Hourman
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Hourman (spelled Hour-Man in his earliest appearances) is a fictional DC Comics superhero created by Ken Fitch and Bernard Bailey in Adventure Comics #48 (April 1940), during the Golden Age of Comic Books.
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Rex Tyler
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 that "vitamin" given to test mice increased their strength and vitality several times that of normal. Taking a dose himself, Rex found he could have superhuman strength and speed for the hour that 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 that needed it; in other words, he would become a superhero. His first mission came as a result of Tyler's placing an ad stating that "The Man of The Hour" would help those that needed it. Tracking down one respondent 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. Image:AllStar1.jpg Hourman would be one of many heroes whose popularity would begin to decline in the post-war years. Eventually, his adventures ended. However, 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.
Unlike some other Golden Age heroes, his character would continue to grow more and more complex. The idea that Miraclo was addictive, combined with the suggestion that Tyler himself was addicted to crime fighting, made Hourman one of the superhero world's first cautionary tales. Rex would continue to fight both of his addictions throughout the rest of his appearances. His character was seemingly killed off along with other Golden Age heroes fighting a time-traveling villain named Extant. He was recently rescued from that fate by the third Hourman who took his place in that battle. Rex now lives in semi-retirement with his wife Wendi.
Rick Tyler
Template:Main Rick Tyler, Rex's son, took over the Hourman mantle during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Rick swallowed some of his father's Miraclo pills to help him save people trapped in a burning hospital. After serving for a few years as a member of Infinity, Inc., a team largely comprised of other JSA-member children, Rick began to grow addicted to Miraclo just as his father did. He spent many years after leaving the group critically ill until the android Hourman cured him of his Miraclo addiction. Having conquered his personal demons and regaining his health, Rick joined the JSA in its incarnation as a small band of freedom fighters during the "Stealing Thunder" arc. He discovered that he had two added abilities: being able to see one hour into the future and to visit with his father in an otherworldly dimension called the Timepoint, frozen in time, just before Rex's death. Recently, Rick was severely injured in battle, and switched places with his father to save his life. Tyler, the android known as the third Hourman, took Rex and some other JSA members to the Timepoint to save Rick's life. The one hour Rex was allotted in the Timepoint expired just as Doctor Mid-Nite and Tyler had healed Rick of his injuries. Father and son fought over who would perish in the battle with Extant. Ultimately, Tyler the android took Rex's place and was destroyed when Rick and Rex returned to earth. Rick is once again active as Hourman and is an active member of the JSA. Currently, he has a romantic interest in Jesse Quick.
"Matthew Tyler"
Template:Main Another Hourman, an android from the 853rd century that was modeled on Rex Tyler's DNA, served with both the Justice League and the Justice Society for a time. Originally possessing the time-manipulating cosmic artifact known as the Worlogog, he divested himself of most of its power at the suggestion of Snapper Carr and went about learning to be human. After failing to stop Extant from escaping a fight, Hourman quit the JSA and began travelling through the timestream, returning when he received a distress call from the JSA. As noted above, he is currently believed to have been destroyed at the hands of Extant in Rex's place, although Rex hopes someday to rebuild him.
In other media
Hourman appears as a member of the Justice League in Justice League Unlimited and this version is said to be the Rick Tyler version.