Historic Hooded Hour Humanoids

Many were the Masters of the Moment in the Multiverse. And yet, our four Hooded heroes and hindrances bore remarkable similarities to one another. Each tried to twist time, sequester each second, hijack each hour.

In Earth-One’s reality, there were two diametric dichotomies who each manipulated moments, one for evil and one for good. Destiny and Time Trapper on the surface proved identical, each clad in purple ropes with hoods masking their their facial features and cloaks enveloping their form. Each carried hourglasses, each sought to mold the futures of mankind as they saw fit, one to endless humanity and one to protect it. Each being opposed Superman with his Justice League of America allies, who opposed those enigmatic entities' agenda yet never could truly contain him. 

Destiny prevented Superman from saving citizens of Metropolis from a runaway bulldozer, causing them to save themselves instead and control their own future. Time Trapper prevented a younger Superman, Superboy, along with his 30th century teammates in the Legion of Super-Heroes from piercing the time barrier 30 years in their future using his "Iron Curtain of Time".

In Earth-Two’s reality, there also was a Destiny and a variant of the Time Trapper, with the former a purple business suit clad vagrant and the latter being a purple robe clad wanderer. The business clad mystery man once met Hourman while portraying radio performer “Doctor” Destiny. This meeting with the Man of the Hour motivated Destiny to engage in a crime crusading career. Decades later, the robe clad Time Trapper of Earth-Two interacted with Superman and the Justice Society of America when they searched through time for Vandal Savage.

Destiny-One primarily used Prof Davis and his fellow Challengers of the Unknown the advance his purposes, while Destiny-Two had behind the scenes gifted Rex “Hourman” Tyler with the ability to develope probability predicting software in his Crime-Caster to help he and his teammates in the Justice Society fight lawlnessness. While it was suspected that Time Trapper was a future version of one of his mortal foes from the Legion of Super-Heroes, his Earth-Two counterpart was revealed to be a clone of a Law’s Legionnaires member.

Interestingly, Destiny expressed unease at the unpredictability of the Challengers while begrudgingly working with them behind the scenes. Hourman opposed the synthetic copies of Destiny created by the sinister scientist T.O. Morrow, himself a master of time who fabricated a small army of purple hooded "Destiniouds". 

And just as Earth-One Time Trapper ferociously faced his former self, the Legionnaire named Cosmic Boy, so too the Earth-Two Time Trapper battled the Legionnaire he was cloned from, Sir Justin aka the Shining Knight... then later impersonating him in order to return to an ancient Camelot conquered by Vandal Savage after which this faux-Knight faded from history. Whether the Knight-Time Trapper operated behind the scenes through the centuries as had his counterpart the Cosmic-Time Trapper, his ultimate influence upon the past present and future has never been revealed, nor have the effects of his actions throughout time.

Borrowed Time for the Hourglass Heroes

“Borrowed time" refers to living longer than expected, especially after a point of crisis, or the continued existence of something precarious. It is a metaphorical concept indicating that the time is not one's own and could end at any moment. The phrase is often used to describe situations where survival, success, or stability is tenuous, such as a person recovering from a serious illness or a project that has faced repeated setbacks.

Such was the case for the Hourglass Heroes known as the Challengers of the Unknown, and Hourman with his Minute-Men. Originally normal men, these courageous crusaders relied on their tenacity and technology to combat various threats from sinister scientists and fierce foes.

This first occurred for the Challengers while flying aboard pilot Ace Morgan’s private airplane, which crashed due to sabotage. Along with Ace, chemist / oceanographer Prof Walter Haley, mountain climber Red Ryan and professional boxer Rocky Davis tracked down the man behind to their near-death experience, a gangster named Bernie planting a bomb in Red’s luggage meant for a friend of his instead. The fantastic four vowed to use their borrowed time to discover mysteries that plague mankind and protect the innocent. After bringing the culprit behind their attempted murder to justice, of course.

Later in Rex “Tick Tock” Tyler’s career, after he had already pointing a group of young boys known as the Minute-Men into a life of good deeds in behalf of others, he nearly lost his own life. This happened when Rex as Hourman confronted Tricky Dick Arnold in the Tyler Vault, as the thief was stealing top secret blueprints. During their brawl, Arnold’s Metalizer gun which he used to vaporize metal irradiated Hourman’s body with a death dealing burst of energy. Although his Miraclo medicine, which augmented his body to superhuman levels, briefly kept Rex alive for his hour-of-power… only by retrieving the Metalizer was he able to reverse the process and restore his life. After bringing the culprit behind his near-death to justice, of course.

