Dial H for Heads

The sad thing about Hero Cruz's use of the H Dial in Superboy and the Ravers is that there's a lot of waste going on. In the handful of issues discussed, half the identities he dials are whisked off-stage before they can take part in the action, or even show their powers. It strengthens the subplot about these identities having their own personalities, probably in service of Hero's romance with Sparx (spoiler: in his true identity, he's gay), but for our purposes, it is kind of a shame. Especially when a quickly-discarded identity is so intriguing...

Case 62: Superboy and the Ravers #9-10 and 12-13
Dial Holder: Hero Cruz
Dial Type: Pendant Dial
Dialing: Continuing with the idea that Hero's identities exist somewhere in the ether, one of them claims to have ended their slumber. The same incarnation refers to the Dial's wisdom, as if though identities don't always seem appropriate, the Dial somehow knows it's right (as bit like the TARDIS' guidance system, you might say). When Hero is pressured to disregard that wisdom, the next identity dialed almost gets him killed, so there may be truth to that. When one identity is badly wounded, Hero stays in that identity several days before changing back - no time limit - and bears the dialed hero's scar, though a "meta doctor" says it should fade in time.

Name: Feathered Serpent (more a description than a name)
Look: A giant snake with a turtlish head with a diamond-shaped metal plate at its center. The snake has thing white-feathered wings that do not look functional. It wears a great big metal collar with dangling beads, on which the Dial is mounted.
Powers: Unknown. Presumably, the Serpent can use its coils to entangle opponents, and it can probably fly.
Sighted: In Metropolis, hanging out with Superboy and the Ravers.
Possibilities: The obvious link is with the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl (which I'm spelling without help, thank you very much), so I would make the Feathered Serpent that god's avatar in Earth's dimension. Easy to imagine as an apocalyptic villain, instead we have to see him as a hero. Might be an intriguing contrast to a character like Wonder Woman, just as equally a cultural ambassador, though one that repulses people. I dunno. Would he appear during a War of the Gods and then never again?
Integration Quotient: 10% (it certainly doesn't help that he does nothing all issue)

Name: Hot Head (poaching the Human Torch's nicknames now?)
Costume: It is not clear what the costume would look like if Hot Head weren't blazing with fire, nor if that can be turned off. It does look like baggy leather jacket and pants turning into gloves and boots with a lightning motif. The flames seem to create a large, fancy collar.
Powers: Hot Head is ablaze with fire, essentially a Human Torch type, seen flying and absorbing flames.
Sighted: At the Metropolis docks, swearing revenge for the death of his friends (they haven't actually died) and smothering the flames from an explosion.
Possibilities: If the DCU wanted another Fantastic Four analog, it could use Hot Head, a version of the Human Torch with a personality to match his code name. But that way lies parody...
Integration Quotient: 30% (a good look, but highly derivative)

Name: Death's Head Moth (a mouthful)
Costume: A cross between Firefly and the Punisher, the skull motif on the chest is a nice adaptation of the latter, but perhaps overdone as a patern on the hero's butterfly wings. In dark purple and soft gold, the costume comes complete with a bug-like helmet. I think it looks keen.
Powers: Unknown. Flight seems a given, and the reference to "moth power" (albeit by someone who shouldn't know what powers the identity has) could indicate he has the proportional strength, agility and senses of a death's head moth, whatever that means. The actual moth can emit a loud chirp and flash of color that deters predators, and can raid beehives by mimicking the bees' scent. That might certainly inspire some powers.
Sighted: On Garnet, rejected by Sparx, so moodily dials himself off.
Possibilities: The slickness of the suit evokes a tech hero like Blue Beetle more than a mutate like Spider-Man. I especially like that he's extremely touchy, which isn't a trait you see much in heroes. Like other buggy heroes with strong looks and personalities, I could totally see the Moth (Death's Head is taken) have his own title. How does an over-sensitive hero make his way in the world? How often does he want to throw it all away when he's criticized in the media, or by more established heroes? What mistakes does he make? I think there's a story there.
Integration Quotient: 80% (only the long-ass name keeps him from higher)

Name: Ferronaut (I like it though it makes me wonder where he's going)
Costume: Bracers, boots and wrestler's shorts and shirt, all with rivets. The purplish gray costume matches his metallic skin tone. He looks like a bald, monochrome Colossus basically.
Powers: Super strength and invulnerability, as per most metallic heroes. When his skin is pierced, a black fluid, not unlike oil, bleeds out.
Sighted: On Garnet, fighting InterC.E.P.T., he is almost immediately shot with an armor-piercing round. Sparx and her uncle have to solder the wound closed, but he survives and spends some time convalescing in Timberton.
Possibilities: The word "Ferro" in there creates a natural connection with Ferro Lad, possibly as a precursor hero (in a timeline where Ferro Lad is from the 30th Century) or as an alternate fate for Ferro's brother Douglas (in the Reboot), though more 90s Xtreme.
Integration Quotient: 80% (hey, DC had Ferro Lad before Marvel had Colossus)

Next: Hero Cruz's journey Part 3!