This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at some of the Golden Age stories of DC’s Hourman.
ADVENTURE COMICS Vol 1 #48 (Mar 1940)
Title: Presenting the Hourman
Villains: Jewel thieves Randall and Kennedy
Synopsis: At Bannerman Laboratories, chemist Rex Tyler secretly concocts a new drug he calls Miraclo. That drug grants him the strength and speed of 10 men for one hour. Rex adopts the costumed identity Hourman and advertises in the paper that people can seek him out if they need help.
In this debut story, Hourman recovers a woman’s stolen jewels and brings down the two-man theft ring. The city in which he operates is named Appleton.
NOTE: Over the years, changes would make it so that Miraclo granted Rex Tyler the strength of 50 men. Due to parental concerns about promoting drug use since Rex popped Miraclo pills, for a time it was changed to a Miraclo RAY that would increase Hourman’s strength. Other times it was retconned so that Hourman’s costume was enchanted and it was the source of his powers.
Ultimately, it always came back to Miraclo being a designer drug that Rex Tyler had concocted. In modern DC stories it is even said that the formula powering Batman’s foe Bane is an offshoot of Miraclo. Continue reading
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