Just was Prof Haley was aided in his life-threatening adventures by his fellow Challengers Red, Rocky and Ace, so too Rex Tyler's alter ego was assisted by his aforementioned Minute-Men. The core group, consisting of Jimmy Martin, Thorndyke Tompkins and Les Sparks, learned to managed their time wisely from their mentor Hourman, and continued as adventurers after Rex retired for almost two decades as a costumed crusader. They did so by joining the Junior Justice Society, a team of young lads and lasses inspired by Hourman and his Justice Society teammates, even courageously confronting varying threats along with the adult superheroes such as the Injustice Society and the Crimson Claw Gang!

Both Haley and Tyler would later have sons who carried on their heroic legacy, as a new Challenger of the Unknown and new Man of the Hour themselves fought against borrowed time with the the threats they would one day face.

Super-Strong Scientists on Borrowed Time

Artificially augmented superhuman strength developed by creative chemists and innovative inventors Walter Davis and Rex Tyler was state-of-the-art. While Tyler employed Miraclo pills and dark-light projectors to enhance his physicality, Haley utilized a variety of treatments throughout the years to produce this same results, for the good of mankind.

Prof Haley constructed a space suit and battle armor with motors compensating for higher gravitational planetary bodies, which he and his fellow Challengers of the Unknown might visit one day. When a time lord sends radioactive boxes to the 20th century, Prof in his techno-armor combat the behemoth beast hiding with one of these objects.

Rex Tyler developed genetically altered skin cells from his exposure to Miraclo, allowing him to possess a high degree of resilience to injury. Because of this, he didn’t need to design a protective suit to wear in his adventures. However, one of his young protégés ended up building a suit of armor similar to Haley’s.

This aspiring adventurer was astronaut Christopher Pike, who as a lad idolized the Justice Society of America and was one of Hourman’s young sidekicks, the Minute-Men of America. With this team of teen titans, Pike joined with his fellow Minute-Men in over a dozen tales with the Man of the Hour. When this team dissolved, he joined the Junior Justice Society, assisting the adult Justice Society against the Injustice Society and the Crimson Claw gang. 

Just as student Ronnie Raymond was mentored by the physicist Martin Stein whom he merged with to become Firestorm of Earth-One, student Christopher Pike was mentored by Rex Tyler is his Hourman persona. And yet, while Ronnie spurned his delinquent tendencies and matured under Stein’s tutelage, Christopher spurned the teachings of Tyler over time and grew mentally unbalanced. 

Although Pike achieved lofty goals as an astronaut, he nurtured murdeous tendencies when trying to kill his fellow space travelers during a mission around the solar system. When granted atomic powers from the sun by an amiable alien, Pike hardened not just his containment suit into a piece of armor, both also hardened his heart to humanity as Vulcan Son of Fire. With his metallic frame and solar power, the one-time Minute-Man gained superhuman strength like Hourman, which he used against the hero’s Justice Society allies time and again.

Prof Haley with his Challengers, just like Hourman with his Minite-Men, were men literally living on borrowed time. This didn’t just highlight their dangerous work as costumed crimefighters, but also in their temporary superpowers. What helped them persevere and proper wasn’t their cosmic capacities, but their consistent courage in the face of danger!

Support Staff of Spandex Suit Studs

Prof Davis and his teammates in the Challengers of the Unknown as well as Hourman and his allies in the Minute-Men of America were tasked with hunting down various mad scientists and would-be supervillains. However, such as task was to… well… challenging for these fantastic foursomes, as they tackled threats from across the United States and worldwide! Each team has resident experts in various fields, but were in need of a communication network

The Earth-One Challengers consisted of Walter “Prof” Davis (expert deep sea diver and resident scientist), Matthew “Red” Ryan (expert mountain climber and electronics expert), Lester “Rocky” Davis (professional boxer), and Kyle “Ace” Morgan (professional pilot and tram leader). The Earth-Two Minute-Men were composed of Rex “Hourman” Tyler (team mentor and master chemist), Jimmy “Minute-Man” Martin (team leader and ham radio expert), Thorndyke “Second Sweep” Tompkins (amateur sidekick and rough-houser), and Les “Sparks” Watts (amateur pilot and ham radio expert),

