THOR #40

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creases or spine stress. Slight bend/wave noted at the top edge of the cover, likely from the protective sleeve, but no color break is apparent. Edges appear clean with no chips or tears visible. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on the front cover image.

Thor #40, the October 2001 installment of the 1998 volume, closes the "Death of Odin" arc by Dan Jurgens with pencils by Stuart Immonen and inks by Scott Koblish, under a Tom Raney cover. The Asgardian war against the fire giant Surtur reaches its conclusion, and Odin falls — a plot turn that reshaped the status quo of the title, moving Thor toward the Odinpower and the "Lord of Asgard" period that followed. Supporting players include Hercules, Beta Ray Bill, Balder, Kurse, and the Warriors Three, with the Jake Olson identity still in play for Thor. The issue was collected in the Death of Odin trade paperback alongside issues 36-43 and the 2001 annual.

Market profile is that of a solid mid-run modern Marvel book rather than a traded key. The story beat gives the issue a small amount of standalone recognition, and it is occasionally pulled from runs by readers working through the Jurgens era, but there is no established auction record and no meaningful speculative following. Print runs from this period were substantial and high-grade copies survive in quantity, so scarcity does not support a premium at any grade; certified examples are few because the economics of grading rarely justify it. Demand is driven almost entirely by run collectors and by trade-averse readers who prefer the original issues.

Buyers for this book are Thor completists filling the 1998-2004 volume, Jurgens and Immonen followers, and dealers assembling storyline sets around the Death of Odin arc. Across grades the spread is compressed: low-grade copies function as reading material, mid-grade copies trade at ordinary back-issue levels, and only census-top certified copies command anything beyond the cost of certification itself. The practical approach is to acquire it as part of a run or storyline group rather than as a single-issue purchase, and to expect the certified market to remain thin unless the Death of Odin material is revisited in adaptation.