TINTO

Real Name: Tinto

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Martian (? see comments) 1950s era)

Occupation: Pet

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Loror, unidentified Martian adult

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Thing" (as referred to by Earthlings)

Base of Operations: Temporarily mobile on Earth; originally from Mars (see comments)

First Appearance: Mystic I#54/5 (December, 1956)

Powers/Abilities: Somewhat resembling an extremely large caterpillar with eight small upper appendages, this extraterrestrial creature was actually a domesticated and harmless Martian pet--although feared by humans because of his strange appearance and powers, he was actually quite tame and affectionate to his young owner.

   The furry white Tinto had enough strength to overturn a car. He demonstrated such paranormal abilities as passing through solid matter, and was resistant to explosions and gunfire; although he usually moved about by crawling, he apparently also had the power to levitate himself (see comments).

Length: Unrevealed (7'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: White

History:
(Mystic I#54/5 (fb) - BTS) - Tinto was sent to Mars in a freight rocket by his owners (see comments); but he was lost in transit when meteorites shattered the rocket's cargo compartment, and he fell out into space near Earth orbit.

(Mystic I#54/5) - During a routine test, the U.S. launched a rocket into the stratosphere; with its fuel spent, the rocket arched to return to Earth--at that point, Tinto apparently hitched a ride inside it.

   The rocket came crashing back down in the desert of the American southwest; when a two-man recovery team arrived to retrieve the test equipment inside the rocket, Tinto came crawling from the wreckage. Startled by the strange creature, the men fired their handguns at it, but found that the bullets had no effect, so they drove away in a panic.

   The following morning, the lonesome Tinto crawled to a nearby town, where several citizens where frightened by his unearthly appearance. Later in the day, the curious Tinto saw some construction workers building a bridge--the workers stared in awe as Tinto passed through a steel girder. By nightfall, the whole town was in a panic over sightings of "The Thing," so the police and army were notified, and preparations were made to stop it.

   The next morning, as Tinto crawled along one of the town's streets, he overturned a car blocking his path. He was confronted by police and soldiers, who fired upon him--Tinto paused for a moment as the din of the explosions rocked the ground, and seemed puzzled that there should be all this excitement. Then, as if disappointed in the antics of the men, Tinto ambled off in mid-air, as he rose above the gunfire.

   As night fell, the soldiers continued their search for "The Thing"--the creature seemed to be searching for something, and they were concerned about the havoc it could wreak with its incredible powers. By the light of the full moon, they finally located "The Thing" on a hilltop, where what appeared to be a "shooting star" had captured its attention; but as the soldiers rushed up the hill, they discovered that the strange creature was gone, and they could only wonder what happened to it.

   Meanwhile, aboard the Martian spacecraft that had been the "shooting star," Tinto was happily reunited with his young master, Loror; as they returned home, the Martian boy promised his pet that he'd never let him travel alone by freight rocket again.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Manny Stallman.




   So the "monster" was basically just the Martian equivalent of a lost puppy dog.

   The adult Martian referred to Tinto as "him," so we can assume he was male.

   This 4-page story--The Thing!--never actually stated that Tinto was a native of Mars--it's always possible that he came from a planet in another star-system; considering that he was originally sent in a freight rocket by his owners, my guess is that the "Martians" were also from another planet and were just colonizing Mars.

   I would speculate that Tinto had the ability to control his molecular density (much like the Vision / "Victor Shade"), which would explain how he passed through that steel girder [see third image], why he was immune to gunfire and explosions, and how he seemed to float in the air.

   The two Martians' presence in this story was only seen in the final two story panels, so very little was revealed about them or their race.

It remains to be explained how so many different races/beings allegedly originated from Mars.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Tinto / "The Thing" has no known connections with:

Loror and the unidentified Martian adult have no known connections to:

Loror and unidentified Martian adult

A race of green-skinned humanoids, they were advanced enough to have spacecraft capable of at least interplanetary travel.

Loror was a Martian boy; when his pet Tinto was sent to Mars in a freight rocket, meteorites struck the rocket's cargo compartment, and Tinto was lost on Earth.

Some days later, Loror was reunited with his lost pet, and he promised Tinto that he'd never have to travel alone in a freight rocket again.

--Mystic I#54/5

(Comments: These are the only two panels where these Martians actually appeared--the Martian boy Loror is holding Tinto in the background, and I assume the one in the foreground is Loror's unidentified father; but considering how much larger Tinto was in comparison to humans, yet the child Loror was able to hold and cuddle him, I would estimate that this Martian race was probably at least twice as tall as humans. With their headgear, these Martians remind me of the Rigellians.)

images: (without ads)
Mystic I#54/5, p3, pan5 (main image - Tinto)
Mystic I#54/5, p3, pan7 (Tinto, crawling through gunfire and explosions)
Mystic I#54/5, p3, pan2 (Tinto passes through steel girder)
Mystic I#54/5, p4, pan1 (Tinto [in red circle] levitates above soldiers' gunfire)
Mystic I#54/5, p4, pan4 (on hilltop, Tinto sees passing Martian spacecraft searching for him)
Mystic I#54/5, p4, pan6 (unidentified adult Martian; Loror holding Tinto [background])
Mystic I#54/5, p4, pan7 (Martians' spacecraft)

Appearances:
Mystic I#54/5 (December, 1956) - unidentified writer, Manny Stallman (pencils/inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 11/15/2025
Last updated: 11/15/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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