Dial H for Hail Hydra!

Oops, not THAT Hydra (see below). So anyway, this is the second part of the Master arc, a story that will actually take us right to the end of Chris and Vicki's run as the Dial H heroes. In Adventure 485, he's assembled a team of Your Own Villains(TM), the Evil Eight, and manages to cut Fairfax off from the world behind a force field. Dude's bad. Who's gonna try to stop him?

Case 31: Adventure Comics #485
Dial Holders: Chris and Vicki
Dial Type: Watch and Pendant Dials
Dialing: The Master claims to have killed the Dials' creator, and that he's been looking for the Dials since then. The mystery deepens.
Name: The Hummingbird (a name since taken by an Astro City character, but it works)
Created by: Stephen Moore, Age 20, of Casa Grande, AZ
Costume: Sporting Infantino's classic triangular haircut, Hummingbird's green costume with yellowish green highlights comes to a mask, puffy sleeves, and a scarf tied to her thigh. Oh, and bird-like winds on her back. Bit ordinary.
Powers: She can fly, obviously, but also vibrate her wings so as to produce an ultra-sonic wail that can shatter brittle material (like ice and ear drums).
Sighted: In Fairfax, stopping the Evil Eight from robbing the Science Museum.
Possibilities: The Hummingbird takes pages from both Hawkgirl and Black Canary, which may put her in a position to take either's role in a team that had access to neither. But not an important team. Maybe Blue Jay can start a Bird Brigade.
Integration Quotient: 15% (no deal breaker, but nothing noteworthy enough for inclusion in the DCU either)
Name: Gravity Boy (sounds like a Legionnaire's name, the Academy already has a Gravity KID)
Created by: Jeffrey Odenweller, Age 15, of Bloomfield Hills, MI
Costume: A standard red and white spandex number, though with short sleeves, sporty black lines running down his legs, and black straps crossing on his chest. His wild red hair comes out the top of his mask, and he's got those strange ear protectors Infantino's always drawing. Were they on the original drawings?
Powers: Gravity Boy can, what else, manipulate gravity. He can make things heavier or lighter (the latter acting almost as a kind of telekinesis).
Sighted: In Fairfax, stopping the Evil Eight from robbing the Science Museum.
Possibilities: Gravity Kid knew he didn't have a shot in the Legion because his powers were already represented by Star Boy and Light Lass. What shot does Gravity BOY have with all three in the mix?So despite the name, he'll have to stay in the present. I see him as a teen hero with a "light" personality but "heavy" problems. Good for a Gray and Palmiotti mini-series, surely. No?
Integration Quotient: 10% (highly redundant, I'm afraid)
Name: Hydra, Goddess of the Sea (that name could cause confusion... ALL HAIL!)
Created by: Alicia Shing, Age 14, of Shrewsbury, MA
Costume: A blue and sea foam green number with a flowing cape and sea shell accessories, including an awkward tiara over her curly blond hair.
Powers: Hydra has total command of water and is able, for example, to ride a water spout through the air, and fire huge gouts of water at enemies. She does not seem able to control ice, however.
Sighted: In Fairfax, failed to stop the Evil Eight's second robbery of the Science Museum.
Possibilities: Her divine credentials are questionable, because while her name is mythological, it does not refer to a goddess. Seems like she could be from Mera's dimension though, a place ready-made to create as many water manipulators as we care to want.
Integration Quotient: 35% (her powers fit easily in the DCU, but her name's not gonna stand up in court)
Name: Blast Boy (another Legionny name, one with some bouncy alliteration)
Created by: Gilbert Fein, Ag 15, of Homestead Air Force Base, FL
Costume: A very plain brown and orange spandex suit, with a small domino mask. Uninspired and using the worst crayons in the box.
Powers: Blast Boy can "project any force... from the impact of a stick of ordinary dynamite to the power of a hydrogen bomb". That range is still on the unsubtle side isn't it? He projects it either as a beam or through a punch, and can blast himself into the air and fly.
