| Issue | #96 |
| Published | September 1963 |
| Frequency | monthly |
| Cover Price | 0.12 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Stan Lee |
| Notes | Distributed to newstands in July 1963. This issue includes 10 pages of paid advertisements. Distribution date from Joseph Marek's Marvel Comics Group history website. |
| Characters | Thor; Merlin [Maha Yogi] |
| Genre | superhero |
| Pencils | Jack Kirby |
| Inks | Sol Brodsky |
| Notes | Brodsky cover inks credit from Nick Caputo via the GCD Errors list, January 2009. Original indexer credited Dick Ayers. |
| Reprinted | in Mitico Thor, Il (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #6 (June 22, 1971); in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #18 (1991); in Essential Thor (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (2001) [black and white]; in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003); in Mighty Thor Omnibus, The (Marvel, 2010 series) #1 (December 2010) |
| Characters | Thor [Donald Blake]; Merlin [Maha Yogi] (introduction); Jane Foster; Loki (cameo); President John F. Kennedy (cameo); Caroline Kennedy (cameo); King Arthur (cameo, flashback) |
| Synopsis | Merlin is awakened after a thousand years and immediately decides to try and take over the world; He battles Thor using familiar Washington D.C. monuments. Thor defeats Merlin and forces him to return to sleep. |
| Genre | superhero |
| Script | Stan Lee (plot); Robert Bernstein (script) [as R. Berns] |
| Pencils | Joe Sinnott |
| Inks | Joe Sinnott |
| Letters | Artie Simek |
| Notes | This 'Merlin' was revealed to be an imposter in Avengers Annual #22. In most of his appearances he calls himself 'Maha Yogi'. He has been said to be a mutant, but this is also false. |
| Reprinted | in Thor Annual (Marvel, 1966 series) #2 (September 1966); in Mitico Thor, Il (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #6 (June 22, 1971) [as "Il mitico Thor contro la magia di...Merlino!", Italian translation]; in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #18 (1991); in Essential Thor (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (2001) [black and white]; in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 (2003); in Mighty Thor Omnibus, The (Marvel, 2010 series) #1 (December 2010) |
| Characters | Bill Swift; Mr. Allen |
| Synopsis | A bored man working on an assembly line is taken to outer space in his dreams, and is given an idea for an otherworldly invention. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Continues in next issue. |
| Reprinted | from World of Fantasy (Marvel, 1956 series) #2 (July 1956) [page 1] |
| Characters | John |
| Synopsis | The gorgons of myth were aliens and send an agent to modern Earth preceding an invasion. She cannot turn the first men she encounters to stone, but since she doesn't know that they're blind the invasion is cancelled. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Script | Stan Lee (plot); Larry Lieber (script) |
| Pencils | Larry Lieber |
| Inks | Paul Reinman |
| Letters | Artie Simek |
| Reprinted | in Fantasy Masterpieces (Marvel, 1966 series) #8 (April 1967); in Fantastici Quattro, I (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #87 (August 6, 1974) [Italian translation] |
| Notes | Advertises the Fantastic Four Annual (Marvel, 1963 series) #1 (1963) and Strange Tales Annual (Marvel, 1962 series) #2 (1963), as well as the launch of the X-Men (Marvel, 1963 series). |
| Characters | Frederick Fenton |
| Synopsis | An arrogant rich man builds a time machine in order gain the secret to eternal life from the future. When he arrives he finds that the Earth that humanity has gone to a paradise planet, and his time machine will not take him back. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Script | Stan Lee |
| Pencils | Steve Ditko |
| Inks | Steve Ditko |
| Letters | Artie Simek |
| Notes | This is a retelling of "The Man in the Iron Box" drawn by Carl Burgos in Strange Tales (Marvel, 1951 series) #69 (June 1959); the earlier story uses suspended animation to achieve the same effect. Job number from Tom Lammers and Ger Apeldoorn via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Fantastici Quattro, I (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #88 (August 20, 1974) [as "Il futuro di Frederick Fenton!", Italian translation] |