Jab’s Builds! (Lawnmower Man! Samus Aran! Metroids!)

[JDRook]

... At PL 9, he can brawl with any of DC's Top Tier Martial Artists and come out on top, but usually just manages to hold his own (it's implied that Selina Kyle can take him, and Tigress once flat-out KO'd him in hand-to-hand)- even BATMAN respects his skills.

Maybe Ted needs a Complication: Susceptible to Cat-Girls. I'm sure Batman can respect that, too. Or maybe it would just be part of:

Complications:
Addiction (Poon)

Ted has three ranks of Improved Critical, and knows so many dirty tricks that he's partial to using those nifty "Alternate Effects" for stuff like pulling someone's cowl or cape over their eyes, or something.

Cool! I'm glad my Blockbuster post and subsequent ImpCrit research was useful to you. Does my black pedantic heart good.

[Jabroniville]

The last one is the prospective Infinity Inc. character "La Garro".

WILDCAT II (Yolanda Montez)
Created By: Roy Thomas & Todd MacFarlane
First Appearance: Infinity, Inc. #12 (March 1985)
Role: Quickly-Killed Minority Legacy Hero
Group Affiliations: Infinity, Inc., The Shadow Fighters
PL 8 (101)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 7
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+14)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Deception 3 (+4)
Expertise (Journalist) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+5)
Perception 5 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Fast Grab

Powers:
"Claws"
Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split) [2]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Claws +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Nukon)- Yolanda openly-flirted with the shy young man, but knew alongside most of Infinity, Inc. that he only had eyes for Fury.

Total: Abilities: 66 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 11 (101)

-The Yolanda Montez version of Wildcat actually has an interesting history, sadly more interesting than the character ever turned out to be. Going through TWO different designs before they finally settled on something, the husband/wife team of Roy & Dann Thomas repeatedly tried to make a cat-based female character for the All-Stars/Infinity Inc. First step was The Lynx (meant to be a Canadian heroine), who quickly became La Garro, a cat-dressed chick riding a motorcycle.

-Eventually, they settled on Yolanda Montez, a girl born with cat's claws and the god-daughter of Ted Grant, taking on Ted's legacy as Wildcat after he was "crippled" by the Red Tornado in Crisis on Infinite Earths. She was less than successful, essentially jumping onto Infinity Inc. right at the end of the era of Earth-2, which basically rendered any Golden Age-based comics dead for over a decade. Thus, Infinity Inc. saw itself cancelled a few years later, and Yolanda entered comics limbo, where she resided until she and a bunch of other throwaway heroes were murdered by Eclipso in his own series (yeah, they really gave him one)- she was on "The Shadow Fighters" with a few others, but was impaled by a sword. Thus, she joined Dr. Midnight II in the "Minority girls replacing male heroes, but were then casually offed because no one gave a crap" club, which kind of happens a lot when they try to replace superheroes with minorities. She actually got a tiny bit of a legacy in her cousin Alex, who used certain connections to contain Eclipso within his own body, but he was killed when they overwhelmed him. This was at least somewhat of a neat look at her legacy in comics, as Dr. Midnight was almost completely forgotten and left no effect, by contrast.

-Yolanda is a scaled-down version of Ted's Golden Age Wildcat, with lower stats just about everywhere, but she's got some super-powers he doesn't. PL 8-ish, but nothing to write home about.

[Sidious]

I kind of want the Paul Kirk clone Manhunter and Jim Harper Clone Guardian to do a team up where they discover that the organization that cloned them both is the same one and go on a "Hard traveling Heroes" adventure.

[Ken]

Wildcat, Ted, was an odd case of a minor golden age character who actually became MORE popular in the silver and bronze ages. His two JSA stories in the 40s led to him being revived in the 1960s, with the rest of the JSA. But by the 1960s, boxing had become more mainstream. There were enough boxing fans at DC that Ted was used in a number of places. His placement on the 1970s JSA as a regular probably stemmed from this. The Bob Haney penned Batman & Wildcat stories in the Brave & the Bold stemmed from this.

