frost Giants and others. So, Superman couldn't pick it up, cause he's never going to kill anyone, and the hammer knows that. Captain America, he's too patriotic. He's too much a symbol of America to be chosen by this Norse artifact. So he couldn't get it. So I created Bill because he's noble, and he's designed to kill. He's got a great purpose as a warrior, and also the noble ability. That makes him "worthy" whatever that may be. As far as appearance, back then, comics were these self-contained stories. So for Bill, I had to do this in short form. This was a four-issue story, and that was my longest on my entire run on Thor. We had to take him, make him into a character that the Hammer would recognize. So I wanted for Bill, I wanted him to have a "monstrous" look as a visual, so that everyone would think he's a bad guy, and I got letters after the first issue that said "What on earth? Why is this monster picking up the hammer, what's wrong with you?" and I said "I got it!" So I basically started with a skull, and then I made him a bit like a horse, with the gap behind the teeth. But horses are beautiful creatures. So what I was aiming for is a sense of death, a sense of monster, underlined by beauty. His costume was the same so that the minute you see that image, when he strikes the stick and becomes "Beta Ray Thor" or whatever, you know: OK, that guy has the powers of Thor. So that's why Bill had the monstrous face, that's why that stuff was done the way it was done.
The character's introduction continued in Thor vol. 1 #338–340. He continued to make appearances in Thor sporadically. He appeared in the Maximum Security crossover in January 2001 and the Secret Invasion crossover in 2008. He starred in the six-issue miniseries Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill and its two follow-ups, the one-shot Beta Ray Bill: The Green of Eden and three-issue Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter. In 2021, the character starred in a self-titled five-issue miniseries by Daniel Warren Johnson.
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Beta Ray Bill
Beta Ray Bill is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the character was initially intended to be a surprise; an apparent monster who unexpectedly turns out to be a great hero. As such, Bill is the first being outside the Marvel Universe's Norse pantheon to be introduced as being worthy to wield Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. After an initial rivalry with Thor for possession of the weapon, the alien warrior was granted a war hammer of his own, called Stormbreaker, and the two reconciled as staunch allies, going on to fight side by side.
Beta Ray Bill has been featured in other Marvel-endorsed products, such as animated television series, video games, and merchandise.
Beta Ray Bill debuted in The Mighty Thor #337 (November 1983), being established as an alien of the Korbinite race.
Bill was created by Walt Simonson as a new concept for the title Thor. Simonson said,
I wanted to start fresh, and I thought a new character would be the way to go on that. My thinking was that comics are a short form, and one of the things that's mostly true about comics characters are what they look like ... I designed Bill deliberately as a monster, because I knew that people would look at it and go, "Oh my God, it's this evil guy." I deliberately wrote them so you weren't sure in the beginning if he was a good guy or a bad guy ... I chose the name for its alliterative qualities. Originally I was going to call him 'Beta Ray Jones' because I really wanted a common name. My feeling was Bill was Everyman for this alien race ... I deleted 'Jones' because ... there were too many Joneses floating around the Marvel Universe.
During a "Thor Spotlight" panel at the Baltimore Comic Con, August 28, 2010, Simonson further stated:
One of the cool things about Thor was the enchantment around Mjolnir and the original inscription on it. So I thought, well that means someone else can pick up this hammer and get this power, if they're worthy! So since then, some other big characters, people's favorites, have picked up the hammer, Captain America, Superman, whoever. But at this point, no one had ever picked up the hammer. I liked the idea of Cap walking to the bathroom and seeing it, and grabbing and just tugging, not being able to. So this had to be someone new. This is the most powerful weapon of the Norse gods. This hammer is a killing weapon. It's used to kill Frost Giants and others. So, Superman couldn't pick it up, cause he's never going to kill anyone, and the hammer knows that. Captain America, he's too patriotic. He's too much a symbol of America to be chosen by this Norse artifact. So he couldn't get it. So I created Bill because he's noble, and he's designed to kill. He's got a great purpose as a warrior, and also the noble ability. That makes him "worthy" whatever that may be. As far as appearance, back then, comics were these self-contained stories. So for Bill, I had to do this in short form. This was a four-issue story, and that was my longest on my entire run on Thor. We had to take him, make him into a character that the Hammer would recognize. So I wanted for Bill, I wanted him to have a "monstrous" look as a visual, so that everyone would think he's a bad guy, and I got letters after the first issue that said "What on earth? Why is this monster picking up the hammer, what's wrong with you?" and I said "I got it!" So I basically started with a skull, and then I made him a bit like a horse, with the gap behind the teeth. But horses are beautiful creatures. So what I was aiming for is a sense of death, a sense of monster, underlined by beauty. His costume was the same so that the minute you see that image, when he strikes the stick and becomes "Beta Ray Thor" or whatever, you know: OK, that guy has the powers of Thor. So that's why Bill had the monstrous face, that's why that stuff was done the way it was done.
The character's introduction continued in Thor vol. 1 #338–340. He continued to make appearances in Thor sporadically. He appeared in the Maximum Security crossover in January 2001 and the Secret Invasion crossover in 2008. He starred in the six-issue miniseries Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill and its two follow-ups, the one-shot Beta Ray Bill: The Green of Eden and three-issue Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter. In 2021, the character starred in a self-titled five-issue miniseries by Daniel Warren Johnson.