Hourman (Rex Tyler) is a fictional

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

appearing in comics published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. He is known as the original

Hourman Hourman or Hour-Man is the name of three different fictional superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. The original Hourman was created by writer Ken Fitch and artist Bernard Baily in ''Adventure Comics'' #48 (March 1940), during t ...

(spelled Hour-Man in his earliest appearances, also referred to as The Hour-Man, and The Hourman). He was created by writer Ken Fitch and artist

Bernard Baily Bernard Baily (April 5, 1916 – January 19, 1996)
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' #48 (April 1940), during the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

. He continued to appear in ''Adventure Comics'' until issue #83 (Feb 1943). Rex Tyler made his live-action debut in the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

season of '' DC's Legends of Tomorrow'' before becoming a guest star in the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

season, portrayed by

Patrick J. Adams Patrick Johannes Adams (born August 27, 1981) is a Canadian-American actor. He is known for playing Mike Ross, a college dropout turned unlicensed lawyer, in the USA Network legal drama series '' Suits'' (2011–2019). His performance earned hi ...

. Rex Tyler also appeared in the first season of the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

series '' Stargirl'', portrayed by Lou Ferrigno Jr.

Fictional character biography

Scientist Rex Tyler, raised in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, developed an affinity for

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, particularly

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

. Working his way through college, he landed a job researching

vitamin Vitamins are Organic compound, organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamer, vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolism, metabolic function. Nutrient#Essential nutrients, ...

s and

hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physio ...

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 A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

increased their strength and vitality several times that of normal, but only for one hour. After taking a dose himself, Rex found he could have superhuman strength and speed for an hour, 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

, 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 Uncle Sam (with the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the United States, depicting the federal government of the United States, federal government or the country as a whole. Since the early 19th centu ...

's initial group of Freedom Fighters. He later became part of the wartime All-Star Squadron. According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "Hourman fights a variety of Doctors: the robot-wielding Dr. Darrk, the hypnotist Dr. Feher, the big-headed genius Dr. Glisten; the occultist and alchemist Dr. Iker; and the bio-engineer Dr. Togg. There is also the 90-Minute Man, who gains Hourman-like powers for 90 minutes from his radium armor". Hourman was one of many heroes whose popularity began to decline in the post-war years. Eventually, his adventures ended, but with the resurgence of super-heroes in the mid-1950s and early 1960s, interest in the Golden Age heroes returned, and Hourman was soon appearing as a guest star in issues of ''Justice League of America''. Like all the other Golden Agers, he was now considered an elder statesman of the super-hero set. It is later revealed that Miraclo is addictive and that Rex is struggling with its effects. In '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'',

Extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

kills Hourman before the

android rescues him and transports him to a pocket dimension. Rex is later resurrected, retires, and provides technical support for the JSA All-Stars, of whom his son is a member. In '' Doomsday Clock'', Hourman is erased from existence when

Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman) is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the graphic novel, limited Limited series (comics), series graphic novel, ''Watchmen.'' Follo ...

alters the timeline, but is resurrected when

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

convinces Manhattan to undo his actions.

Powers and abilities

Through the use of Miraclo, Hourman can possess superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability, night vision, underwater survival, and expert martial arts skills for one full hour.

In other media

Television

* Rex Tyler appears in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "The Golden Age of Justice!", voiced by

Lex Lang Lex Lang is an American voice actor and voice director, who has provided voices and served as a director for a number of animations and video games. He is best known for voicing Doctor Neo Cortex in the '' Crash Bandicoot'' franchise, Suguru ...

. This version uses an hourglass-shaped device to fuel his powers instead of Miraclo and appears as a member of an aged

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...

. * Rex Tyler appears in the ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'' episode "Tapping a Hero", voiced by

Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. His film debut was '' The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting roles in comedy films in the 1980s, including '' Radio Days'' ( ...

. * Rex Tyler appears in ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, ...

'', portrayed by

. This version is the leader of the Justice Society of America, who were active in the 1940s. At the end of the first season, he warns the

Legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, comic books, and theater * ''Legend'' (Gemmell novel), a 1 ...

not to travel to 1942 due to their impending deaths, only to vanish shortly afterwards. In the second season, the team meets Tyler's past self when they ignore his warning. Tyler is later killed by the

Reverse-Flash The Reverse-Flash is a name used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Each iteration of the character serves as a foil and an enemy of the Flash. Characters Edward Clariss Edward Clariss (also k ...

, erasing his future self who had discovered the Reverse-Flash's plans and warned the Legends from existence. Before his death, Rex was in a relationship with Vixen, who goes after and later joins the Legends to avenge Rex. * Rex Tyler appears in '' Stargirl'', portrayed by Lou Ferrigno Jr. This version is a member of the Justice Society of America whose powers are derived from an hourglass amulet. Ten years prior to the series, Rex and his wife Wendi are killed by Solomon Grundy. In the present, Rick Tyler assumes his father's mantle and amulet to avenge his parents' deaths.

Film

* Rex Tyler appears in the opening credits of '' Justice League: The New Frontier'', in which he falls to his death while running from police officers due to a ban on vigilantes. * An alternate universe incarnation of Rex Tyler appears in '' Justice Society: World War II'', voiced by

Matthew Mercer Matthew Christopher Miller, known professionally as Matthew Mercer or Matt Mercer, is an American voice actor, game designer and gamemaster. He has been an active voice-over artist in video games and animation since 2002. Notable animation cre ...

. This version hails from Earth-2 and is a founding member of the Justice Society of America, who were active during their Earth's version of the titular war.

References

External links

Grand Comics Database

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on February 5, 2016.

DC Indexes: Earth-2 Hourman I
{{GoldenAge Comics characters introduced in 1940 DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics scientists DC Comics titles Earth-Two DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics metahumans DC Comics martial artists Golden Age superheroes Fictional biochemists