Those B&B stories then led to a Wildcat & Creeper story in Super-Team Family. Haney never bothered with the Earth-One/Earth-Two paradigm, so in his stories Batman & Wildcat simply co-existed on the same world. Gerry Conway, therefore, decided to write a story to explicitly say, "yes, there is an Earth-One Wildcat."

----

The "la Garro" image was from an early issue of Infinity Inc., so Roy and Dann had planned from the beginning on Yolanda joining. But the arrival of the Crisis, and DC's plan to sh*t all over the Thomas' work led to Yolanda becoming Wildcat II instead of la Garro (which I believe should be 'la Garra', but someone who knows Spanish should know better than me.)

[Ares]

Ted's a lot of fun. Much as I love my heroes to be nice guy/goody-two-shoes types, it is fun to have a guy who is old fashioned, cantankerous, not politically correct, occasionally offensive, but is still a genuinely good, respectable person. Ted would absolutely be someone a lot of the modern crowd would want to 'cancel' for being unapologetically un-PC, and Ted would happily tell them to go take a long walk off a short pier: he's got supervillains to punch.

I also like that Ted is a badass without any 'Eastern Martial Arts' training. I'd honestly give Ted a push as one of DC's best hand-to-hand fighters, someone who could hang with even folks like Richard Dragon, Ben Turner and Lady Shiva, because at this point he's developed his own style of boxing and wrestling as to be this ungodly unarmed powerhouse. This is the guy who fought gangsters, Nazis, supervillains and literal GODS and MONSTERS all using his boxing skills. At this point, he should be able to handle himself against just about anybody, and pull off similar stunts.

*Wildcat KOs some superstrong villain with a powerful punch within eye shot of Richard Dragon*

Dragon: "That was very impressive. Your chi is strong and you use it to great effect with your punches."

Wildcat: "You can call it 'chi' all you want, red. Me? I call it 'guts'."

And honestly, DC did the JSA a real disservice by killing off so many of the old guard during Zero Hour. There were just so few genuine Golden Agers left after that.

[Ares]

Actually, I am having a good chuckle imagining Stargirl trying to explain to Wildcat the concept of being 'cancelled'.

Stargirl: "Oh my gosh, Ted, you've been cancelled!"

Wildcat: "What? Did I have a show and no one told me about it?"

Stargirl: "What? No, I mean a lot of folks on social media are mad at you and don't think you should be allowed to be a superhero anymore!"

Wildcat: "-the Hell's a 'social media'? You know what, never mind. I don't wanna to know. So what'd I do to tick folks off this week?"

Stargirl: "Well, when we fought Brotherhood of Dada on Monday, you called The Quiz a 'Jap' and someone caught it on their phone."

Wildcat: "Ain't she Japanese?"

Stargirl: "Well, yeah, but you can't say it like that!"

Wildcat: "Sez who? Is there some law against it?"

Stargirl: "Well, no, but . . . "

Wildcat: "Look kid, something you'll learn is that every decade has its own flavor of moral busy body trying to tell you how offended they are by yer very existence. Some of 'em actually mean well. Most of 'em just want to have some kind of excuse ta push people around. You spend your whole life worried what other folks think of you, you'll never get nothing done. If anyone has a problem with how I talk or what I say, they can bring it up wit me personally. I'll let em say their piece, and then I'll say mine. Maybe they'll even change my mind. But 'til they do, I ain't got time to overthink every word come'n outta my mouth. I'm too old and I got supervillains to punch."

[Jabroniville]

Ted's a lot of fun. Much as I love my heroes to be nice guy/goody-two-shoes types, it is fun to have a guy who is old fashioned, cantankerous, not politically correct, occasionally offensive, but is still a genuinely good, respectable person. Ted would absolutely be someone a lot of the modern crowd would want to 'cancel' for being unapologetically un-PC, and Ted would happily tell them to go take a long walk off a short pier: he's got supervillains to punch.

