Tor (comic book)

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3-D Comics #2 (Nov. 1953 edition with 3-D cover). Art by Joe Kubert.

Tor is a comic book drawn by Joe Kubert and written by Norman Maurer about a caveman named Tor who battles dinosaurs and other monsters. It was originally published by St. John Publications, later reprinted with new material by DC Comics, and then continued by other publishers.

In the late 1950s, Kubert attempted to sell Tor as a comic strip, without success. The Tor samples consisted of 12 daily strips, reprinted in six pages in Alter Ego #10 and later expanded to 16 pages in DC's Tor #1.

Eclipse Comics reprinted the two 3-D Comics featuring Tor, both in 3-D and non-3-D versions. As well, the magazine Sojourn featured new Tor stories by Kubert, and in 1993, Marvel Comics' Epic imprint published the four-issue miniseries Tor, with new stories by Kubert, who had acquired and maintained rights to the character.

A two-page story drawn by comics legend Lou Fine in a toy company's custom one-shot, Wham-O Giant Comics (1967), starred a prehistoric man named Tor who is unrelated to the same-name Kubert creation.

[edit] Bibliography of original five issues

Confusingly, the first six comic books starring Tor, all from St. John Publications, were published under three different titles — the second of these in multiple 3-D editions:

1,000,000 Years Ago (Sept. 1953)

Tor in "Dawn", 11 pages + 1 extra page, 11-page reprint in DC's Tor #2; "Danny Dreams", 7 pages, reprinted in DC's Tor #2.

3-D Comics #2 (Oct. 1953)

"Tor" 8 pages; "Fire", 6 pages; "Imagine", 3 pages, both reprinted in DC's Tor #6.

3-D Comics #2 (Nov. 1953)

"Killer Man", 6 pages, reprinted in DC's Tor #4; "Giant-One", 10 pages + 2 extra pages, reprinted in DC's Tor #5; "The Run-Away".

Tor #3

"Isle of Fire", 11 pages reprinted in DC Tor 3; "Black Valley", 9 pages. reprinted in DC's "Tor" #4 with 1 extra page; "Danny Dreams", by Alex Toth.

Tor #4

"Red Death", 10 pages; "Last Chance", 4 pages; "Great Wolf", 7 pages.

Tor #5

"Falling Fire", 10 pages; "Murder", 4 pages; "Man-Beast", 7 pages.

[edit] Reprints

Three hardback books published as the "DC Comics Joe Kubert Library" reprints the five 1950s comics, the stories of DC's 1975 Tor #1-6, and the 1993 Marvel/Epic miniseries Tor #1-4.