Harry "Tex" Thompson (Thomson pre-1999) is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

owned by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

who later became the masked crime-fighter Mr. America and then became an espionage operative called Americommando. He was often aided by his best friend Bob Daley, who for a brief time operated as his costumed sidekick "Fatman". Created by Ken Fitch and

Bernard Baily Bernard Baily (April 5, 1916 – January 19, 1996)
at the

''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938), the same comic that introduced

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

. During his original stories of the 1940s, several of his enemies were based on

Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...

stereotypes. Several of his earliest stories featured Gargantua T. Potts, a character based around

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

stereotypes about African-Americans. The "Tex Tomson" series in ''Action Comics'' featured Tex and his friend Bob Daley investigating various crimes and mysteries, sometimes alongside law enforcement. When Tex took on the identity Mr. America, he used a whip as his weapon of choice. Later on, he used a scientific experiment to endow his cape with the power of flight. When he joined the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

as the Americommando, he became a trained spy and field operative, gaining skills in combat, weapons, explosives, and military vehicles. The 1993 DC Comics mini-series '' The Golden Age'' featured Tex. The story's writer James Robinson misspelled his last name as "Thompson". All later comics followed this spelling. The 1999 comic '' The Justice Society Returns: National Comics'' #1 heavily implies Americommando died in 1945 in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Germany, during its bombing by Allied forces.

Publishing history

Originally introduced as an independently wealthy adventurer named "Tex" Tomson, the hero regularly used a gift for detective skills to solve crimes he heard about or came across. He also explored hidden societies and fought spies and terrorists who threatened America. Starting with his second story, Tex was often seen in the company of his overweight, good-natured friend Bob Daley. Another frequent ally during his earliest adventures was Gargantua T. Potts, a black character designed around racist stereotypes. Gargantua had exaggerated features, spoke in broken English, and was simple-minded and highly emotional. He acted as a servant of Tex Tomson, whom he called "Mr. Tex". In ''Action Comics'' #26 (1940), readers were told Gargantua had left Tex's company to pursue his own fate. The same issue had Tex receive a warning to stay away from "Maloney". Tex later met and befriended District Attorney Maloney, becoming the DA's special investigator. The same story also introduced the mysterious Miss X, who didn't wear a costume or mask but hid her identity with the aid of a fedora and dark glasses. Later on, Tex met Maloney's daughter, first called Janice then later called Peggy (later comics corrected this by saying her full name was Margaret Janice Maloney, and that she called herself "Peggy" as is common with some people named Margaret). The stories strongly implied Peggy was Miss X and Tex himself came to this conclusion, but it was never confirmed in-story. Maloney and Miss X dropped out of Tex's stories during 1941. To take advantage of the rising popularity of superheroes, ''Action Comics'' #33 (1941) rebranded Tex as a masked hero called Mr. America, armed him with a whip. The initial idea was that Tex was believed dead and left his identity behind to now act exclusively as Mr. America, similar to the earlier heroes the Lone Ranger and the Spirit, but this idea was dropped after a few months and Tex resumed a civilian identity under his real name. In ''Action Comics'' #42, his friend Bob Daley became "Fatman", a costumed sidekick who mainly provided comic relief or acted as someone Mr. America would need to frequently save. The same issue featured Mr. America endow his cape with the power of flight (similar to a magic flying carpet) thanks to special chemical treatments and a remote control built into his sash. In several stories, Mr. America fights spies and operatives of the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

. Many of these enemies, particularly those who are meant to be Japanese, are designed around cultural stereotypes and

ideas. In ''Action Comics'' #52 (1942), Mr. America and Fatman are referred to as "Americommandos". In the next issue, this nickname only applies to Mr. America. It is not treated as a new codename, but rather as a nickname, in the same way that Superman is called the "Man of Steel" or "Man of Tomorrow" and Batman is called "the Dark Knight" or "Darknight Detective". In ''Action Comics'' #54 (1942), President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

is depicted in the comic and asks Tex to operate as a spy and special operative for the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in the

European theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

. In this story, Tex remarks that the training he'll receive before taking this assignment will make him an "Americommando" and FDR agrees that this is a perfect designation for him: "Mr. America, Americommando!" For the rest of his Golden Age adventures, Tex infiltrates and disrupts various

operations, sometimes in costume and sometimes while wearing civilian clothing or disguised as a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

