Beta Ray Bill debuted in Thor #337 (Nov. 1983), being established as an alien belonging to a race known as the Korbinites. Beta Ray Bill was created by celebrate comic personality, Walt Simonson. Said Simonson, "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 Ray Jones' because I really wanted a common name. My feeling was Bill was Everyman for this alien race ... I deleted 'Jones' because ... there were too many Joneses floating around the Marvel Universe." After an initial rivalry with Thor Odinson for possession of Mjölnir , the alien warrior was granted a war hammer of his own by Odin, called Stormbreaker which is equal to Mjölnir in power and possesses the same prerequisites for wielding. Thor and Beta Ray Bill have been staunch allies throughout the pages of Marvel Comics for decades.
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