January 1967: Dial D for Dizzying

The mid-1960s got a little superhero-dizzy.

With so many new characters debuting from a half-dozen comics companies, readers might have gotten the sense of a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” desperation. 

How else could we explain B’wana Beast or Fatman?

One feature that had “thrown at the wall” baked right into the concept was Dial H for Hero, starring teenager Robby Reed. Robby’s mysterious alien dial enabled him to randomly transform himself into superheroes, generally three per adventure. 

Artist Jim Mooney and writer Dave Wood kicked off the series. Like Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film Dial M for Murder, the feature’s title was inspired by the rotary telephone, a device gradually phased out beginning in the 1970s.

Debuting in House of Mystery 156 (Jan. 1966), Robby bore a passing resemblance to an extremely short-lived Harvey Comics character named Tiger Boy (Unearthly Spectaculars 1, Oct. 1965). This surly alien shape-shifter could also become an unlimited number of super-powered beings. Both Robby and Tiger Boy became similar-looking robot-men, in fact.

In several of Robby’s transformations, one could see the ghosts of great Golden Age characters or other abandoned or underused character concepts. 

Zip Tide, for example, shared the power of liquid transformation with Bill Everett’s Hydroman. The Human Bullet echoed Fawcett’s Bulletman. Chief Mighty Arrow recalled DC’s own Super Chief. Robby the Super-Robot was like DC’s Robotman. Hornet-Man recalled Archie Comics’ the Fly. Giant Boy resembled the Legion of Super-Heroes’ Colossal Boy. Shadow-Man might have been mistaken for the pulp superhero the Shadow (particularly in his signature dim lighting). 

In House of Mystery 160 (July 1966), Robby dropped his fig leaf of pastiche and became the “actual” Plastic Man, a famous superhero unseen for a decade. DC would revive the character in a new series in November of that year.

While entertaining for its initial 15-issue run, Dial H predictably lacked focus. Being all over the map was kind of the feature’s point, after all.