 beta ray bill is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by marvel comics. the character first appears in thor #337 (november 1983) and was created by writer-artist walt simonson. debuting in the bronze age of comic books, the character was initially intended to be a surprise as an apparent monster who unexpectedly proves to be a great hero. as such, bill becomes the first being outside of the marvel universe's norse pantheon to be deemed worthy enough to wield thor's hammer, mjolnir. after an initial rivalry 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. beta ray bill has been featured in other marvel-endorsed products such as animated television series, video games, and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards. he was voiced by paul dobson in the animated dvd film planet hulk. ==publication history== beta ray bill debuted in thor #337 (nov. 1983), being established as an alien belonging to a race known as the korbinites. bill was created by walt simonson as a new concept for the title thor. simonson said, {{blockquote|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 r
Characters_created_by_Walt_Simonson Comics_characters_introduced_in_1983 Cyborgs_in_fiction Extraterrestrial_superheroes Marvel_Comics_superheroes Thor_(Marvel_Comics)