In fact, the Challenger Corps was founded by several civilians from across Earth-One whom the Challengers of the Unknown had saved in the past. Its most well known member was Count Anthony Dragio, who was pursued by an ancient evil eye automaton which sought out he and his family. While untrained in the adventure arts like their heroic idols, this Corps evidentially provided a valuable service and instilled in the actual Challengers the belief that their self-sacrificing pursuit for truth and justice was appreciated by people the world over, even amidst the burgeoning number of superhuman protectors appearing shortly after this fantastic four were established as costumed crusaders.

As for the Minute-Men of America, they grew from its mentor and three core members of Jimmy Martin, Thorndyke Tompkins and Les Watts to include Rodney Moravan. Christopher Pike aka "Vulcan" along with other boys and girls. These various non-combatants formed an information network for their heroic teams to help coordinate their missions. Rex Tyler tutored and inspired this next generation of guardians to aid humanity, with his protégées carrying on his heroic legacy. They were definitely a strong counter-balance to the criminal Hourmen who impersonated the original around this same time, before their Man of the Hour himself brought then to justice!

The Challenger Corps and the Minute-Men were short-lived footnotes in the history of Prof and his colleagues as well as Hourman and his sidekicks. While there were other “B-teams” on both Earths, such as the New Teen Titans and Infinity, Inc. who were the protégées of the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America, these auxiliary groups’ members had powers and/or abilities matching their mentors. Additionally, both worlds had a Blackhawk team, as well other international heroic organizations, such as the Sea Devils of Earth-One and the Boy Commandos of Earth-Two. However, those teams could stand on their own, and face global threats on par with the League and the Society.

Much of their contributions of the Challenger Corps and the Minute-Men of America were undoubtedly their behind the scenes assistance as their costumed role models directly addressed the varied and divergent threats which these “fan clubs” were ill-equipped to do themselves. Still, their international network of radio broadcasts altering their heroes to threat around the globe proved an invalidate aid, and made them notable for inclusion in our consideration on this occasion.

Strange Stories of the Swamp: Prof & Rex Meet the Boys from the Bog

“Prof” Walter Haley and “Hourman” Rex Tyler were successful scientists and twin tenacious troubleshooters who founded the Challengers of the Unknown and the Minute-Men of America, Walt as Earth-One's Prof and Rex as Earth-Two's Hourman developed chemical concoctions and at times possessed superhuman abilities. Both men encountered our two bog beings, Swamp Thing and Solomon Grundy.

During an adventure, Prof became infected by a space fungus originating from a cancerous alien entity known as M'nagalah that resided in caverns outside the town of Perdition. Only thanks to a timely assist from a then-human Alec Holland was Prof's condition actually diagnosed, although before he could administer a treatment, Holland reverted to his Swamp Thing form. He was on hand later when Prof was cured. Sadly, Alec was not, and was temporarily mentally controlled by the Challenger's arch-enemy Duncan Pramble aka the Multi-Man. That is, until freed of his influence.

Years earlier on a parallel planet, Solomon Grundy returned from his lengthy exile on the Moon back to Earth-Two, landing back in his home of Slaughter Swamp. This swamp was adjacent to Tyler Chemical, which had formerly been known as Bannermain Chemical, named after its founder (and Pramble's equally malevolent counterpart), and the chemical waste from this company may've contributed to causing Slaughter Swamp to spawn Grundy in the first place. Battling the bulky behemoth, Hourman along with Doctor Fate as well as a subdued Green Lantern were able to combine forces and restrain Grundy, placing him in an emerald energy prison globe orbiting the world.

While Swamp Thing’s pseudo-manhood as Alec Holland was brief, Solomon Grundy’s one-time genetic twin Dick Cashmere preserved his humanity. He presumably continued to lead his former life as a wealthy heir and amateur astronomer in Gotham City, unaware of the trouble the other “Dick Cashmere”caused as the Marshland Monster named Grundy. While M'nagalah was buried in a cave in under tons of rock, its corresponding cancerous enclave on Earth-Two Slaughter Swamp was instead cordoned off within an energy barrier when Solomon later returned to Earth.