, at one point establishing the identity of Hauptmann Riker. In ''Action Comics'' #56, this identity was exposed by his new enemy Dr. Ito, a half-German/half-Japanese mastermind known also as "the Little One", described by the story's narrator as "mystery man of two worlds, in whose blood the treachery of Japan and the savagery of Prussia have curdled to form a fearsome brew of terror". As the Golden Age ended, Tex's stories were cancelled and he was not revived for Silver Age stories during the 1950s and 1960s. According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', Tex Tompson "explores lost cities, fights ape armies, woos the Queen of the Malays, has a recurring nemesis in the person of the cyclopean

Gorrah, fights zombies, island demons, spies, the half-German, half-Japanese dwarf 'master of assassination' Dr. Ito, and the female crime lord Queen Bee, and he kills lots of Germans and Japanese during the war". In the series ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its se ...

'' (1981-1987), writer

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

retroactively made it official DC canon that during World War II the company's Golden Age heroes (as well as new characters and Golden Age heroes from other companies DC later acquired) were drafted under "Article X" to serve together in a special war-time organization. The series revealed Mr. America served with this organization, the All-Star Squadron, while he still operated in the US. This allowed DC Comics to retroactively establish several meetings and team-ups between Tex and other DC heroes. Tex is first seen with the Squadron in ''All-Star Squadron'' #31, when he arrives with many other heroes for the group's first full roster general meeting at the site of the New York

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

. He only makes brief cameos during this issue and a few later ones. In issue #27 of the spin-off series ''Young All-Stars'', it is said Tex's special training to become Americommando involved becoming an expert in different martial arts, such as

jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

. The same issue features Tex bidding goodbye to several Squadron colleagues before leaving for Europe, indicating he formed genuine friendships with several of them in off-panel scenes. In an ''Action Comics'' storyline in 1989, the Hero Hotline was introduced as a commercial service operating in the modern-day. This service was managed by a mysterious character called "Coordinator" who supplied "substitute heroes" for those who called the hotline. This was followed by the 6-issue 1989 series ''

Hero Hotline Hero Hotline is a fictional DC Comics corporate superteam introduced in ''Action Comics Weekly'' #637 (cover-dated January 1989). It was created by Bob Rozakis and Stephen DeStefano. History Hero Hotline is a corporate 24/7 hero for hire company ...

''. Writer

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis go ...

later revealed he intended the Coordinator to be Tex Thomson, still alive decades after World War II, but this was never confirmed in-story. Still considered a relatively obscure character, Tex gained great attention in 1993 in the popular mini-series '' The Golden Age'' which features an alternate history of how DC's Golden Age era heroes experienced the years following the end of World War II. Tex is a major character in the story, praised as a hero who killed Hitler but eventually revealed to be one of the secret villains of the mini-series. In this story, writer James Robinson spelled his name as "Thompson" instead of "Tomson". Robinson is known for occasionally misspelling or altering certain character names in his stories (in his 1990s ''Starman'' series, Robinson had instances where he referred to superhero

Jay Garrick Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first superhero known as Flash (DC Comics character), the Flash. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. ...

as Jay Garrett and

Dinah Lance The Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics: Dinah Drake and her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance. The original version was created by the writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and ...

as Diana Lance. As most modern storytellers knew about Tex primarily from ''The Golden Age'' mini-series rather than from his original, obscure stories, the new spelling became the norm in all subsequent DC Comics stories. In 1999, DC Comics published an event ''The Justice Society Returns'', involving several one-shot issues featuring at least two Golden Age era heroes joining forces. This event publicized the upcoming new series JSA which would feature modern-day stories with characters who either operated during the Golden Age or carried on the legacy of Golden Age heroes. One chapter of this event, the one-shot ''The Justice Society Returns: National Comics'' #1, had the original

Mister Terrific (Terry Sloane) Terry Sloane is a fictional superhero in the . He was the first character to take up the Mister Terrific mantle. He first appeared in ''Sensation Comics'' #1 (January 1942). Fictional character biography Terry Sloane was a rich man whose ph ...

journey to Dresden, Germany alongside the original Flash (Jay Garrick). Mr. Terrific encounters a Gestapo whom he realizes is actually the Americommando. The same story implies the Americommando dies during the

bombing of Dresden The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy bombers of the Roya ...

