[3] Volstagg's origin story beyond being a member of the Asgardian race, a warrior and adventurer, and a friend of Thor has not been revealed.

The character was first introduced in a "Tales of Asgard" filler in Journey Into Mystery #119 (August 1965), the magazine carrying Thor's Asgardian adventures.

[4] As originally envisioned by Jack Kirby, Volstagg was a huge, bumbling oaf much given to boasting and bragging: the last into battle and the first to claim victory (usually undeserved).

A flashback revealed in Captain Marvel #42 tells how a drunken Volstagg incurred the wrath of Odin by spilling the secrets of the first Frost Giants to a younger Thor.

[5] Strangely enough, he was considered a trusted and worthy comrade by his closest friends and allies, Fandral the Dashing, Hogun the Grim, and Thor.

Hogun and Fandrall, practically strangers to him at the time, join with a quest on a dare to simply "pet" the Fenris wolf.

Advanced Idea Mechanics, having their own personal interest in Fenris, theorize it is this defeat that led to Volstagg's unhealthy eating habits.

[6] In his first comic book appearance, Volstagg joined with the Warriors Three in Thor's quest for the power that had cracked the Odinsword of Asgard.

Though this man was an avowed enemy of Asgard, he fought so well and nobly that Hela herself came to fetch him when a lifetime of wounds caught up with the warlord.

In another incident the four went to free Hogun's land from the murderous tyrant called Mogul of the Mystic Mountain; Volstagg's bumbling caused him to lose his companions and gain a new one.

[11] As the Warriors Three made increasingly frequent appearances in The Mighty Thor and other Marvel titles, a slightly more heroic side to his personality began to emerge.

In Tales To Astonish #101, Volstagg squared-off with The Incredible Hulk for two panels (before being dumped contemptuously in a roadside ditch by the green-skinned behemoth);[12] Volstagg helped defend Asgard against the demonic Mangog (a creature possessed of the power of a "billion billion" beings)[13] and in Thor #164, the Lion of Asgard rushed through a tunnel to battle Mangog but was prevented when the passage proved too narrow to accommodate his considerable girth.

[14] During a trip to Hades to rescue his comrade-in-arms Thor, Volstagg offered to battle Mephisto in return for his friend's soul (despite being aware that the God of Thunder had already bested the Lord of Hell in fair combat some time previously).

[15] A real change to Volstagg's character came in the early seventies, when Thor and the Warriors Three were battling the interstellar parasite Ego-Prime in the streets of New York City: hiding behind a festering heap of garbage, Volstagg saw a group of extraterrestrial monstrosities preparing to devour a little girl, a sight which drove him to a remarkable (for him) display of courage and resolution.

Reaching back to Kirby's initial concept, Simonson redefines Volstagg as a big, likeable bear of a man, a friend to all with a song in their heart (and a glass in their hand).

A good-natured old warrior somewhat past his prime, Volstagg is still held in high regard by his comrades, if only for his amusing company and unparalleled drinking ability.

This updated persona becomes a crucial plot device in several of Simonson's classic story arcs: when Balder the Brave returns broken and hopeless from the land of the dead, Volstagg takes the fallen warrior under his wing, introducing him to the twin joys of gluttony and drunkenness.

[17] When Surtur the fire demon rouses his forces to attack Earth, the Warriors Three are tasked by Odin to gather all the soldiers at his command.

[18][19] The temptations of Earth do compel him to stay behind but Hogun stops this; he shoots Volstagg in the backside with approximately a dozen Migdardian tranquilizer darts.

[20] In a later plotline, when Thor's actions indirectly orphan two humans (Kevin and Mick), he takes them to Asgard and places them under Volstagg's care – a situation he gladly accepts.

The sheer girth of Volstagg is enough to delay the plans but Tiwaz provides a magical spell to temporarily shrink the enormous warrior.

The Warriors Three, various Asgardians and even Queen Ula's troops join with the New Mutants; their efforts stop Hela from killing Odin.

Ironically, whenever his courage fails (at the slightest sign of danger), Volstagg's innate clumsiness would somehow seize victory from the jaws of defeat.

On the other hand, in the Thor: Son of Asgard series (confirmed to be canonical from Official Handbook files of Asgardians[volume & issue needed]), Volstagg is depicted as obese and cowardly even as a young man.

[36] Volstagg is later responsible for setting events in motion that would allow the Siege of Asgard to occur, after he heads to Chicago seeking to have adventures like those of Thor.

[37][38] Ben Urich and Will Stern, reporters from New York and Chicago, later encounter Volstagg who is returning to Asgard to turn himself in after what happened at Soldier Field.

[40] In the Broxton jail, Volstagg is speaking to the sheriff and his deputy as the news reports on the attack on Asgard, showing footage of Thor being beaten down.

[43][44] When Odin plans to destroy the Earth to save the rest of the known Worlds from the Fear Serpent, Volstagg is forced to be one of men keeping Thor under control.

[54] One of Volstagg's many duties in the new political landscape of Asgard is supervising Jane Foster, as she needs a companion on her chemotherapy visits.

[55] As tensions among the Nine Realms escalate due to the return of Cul and the shifting alliances of the Elves, Volstagg, stricken with grief and rage after he witnessed the deaths of several children in a confrontation with Surtur's fire-demons, travels to the remains of ancient Asgard where he claims the discarded hammer of the deceased Ultimate Thor.