I also like that Ted is a badass without any 'Eastern Martial Arts' training. I'd honestly give Ted a push as one of DC's best hand-to-hand fighters, someone who could hang with even folks like Richard Dragon, Ben Turner and Lady Shiva, because at this point he's developed his own style of boxing and wrestling as to be this ungodly unarmed powerhouse. This is the guy who fought gangsters, Nazis, supervillains and literal GODS and MONSTERS all using his boxing skills. At this point, he should be able to handle himself against just about anybody, and pull off similar stunts.

*Wildcat KOs some superstrong villain with a powerful punch within eye shot of Richard Dragon*

Dragon: "That was very impressive. Your chi is strong and you use it to great effect with your punches."

Wildcat: "You can call it 'chi' all you want, red. Me? I call it 'guts'."

And honestly, DC did the JSA a real disservice by killing off so many of the old guard during Zero Hour. There were just so few genuine Golden Agers left after that.

Yeah, Ted's perfect for stuff like that. The tend to alternate using him as a Jobber To The Stars/Badass, where he'll get beaten easily (Mordru easily taking him down and breaking his limbs, for example), then next month he's whupping entire GROUPS of guys. Thankfully all the 2000s JSA writers seemed to like him.

Regarding the last bit, what I've heard was that Justice Society (the early '90s book) sold well, but someone at DC editorial thought the idea of elderly heroes running around was stupid, and so A) the book was cancelled, and B) a bunch of them were killed off all at once. Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Night, The Atom & Hourman all in succession, then Sandman got aged up and that's around when the Hawks were done away with. By the end, you couldn't even make a single super-team out of them.

[Jabroniville]

WILDCAT III (Tom Bronson, aka Tomcat)
Created By: Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham (sorta Alex Ross & Mark Waid)
First Appearance: The Justice Society of America #1 (Feb. 2007)
Role: Legacy Character, Animal Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America
PL 7 (92)
STRENGTH 4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+9)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 6 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard

Powers:
"Werepanther"
"Animal Senses" Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Extended & Ultra-Hearing) [5]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
"Natural Weapons- Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

"Cat Agility"
"Climbing Skills" Enhanced Skills 4: Athletics 4 (+13) (Flaws: Limited to Climbing) [1]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]

"Black Coat" Enhanced Skills 4: Stealth 4 (+10) (Flaws: Limited to Dark Areas) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Claws +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Ted Grant)- Tom doesn't hate Ted for having a one-night stand with his mom years ago, but doesn't particularly care for a relationship, either. It's only Ted's stubborness that brings the two a bit closer together, though Tom just seems annoyed by his dad's rough attention.
Normal Identity (Tom Bronson)- Tom has to transform into a wildcat to use any of his abilities. Tom's stats are ST 1, STA 1, AGI 2, FIGHTING 4.

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 10 (92)

Another Kingdom Come Legacy:
-Another "Alex Ross sorta created him, so let's make him be born now" character (joining Cyclone & Starman VIII), Wildcat III is based off of the appearance of the bitchin' looking black panther guy in Kingdom Come, reproduced in 2007 as a "long-lost son" kind of guy. Tom is a cynical young adult who appears sarcastic towards superheroics, but nonetheless reveals his Werepanther nature during the fight against Vandal Savage. The neatest part of the relationship (aside from the fact that OF COURSE Ted has illegitimate children!) was that it was the opposite of what you usually see- TOM wasn't interested in a relationship with his dad, and said so- he wasn't bitter about Ted not remembering his mom or any of that. It was TED who was the one who wanted a relationship, but didn't want to flat-out say it, since he's an old-fashioned tough guy and all- this gruff, tough old guy is basically like "Hey, hold on a second..." and tries to form a relationship of sorts with the only family he's got left.

-A purely '"newbie" hero, Tom didn't even really know how to fight or anything like that, and sort of failed to develop into an elite fighter later on- he was just kind of a background guy. More often than not, he was lectured by the others (usually Ted) on how bad he was doing ("you're giving yourself away with that tail of yours"). Funnily enough, it was revealed in goofy manner years later that Ted actually DID remember Tom's mother- she was a one-night stand, sure- but she was also A WEREPANTHER, and got involved in a big scuffle with Ted. When Ted basically coldly left her behind after the fight was over (after he got Dr. Mid-Nite to cure her of the involuntary nature of her powers)- Mid-Nite notes that "he doesn't have a monogamous bone in his body!"- she simply went off and raised Tom by herself. Tom was a pretty minor part of that JSA run, however, getting less to do than the Cyclones & Magogs (but a bit more than the Lightnings & Amazing Mans), and doesn't have any real character bits. When the JSA splits up into PG/Magog & Old Guard teams, Tom joins the JSA All-Stars crew of rookies and some say he goes by "Tomcat" (though I remember him rejecting that name, it does appear to be official later). But once again he didn't really get up to much- even on a book with half the friggin' roster, they didn't bother.

"You know how to draw a humanoid cat, right?" "Um, sure... *sweats profusely*":
-Tom also has one awful, awful flaw for a comic book character- he is RIDICULOUSLY hard to draw. "Werecat" may not SEEM difficult, but keep in mind it requires the ability to draw humans, a cat, fur (not the easiest thing to do, and always takes a lot of time), large black patches, and fit them all together. I have seen some GARBAGE work by artists trying to draw this character, especially in small panels- people as good and experienced as Jerry Ordway couldn't manage it. I've seen drawings of Tom where he looks like a giant grey monkey. In another, he looks too doglike, because of course cats have muzzles but if you make it TOO long, then it's a dog's nose. So despite being simple at-heart (big naked cat-man), he's a pain for artists who aren't ready for it. Dale Eaglesham can do it, but... well, he's the best, maybe ever.

Tomcat's Powers:
-Statting brand-new characters (or, uh, 2007 characters in a continuity that ended four years later) like this is always tough, as he's been shown as having some impressive physical powers, but REALLY lacks combat skill, as Wildcat points out in their battle with Savage. So he fits a PL 7 build, a guy with good powers, but low Attack Bonus. Hell, I might even be giving him too much here as well, but let's just say his "cat genes" tend to give him a bit of a boost.

[Skavenger]

-The origin of Kate's super-powered gear appears in Manhunter #15- the suit is a Darkstar uniform, taken from a member who died in battle and fell to Earth. She doesn't appear to be as strong as other Darkstars, nor does she showcase the +12 Toughness- just slightly elevated levels of both. It's apparently left unclear whether or not she has metahuman powers or is just tougher than normal, so she doesn't maintain the Darkstar power array or anything. Her Gauntlets were originally worn by Azrael during his stint as Batman- a crook had used them in an unsuccessful burglary. The Staff comes from a man programmed to believe he was Mark "Manhunter" Shaw- the man died fighting Eclipso, alongside Yolanda "Wildcat" Montez & Beth "Dr. Midnight" Chapel.

I'm not going to lie, I absolutely love this idea, where someone gets their superhero gadgetry from storage lockers and just adapts it a bit to make it work for them. It'd be amazing if this was just a constant point where someone was able to come up with new gadgets, such as incorporating one of Captain Cold's ice guns, or one of Penguin's helicopter umbrellas.

[JDRook]

-The origin of Kate's super-powered gear appears in Manhunter #15- the suit is a Darkstar uniform, taken from a member who died in battle and fell to Earth. She doesn't appear to be as strong as other Darkstars, nor does she showcase the +12 Toughness- just slightly elevated levels of both. It's apparently left unclear whether or not she has metahuman powers or is just tougher than normal, so she doesn't maintain the Darkstar power array or anything. Her Gauntlets were originally worn by Azrael during his stint as Batman- a crook had used them in an unsuccessful burglary. The Staff comes from a man programmed to believe he was Mark "Manhunter" Shaw- the man died fighting Eclipso, alongside Yolanda "Wildcat" Montez & Beth "Dr. Midnight" Chapel.

I'm not going to lie, I absolutely love this idea, where someone gets their superhero gadgetry from storage lockers and just adapts it a bit to make it work for them. It'd be amazing if this was just a constant point where someone was able to come up with new gadgets, such as incorporating one of Captain Cold's ice guns, or one of Penguin's helicopter umbrellas.

