Thanks, Star. I'm happy you liked my render quality since (as usual) I'm behind the times, still using DS3. I doubt you'll actually find any deeper appreciation for this after research but you won't regret doing it either.
In the 50's, Williamson and his very talented friends...the other "Fleagles": Torres, Krenkel, Frazetta and occasionally honorary Fleagle Wally Wood produced comic art of such quality, you would have a hard time finding anything better even now however these guys were not into superheroes but fantasy, sci-fi and western type genres although they covered other types well enough. I think they would've taken the book more in a Norse mythology direction. Another thing that points to their influence on this piece is Thor's pose... it's my favorite part of this piece. I think it manages to be strong and dynamic, yet subtle at the same time. To me, it carries a sense of propulsion, an anticipation of the hammer strike to come and the hammer itself feels like it has weight. I know I couldn't have done it without spending a lot of time studying the way Williamson and Frazetta handle action poses.