Tex Thompson
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Tex Thompson is a fictional superhero owned by DC Comics. His first appearance was in Action Comics # 1 (June 1938), the same comic that introduced Superman to the world.
Thompson 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. Thompson was watching over this liner, so he was believed dead. Tex Thompson 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. Thompson was asked by President Roosevelt himself to go battle the Nazis in Germany as the Americommando. Thompson did this by becoming Hauptmann Riker and infiltrating the Gestapo. 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 Thompson during the bombing of Dresden and the two worked together to save innocent German lives. After Thompson 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 Thompson managed to escape death. He emerged again to create the Hero Hotline organization. While leading this organization, Thompson went by the name the Coordinator. He only appeared as a shadowy figure on a communication screen, so no one knew that it was Thompson until it was revealed by the writer of Hero Hotline, Bob Rozakis.[3]
[edit] One Year Later
In Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, a new Americommando appeared. This one is an agent of S.H.A.D.E. and current field leader. He killed his own speedster, Spin Doctor, for talking back to him.
It was revealed in Wizard Magazine that a new Mr. America would appear in the upcoming Justice Society of America series.
[edit] Elseworlds
- 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.
- Tex 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 had it wiped from his mind by the Germans.