Whatever Happened to Hourman & the Challengers

The Challengers of the Unknown were a quartet of costumed crusaders, each specialists in specific disciplines, who believed they cheated death by surviving a plane crash. Motivated by this, they were the premier non-superhero team of protectors on Earth-One during the latter half of the 20th century. Hourman and the Minute-Men were a team of powered protectors who south to save innocents from various threats on Earth-Two during the middle part of the 20th century.

There came a point after all four Challengers settled down to have families when they limited their adventuring to raise their families. One of their wives, Ace’s wife June Robbins, was a long-time honorary fifth Challenger back in their younger days. While Prof Davis, Red Ryan, and Ace Morgan had sons resembling each of them, Rocky Davis had a daughter named Roxanne. Nevertheless, this girl was confident enough to join in with the boys on both of their adventures, paving the way for the next generation of the Challengers.

Chemist Rex Tyler as Hourman began recruiting local lads in Appleton City... which soon changed its name to Cosmos... in order to aid him in tracking down common crooks, mad scientists, bizarre aliens, and the like. Among the regulars were Jimmy Martin and Thorndyke Tompkins of his Minute Men of America, while other kids from across the country such as Les Sparks assisted while visiting Cosmos. Although Rex had a son who likewise followed in his footsteps, he was emotionally closer to his junior sidekicks back in the early 1940s than his teenage son in the 1970s and 1980s. The Minute-Men only lasted for a couple of years (much like Rex’s girlfriend Regina Paige Bannermain, niece of Tyler’s boss, who shared with Hourman and the Minute Men in at least three of their adventures).

With all these aspiring mystery men, Hourman allowed them to energize themselves using his experimental Miraclo Black Light Ray. This activated the Miraclo pills he previously created. Similarly, the Challengers had several temporary powers during a few cases which like Hourman included superhuman strength and physique. Likewise, the Miraclo pill and ray the Minute Men were exposed to mirrored the liquid light and Prof's chemical anecdote used by their foe Multi-Man.

Decades later, Rex met the next generation of aspiring youths, only these four sought to plunder Tyler Chemical. Their goal was  to steal Tyler’s experimental TCR-113 chemical, which they claimed would harm future generations. An Hourman, partially empowered by a deteriorating Miraclo pill, successfully defeated the quartet and recovered the TCR-113, claiming that his alter ego’s company would use this chemical only for beneficial purposes to humanity.

While these young teen teams were not as legendary as the Teen Titans and Blue Boys, nor the Forever People or Infinity, Inc., they were still notable footnotes in history.

Synthetically Super-Strong Scientists: Prof and Hourman

“Prof” Walter Haley and “Hourman” Rex Tyler were adept at conceiving chemical concoctions in their costumed careers. While Tyler was a leading chemist at Bannermain Chemicals when he invented the Miraclo pill, Haley was a retired skin diver and oceanographer.

Using his discovery, Tyler adopted the alias of Hourman, shortly afterward after this he would found the Minute-Men of America on Earth-Two. Decades later, Haley would be a co-founder of the Challengers of the Unknown on Earth-One. Tyler refined Miraclo to activate with black light, while Haley devised an antidote for the liquid light which empowered his arch-foe, Multi-Man.

Prof was later revealed to have a connection with an enigmatic entity known as Destiny, a hooded individual who was a guiding force of the Challenger's just as Rex's alter ego Hourman was for the Minute-Men. 

An Earth-Two version of Destiny, a man clad in a purple suit and tie, was active around the same time. This enigmatic figure first appeared when he was used as a pawn in a case involving Hourman and the Minute-Men of America. Following this, “Doctor” Destiny intervened  during the final tragic case of the masked man known as 7-11, a former judge turned prisoner turned hero. While the Man of the Hour gave the Doctor a heroic inspiration to imitate, Destiny gave Hourman predicative calculations the masked man incorporated into his Crime-Caster computer.

However, there was still a symbiotic link between Destiny and Prof that seemingly caused Haley and his comrades to become susceptible to  occasional superhuman transformations. Early in his career, Haley would, like Tyler, gain superhuman strength and physique on more than one occasion. In the first instance, this was due to being in an alien atmosphere with his teammates.

