Tor is a fictional character, a prehistoric-human protagonist who originated in comic books from the U.S. company St. John Publications. He was created by writer and artist Joe Kubert in 1,000,000 Years Ago! (Sept. 1953).
The character went on to appear in new stories and reprint collections published by DC Comics, Eclipse Comics, and others.
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After his debut in 1,000,000 Years Ago (St. John, September 1953), Tor immediately went on to become one of the first comic book characters to star in 3-D comic books. The second issue of that series was renamed 3-D Comics[1] before being renamed Tor with issue #3 in May 1954.[2] At this point the series was once again in the traditional two-dimensional format. This series lasted until issue #5 (October 1954).
In 1959, Kubert and inker Carmine Infantino unsuccessfully attempted to sell Tor as a newspaper comic strip. The samples consisted of 12 daily strips, reprinted in six pages in Alter Ego #10 (1969) and later expanded to 16 pages in DC Comics' Tor #1. DC Comics would publish the Tor series for 6 issues from 1974-1975.[3]
Eclipse Comics reprinted the two 3-D Comics featuring Tor, both in 3-D and non-3-D versions in 1986.[4] As well, the magazine Sojourn featured new Tor stories by Kubert, and in 1993, Marvel Comics' Epic imprint published the four-issue miniseries Tor,[5] with new stories by Kubert, who had acquired and maintained rights to the character.
Alter Ego #77 (May 2008) has a long article on St. John comics by noted comic historian Ken Quattro. The cover reprints the cover of Tor #3 from the original artwork and there is a Roy Thomas interview with Joe Kubert about his experiences at St. John.
Between 2001 and 2003, DC Comics published a three volume hardcover reprint series called Tor,[6] while in 2008, they published a new six issue miniseries.[7] In 2009, DC published a hardcover collection called Tor: A Prehistoric Odyssey,[8] while in 2010 they published it in the softcover format.[9]
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, but this character is unrelated to the same-name Kubert creation .[10]
The first six comic books starring Tor were published under three different titles — the second of these in multiple 3-D editions:
Three hardback books published as the "DC Comics Joe Kubert Library" reprints the St. John comics from the 1950s, the stories of DC's 1975 Tor #1-6, and the 1993 Marvel/Epic miniseries Tor #1-4.