Tex Thomson
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Tex Thomson (sometimes called Tex Thompson) is a fictional character, a superhero owned by DC Comics who has used the costumed identities Mr. America and Americommando. Created by Ken Fitch and Bernard Baily, his first appearance was in Action Comics # 1 (June 1938), the same comic that introduced Superman to the world.
[edit] Fictional character biography
Thomson was originally a blonde haired Texas boy who left a possible future as an oil baron to pursue a more adventurous lifestyle with his friend, Bob Daley. This was to change in 1940 when the Nazis sunk an American liner carrying food to Europe. Thomson was watching over this liner, so he was believed dead. Tex Thomson was not dead. This disaster inspired him to don a patriotic costume, dye his hair black, and wield a whip to fight for his country as Mr. America. He also had a magic carpet for some time, which doubled as a cape.[1] He was a regular feature in Action Comics. He appeared in issues #1-74. His friend Bob Daley also donned a costume and became his sidekick "Fatman."
Mr. America was a member of the All-Star Squadron, but his main contribution to the war effort came later. Thomson was asked by President Roosevelt himself to go battle the Nazis in Germany as the Americommando. Thomson did this by becoming Hauptmann Riker and infiltrating the Gestapo. His most frequent adversaries were Mister Ito (also known as the Little One), a German/Japanese diminutive assassin, and the Queen Bee. He worked for the Americans for several years behind enemy lines.[2]
His last appearance as the Americommando was in National Comics #1. Mr. Terrific encountered Thomson during the bombing of Dresden and the two worked together to save innocent German lives. After Thomson reveals to Mr. Terrific that there are no munitions factories in Dresden for the Allies to bomb, he enters a burning building to save a small girl. The building collapsed around him and he was never seen again.
Once again Thomson managed to escape death. He emerged again to create the Hero Hotline organization. While leading this organization, Thomson went by the name the Coordinator. He only appeared as a shadowy figure on a communication screen, so no one knew that it was Thomson until it was revealed by the writer of Hero Hotline, Bob Rozakis.[3]
[edit] Other versions
- In Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, a new Americommando appeared as an agent of S.H.A.D.E. and its field leader. He kills his own speedster, Spin Doctor, for talking back to him.
- In Kingdom Come, Americommando appeared as a minor villain. After the destruction of Kansas, Americommando, along with Braintrust and the Minutemen, attempted to stop all immigration to the United States. He and his team were stopped by Superman and the Justice League.
- In Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #1, a new Mr. America debuted in the first issue and died in the same issue. His name is Trey Thompson, and he was an FBI special agent until he took justice into his own hands. It is implied in the second issue that he was related to the original Mr. America by Doctor Midnite, who says "The bloodline of Mr. America is gone." However, Trey's former FBI contact, Jeffery Graves, can be seen donning Mr. America's mask in #4 after he is fired when his connection with Trey is discovered.
Tex Thomson—whose last name is misspelled as Thompson—played a central role in the Golden Age miniseries. In this story, he is a crimefighter who disappeared from the American eye in 1942 to fight the Nazi threat from within. He killed the German superhero, Parsifal, and Adolf Hitler himself. He returned to America a hero and became a senator, with presidential aspirations. He organized a program to defend America from the Soviet menace with a group of superheroes. He rallied The Atom, Robotman, and Daniel Dunbar to his cause. He used a group of scientists to transform Dunbar into Dynaman, "a super-hero for the new age." The heroes of the story discovered that Tex Thompson had actually been killed in the war. The man who returned was actually the Ultra-Humanite. The Ultra-Humanite told Hitler that Thompson was a spy, so they killed him and put Ultra's brain into Thompson's body. The experiment which created Dynaman was actually the Humanite putting Hitler's brain in Dunbar's body. Ultra-Humanite was stopped by Manhunter, who had witnessed the operation, but suffered from memory loss after hitting his head trying to escape.
