Outsiders Week: Magnificent Metamophs

Earths One and Two both had a pair of timeless lovers, who lived both in ancient Egypt and in modern day. Tied to them were two objects of power, the Orb of Ra and the Hammer of Thor... designed from alien metals that imbued upon those exposed to them awesome abilities. And in the 20th century, these pairs were linked to elemental beings as protectors of humanity while their own was stripped from them, reluctant heroes. Meet those couples... Rex Mason and Sapphire Stagg... Khufu and Sheira nee Sanders. Witness the birth of Metamorpho the Element Man and Sandy the Golden Boy.

Rex Mason was a world traveling treasure hunter who found himself in the employee of the unscrupulous Simon Stagg. On one assignment, Rex was trapped inside an Egyptian pyramid, due to machinations of his mischievous boss. This left him exposed to the meteorite known as the Orb of Ra.

From this irradiation, Metamorpho was born, capable of altering and transforming his body into any variation of the scores of elements found in nature. Until a cure was found, Rex agreed to become a reluctant superhero on Earth-One.

The Earth-Two equivalent of the Orb of Ra was the alien alloy artifact known as the Hammer of Thor, which archaeologist Carter Hall discovered and used in an early adventure when his alter ego battled the evil Mazda. Unlike the Orb of Earth-One, the Hammer of Earth-Two didn't alter chemical elements... but rather the climatic elements which allowed the user to manipulate. As this Hammer was not from his native Egypt, which was where his ancestoral heritage originated, Carter was unaware of its properties and so used it as a blunt instrument rather than a skilled tool. It would later be acquired by metalurist turned criminal Fairytales Fenton... whose adversary was the teenage hero known as Sandy the Golden Boy along wih the lad's mentor Wesley Dodds aka Sandman. Fenton used his own version of the hammer to severely injury Sandy, although the boy recovered from his wounds shortly thereafter.

Metamorpho the element man as a new life form with Mason's memories was the counterpart of the silicon creature that once was Sandy Hawkins the golden boy. When his guardian Sandman tested a silicoid gun which prematurely detonated, bathing his young ward in its radiations, the gigantic sand monster was born. Kept in suspended animation for decades, he was revived when the Justice Society aided Dodds in reuniting with Hawkins and soon regained his humanity. Sandy Hawkins reverted back to being the counterpart of Geo-Force, Metamopho's teammate.

Khufu was an ancient prince of an Egyptian dynasty under threat by his mortal enemy, the Priest Hath-Set. Although he was able to reunite with his beloved princess Shiera, both were tracked down by the wicked priest and his minions. Using a crystal dagger of nth metal, both royals were slain. Centuries later, their memories were transplanted into the minds of Carter Hall and Shiera Saunders, who would become the heroic couple known as Hawkman and Hawkgirl of Earth-Two.

Along with Carter and Shiera, Sandy had ties to this avian dynastic heritage as his surname Hawkins is derivative of those preying upon small hawks, or falcons throughout the middle ages. Similarly, the etymology of Shiela's maiden name Sanders is derived from the term for an ancient supplier of sand materials in order to build structures from bricks, such as Egyptian pyramids. That Hawkins and Hawkgirl and Sanders and Sandy are synonymous shows that their lineages are tied together through time.

In an alternate future timeline, after the Hawkman of Earth-Two perishes, Hawkgirl forms a romantic attachment to Sandy Hawkins. This relationship was spawned from a partnership the pair of sidekicks had while their partners Hawkman and Sandman had been exiled in space, as they attempted to track down the lost mystery men. As fellow members of the All-Star Squadron and associates on their mentors' cases involving the Justice Society of America, Sandy and Sheila formed mutual respect for each other.

Metamorpho himself journeyed back to ancient Egypt alongside his allies of the Outsiders, due to the machinations of Hath-Set's doppelgänger... high priest Ahk-Ton. He sought Khufu's cosmic twin Mason as Metamorpho to be his subservient agent. This had been Ahk-Ton's original intent, as it would take thousands of years before the Orb of Ra could create the perfect pawn for his scheme, to become king of his era's Egypt. However, princess Shiera Saunder's counterpart Sapphire Stagg swayed Rex back to his sane self once more, and they along with heir allies returned to the 20th Century. While the Earth-One Hawkman and Metamorpho interacted with one another while working Justice League cases together, that was the extent of their connection.