If that was their whole schtick, I would think "Skavenger" would be a perfect name for them.

[Ken]

Wildcat: "Look kid, something you'll learn is that every decade has its own flavor of moral busy body trying to tell you how offended they are by yer very existence. Some of 'em actually mean well. Most of 'em just want to have some kind of excuse ta push people around. You spend your whole life worried what other folks think of you, you'll never get nothing done. If anyone has a problem with how I talk or what I say, they can bring it up wit me personally. I'll let em say their piece, and then I'll say mine. Maybe they'll even change my mind. But 'til they do, I ain't got time to overthink every word come'n outta my mouth."

Quoted for truth.

[Jabroniville]

HOURMAN I (Rex Tyler, aka Hour-Man)
Created By: Ken Fitch & Bernard Baily
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #48 (March 1940)
Role: Almost-Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 10 (119)
STRENGTH 3/10 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+5, +12 Miraclo)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 9 (+14)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 6 (+11)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown

Powers:
"Miraclo-Popping" (All Powers Have Flaw: Source- Miraclo Pill; One Per Day For One Hour)
Enhanced Strength 7 [7]
Enhanced Stamina 6 [6]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [1.5]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Diehard, Great Endurance, Power Attack [1.5]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Miraclo Strength +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+10 Miraclo), Fortitude +5 (+11 Miraclo), Will +8

Complications:
Addiction (Action)- Rex Tyler craves action, and during difficult situations, he often simply pops a pill and goes crime-stopping.
Relationship (Wendi Tyler)- Rex's unfortunate wife has spent many lonely nights, waiting for her adventurous husband.
Relationship (Rick Tyler- Son)- Rex was a somewhat absentee father, usually adventuring or building something. He strives to make up for this in the present.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 11 (119)

---

HOURMAN I (Rex Tyler, aka Hour-Man)- Golden Age
Created By: Ken Fitch & Bernard Baily
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #48 (March 1940)
Role: Almost-Forgotten Golden Age Hero
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, The Freedom Fighters, The All-Star Squadron
PL 8 (108)
STRENGTH 3/8 STAMINA 4/8 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+5, +10 Miraclo)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+10)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+5)
Technology 2 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Fearless, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown

Powers:
"Miraclo-Popping" (All Powers Have Flaw: Source- Miraclo Pill; One Per Day For One Hour)
Enhanced Strength 5 [5]
Enhanced Stamina 4 [4]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [1.5]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Diehard, Great Endurance, Power Attack [1.5]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Miraclo Strength +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+8 Miraclo), Fortitude +5 (+11 Miraclo), Will +6

Complications:
Addiction (Action)- Rex Tyler craves action, and during difficult situations, he often simply pops a pill and goes crime-stopping.
Relationship (Wendi Tyler)- Rex's unfortunate wife has spent many lonely nights, waiting for her adventurous husband.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 9 (108)

Hourman- Forgotten Golden Ager to Modern Legacies:
-Hour-Man was a Golden Age hero who stands out for two reasons- 1) the origin story, which seems to anticipate the rise of steroids by SEVERAL years, and B) the AWESOME costume. I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of the Golden Age motifs- I like some guys, but as a whole I find costumes of the era don't hold up that well. But HOURMAN looked awesome- that dark outfit with the big yellow hood and cape just WORKS, and swapping the colors looked even cooler. The fairly unique gimmick and his cool outfit probably combined to make him much more important than a lot of contemporaries, even in the JSA (which he was only in for a short time in real life).

-Rex Tyler was a chemist who accidentally-invented an awesome wonder-drug named "Miraclo" (that's actually a really good name for a wonder drug, if you think about it) that gave him superhuman strength for one hour. He soon changed his name to Hourman, fighting crime in the test phases of his drug. His feature was initially a bit popular (he got some cover duties), but quickly fell apart, and he was cancelled after only a few dozen appearances- his book was your typical "Mystery Man Fights Common Crooks" feature- a dime a dozen in that era.