, in which case he was not the Coordinator of Hero Hotline decades later (or he was but then his history was changed by the reality reboot that occurred in 1994's '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time''). The third volume of the series ''Justice Society of America'' (2007-2011) showed two legacy characters taking up the mantle of Mr. America. The first was Trey Thompson, whom the character Dr. Mid-Nite referred to as the "last of the Thompson bloodline". The next was Jeffrey Graves, who joined the modern-day incarnation of the JSA.

Fictional character biography

Thompson is originally a blond-haired young man from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

who leaves behind the possibility of becoming an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

baron to pursue a more adventurous lifestyle with his friend, Bob Daley. The two enjoy many adventures in Texas as well as hidden cities and mysterious regions. They also have several encounters with criminals and con-artists. They also work with Gargantua T. Potts. After Gargantua leaves to pursue his own life and agenda, Tex establishes a friendship with District Attorney Maloney and accepts a job as the man's special investigator, tasked with helping crack down on organized crime. The same day, he meets the mysterious Miss X, who helps him on other adventures. After meeting Maloney's daughter Margaret Janice "Peggy" Maloney, Tex concludes she might be Miss X herself.

Mr. America

In 1941, Thompson resigns his duties as an investigator and accepts a special war relief. He leaves aboard the Angelus, a ship carrying food supplies to Europe. Tex discovers a

saboteur on board but is too late to prevent the man from planting an explosive. The explosion causes the ship to sink but Thompson survives and makes it to safety. Returning to America, he takes advantage of the public believing him to be dead and operates clandestinely, tracking down the bomber and his leader Pratt, who manages an entire sabotage crime. Donning a mask and patriotic costume, dyeing his hair black, and arming himself with a bull whip, Tex calls himself "Mr. America" and brings Pratt to justice. After a few more adventures, Tex decides to resume his civilian life, once again joining forces with Bob Daley. Months after beginning his costumed career, Mr. America uses experimental chemicals to give his cape the power of flight. At the same time, Bob Daley decides to a costumed hero to complement Mr. America and act as his official sidekick. Like the original

Red Tornado Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

, Daley creates a disguise out of homemade items (such as a lampshade he uses as a mask). Wielding a broom as his weapon, Daley calls himself "Fatman" and joins Mr. America on several adventures.''Action Comics'' #42 (DC Comics, 1942). Despite Fatman's bumbling behavior and sometimes ridiculous antics, Mr. America appreciates his help and loyalty. A recurring adversary for the duo during this time is the woman crime lord known as the Queen Bee. When the US official enters World War II,

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

creates "Article X", drafting America's superheroes to unify as a special war-time organization called the

. Mr. America answers the draft, working with the Squadron on a few occasions and meeting several other masked heroes of the time. He formed friendships with some of his All-Star Squadron colleagues, such as

Johnny Quick Johnny Quick are two fictional DC Comics characters, each with the power of superhuman speed. The first was a superhero who first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #71 (September 1941) during the Golden Age. The other was a supervillain, an evil ve ...

, Firebrand,

Tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

, and the organization's chairperson Liberty Belle.

Americommando

In 1942, President Roosevelt summons Mr. America, whom he is aware is really Harry "Tex" Thompson. Impressed with the man's work against spies and organized crime in America, FDR requests Tex undergo intensive military and combat training so he can then operate overseas for the OSS as the "Americommando". Thompson agrees, saying goodbye to Bob Daley who is not authorized to join him. After his training, Thompson arrives in the

European Theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

and helps the

defeat several operations of the

. Americommando stays behind enemy lines for the rest of World War II. During these adventures, he didn't use his flying cape. Over time, Tex came to realize that while he had cause to hate the Nazi party, many Germans were good people and victims of their own country's government.''The Justice Society Returns: National Comics'' #1, part of the larger event ''The Justice Society Returns'' (DC Comics, 1999). In time, Thompson adopts the identity of "Hauptmann Riker" and infiltrates the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

. In 1945, he is stationed in Dresden when he meets the original American hero called Mr. Terrific (Terry Sloane). The allies are bombing the city and Terrific has been told this is due to the presence of munitions factories. Thompson informs Terrific that Dresden has no munitions factories and this fact is known to the Allies. As the bombing continues, Thompson enters a burning building to save a German civilian. As soon as he does, a bomb hits the building, destroying it instantly and knocking Mr. Terrific backward. The Americommando is never seen again.

