Line #31 ComicBook/Hourman


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hourman_rex_tyler_0004.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Men of the Hour."]]
3
4	'''Hourman''' is a name shared by three superheroes from Creator/DCComics.
5
6	The first was '''Rex Tyler''', who first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #48 (March, 1940). He was co-created by Ken Fitch and Bernard Baily. One of the original "mystery men" of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, Rex was a biochemist who discovered a particular mixture of vitamins and hormones that he dubbed "Miraclo" which enabled enhanced strength, agility, speed and endurance for [[HourOfPower an hour before wearing off]].
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8	Tyler's decision to become a superhero was two-fold: 1) he wanted a human trial with a panel and subject he could trust ([[ProfessorGuineaPig himself]]) and 2) he wanted the drug to be used "altruistically." As it ended up, he started his career by putting ads in the paper and aiding respondents. Eventually team-ups with other heroes led him to pool his resources with the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. Like most of his generation, a great deal of his crime-fighting career was in service to UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
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10	Hourman was one of the first characters cut from the JSA roster, and the character vanished until the 1960s, when he would show up for the regular crossover stories between the JSA and JLA. He was a part of the short lived Justice Society of America series from the early 1990s, and then came Zero Hour...
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12	Rex's career ended, along with most of the founding members of the JSA, when he was aged to death by the CrisisCrossover villain Extant in ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime''. Next up in the line was his son, '''Rick Tyler''', first appearing in ''ComicBook/InfinityInc'' #20 (November, 1985). Rick spent time with other second-generation superhumans calling themselves Infinity, Inc. Rick was brash and overbearing in his career, embodying many of the darker aspects of his father's alter ego when left to run unchecked. Several events led to Rick giving up the mantle for a time, but he was ultimately stopped from continuing as Hourman by the illness that had ravaged his body from prolonged use of the toxic Miraclo. When the third Hourman found him, he was enraged at a robot taking up his father's identity. He attacked his usurper but was ultimately thrown into the Timepoint, [[TimeStandsStill a place of suspended time]], where he would wait until a cure could be found several years later.
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14	The third Hourman was an android called ''''"Matthew Tyler"''', created by Tyler Chemorobotics during the 853rd Century being based upon the genetic make-up of Rex, making the andriod his descendent. He first appeared in ''ComicBook/JLA1997'' #12 (November, 1997) who had traveled from far in the future to help the modern Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica. Matthew begins as a [[TheEndIsNigh Harbinger]] of future [[StoryArc crises]], then transforms into ChekhovsGunman in the ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion'' mini-series. Afterwards, his [[TheOmnipotent omnipotent]] power mixed with a general lack of experience and maturity led to him seeking out the most humanizing sidekick/mentor in the JLA's roster: ...Snapper Carr. In the midst of his solo adventures with Snapper and several other friends, Matthew spent time connecting with the newest incarnation of the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. Years later, after curing Rick of his illness and reuniting him with his father, Matthew took Rex's place in the time-line, allowing himself to be "killed" and giving Rex and his son a chance to find their place in the current world.
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16	After ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' rebooted the DCU, no Hourman existed, although Miraclo did and was a plot point in ''ComicBook/Earth2'', until a version of Rick Tyler appeared in ''Earth-2: Society'' who became part of the Wonders of the World (the New 52 version of the Justice Society). ''Comicbook/DoomsdayClock'' and ''Comicbook/InfiniteFrontier'' restored the JSA characters to continuity, with Rick playing a role in ''Comicbook/DarkCrisis'' and Matthew appearing in ''ComicBook/StargirlTheLostChildren'', with both of them currently starring in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica2022''
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18	Various incarnations of Hourman have appeared occasionally in live action. The Rex Tyler version briefly appeared in the Series/{{Arrowverse}} series ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', portrayed there by Creator/PatrickJAdams. On Creator/DCUniverse's ''Series/{{Stargirl\|2020}}'', both Rex and Rick appear as Hourman in varying capacities; Rex as a {{posthumous character}} (portrayed by Creator/LouFerrignoJr in flashbacks) while Rick (Cameron Gellman) becomes the second Hourman in Stargirl's revived Justice Society. An ''Hourman'' series was also [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cw-developing-drama-based-dc-653261 once reported to be in development]] at Creator/TheCW in 2013, but it [[DevelopmentHell never materialized]].
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20	For tropes on Rex and Matthew, see Characters/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. For Rick, see Characters/InfinityInc
21
22	!!Tropes for the 1999 comic book run:
23	* AIIsACrapshoot: Averted by Matthew and [[spoiler:Tomorrow Woman]], but played straight by virtually every other android in the series. Matthre actively questions if it's an inevitable flaw of design or something he has a choice in.
24	** Heck, [[spoiler:Tomorrow Woman]] ''did'' rebel against her maker; but since her maker was an evil RobotMaster and she wanted to be a hero, that was actually a good thing.
25	* {{Arc Words}}: In the first issue, Snapper recites a list about a dozen strange terms ("The timepoint, the giant nanites, the Century of Solitude" and several others) which he doesn't understand, but which he knows are going to affect his and Hourman's future. Throughout the course of the series, each one plays an important role in the story. In the final issue, just before [[spoiler: he and Hourman part ways]] Snapper recites the terms again, but this time as a list of fond memories.
26	* GranolaGirl: Bethany, the curious and precocious ex-wife of Snapper Carr [[spoiler:and predestined girlfriend of Hourman]].
27	* SideKick: Snapper Carr, member of the first incarnation of the Justice League of America and the [[Characters/IncredibleHulkSupportingCharacters Rick Jones]] of the Franchise/DCUniverse.
28	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: A large theme of the ''Hourman'' series, Tyler goes around asking many other androids their perspective on identity and what it means to be a person.

Context ComicBook / Hourman