Hourman Returns:
-And so Hourman was forgotten- doomed to be one of those characters that never reappears unless Roy Thomas or somebody remembered him... but wait! Turns out Hourman was one of the charter members of the JUSTICE SOCIETY- this meant that he now had to show up on at least a couple of those yearly team-ups between the JSA and the Justice League! This one saving grace pretty much saved Rex Tyler as a character- though still pretty generic as heroes went, more would be done with him over the years. In fact, the nature of Miraclo in the '40s would be rather standard-issue-origin-story for the day, but NOW? Even by the 1960s, people were starting to be aware of the addictive nature of drugs, and steroids were becoming more well-known by the decade- much like Captain America, Hourman's origin would now be inextricably linked to performance-enhancing drugs- and unlike Cap, who basically took 'em once and stayed big forever (not QUITE the same as a steroid), Rex was an ACTIVE USER.

-Rex was given a bit of focus as a result, though his son Rick would take the addictions one step farther. His early departure from the JSA was explained as him joining the Freedom Fighters (now combined with the other DC continuities) instead. However, during Zero Hour, DC wanted to cull some of the chaff from their heavy Golden Age cast, and Rex was murdered by Extant alongside teammates the Sandman and the Atom. Hourman vanished for a decade, until JSA would reveal that as a "gift" to the Tyler family, the third Hourman gave Rex a temporary reprieve, sending Rex into a Limbo state for one full hour, allowing father and son to reconnect for that amount of time until Rex would return to Extant and meet his end. During a humorously-convoluted little story, Rick was mortally-wounded, and sent Rex into battle in his place- then tried to take Rex's place in the fatal battle against Extant! Rex was thus the proper "Hourman" for a time, acting like an action-junky and noticeably avoiding confronting his wife, who'd already mourned his loss- it was pretty clear he was just dodging an uncomfortable situation. Rex & Rick then FOUGHT over who got to die against Extant, resulting in the THIRD Hourman jumping it to sacrifice himself, meaning that Rex was alive once more. He thus entered a fairly-happy retirement, getting rid of his action-junky tendencies.

The Hour of Power:
-Hourman is a PL 10 hero in modern times, able to easily-hang with his own son in combat. However, back in the Golden Age, he was a PL 8 version of this, dropping some Strength (I would imagine the formula was perfected over time- he made a Non-Addictive formula as well) and accuracy before he got the experience and know-how. He's one of the few heroes who has a strict time limit on his powers, as Miraclo always fades after an hour has passed.

[Jabroniville]

HOURMAN II (Rick Tyler)
Created By: Roy & Dann Thomas & Todd McFarlane
First Appearance: Infinity Inc. #20 (Nov. 1985)
Role: Legacy Hero, Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Justice Society of America, Infinity Inc.
PL 10 (108)
STRENGTH 3/10 STAMINA 4/10 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 1 (+5)
Athletics 2 (+5, +12 Miraclo)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Science) 3 (+4)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Fast Grab, Fearless, Inspire, Ranged Attack 3, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Miraclo-Popping" (All Powers Have Flaw: Source- Miraclo Injections in Suit; One Per Day For One Hour)
Enhanced Strength 7 [7]
Enhanced Stamina 6 [6]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [1.5]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [1]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Diehard, Great Endurance, Power Attack [1.5]

"Flash-Forwards" Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Uncontrolled, Limited to One Hour in the Future) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Miraclo Strength +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+10 Miraclo), Fortitude +5 (+11 Miraclo), Will +7

Complications:
Addiction (Drugs)- Rick was addicted to Miraclo for a time, and maintains that he has an Addictive Personality, making him easily-attached to people and things.
Relationship (Rex & Wendi Tyler- Parents)- Rick and his father have a complex relationship- Rex was often away playing hero while Rick was growing up.
Relationship (Jesse Chambers)- Rick & Jesse were married during 52 at some point, and are basically that annoying couple that won't keep their hands off each other and call each other "Schmoopy".
Relationship (Dr. Beth Chapel)- Rick and Dr. Midnight were together for a time, until she was killed by Eclipso.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 11 (108)

