KHOR

Real Name: Presumably Khor; full name unrevealed

Identity/Class: Magic-user

Occupation: Would-be dictator

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None known, unless one counts the unnamed "devils, goblins, and witches" that he invokes via incantation

Enemies: The golden age Vision (a.k.a. Aarkus)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Black Sorcerer

Base of Operations: Formerly France, later the "Land Where Time Stands Still" in Antarctica

First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics#22 (August, 1941); reprinted in Marvel Mystery Comics#1 (December, 1999)

Powers/Abilities: Khor possessed several magical powers; he could teleport in a puff of smoke, shoot bolts of lightning from his hands to render someone unconscious or immobile, and shrink people via incantation. He could also use magical black fog to teleport an object as large as a ship an undisclosed number of miles. Khor apparently aged little if at all from 1245 to 1941; although he attributed this to the properties of his jungle land, it might have been due to his own magic powers. Khor was a poor physical combatant, at least if caught unprepared; he carried a whip which he used on his slaves.

History: (Marvel Mystery Comics#22 (fb) - BTS) - In 1245, Khor was banished from France for practicing black magic; not long after this (under unrevealed circumstances) he discovered a "steam enclosed Antarctic land," a jungle where, allegedly, nothing aged. In his new home, Khor presumably spent centuries further studying magic and developing new powers.

(Marvel Mystery Comics#22) - After nearly 700 years in the Antarctic, Khor learned how to teleport others to his hidden land and planned to avenge his exile by capturing and enslaving enough people for him to rule as a king. He used a mystic black fog to teleport the exploring vessel S.S. Olympus to his jungle and put its crew to work as slave labor. The extradimensional hero called the Vision investigated the ship's disappearance, and upon arriving in Antarctica he was confronted by Khor, who rendered him unconscious and teleported them both back to the jungle. After hearing Khor's explanation for his actions, the Vision charged him, only to be reduced in size and paralyzed by Khor's magic ("Devils, goblins, witches all---Help me make the Vision small!"). However, the Vision was restored to normal size and mobility by smoke from a boiling cauldron (Although one might assume that the brew was itself magical, the Vision might have somehow broken the spell using ordinary smoke, much as he used ordinary smoke to teleport.). Taking Khor by surprise, the Vision gave him a severe beating and hurled him into a volcanic spring. Presuming Khor to have been killed by the heat, the Vision directed the Olympus crew to their ship and departed.

Comments: Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

In terms of modern continuity, the Antarctic jungle which Khor discovered is obviously a region of the Savage Land; aside from Khor's own lack of aging (which could be attributed to his own power, although it's possible that he himself might not have realized that), nothing in the story supported his claim that time literally "stood still" in his jungle, although the Savage Land's wide and complicated history could easily contain a series of events which created such a phenomenon in some isolated region of it.

   Under "Aliases,"  you might put "Malgato (possibly),"   because that was the name of the wizard who first brought Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil together!   He tried to get them to perform some kind of ritual self-sacrifice, for the "good" of the Savage Land.  But, they caught wise to whatever he was really up to.  And, when they thought they had him cornered in a locked room of his stronghold, all they found was a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-type mask of his face!   Sincerely yours:  Carycomic@aol.com

Maybe Khor later put on a suit of armor (to hide the injuries he sustained in the volcano) and reappeared as Quor. Both characters operated in the Savage Land and their names do sound pretty similar.
--John Kaminski

Profile by Ronald Byrd

Clarifications: Khor is not connected to

For more details on those characters, click on the links and/or look on the sites of our links page.

images:
Marvel Mystery Comics#1 (1999 - reprint)

Appearances:
Marvel Mystery Comics#22 (August, 1941) - Joe Simon (writer/inks/editor), Jack Kirby (writer/pencils)
Marvel Mystery Comics#1 (December, 1999) - reprint

First Posted: 01/06/2004
Last updated: 02/06/2005

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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