- When Tor thinks he has helped you enough he departs for other fields of endeavor!
- — James Slade src
Tor, the Magic Master, is really Jim Slade, roving press reporter.
History
Earning a job as a photographer for the Daily Press (sometimes listed as the Evening Star[1]), Slade would moonlight as Tor to fight crime. Slade switched back to his civilian identity to photograph the aftermath for his editor, who noted that Slade and Tor could be twins, wholly unaware that they were the same person.[2]
While he fought crime alone, he also involved his fellow reporters in pursuing stories, like reporter Lucy Stone investigating Trigger Munitions when they suspected it as the next target of domestic terrorist Schneider Polekat.[3]
During the lead up to World War II, Tor would frequently assist the United States Navy. He would take on several members of the Foreign Agents, a coalition of spies from an unknown country (or countries) planning the downfall of America. International spy Benito Vermin plotted the assassination of congressman Dize from their headquarters.[4] Other Foreign Agents included Krenko and his heavily armed submarine and Von Snayke.[1]
His adventures prior to the second World War took him to South America,[2] Kodiak Field in Alaska,[1] and Tokelau Island in the South Pacific.[5]
Wartime Adventures
Tor discovered and thwarted several Nazi plots, employing the use of a crystal ball to seek out more criminal activities.[6] He uncovered a plot to introduce an invasive species of bug to destroy American crops,[5] stopped the murderer Dr. Moke from enacting revenge,[7]
While in England, Slade found himself in the middle of a Nazi air raid. Ducking into a ruined home, he donned his Tor costume to check on the people barricaded in a nearby shelter just as a delayed action bomb pierced the structure. Using his magic, Tor saves the people before venturing out into the war-torn city to stop the onslaught. Enchanting a bomb to lift him into the sky, Tor joins a lone English Spitfire, and together, they stop the destruction.[8]
His job as a photographer took him several places during the war, where he befriended people around the world. On a job in Panama, Slade befriends Choco of the San Blas natives who helps him in defeating a nearby Japanese camp.[9] In Holland, Slade teamed up with the British commando Dutch van Meer. Meer was fatally shot, but before his death, Slade revealed his secret identity as Tor to him. Meer was the only person to which Slade ever revealed his identity.[10]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Magic
- Tor can instantly hypnotize any person, can conjure large objects out of thin air, and can become invisible.[11]
- He can remotely view distant events in his crystal ball, can turn his arms into wings enabling himself to fly, can shrink and enlarge objects to any size, and can animate a tree to catch a falling person.[6]
- He can make himself one inch or one mile tall, can hold his breath for an hour, and can conjure flocks of live, talking birds out of thin air.[12]
- He can vanish from one spot and appear in another, can make himself bulletproof, and can command a submarine to fly like an airplane.[13]
- Like Plastic Man, he can stretch any part of himself to any size and shape he chooses.[7]
- He once turned a small steamship into a man-eating, ship-sized, talking turtle.[9]
Abilities
- Photography
- Investigation
- Fishing: Tor enjoys fishing in his spare time.[14]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Miniature Camera: Slade usually takes his waterproof[1] miniature camera with him everywhere he goes to capture pictures of the crimes he stops as Tor and spy on criminals.
Transportation
- Susie Q: A non-outfitted motor launch.[14]
Trivia
- Slade once sailed aboard a schooner called "Lady Luck," sharing its name with another hero in the Quality Universe. Later in the same issue, he says that the villain, Von Snayke will be in troubled when Uncle Sam finds out, suggesting a familiarity with the Spirit of America.[5]
- Similarly, his car's license plate is shown as 7-11, the secret identity of Daniel Dyce.[4]
- During the German air raid, the lone English Spitfire looked identical to the plane Tex "Spitfire" Adams flew. Tor's fellow Quality Comics hero spent several adventures in England fighting German pilots alongside the Eagle Squadron.[7]
Related
- 17 Appearances of James Slade (Quality Universe)
- 1 Images featuring James Slade (Quality Universe)
- 1 Quotations by or about James Slade (Quality Universe)
- Character Gallery: James Slade (Quality Universe)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Crack Comics #13
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Crack Comics #10
- ↑ Crack Comics #11
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Crack Comics #14
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Crack Comics #15
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Crack Comics #18
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Crack Comics #23
- ↑ Crack Comics #21
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Crack Comics #24
- ↑ Crack Comics #25
- ↑ Crack Comics #12
- ↑ Crack Comics #20
- ↑ Crack Comics #22
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Crack Comics #16