While we’ve been exploring the DCU I have been going down my “to do” list and making sure we hit all the high points, during that process, I’ve missed a few that I should have put into the hopper, so here goes some heroes that maybe fit in other categories, but they’re here now.

Dial “H” for Hero is a great idea where a guy, in the case above, Robert “Robby” Reed discovers an “H” dial and by dialing the letters on the dial H, E, R, O, he can turn into a hero with a different power each time.

Now the kicker on the Dial “H” for Hero stories is that the readers contributed their own heroes to the pot and DC Editorial could just pick and choose in exchange for publishing the new creation and giving the creator credit as the change happened.

Of course, updates were needed and we get a pair of HERO dials for use by Christopher King and Victoria “Vicki” Grant, below.  After all, we did need some female creations didn’t we?

Then there was the Kung-Fu craze….in the 70s as DC enjoyed its Explosion and Implosion and as Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris reigned the box office, of course this is when you would want more martial artists in your comics.

Along come Richard Dragon and Bronze Tiger to fill that void.  Odd that Richard is a white guy with reddish hair and Bronze Tiger underneath that mask is a black man.  Even more bizarre is that Bronze Tiger was brainwashed by one of Batman’s foes and under that influence, killed the original Batwoman, Kathy Kane.

Don’t worry though the Bronze Tiger got better over time, though he still carries that guilt.

Then, I have to guess someone was asleep or they forgot all about Rising Sun of the Global Guardians.. but here is Sunburst, Japan’s most famous hero, in a classic case of “Whoops, guess you really are a good guy after all…”  A classic cliche in comics, heroes must fight each other before become friends and solving their usually mutual problem.

I missed Slam Bradley when we discussed those street level detectives, which was a gross miscarriage of justice.  Appearing alongside Batman in early Detective Comics issues, Slam resurfaces every now and again to solve a crime in that sartorial Bogie kind of way.

Mento, Steve Dayton, is the step-father of the Titans’ Changeling as well as the husband of Doom Patrol’s Elasti-Girl.  Using his Mento helmet, Steve has amazing psychic powers and uses them for justice and for dealing with the weirdness of the Doom Patrol.

Buddy Blank becomes OMAC, the One Man Army Corps, when the futuristic tech changes him from ho hum Buddy Blank to a blockbuster of a hero.  Set in a future not yet happening yet, familiar and yet a bit apocryphal , OMAC becomes one of those touchstones of science fiction in the DCU.

And speaking of Science Fiction, time to head to outer space….we’ve got some things to do there…. Atari Force!  Chris KL-99!  Jemm, Son of Saturn!  Knights of the Galaxy!  Space Cabbie!  Space Ranger!  Spanner’s Galaxy!  Star Hawkins!  Star Hunters!  and Star Rovers!