Dial M for Multiverse

Dial H for Hero #8 is a clever split book that presents the origin of Robby Reed (with appearances by Giant-Boy and a number of other identities from his House of Mystery days (and a couple of new ones, below), and the origin of Mister Thunderbolt, who is the Rebirth/Wonder Comics Reality's Master. Pre-Crisis, Robby used the Big Dial to split himself in two. One became the good Wizard, the other the evil Master who went on to plague Chris and Vicky in their era. In the continuity where Robby became an explorer and found the Heroverse beyond the Speed Force wall, a different H-Dial split him into the Operator and Mister Thunderbolt, an identity based on an old foe of his. I can't believe I didn't notice, but Mister Thunderbolt is basically the leader of the Thunderbolt Gang, Mr. Thunderbolt, from House of Mystery # 157!

This is not the only impressive connection to the past, by the way. Read on...

Case 108: Dial H for Hero #8
Dial Holders: Robby Reed
Dial Type: Red Dial, Blue Dial, Yellow Dial, Black Dial, Big Dial, Multiverse Dial
Dialing: The Red (Magenta) Dial is a standard rotary phone. The Blue (Cyan) Dial is a wall phone. The Yellow Dial is a fancier, more old-fashioned model. The Black Dial is still an unknown, but can be found on Apokolips. The Yellow Dial breaks the fourth wall in this issue, and allows the reader to Dial H, which splits the book in two stories, one moving forward, the other backward until they meet in the middle. It is not known what happens if the reader doesn't press the glowing number 4, because I did and there's apparently no going back. The Big Dial could be integrated into technology, which is how Robby made his capsule travel through the Multiverse (we do not know what number he dialed, but it took a bit of bench-thumping to make it work). A crude map of the Heroverse splits it into good and bad hemispheres (the Pinnacle and the Pit), which each have their own castle. It looks like a Dial, but also like the part of the phone you speak into, and perhaps not coincidentally, that's what the Multiverse looks like according to Grant Morrison's Mutiversity!

The Yellow Dial is also called the Y-Dial, and the fact that the letter "Y" is forked gives it the power to split identities into good and evil. Robby calls the previous Operator on it, and he's the one who lures Robby into dialing it and replace him.

Name: Tea Rex (a natural pun sure to create a silly character)
Costume: A purple dinosaur with a red and gold spandex costume and what are probably more humanoid arms, though it could be a big purple cape. The former would be more functional, but the Dial doesn't always care about that.
Powers: Unspecified. A big bite, most certainly, but his interest in tea means he has that on hand, and is possibly able to project hot tea in various flavors at opponents.
Sighted: As part of Robby's flashback, so would have appeared in the House of Mystery era.
Possibilities: Getting strong Super-Dinosaur vibes here, but not an easy fit into the DCU. One idea is to make him a hero from the far past on Earth-C, and could be part of a Crisis on Earth-C thing where the Zoo Crew meet heroes from across their world's history (plus Earth-B). Could be fun, and hey, why Tea Rex could join at the end if we really like him.
Integration Quotient: 10% (pure silliness is worth a few points)

Name: General Electric (lawsuit pending)
Costume: His head is a light bulb (the elements inside suggest a face) that can be turned on and off with a beaded chain. He wears a lampshade as a hat. The costume itself is blue with yellow sleeves and fingers (and probably legs and toes). There's a string of spherical lights around his collar bones.
Powers: Unspecified. Obviously, he can project light in an ambient sort of way, but what else? Possibly, he can get blindingly bright, and his name might suggest an electrified biology that would allow him to throw electricity around.
Sighted: As part of Robby's flashback, so would have appeared in the House of Mystery era.
Possibilities: Strange in a Doom Patrol kind of way, General Electric is probably an artificial being created by a well-meaning scientist, who would cross paths exactly once with one of the DCU's weirder elements like the DP or Animal Man, and end up as a broken or burnt out bulb. Any more than that and DC's gonna get letters from lawyers.
Integration Quotient: 5% (the joke is contingent on copyright infringement)

Bonus: Check out the names of heroic identities adopted by members of the Thunderbolt Club:

I sure hope that said Idiot Wind and not Idiot Wino.

Next: Ok, let's get back to Miguel.