Vikings on a rampage always means fun. The idea of a barbarian warrior suddenly showing up in a shopping mall or on the White House lawn is instant spectacle. How could such an anarchism happen? The startling image has its roots in the Pulps and found its way into comic books.
Pulp fiction found two ways to bring Vikings to the present to stun and amaze us. The first was the old H. Rider Haggard method of discovering a lost race in the remote parts of the world. The master of this idea in Pulps was A. Merrit who penned Dwellers in the Mirage (Argosy, January 23-February 27, 1932). Merritt has Arctic explorers discover a hidden world inside a protective illusion. These fierce people are descended from Vikings but now worship a strange octopoid god.
With the idea of lost Vikings out there, other Pulpsters were free to use the idea. The Quest of Qui (Doc Savage, July 1935) by Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent) has a gang of criminals discover a lost race that possesses old Viking ships. The baddies take the ship and attack modern vessels. Doc and his men must fly to the Arctic to root out the gang and save the people of Qui.
The man who truly embraced the idea of Vikings in our time was Edmond Hamilton. He used the second method, which was time travel. Hamilton loved the idea of collecting warriors from all over time to fight in a super team. (Shades of his work of Legion of Super-heroes decades later.) Ed wrote two stories for Weird Tales featuring his collection of time warriors. This idea sounds old and pulpy today but even as late as 1971, Poul Anderson used it for his novel, The Dancer From Atlantis, where a group of time-displaced fighters go to Minoan Crete (the “Atlantis” of the title).
“Comrades of Time” by Edmond Hamilton (Weird Tales, March 1939)
“Armies From the Past” by Edmond Hamilton (Weird Tales, April 1939)
Hamilton wasn’t satisfied with just two stories. He wrote a novel called A Yank at Valhalla (Startling Stories, January 1941). A World War II pilot finds himself, somewhat Mark Twain style, in the heaven of the Vikings.
L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt did the same in their Harold Shea stories in “The Roaring Trumpet” (Unknown, May 1940) but the authors use the Fantasy idea for laughs. The ideas in the Harold Shea story and Hamilton’s tale set the pattern that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby would use in 1962 to create the famous Thor of comics.
One more time, Ed tried a more Merritt-style tale in “The Daughter of Thor” (Fantastic Adventures, August 1942). Again outsiders come to a lost world of the Arctic to encounter Vikings of both sexes.
“The Viking Horde” (Whiz Comics #45, August 1943) was the first comic to use Vikings on a rampage. It was an Ibis adventure with an unknown author with art by Alex Blum and Emil Gershwin. This time the bad guy finds a Viking horde suspended in ice then releases them to do his bidding.
Hamilton was back for the last time but in comics form. “Superman in Valhalla” (Superman #52, May-June 1948) was drawn by Win Mortimer. Ed sends Superman to Valhalla just as he did his pilot character in the prose story.
The Lost Ones by Ian Cameron (1961) (later retitled: The Island at the Top of the World for the film version in 1974) has a group discover lost Vikings in the legendary Hyperborea of legend. The novel does not have the airship. That was cribbed from Tarzan at the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The novel is quite good while the movie is fun Saturday Afternoon fare.
Journey Into Mystery #83 (August 1962), written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber with art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott, began what has become a comics and movie franchise with the character of Thor, both on his own and as part of The Avengers. I have to wonder how much the creators were influenced by Hamilton’s old Pulp stories.
The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #78 (September-October 1963) had an untitled adventure written by an unknown author but drawn by Bob Oksner. Time travel provided by Professor Peasplitter sends Jerry to meet Skag the Peace-Lover and Chief Leif.
“The Viking From Valhalla” (Superman #270, December 1973) written by Elliot Maggin with art by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. Maggin borrows a page from Hamilton’s book. He would write a sequel eleven years later.
“Superman vs. The Viking From Valhalla” (Superman #394, April 1984) was written by Elliot Maggin with art by Curt Swan and Dave Hunt.
Some Other Comic Covers
I can only laugh when I see Mickey mouse fighting Vikings on a rampage. The artists and writers of those old comics had no idea where the idea sprang from but it was quickly tradition after the first Pulps by A. Merritt and Edmond Hamilton. I can always get on board for a modern viking tale, whether a lost world or a time travel piece.
