Looking like he is Thor with the head of a horse, Beta Ray Bill is not a multiverse variant of the Asgardian superhero. He is from the same universe and he is more than a copy or a variant of the God of Thunder.
Introduced by Walt Simonson during his famous run on Thor in 1983 in a 4-issue adventure told in The Mighty Thor #337-340, Beta Ray Bill is a Korbinite, as he comes from the planet Korbin, “Burning Galaxy.” The inhabitants of this part of space don’t look like him as he was transformed into a cybernetic being.
For Walt Simonson, the idea was to use comic tropes to subvert expectations. As he said in an interview published in The Jack Kirby Collector #14, “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. His face was designed around a horse’s skull, partly because horses are quite beautiful. I thought it’d be kind of cool to have the structure of a beautiful animal underneath the monster to give this dichotomy between the monstrous and the beautiful in the same face.”
One of the most surprising elements of Beta Ray Bill’s introduction is that he can pick up Mjolnir, the most powerful weapon of the Norse gods, the one that only Thor is supposed to be worthy of using. But Bill is also worthy and, beyond the initial shock of seeing a monster-like character using Mjolnir, it proves that he is a noble warrior on par with Thor.
Beta Ray Bill’s Origins
In the aftermath of the destruction of the Burning Galaxy orchestrated by the fiery demon Surtur, the Korbinites found themselves in search of a new home under the guidance of a chosen champion. Beta Ray Bill was chosen and underwent a transformative process, becoming a cybernetic being.
The Korbinites put themselves into stasis and, aboard the vessel Skuttlebutt, Bill lead them on their journey across the cosmos towards the Milky Way galaxy, braving the demonic hordes sent by Surtur. However, their arrival did not go unnoticed, as a S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite detected their approach, prompting Nick Fury to call upon the mighty Thor to investigate.
Confronted Thor himself, the noble Beta Ray Bill sprung into a battle that saw the unexpected exchange of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer. As fate would have it, Mjolnir found Bill worthy, bestowing upon him the power of Thor, setting the stage for a cosmic struggle that would intertwine the destinies of these two champions.
And thus began a saga of valor, friendship, and cosmic duty for Beta Ray Bill! The champion of The Korbinite saw the course of his destiny altered as he forged an enduring bond with the noble Asgardians, particularly with the warrior Sif, as they stood united against the looming threat of Surtur and his relentless legions…
Beta Ray Bill Recommended Reading Order
While Beta Ray Bill is a popular character, Marvel didn’t use it that often. In fact, his apparitions are limited. Through the years, he still was the main character of a few miniseries and appeared as a guest star in some Thor stories.
You’ll find most of those stories in our Thor Reading Order with details as to where they take place.
- Walt Simonson’s run on Thor.
- The miniseries Thor Corps.
- The crossover event Thor: Blood & Thunder.
- The miniseries Star Masters.
- The miniseries Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill, then Omega Flight: Alpha to Omega.
- The Secret Invasion miniseries Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter.
- The miniseries Beta Ray Bill – The Green of Eden
- Thanos Imperative, then Annihilators and Annihilators: Earthfall.
- Sif – Journey Into Mystery.
- The miniseries Unworthy Thor.
- Guardians of the Galaxy by Donny Cates.
- Donny Cates’s run on Thor.