Hero Hotline

In the modern era, a mysterious figure known as the Coordinator established the Hero Hotline organization. A commercial enterprise, Hero Hotline provided "substitute heroes" for those who called with emergencies or special situations where help was needed.''Action Comics'' #637-640 (DC Comics, 1989). The Coordinator's identity was never revealed in-story, but writer Bob Rozakis laster said he intended the Coordinator to be Tex Thompson, still alive and semi-active decades after World War II.

Legacy Heroes

In the modern era, an ex-FBI agent named Trey Thompson, implied to be related to Tex Thompson, decides to become a vigilante and dons the Mr. America identity. He is quickly killed in the field, but his former FBI contact Jeffrey Graves later assumes the Mr. America mantle.''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #1–4: 'The Next Age' Graves uses a whip that is later modified by the second Mr. Terrific, who equips it with an explosive tip.''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #34

Powers and abilities

When first introduced, Tex Thompson is an intelligent person with a talent for detective work and great skill at hand-to-hand combatant. He becomes formidable with a whip, his weapon of choice as Mr. America. For some of his adventures as Mr. America, he also employed a chemically treated cape capable of going rigid and achieving flight, comparing it to a flying rug from legend. To control the cape's functions, Mr. America used a remote control built into his sash and pressed certain buttons when needed. As an official US government operative called Americommando, Tex receives intensive military training, learning espionage techniques, as well as how to operate certain military vehicles and explosives. Americommando's government training makes him a proficient marksman in various firearms and an expert in different martial arts, including jujustu. He also learns German and is able to speak it fluently while disguising his native accent from most people (only Mr. Terrific's special skills were able to detect the presence of an American dialect).

Other versions

* In '' Freedom Fighters'' #7 (March 1977), the villain Silver Ghost poses as a hero and calls himself Americommando. In his role, he becomes leader of the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. The story intentionally painted this Americommando and his team as a parody of

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

and the Invaders of Marvel Comics. * In ''

Lord Havok Lord Havok is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain, part of the supervillain team called the Extremists. He is a genius equipped with a powered armor. Lord Havok first appeared in ''Justice League Europe'' #15 (June 1990). Fictional c ...

and the

Extremists Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...

'' #1–6, the Earth-8 version of Americommando is leader of a group called the Meta-Militia, an analogue of the

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

. Like the Silver Ghost version, he seems to be a satire of Marvel's Captain America. * In '' Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters'', an agent of

S.H.A.D.E. The following is a list of fictional government agency, government agencies, comic book organizations that have been published by DC Comics and their imprints. A Agency The Agency was formed by Amanda Waller to serve as a small, quasi-independe ...

operates under the name Americommando and lead's a field team for the organization. He opposes the heroic Freedom Fighters and kills his own speedster teammate Spin Doctor for talking back to him. * In the alternate reality of '' Kingdom Come'', a minor terrorist calling himself Americommando demands the halting of all immigration to the United States after the destruction of Kansas. It is later implied that he, and new versions of the DC characters called Minutemen, acted under the control of the villains called Braintrust. * Tex Thompson played a central role in the ''

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

'' miniseries, which takes place outside DC canon and offered an alternative history of the fates of DC's Golden Age heroes following World War II. He is still a crime-fighter who leaves for Europe in 1942 to fight the Nazi threat from within. In this version of events, he kills the German metahuman Parsifal, whose power is to shut off the powers of other metahumans. At the end of the war, Thompson is credited with killing

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

himself and returns to America as a hero. He becomes a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and has aspirations to be

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

, but it is revealed to readers and eventually other characters that this version of Thompson is secretly a villain.

References

External links

Mr. America
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on April 4, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson Comics characters introduced in 1938 DC Comics superheroes Fictional secret agents and spies Golden Age superheroes United States-themed superheroes Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel