Ok, ok, it's not Haley's, where Dick Grayson grew up, but I've got to find words that begin with "H" every week! Give me a break! These are the heroes from the last story in Adventure Comics #480, in which it becomes rather obvious that Vicki's friend Frannie is gay. Pretty rare for 1981, I should imagine.
Case 22: Adventure Comics #480
Dial Holders: Chris and Vicki
Dial Type: Watch and Pendant Dials
Dialing: It's made clear that Chris' Dial looks like a normal watch until he reaches for the letters and the clockface "mystically disappears". When it glows in response to Vicki's Dial being activated, it retains its camouflaged form however. There's every indication that the hero forms come pre-packaged with an intuitive knowledge of their powers and name, because it is inferred that Chris changes his identity's name from "Cosmic Cowboy" to "The Wrangler" because it's a better name.
Name: Midnight Wisp (bit complicated, but not terrible)
Created by: William Wong, age 24, of MSVL, California
Costume: A dark purple and powder blue leotard whose lines are broken up by some big Captain America-style boots. Wisp also sports one of those weird "flip" hairstyles Infantino is always drawing.
Powers: The "Fastest Gal in Fairfax" can run at superhuman speeds and can shake off high-speed collisions fairly quickly.
Sighted: In Fairfax, fighting Battering Ram to a standstill (he escapes).
Possibilities: Pretty generic, but her name might inspire something. Is she a nocturne hero? If so, why? Make her patrol Route 66 at night and you've almost got a mini-series.
Integration Quotient: 15% (the DCU has had many more interesting super-speedsters)
Name: Solar Flare (a passable name, if only it truly represented his abilities)
Created by: Bob Skinner, age 15, of Joplin, Missouri
Costume: The Infantino hair flip is reproduced as, what are those? Feathers? Yeah, antennae and feathers. Otherwise, it's more or less a yellow and orange version of Doctor Light's outfit, with some clashing white accessories that, I suppose, he didn't have time to dye.
Powers: Solar Flare's solar powers allow him to fly and to deliver a "power punch" accompanied by a flash of light. It is inferred that he has a limited supply of energy, one that probably regenerates in sunlight.
Sighted: In Fairfax, fighting Battering Ram to a standstill (he escapes).
Possibilities: I don't see many. A one-shot deals in which he fights Arthur Light, possibly revealing an origin connection before he dies?
Integration Quotient: 5% (looks ugly, sounds stupid, not much of a shot)
Name: Strato-Girl (sounds like a Legionnaire and dresses like one too)
Created by: Michael Bise, age 15, of Paige, Texas
Costume: Starto-Girl shops at the same place Phantom Girl does, with lots of holes all around her costume. The ovals around the waist and arms are particularly reminiscent of the heroine from Bgtzl. Strato-Girl also has a diamond-shaped "window" on her chest, but it is fairly discreet. Her white high-heeled boots are the only part of the costume that's not a purplish gray.
Powers: The "Mistress of the Wind" has absolute power over local air, allowing her to fly by riding the currents. She can use wind as a precise attack, or to create a cyclone over an area, by blowing directed air from her mouth.
Sighted: In Fairfax. She helped capture Battering Ram before he could do his former Circus boss harm.
Possibilities: She could easily have been an early Legionnaire and her powers are reproduced by any other member, not really. Or is it Super-Breath by any other name?
Integration Quotient: 40% (a fetching look and powers you don't see every day, albeit low-key ones, might score her a role in a team book)
Name: The Wrangler (better than Cosmic Cowboy, I agree)
Created by: Tom Reed, age 24, of Totono, Illinois
Costume: Basically the good guy version of Terra-Man, the red and white complement each other well, in a rodeo kind of way, but as often happens in Dial H, there are too many colors vying for attention, in this case, brown, green and yellow too. Still, the goggles take him to that "outer space" level and who doesn't love a bull's head symbol?
Powers: The Wrangler's cosmic lasso can create a flying energy horse for him to ride, and is of course quite handy when you're looking to rope a bad guy. The Wrangler's rodeo fighting skills are without parallel.
Sighted: In Fairfax, helping capture Battering Ram.
Possibilities: Plenty. There are lots of places in the American West and Midwest that could do with a superhero like this, perhaps one whose secret identity is working in a traveling rodeo. He might even have a connection to the pre-Crisis Terra-Man that could be mined. I'm not calling for a solo series, but he could become as big as, say, Marvel's Texas Twister.
Integration Quotient: 75% (if only to see him square off against Wonder Woman)
Bonus Supervillain
Name: Battering Ram (it works, but could us a "The" in front)
Created by: David Wile, age 18, of Nova Scotia, Canada (his second character in the issue)
Costume: Battering Ram has orange skin and metallic ram's horns curving around his face, so he could be some kind of alien or mutant. His dark purple suit works in the context of Circus work, but those big white buttons that go from throat to crotch have got to go.
Powers: He can ram things and people with his horns with enough destructive power to blow up a 6-foot-thick brick wall or smash a police car. It doesn't seem quite so harmful to superheroes, however.
Sighted: He came to Fairfax with a traveling circus and was fired for stealing from the ticket office. He was eventually apprehended by Fairfax's heroes on his second attempt to get revenge.
Possibilities: Newer heroes are always looking for misshapen grunts against whom to prove their mettle. At best, Battering Ram would recur only to get his ass handed to him, or perhaps as DC's own version of the Circus of Crime.