Sighted: In Fairfax, failed to stop the Evil Eight's second robbery of the Science Museum.
Possibilities: Looks like a Legion reject in the making, and a really explosive try-out issue. Could be a good reason for a change of HQs.
Integration Quotient: 40% (the name and powers inspire exactly one story, though if he's clumsy enough, the Legion of Substitute Heroes might ask him to join)
Name: Hyptella, Mistress of Hypnotism (I kept looking at her hips, that is a terrible name)
Created by: Christopher Kraska, Age 13, no address given
Costume: A revealing purple bathing suit with a mask, long gloves and long boots, Hyptella goes a few steps too far with a yellow highlight on the crotch area, yellow suspenders that end in bling on her nipples, and jewelry in various shapes, like stars, hourglasses and foxes.
Powers: Hyptella can fly, and she can hypnotize her targets to implant powerful suggestions, like making them act like a donkey, or turning them into allies. It may work on only one person at a time.
Sighted: In Fairfax, saved school bully Brad from a gang of toughs, then was captured by the Evil Eight.
Possibilities: She's more than a bit silly, so let's go the whole way and give her a Silver Age origin. You know, like she just practices hypnotism so hard, it became a power. (What, I know a guy who drank soda until he became all stretchy.)
Integration Quotient: 5% (ill-conceived, not just because of name and look, but because mind control isn't a particularly engaging power for heroes)
Name: Electrostatic (I like it, kinda techie, kinda retro)
Created by: J.P. Hill, Ag 18, of Monmouth, OR
Costume: In yellow and white, the colors of comic book electricity, Electrostatic has an ugly "V" shape on his front, holding his "package" in place, and a weird backward head band with Kirby circuitry on it covering his ears.
Powers: Electrostatic holds an electrostatic charge he can loose to fly and throw electrical blasts of energy
Sighted: In Fairfax, was captured by the Evil Eight, but was instrumental in the Dial H heroes' escape.
Possibilities: The head band has to be the source of his power, or at least its control unit. Maybe it's a piece of Fourth World technology he's gotten his hands on. Maybe he's one of the less-known New Gods.
Integration Quotient: 45% (the Fourth World connection gives him a shot)
Name: Lumino (I hope he's Italian or something)
Created by: Karl Heitmueller, Age 15, of Lancaster, PA
Costume: A good-looking red, black and yellow cut, with a black sun rising on his chest. Works well with his blond hair.
Powers: Lumino can control light beams, shape them to his will and make them do whatever he wants. Basically, it means he creates solid light constructs.
Sighted: In Fairfax, capturing the Evil Eight.
Possibilities: The name inspires me to send him abroad to a country where it would sound more natural. There, he could fight crime with his sister (see below), maybe in the City of Lights? Lumino's a pretty hokey name for a French hero too, but I wouldn't put it past the French.
Integration Quotient: 30% (not here, but somewhere)
Name: Sonik (a hedgehog's lawyer called...)
Created by: Karl Heitmueller, Age 15, of Lancaster, PA
Costume: A match for Lumino's, Sonik is as well served by the color scheme, which fits a bright light-powered hero, but has nothing to do with her sound powers. Instead of the rising sun, she gets a thick, ugly S on her stomach.
Powers: Sonik can fire dangerous sound waves from her eyes or hands (Infantino's choice) that make every villain in sight pass out.
Sighted: In Fairfax, defeated the Evil Eight.
Possibilities: Designed as a partner for Lumino, the family resemblance would make her his sister. Where he goes, she goes. Any look at their adventures would have her bailing her brother out of trouble, because she's clearly the most powerful of the two.
Integration Quotient: 15% (should be the same as Lumino's, but her concept doesn't work as well)

Eight heroes to defeat the eight villains, and the Evil Eight will be the focus of the next Dial H article. Oh yeah, before I forget, there were a few other heroes in this issue...
I just don't think they'll ever amount to much.