Soon after, an alien hero journeyed to Earth-One to aid Prof and the Challengers in defeating invading giant extraterrestrials. During this adventure, Prof was treated by an alien hero for a serious injury using a chemicaly-based healing chamber, and gained temporary superstrength. In fact, this fantastic foursome's hidden benefactor Destiny had himself displayed superhuman abilities, enough to rebel the full force of Superman during one encounter between the two!

Just as Rex Tyler felt anxiety and withdrawal symptoms from overuse of Miraclo, until he found a non-addictive derivation of the pill, so too Prof had his own inner torment from time to time. In one instance later in the Challengers' history, an evil virus spawned from a computer infected Haley's mind, causing him to temporarily go mad. While not possessing immense strength, he became  uninhibited around others. He would eventually be cured of this condition.

Still, the greatest resource these two men possessed consistently through physical ups-and-downs was their indominable intellect, which guided the Challengers and Minute-Men in their various adventures throughout the years. This same genius-level prowess would be relied upon by the Justice League and Justice Society, whom they were allies with from the very beginning, helping these teams combat world-threatening foes of various types.

The Crossovers Time Forgot Between Titanic Teams

While the teamups of headliner heroes such as the Justice League in the silver age and, prior to that, the Justice Society in the golden age, were fairly common... minor mystery men generally kept within their corners of comicbook continuities. Partly this was due to their lack of notoriety, and popularity. However, on occasion, these did occur with startling results.

There was the time when the criminal League of Challenger-Haters stalked the vacationing objects of their vitriol. And without their gadgets, the Challengers of the Unknown may have been helpless versus their inhuman opponents, were it not for the Doom Patrol who leant a hand. Elasti-Girl vs Multi-Woman... Kra versus Robotman. And, of course, the more modest masked men Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy crossed paths... not to mention almost running into each other.. with the Dynamic Duo in pursuit of the Joker. Good times.

Mystery Men Known as Destiny

Who these men actually are, what were their birth names, and how they became the enigmas they would develop into...all unknown. Nevertheless, each had a unique insight into the world upon which they were born to walk.

On Earth-One, Destiny was an unknown entity who observed the goings on of mankind from afar, and on one occasion intervened in the affairs of Superman whose heroics were causing the city of Metropolis from becoming dependent on the Man of Steel. Another Destiny of Earth-S manifested much the same as far as character traits and abilities.

On Earth-Two, Destiny appeared in a purple business suit, often involved in a minor crime of some sort despite being homeless, first appearing when the former District Attorney turned convict turned masked manhunter known as 711 lost his life to a criminal. This world's Destiny took a more proactive role in humanity's matters than had the robed Destiny.

While it is indicated that Earth-One's Destiny was ancient, his Earth-Two twin first appeared in the early 1940s. Regardless, both men seemed intuitive towards dangerous situations arising among mankind, and responded in a heroic if passive fashion. Around the same time, a hooded protector known as Hourman also appeared on Earth-Two, the counterpart of Walter "Prof" Haley, one of the Challengers of the Unknown whom the Earth-One Destiny worked alongside. Hourman and the Earth-Two “Doctor” Destiny met when the Doctor was being manipulated by a criminal. Inspired by the Man of the Hour’s heroism, Destiny became a crimefighter. Hourman also benefited from Destiny, using scripts from the “Doctor’s” earlier radio show to program his predictive Crime-Caster computer, which analyzed probable futures to protect the innocent.

Challengers of the Unknown Week: The Challengers

Like the sands through an hourglass, so are the days of our lives. Or so the old saying goes. However, these twin teams today made the hourglass... crusading on borrowed time...their team's themes.

For the Challengers of the Unknown from Earth-One, this team was composed of genius underwater expert Prof Haley, mountain climbing daredevil Red Ryan, ex-boxing champion Rocky Davis, former test pilot Ace Morgan, and scientist June Robbins. June was added after the four guys first met while the sole survivors of a plane crash. Believing they live on borrowed time, they pool their resources to found this adventure team to aid humanity. These troubleshooters would face all manners of threats, both normal and super powered, yet despite personal tragedies from time to time they always would regroup eventually. One unnatural element they would encounter is "liquid light" created by their arch enemy Multi-Man, which could imbue one with superhuman abilities for limited periods of time.