-Rick Tyler debuted in Infinity Inc. as "oh yeah, didn't you know that Rex Tyler had an adult son?", suddenly popping up out of nowhere- he swiftly became the new Hourman, wearing a REALLY ugly Todd McFarlane-designed costume, and messed around for a bit (he was depicted as a somewhat troubled/bratty kid, and struggled with heroics and the "rush" of Miraclo almost immediately, and quickly quitting the team) before he was sidelined by Miraclo-related lieukemia. He eventually rejoined the team dressed like his then-disappeared father (trapped in Ragnarok). He vanished from DC for a decade after his father died, only returning after three or four trades' worth of JSA arcs, appearing out of nowhere as one of the "resistance" to a DC universe controlled by The Ultra-Humanite (wielding the powers of The Thunderbolt). Rick, in a BAD-ASS looking update of the "Hourman" uniform, helps save the day, and is immediately rewarded with membership on the team proper.

-After this, Rick fits in as just one guy of many, but gets a solid storyline involving his conversations with his father in the aforementioned "Limbo Timepoint" thing- the relationship between the two is rather interesting, dealing with parental abandonment (Rex Tyler did a lot of heroics when he should have been raising a boy) and trying to make up for lost times. Rick later tries to sacrifice himself to save his dad, but Rex AIN'T HAVING IT, and thankfully a worse character took the hit for both of them (Hourman III). After that, Rick is paired up with Jesse Chambers (the current Liberty Belle), and marries her in the interim between the end of the volume and its restarted run. This made them one of the few happily-married super-couples in comics, but kinda meant that was the ONLY thing they were about thereafter.

-Unfortunately, this is right when the JSA adds a half-dozen NEW members, meaning that Rick's entire personality by this point consists of him being "Schmoopy" with his wife (they literally hang off of each other in Team Meetings and during one mid-fight introduction, going "Okay, MY TURN- where was our first date?" as they quiz each other on who remembers the most), and yelling at Atom Smasher for being a traitor over the whole "Black Adam" thing. Like, that's all he does. Part of the problem might be his powers, which are both lower-level than 80% of his colleagues (he's noticeably less-strong than Atom-Smasher, Power Girl, Black Adam and Captain Marvel, and less-powerful than quite a few others)- the fact that he's one of the least-powerful metahumans on the team, AND HAS A ONE-HOUR LIMIT ON HIS POWERS ANYWAYS, causes him a bit of an issue.

-Curiously, Rick is actually CHEAPER than his father, largely due to Rex's extreme intelligence. Powerhouses are notoriously-cheap to produce in M&M stats, as their combined abilities don't add up to high prices, especially if you don't jack up their Skills & Adantages, to which Rick has only a bit. He's a good, well-balanced PL 10 (not common in the DC Universe, which focuses more on Super-Bricks) and decent all-around capabilities, but he's got little past his physical skills.

[Ken]

The Hour of Power:
-Hourman is a PL 10 hero in modern times, able to easily-hang with his own son in combat. However, back in the Golden Age, he was a PL 8 version of this, dropping some Strength (I would imagine the formula was perfected over time- he made a Non-Addictive formula as well)

Imagine no more, it's canonical. From Justice League of America #22 (pt. 2 of Rex's first silver age appearance)

[Ares]

From what I remember of Geoff Johns run for the JSA, it sounded like he was going with the idea that while Rick wasn't Kryptonian-strong (so not in the Captain Marvel/Power Girl range), he was the strongest member of the JSA outside the top tier heroes. So it sounds like Johns' intent was for Hourman II to be "Thing-Level", but he never really showcased that.

That level of physical power could actually justify the 60 minute limit to the drug, if taking it can turn someone into a Thing-class powerhouse.

I do like the concept of heroes with limitations on their abilities like this, but it worked for the classic Hourman because, outside of his Hour of Power, he was still an incredible scientist. It would help for heroes who have limitations like this to have abilities outside of their superpowers that let them contribute when their powers go away, so that they aren't simply twiddling their thumbs waiting for an opportunity to use their powers again.