Integration Quotient: 35% (there's always a place for a supervillain goon, but there are so many of them already, competition's gotta be pretty fierce)
More disposable heroes and villains coming to you soon!
Case 22: Adventure Comics #480
Dial Holders: Chris and Vicki
Dial Type: Watch and Pendant Dials
Dialing: It's made clear that Chris' Dial looks like a normal watch until he reaches for the letters and the clockface "mystically disappears". When it glows in response to Vicki's Dial being activated, it retains its camouflaged form however. There's every indication that the hero forms come pre-packaged with an intuitive knowledge of their powers and name, because it is inferred that Chris changes his identity's name from "Cosmic Cowboy" to "The Wrangler" because it's a better name.
Name: Midnight Wisp (bit complicated, but not terrible)Created by: William Wong, age 24, of MSVL, California
Costume: A dark purple and powder blue leotard whose lines are broken up by some big Captain America-style boots. Wisp also sports one of those weird "flip" hairstyles Infantino is always drawing.
Powers: The "Fastest Gal in Fairfax" can run at superhuman speeds and can shake off high-speed collisions fairly quickly.
Sighted: In Fairfax, fighting Battering Ram to a standstill (he escapes).
Possibilities: Pretty generic, but her name might inspire something. Is she a nocturne hero? If so, why? Make her patrol Route 66 at night and you've almost got a mini-series.
Integration Quotient: 15% (the DCU has had many more interesting super-speedsters)
Name: Solar Flare (a passable name, if only it truly represented his abilities)Created by: Bob Skinner, age 15, of Joplin, Missouri
Costume: The Infantino hair flip is reproduced as, what are those? Feathers? Yeah, antennae and feathers. Otherwise, it's more or less a yellow and orange version of Doctor Light's outfit, with some clashing white accessories that, I suppose, he didn't have time to dye.
Powers: Solar Flare's solar powers allow him to fly and to deliver a "power punch" accompanied by a flash of light. It is inferred that he has a limited supply of energy, one that probably regenerates in sunlight.
Sighted: In Fairfax, fighting Battering Ram to a standstill (he escapes).
Possibilities: I don't see many. A one-shot deals in which he fights Arthur Light, possibly revealing an origin connection before he dies?
Integration Quotient: 5% (looks ugly, sounds stupid, not much of a shot)
Name: Strato-Girl (sounds like a Legionnaire and dresses like one too)Created by: Michael Bise, age 15, of Paige, Texas
Costume: Starto-Girl shops at the same place Phantom Girl does, with lots of holes all around her costume. The ovals around the waist and arms are particularly reminiscent of the heroine from Bgtzl. Strato-Girl also has a diamond-shaped "window" on her chest, but it is fairly discreet. Her white high-heeled boots are the only part of the costume that's not a purplish gray.
Powers: The "Mistress of the Wind" has absolute power over local air, allowing her to fly by riding the currents. She can use wind as a precise attack, or to create a cyclone over an area, by blowing directed air from her mouth.
Sighted: In Fairfax. She helped capture Battering Ram before he could do his former Circus boss harm.
Possibilities: She could easily have been an early Legionnaire and her powers are reproduced by any other member, not really. Or is it Super-Breath by any other name?
Integration Quotient: 40% (a fetching look and powers you don't see every day, albeit low-key ones, might score her a role in a team book)
Name: The Wrangler (better than Cosmic Cowboy, I agree)Created by: Tom Reed, age 24, of Totono, Illinois
Costume: Basically the good guy version of Terra-Man, the red and white complement each other well, in a rodeo kind of way, but as often happens in Dial H, there are too many colors vying for attention, in this case, brown, green and yellow too. Still, the goggles take him to that "outer space" level and who doesn't love a bull's head symbol?
Powers: The Wrangler's cosmic lasso can create a flying energy horse for him to ride, and is of course quite handy when you're looking to rope a bad guy. The Wrangler's rodeo fighting skills are without parallel.
Sighted: In Fairfax, helping capture Battering Ram.
Possibilities: Plenty. There are lots of places in the American West and Midwest that could do with a superhero like this, perhaps one whose secret identity is working in a traveling rodeo. He might even have a connection to the pre-Crisis Terra-Man that could be mined. I'm not calling for a solo series, but he could become as big as, say, Marvel's Texas Twister.
Integration Quotient: 75% (if only to see him square off against Wonder Woman)
Bonus Supervillain
Name: Battering Ram (it works, but could us a "The" in front)Created by: David Wile, age 18, of Nova Scotia, Canada (his second character in the issue)
Costume: Battering Ram has orange skin and metallic ram's horns curving around his face, so he could be some kind of alien or mutant. His dark purple suit works in the context of Circus work, but those big white buttons that go from throat to crotch have got to go.
Powers: He can ram things and people with his horns with enough destructive power to blow up a 6-foot-thick brick wall or smash a police car. It doesn't seem quite so harmful to superheroes, however.
Sighted: He came to Fairfax with a traveling circus and was fired for stealing from the ticket office. He was eventually apprehended by Fairfax's heroes on his second attempt to get revenge.
Possibilities: Newer heroes are always looking for misshapen grunts against whom to prove their mettle. At best, Battering Ram would recur only to get his ass handed to him, or perhaps as DC's own version of the Circus of Crime.
Integration Quotient: 35% (there's always a place for a supervillain goon, but there are so many of them already, competition's gotta be pretty fierce)
More disposable heroes and villains coming to you soon!
Comments
Wasn't Michael Bise a longtime letter hack?