WANTED: Earth-Two's Most Dangerous Super-Villains
Zor
Personal information
Name: Unknown, possibly Zor
Residence: Astral plane
Occupation: Otherworldly presence, would-be conqueror
First Appearance (Golden Age): More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940)
Character History
The origins of the being known as Zor are shrouded in mystery. The first encounter with him occurred in the Spring of 1940 when Jim Corrigan, having been struck in a hit and run, gave pursuit as the Spectre. As he veers the car over a cliff to it's demise, he is astonished to see it rise to the road safely. When he investigates, a being known as Zor appears and challenges him. The two engage in battle in every increasing size but the Spectre, knew to his eldritch powers, is over-matched by Zor, who departs with a taunt.
Taking pleasure in tormenting the Spectre, the evil Zor transforms himself into a duplicate of Jim Corrigan and visits Clarice Winston, seducing her into eloping with him. As they speed away, the way becomes darker and it becomes obvious to the horrified Clarice that the driver is not Corrigan. Zor reveals himself and tells her they are traveling through dimensions to his black castle far from Earth. The Spectre pursues but loses them, begging the Voice of God for more power. He bestows on the Spectre the ability to track across the multiverse, allowing him to find Zor with Clarice in his clutches.
Zor was prepared however and as the Spectre enters the castle, he is trapped in a paralysis beam. The Spectre thinks fast and claims to have "The Secret of Life" which he will offer in exchange for his freedom. Zor takes the bait and releases the Spectre who immediately attacks them. As they struggle, the Spectre allows him to capture a written text containing "The Secret" but it was just a ploy to lure Zor in front of his own paralysis ray, leaving him trapped in his own castle, seemingly for all time (More Fun Comics #55).

They had not heard the last of Zor however. Using telepathy, Zor's
immobilized body reached across dimensions to communicate to a prominent
scientist, Dr. Dale Ericks. Ericks, under Zor's influence, creates a
method to travel across the multiverse and is lured to Zor's castle.
Zor instructs him to release the paralysis ray but Erick's reward for
his trouble is to take Zor's place, abandoned in the castle as Zor
returns to Earth,
Bent on revenge, Zor murders a detective and
frames Corrigan for the crime. The Spectre confronts Zor but he again
defeated by Zor's more masterful grasp of magic. Again targeting
Clarice Winston, Zor rescues a condemned murderer from the gallows and
in exchange for his life, has him kidnap Clarice. Tied to a log, she is
sent over a waterfall as the Spectre pounds on an invisible wall
between them. The Spectre again beseeches the Voice for answers and is
told that ectobane is a potent weakness of those who practice evil
magic. Quickly gather ectobane wood from the country of Lugania, the
Spectre constructs a coffin and captures Zor within it. He flings Zor
into the depths of space, expecting never to see him again.. He
reverses the waterfall and save Clarice, leaving the murderer
transformed into a tree (More Fun Comics #57).
Zor appears a year
later as an agent on Ian Karkull tasked with the murder of future
president Gerald Ford. How he escaped the ectobane coffin is unclear
but the Spectre's grasp of his powers had grown significantly in the
last year, defeating Zor for a third time. What became of Zor after
this and whether he ever re-appeared on Earth-Two is unknown (All-Star
Squadron Annual #3).
Powers and Abilities
The full range of Zor's powers are unclear and the basis for them is unknown. Demonstrated abilities include telepathy, size changing, travel between dimensions, manipulation of cosmic level physic forces, shape changing, creation of force objects and construction of advanced machinery of either scientific and eldritch design. To whom or what he owes these abilities is unknown and the upper limits are undefined. It is known that he was easily able to handle the Spectre during the hero's early career when the his abilities were not fully mature.
Weaknesses and Limitations
While powerful, Zor has some generalized and specific weaknesses. The first is that he can fall victim to his own devices, such as being captured in his own paralysis ray. Second, is that he a specific demonstrated weakness to ectobane, a mystic form of wood. Finally, he can be generally over-powered by superior magical forces, as he was later in the Spectre's career when the hero has much greater mastery of the forces inherent to being The Spectre.

Multiversity
In the Post-Crisis Earth-0 timeline, it is revealed that Zor is a fallen angel from a special order designed to maintain order in reality known as Time Tailors. Zor rebelled against t them and sewed mayhem until he was stopped by the Spectre.
In more modern times, Zor's actions are revealed to caused the Sheeda, a threat from 1 billion years in the future to attack modern times (Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol. 1 #0). Zor is eventually defeated in this effort by Zatanna and taken into custody by the other Time Tailors (Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #4).
Appearances
Issue |
Comment |
Reprinted in |
More Fun Comics #55 |
First Appearance, vs. The Spectre |
Spectre Archives Vol. 1, DC 100-Page Spectacular #6, DC 100-Page Spectacular #6 Replica Edition |
More Fun Comics #57 |
Vs. The Spectre |
Spectre Archives Vol. 1, Superman #252, The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told |
As an agent of Ian Karkull, vs. the Spectre and the All-Star Squadron |
|