Hourman
| Hourman | |
|---|---|
All three Hourmen (from top: Matthew, Rick & Rex Tyler). Promotional art for JSA #65 by J.H. Williams III
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First comic appearance | Adventure Comics #48 (March 1940) |
| Created by |
Ken Fitch Bernard Baily |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Rex Tyler |
| Team affiliations | |
| Notable aliases | Hour-Man |
| Abilities |
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Hourman (spelled Hour-Man in his earliest appearances, also referred to as the Hour-Man, and the Hourman) is the name of three different fictional superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. The original Hourman was created by Ken Fitch and Bernard Baily in Adventure Comics #48 (April 1940), during the Golden Age of Comic Books.
Scientist Rex Tyler, raised in upstate New York, developed an affinity for chemistry, particularly biochemistry. Working his way through college, he landed a job researching vitamins and hormone supplements at Bannermain Chemical. A series of discoveries and accidents led him to the "miraculous vitamin" Miraclo. He found that concentrated doses of the "miraclo" given to test mice increased their strength and vitality several times that of normal. After taking a dose himself, Rex found he could have superhuman strength and speed for the hour that the vitamin's effects lasted, before returning to human levels.
Keeping the discovery of Miraclo a secret, Tyler decided that human trials would be limited to the only subject he could trust: himself. Feeling that the Miraclo-induced abilities should be used for good purposes, he decided to use the abilities to help those in need; in other words, he would become a superhero, based in Appleton City. He received his first mission by placing an ad stating that "The Man of The Hour" would help the needy. Tracking down one responder to the ad, he aided a housewife whose husband was falling in with the wrong crowd, and stopped a robbery. Using a costume he found in an abandoned costume shop, he started to adventure as The Hour-Man (later dropping the hyphen). In November 1940 Hourman became one of the founding members of the first superhero team, the Justice Society of America. After leaving the JSA in mid-1941 Tyler became one of Uncle Sam's initial group of Freedom Fighters. He later became part of the wartime All-Star Squadron.
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