Meanwhile, in the golden age there was the team known as the Minute Men of America. A team of teens who sought the help of their hero and role model, Hourman, they had several adventures alongside the caped crusader. Hourman was chemist Rex Tyler, who discovered the Miraclo vitamin which gave him a superhuman physique for one hour each time. As Hourman, Tyler was a charter member of the Justice Society of America, and later joined the Freedom Fighters and All-Star Squadron. He would early in his costumed career recruit lads just as Jimmy Martin, Thorndyke Tompkins, and Les Watts. Also, Les' best friend and fellow radio operator Joe Magee would've been a distant Minute Man.

Each team faced various criminal scientists and world endangering scenarios. Professor Haley had himself experienced both professional successes and personal failure from scientific discoveries he had made and was effect by throughout the years. As the more stoic and thoughtful of the Challengers, his measured leadership was typically what brought about success in his team's endeavors.

The Challengers fought numerous threats to humanity including the League of Challenger-Haters which included Multi-Man and frequent foes Drabny, Kra, Volcano Man and the robotic Multi-Woman. On each occasion despite seemingly being overpowered, the Challengers always defeated these villains and incarcerated them within their Challenger Mountain.

The leader of the Minute-Men, Jimmy Martin, was the cosmic twin of Red Ryan, both young men fearless in their fortitude and inspirations to others around them. Each had brothers, with Red's aiding the Challengers on numerous adventures while Jimmy's brother sadly passed away.

Another Minute Man, Thorndyke Tompkins aka "Second Sweep" who, like his counterpart Rocky Davis, was a muscular bruiser who led with his fists. Aided by the Miraclo in his system, Thorndyke would have been more than a match for Rocky albeit only for limited periods of time.

A third Minute Man, Les "Sparks" Watts, was a ham radio amateur and expert pilot. Originally with the team for a handful of adventures from August to November 1940, Les later had his own adventures stretching from his hometown of Willowpoint to remote locations such as Alaska and Guyana. Like his counterpart Ace Morgan, Les Watts was able to traverse large distances around the globe thanks to his expert piloting skills. Les' pal Joe Magee and Red's brother Tino Manarry also aided the Challengers and Minute-Men from behind the scenes.

The Challengers made names for themselves both on their own cases and teamed up with other heroes of Earth-One such as the Sea Devils, Doom Patrol, Batman and Superman... among others. In fact, they were among the assembled heroes during the initial debut of the Justice League of America, when that team and they faced an invasion from Mars.

As for Hourman, his membership with the Society and Squadron was concurrent with his stewardship of the Minute-Men. Aside from Jimmy, these lads were plain clothed and didn't adopt a similar uniform to that of their mentor while engaged in their adventures. But the Minute-Men were every bit the hero in their own individual way as was their mentor

On one occasion, during the first meeting of the Justice Society, Rex recalled when he encountered a gang of crooks wearing uniforms identical to his caped costume. This "Hourman Gang" was short-lived, and a although they were all grown men, they were far less manly then the Minute-Men boys.

Alongside Regina Bannerman, who like Corinna Stark, was both an eyewitness and ally during several of her boyfriend's tales, Tyler as Hourman was able to defeat a cadre of criminals during the early part of the 1940s. Eventually, Les Sparks and the other members of the Minute-Men disbanded, leaving Jimmy to adopt the guise of "Minute Man" Martin as Hourman's sidekick. When the lad left town with his mom, it fell to the last Minute-Men, Thorndyke "Second Sweep" Tompkins to carry on the tradition until just prior to Rex retiring from superheroics for the next fifteen years.

While possessing brilliant minds which their teammates relied on, Haley and Tyler had personal demons they had to battle from within. Prof was mentally manipulated by an alien entity, which briefly turned him against his fellow Challengers. Hourman succumbed to Miraclo addiction with adverse physical side effects, causing him to briefly retire both his costume and his stewardship of the Minute-Men until he invented his black ray which stabilized Miraclo in his body.

Years later, Rex would see his son Rick succeed him as Hourman, while the other Minute-Men eventually retired. Other Challengers such as Red's little brother and Corrine as well as their future children would have careers mirroring those of the other Minute-Men of Rex Tyler, Jimmy Martin, Thorndyke Tomkins and Les "Sparks" Watts and their other young companions during the golden age of superheroes.