Mr. THURSBY
Mr. THURSBY
Real Name: Mr. Thursby (his first name is unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Human advanced technology-user (time-traveler);
initially active circa 1952 (and presumably alive at least 30-50 years before then);
also active in two points in the future in Reality-57824 (see comments)
Occupation: Presumably formerly a research scientist
Group Membership: Unrevealed
Affiliations: Formerly Joe Collins;
although he thought to enslave him, a group of people in the future tried to befriend him
Enemies: Joe Collins;
Grokkos of Earth-57824,
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Apparently perished several centuries into the future of Earth-57824 (see comments)
First Appearance: Adventures into Weird Worlds#13/4 (December, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: Mr. Thursby had no superhuman powers, but he apparently designed a time machine ship that could take him at least numerous centuries into the future.
It is unrevealed for whom he worked and/or how he was funded to design such a ship.
He typically carried a gun (although he was forced to flee in his time machine before he had time to reload or stock extra ammunition), and he was willing and able to use it to kill another person.
Thursby was a megalomaniac and thought to enslave and rule all others.
History:
(Adventures into Weird Worlds#13/4 (fb) - BTS) - Under
unexplained circumstances, Thursby built a large time machine/ship in
his laboratory, with at least some help from his assistant Joe Collins.
Thursby plotted to travel into the future where the people
knew only peace, believing he could conquer them and rule the world as king.
Having heard the shooting, police soon pounded on the door. With his
machine ready to go, Thursby entered it and flipped the main switch. He
was so excited by the sights and sounds that surrounded him that he
didn't stop the time machine until he had traveled centuries into the
future.
Emerging in Reality-57824, Thursby initially thought that that the time period looked peaceful, but then a pair of saurids approached. Realizing that he had emptied his gun into Collins and that he had not thought to load extra ammunition before departing in a rush, Thursby raced back to his machine, at which point a trio of police-type men approached. The police blasted the creatures, noting that they had escaped from the labs, but then questioned Thursby's large machine and resolved to arrest him. Having realized that this was not the time that he was looking for, Thursby instead fled into the future, amused by the look on the policeman's face as he vanished. Considering that they did not know about time travel, he decided that Collins had been wrong about the discovery of time travel being inevitable.
Thursby emerged another 500 years into the future, and he immediately thought to make himself the dictator of the peaceful and happy people. Wasting no time, Thursby approached a small group and told them to stop whatever they were doing. He continued that he had traveled from the past and wanted them to take him to their leader. Having not previously encountered anyone having traveled from the past, the people thought that this was wonderful. As they bade him welcome, Thursby instead began giving them orders.
(Adventures into Weird Worlds#13/4 (fb) - BTS) - Apparently seeing the people, a group of at least three Grokkos
-- man-eating creatures that roamed the lands -- began approaching them.
(Adventures into Weird
Worlds#13/4) - A local warned those conversing with Thursby
that they needed to move away from there as wild Grokkos were heading
that way.
Seeing the "slimy things," Thursby noted that
they looked
like man-eaters, but the people -- assuming that he could travel
through time like they could -- assured him that they would escape.
Despite his ordering them about and his brusque nature, the people
continued to refer to him as "friend."
Thursby panicked as the Grokkos got between him
and his time machine,
but the people continued to assure him that the Grokkos could not harm
it and that it would still be there tomorrow, so there was no need to
take it with him.
However, when they transported themselves a day forward in time to escape the creatures, Thursby was left behind. One of the men was puzzled at why he wasn't coming with them, but Thursby could only scream in denial as the Grokkos swarmed over him.
Comments: Created by Don Perlin, Abe Simon and an unidentified writer.
As we normally treat Golden Age
stories as if they occurred at the time of publication (barring
anything to the contrary), we would assume Thursby traveled forward
from 1952 as the default. They commonly note stories as occurring in
the future, but they did not in this case, so there's not any reason to
believe that to be the case. When Thursby first traveled into the
future, he was so excited that he "didn't stop the time machine until
he had traveled several centuries into the future."
The word "several" is not very specific and can mean
different things to different people. Its definition is "more than two
but less than many." I generally think of several as more than a few,
and I think of a few as 3-4 (obviously a "couple" strictly means two),
maybe even five, whereas several is like 5-7, maybe even 10, but at
some point it becomes many.
After that first stop, he traveled another 500 years
to the time period in which he met the Grokkos. So 500 years plus a
several (3-10) centuries from 1952, so likely at least 2750 A.D. and
maybe even 3450 A.D.?
Joe Collins and/or Thursby's time machine could be expanded into their own profiles if someone else has a hankering for it. Or maybe I'll circle back to it someday!
Why did Thursby not get a last
name...it would have been so easy to list his full name in a caption
somewhere...
Thanks to Loki for providing me scans of this story!
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Thursby should be distinguished from:
other Thursby characters, groups, items, events, races or places...
Thursby's time machine should be distinguished from
 .Thursby's time machine was more of a ship/vessel. He had to be within it to operate it and to travel through time. It could travel at least centuries forward in time, accessing a future reality. It is unrevealed whether it could travel to or return to the past. When its main switch was thrown, the operator (or at least Thursby) was seized by a dizzying whirl of sensations: The world seemed to spin about him...lights sparkled and flashed...the dynamos roared.  (Adventures into Weird Worlds#13/4 (fb) - BTS) - Under unexplained circumstances, Thursby built a large time machine/ship in his laboratory, with at least some help from his assistant Joe Collins. (Adventures into Weird Worlds#13/4) - When Joe objected to Thursby's plans to use the time machine for his own benefit rather than for that of humanity, Thursby shot him dead. He then traveled forward in time several centuries into Reality-57824, but when he found that the people would not be easily conquered, he re-entered his time machine and traveled further forward. Emerging another 500 years into the future, Thursby was separated from his time machine by man-eating Grokkos who presumably devoured him. The time machine's fate is unrevealed. As the people of that time period could travel forward into the future, they probably didn't have much use for it. --Adventures into Weird Worlds#13/4 |
 Joe Collins was the laboratory assistant to Mr. Thursby, who considered him a neurotic idealist. When Thursby developed a time machine and planned to use it to take over the world, Joe objected to it being used for selfish purposes.  After Joe entered the chamber holding the time machine without authorization, Thursby caught him, telling Joe to get away from the machine and out of the laboratory, advising him that he was fired. Joe pleaded with Thursby, telling him that he had to devote the machine to humanity, but Thursby pulled a gun, telling Joe to get out or he would shoot. Joe told him, "No! Don't Shoot! I..." but Thursby fired his gun, apparently killing Joe while telling him that he had asked for it, and that this was what was going to happen to anyone who stood in his way. Thursby continued his rant, "I'm going to rule the world...the world, do you hear?" Dying slowly, Joe warned Thursby that he would be sorry, and that this was neither right nor fair. "You can't stop the progress of science...if you hide your discovery from the world...it will be found some other way...great inventions are inevitable...even time machines...your selfish and greed will only hurt you in the end...only...hurt...you." With Collins dead, Thursby considered that no one else knew anything about his time machine and so no one could interfere with his plans or find him when he vanished. --Adventures into Weird Worlds#13/4 Note: Joe's shooting is shown in the time machine sub-profile above this one. We don't know anything about Joe beyond the text discussed above.
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First posted: 12/16/2024
Last updated: 12/16/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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