TORR

Real Name: Torr

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (race unrevealed) (Pre-Modern Era)

Occupation: Would-be conqueror of Earth

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: John Carter, Paul Ramsey

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Impersonated John Carter

Base of Operations: Mobile on Earth;
   originally from "the Mother Planet"

First Appearance: Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (June, 1961)

Powers/Abilities: Having a mane of hair surrounding his head, the orange-skinned Torr was impervious to bullets; he was superhumanly strong, and could lift at least 1 ton.

Torr had great psychic powers which allowed him to communicate telepathically and dominate the minds of others; he could also transfer his consciousness into another being's body (see comments).

Torr utilized various items of his race's technology, including a spaceship, an electromagnetic signal device, and hypno-illusion capsules.

Height: 10' (by approximation)
Weight: 2000 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
(Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Torr is largely unrevealed, but he boarded his spaceship and left his harsh and ruthless homeworld on a mission of conquest.

(Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (fb) ) - Torr was attracted to Earth when he picked up a radio transmission sent from the observatory of scientists John Carter and Paul Ramsey. After landing his spaceship near the observatory, Torr confronted the scientists, declaring his intent to make Earth a satellite world under his rule. Ramsey fired at Torr with a shotgun, but it had no effect, and Torr crushed the weapon with his bare hands.

   Torr then carried the scientists to a nearby cave, where he switched bodies with Carter; still possessing control over Carter while the scientist was in his body, Torr had Carter seal himself inside the cave with a boulder. Then Torr placed an electromagnetic signal device on Ramsey's wrist--he warned Ramsey that it would summon more of his fellow warriors if Ramsey told anyone about his disguise. Torr forced Ramsey to drive him to New York City (see comments), so that he could observe humanity.

   After they reached the metropolis and ambled along the sidewalks, Torr was pleased to see how weak humans appeared to be--he boasted to Ramsey that he would enslave humanity and make Earth a colony for the "Mother Planet".

   In desperation, Ramsey grabbed a gun from a passing policeman, then shot and killed Torr (see comments)--but to the horrified eyewitnesses, it appeared as though Ramsey had killed John Carter! Not daring to speak in his behalf because of the signal device on his wrist, Paul Ramsey was taken into custody and charged with murder.

   But shortly afterwards, John Carter's body arose in the morgue, for with Torr's death, Carter's spirit had returned to his own body.

(Amazing Adventures I#1/1) - During Ramsey's trial for the murder of John Carter, the real Carter appeared, and his testimony convinced the jury to acquit Ramsey.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee (writer), Jack Kirby (pencils) & Dick Ayers (inks).

This 13-page story was told from the narrative perspective of Paul Ramsey.

Okay, so the gunshot switched Torr and Carter's bodies back...but what about the gunshot wound? How did the bullet manage to only slay Torr's consciousness?

Maybe that bullet never actually hit Torr (in Carter's body), but merely grazed him, and Torr--thinking his human body had sustained a fatal gunshot wound--was psychically frightened to death. The authorities figured that "Carter" had died from heart-failure, and Ramsey would still have been considered responsible for causing "Carter's" death.

The exact location of Ramsey and Carter's observatory was never mentioned, but it was within a three-hour drive of New York City.

It was unrevealed if Torr's psychic abilities were a common trait of his race, or unique to Torr alone--maybe Torr learned that body-swapping trick from the Ovoids (@ Fantastic Four I#10).--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Prime Eternal. Expanded (additional sub-profiles, text, images) by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Torr has no known connections to:

Paul Ramsey has no known connections to:

John Carter has no known connections to:

Paul Ramsey

An associate of John Carter, Ramsey was a scientist who accidentally helped bring Torr to Earth with a signal from a radio-telescope. He was forced to accompany Torr as the extraterrestrial planned Earth's conquest.

When Torr transferred his consciousness into Carter's body, Ramsey was unable to warn anyone because of an electromagnetic signal device that Torr had placed on his wrist--the device would have sent a signal to Torr's homeworld, to summon more of his kind, if Ramsey divulged the truth of Torr's disguise.

While he and Torr were in New York City, Ramsey grabbed a gun from a policeman and shot Torr dead--because Torr was in the body of John Carter at the time, Ramsey was arrested and put on trial for "Carter's" murder, and Ramsey was unable to say anything in his defense because of the signal device.

But Ramsey was finally saved when the real John Carter appeared alive at the trial, and Carter's testimony exonerated Ramsey.

Later, Ramsey and Carter went back to their mountain observatory to view the remains of Torr--with the death of Torr, the alien's will was broken, and thus the device on Ramsey's wrist finally crumbled into dust. The two scientists wondered if any more of Torr's race would ever again reach Earth--there was only one chance in a billion of the aliens finding the planet again, but if they did come, Earth would be ready for them.

--Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (fb), Amazing Adventures I#1/1

John Carter

An associate of Paul Ramsey, Carter was a scientist who accidentally helped bring Torr to Earth with a signal from a radio-telescope. Carter's consciousness was forced into Torr's body, while Torr used Carter's form to explore Earth. Torr maintained control over Carter while he was in the alien's body, and he had Carter seal himself inside a cave, then Torr forced Ramsey to drive him to New York City.

While Torr was in Carter's body, Ramsey shot him dead (see comments), and Ramsey was arrested for the murder of "John Carter"; but Carter's consciousness eventually returned to his true form, and he came back to life in a hospital morgue, apparently uninjured.

Carter later came to Ramsey's defense at his trial, just in time to save Ramsey from being found guilty of Carter's murder--Carter related the entire story of Torr to the jury.

Later, Carter and Ramsey went back to their mountain observatory to view the remains of Torr. The two scientists wondered if any more of Torr's race would ever again reach Earth--there was only one chance in a billion of the aliens finding the planet again, but if they did come, Earth would be ready for them.

--Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (Amazing Adventures I#1/1, Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (fb)

Torr's spaceship

It transported Torr from his homeworld into space.

When Torr was attracted to Earth by the signal of a radio-telescope, he landed his spaceship near an observatory used by Paul Ramsey and John Carter.

Following Torr's apparent demise, the whereabouts of his spaceship was unrevealed.

--Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (fb)

Torr's electromagnetic signal device

Appearing somewhat similar to a wristwatch, it was apparently "smart technology" and could send a signal to Torr's homeworld; it could only be removed at Torr's command.

When Torr transferred his consciousness into John Carter's body, he coerced the cooperation of Paul Ramsey by placing this device on Ramsey's wrist--Torr warned Ramsey that its signal would summon more of his kind to Earth if Ramsey revealed the truth of his disguise.

While Torr possessed the body of John Carter,  Ramsey shot and killed the alien; Ramsey was arrested for murder, but he was unable to say anything in his defense, for he feared that if he told the truth about Torr, the signal device would activate. 

But some time after Torr's demise, the signal device eventually crumbled into dust.

--Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (fb)

Torr's hypno-illusion capsules

Weapons that Torr brought with him for his conquest of Earth, the capsules contained a hallucinatory gas that would cause human beings to experience nightmarish illusions--Torr's brain and nervous system were immune to the effects of the gas.

Torr never actually utilized the capsules, but merely described their effects to Paul Ramsey.

--Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (fb)

Torr
of Earth-1161

(Age of the Sentry#1/2) - Torr attacked the Sinnott Valley Power Plant as part of a plan to conquer Earth; although the Sentry's strength was being drained by the Mad Thinker and Tinkerer, he managed to defeat the giant alien by tossing a steam-roller on top of him.

--Age of the Sentry#1/2

images: (without ads)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p7, pan3 (Main Image - Torr (left) switching bodies with John Carter; Paul Ramsey (right))
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p1, pan1 (Headshot - Torr)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p5, pan3 (Torr being shot by Paul Ramsey; John Carter (background))
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p8, pan6 (Torr (in John Carter's body) commands John Carter (in Torr's body) to stay put in cave)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p5, pan2 (Paul Ramsey grabs shotgun)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p12, pan4 (Paul Ramsey shoots Torr (in John Carter's body) with policeman's gun)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p7, pan2 (John Carter, about to have his body taken by Torr)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p12, pan7 (John Carter (under sheet) returns to life in hospital morgue; morgue attendant (background))
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p13, pan3 (John Carter, returned to life, appears at Paul Ramsey's trial)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p3, pan3 (Torr's spaceship, flying to Earth)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p3, pan5 (Torr's spaceship, landing on Earth, near observatory)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p9, pan2 (Torr (in John Carter's body) holds electromagnetic signal device, about to place it on Paul Ramsey's wrist)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p9, pan4 (Paul Ramsey with electromagnetic signal device on his wrist, as Torr (in John Carter's body) tells him its function)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p12, pan6 (electromagnetic signal device on Paul Ramsey's wrist; Ramsey thinking that he can't defend himself for killing "John Carter" (actually Torr))
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p10, pan1 ( (in Torr's thoughts) Torr uses hypno-illusion capsules on humans)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p10, pan2 ( (in Torr's thoughts) Torr describes effects of hypno-illusion capsules on human victims)
Amazing Adventures I#1/1, p10, pan3 ( (in Torr's thoughts) Torr further describes effects of hypno-illusion capsules)
Age of the Sentry#1, p18, pan4 (Earth-1161 version)

Appearances:
Amazing Adventures I#1/1 (June, 1961) - Stan Lee (writer and editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)
Age of the Sentry#1/2 (November, 2008) - Paul Tobin (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)

First Posted: 10/11/2004
Last updated: 07/03/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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