Origin
Prince Wayfinder was the leader of a planet called Ithaka that suffered an unknown catastrophe which caused the surviving inhabitants to wander the stars in search of a home. Eventually they found Earth in its ancient prehistoric state, where they quickly erected a city intending to make it their new home. However, the Earth was also home to ancient and evil creatures that would best be described as demons. In order to save his people, he used an ancient artifact known as The Sword In The Star to create a place of escape for his people. The Sword In The Star created a microscopic universe for the Ithakans to escape to, and imbued Prince Wayfinder with phenomenal cosmic power. Using his new found power of The Enigma Force, Prince Wayfinder, now called Time Traveller, bound the demons beyond time and space, allowing the Ithakans to go forth and populate The Microverse.
Creation
In 1974 the Japanese toy company Takara introduced a micro sized version of its popular Henshin Cyborg toy line called Microman. The original four toys later known as Founder Microman were pretty much directly based off of the Henshin Cyborg toys. In 1976 American toy manufacturer Mego introduced its Micronauts toy line and part of the first series was Time Traveler which was a direct reproduction of the Founder Microman.
In 1979 Marvel Comics writer Bill Mantlo convinced then Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter to acquire the license to adapt the Mego Micronauts toys to comic books. Mantlo became the first writer on the series, and together with artist Michael Golden they created a rich back story for Time Traveler, ironically making him the “founder” of the Microverse.