Dial "H" for Hero!

Part Two of an at least 52 part series of Who’s Who entries of New 52 characters (but probably a whole lot more what with cancellations and all).

"When teenage genius Robby Reed [Why did he need to be a genius?] found himself caught in the middle of a crime rampage by the organization known as Thunderbolt, he was hurled from a cliff to what appeared to be certain doom by a mechanical menace. [Well that's fucking vague as fuck.] Miraculously, Robby survived the fall and found himself in a previously unexplored cavern.

There, Robby uncovered a weird dial inscribed with an alien language. Discovering he had a mental link to the dial [That's queer. A mental link with an inanimate piece of metal?], Robby was able to decipher the alien characters and dial the alien equivalent of H-E-R-O. This instantly transformed him into the super-hero known as Giant-Boy [My, my. They were so creative in the 60s!], and began his heroic career. Each time Robby dialed those four letters, he became a new and different hero, each endowed [Hee hee. Endowed!] with strange and wonderful powers to battle Thunderbolt as well as other villains and menaces.

Robby's super-heroic career came to an abrupt and unexpected end when he confronted a villain called Shirkon of the Many Eyes. In order to defeat the villain, Robby dialed S-P-L-I-T on his dial and was transformed into two entities, one a being of pure goodness called The Wizard and the other a being of pure evil called The Master. While The Wizard defeated Shirkon, The Master dialed the H-dial into oblivion [Ooh! Ooh! That's the guy from the current series, right?! The one that lives in the Null Creature!] and wiped out the past memories of Robby Reed.

Some years later, Christopher King and Victoria Grant were summoned by a mysterious voice to the attic of the house into which the King family had just moved. There, in an ornate chest, they discovered two small dials, each with the letters H-E-R-O inscribed upon its face. Unbeknownst to Chris or Vicki, these dials had been created by the same Wizard who had once been half of Robby Reed. [Gross.]

Though their dials had only four letters each [I wonder if Chris kept trying to get Vicki to dial H-O-R-E?] and their transformations were limited to an hour's duration, Chris and Vicki's transformations were as bizarre as any of those experienced by Robby Reed. Eventually, they revealed their powers to their friend Nick Stevens [So what your saying is they revealed their "endowments"?], a young artist who liked to design super-heroes--heroes that Chris and Vicki invariably became. [No wonder Manteau keeps transforming into sexist, half-naked heroes!]

Chris and Vicki used their powers to battle numerous super-villains, many of whom were created by the evil Master [Shouldn't that be the evil The Master?], who sought their H-dials, though he was never really sure exactly why. Years before, The Master had apparently slain the Wizard [So we're just going to stop capitalizing the "the"?], but in fact had merely released the Wizard's spirit to a higher plane of existence [Like Vader did to Obi Wan!] where he could search oblivion for his original H-dial.

The final confrontation between Wizard and Master was witnessed by Chris, Vicki, and Nick. The astral form of the Wizard had located the original H-dial and then used it to dial both the Wizard and Master back into one being--Robby Reed. Robby explained the truth about his two selves to Chris, Nick, and Vicki, then announced he was giving up hero-dialing forever. He presented his original dial to Nick. [What did Robby Reed do after this? How many years had passed? Did he just get a job at a truck stop? I need closure!]

Though they have been inactive in recent months, Chris, Nick, and Vicki retain their H-dials, ever ready [Speaking of "ever ready," George Knapp on Coast to Coast tonight described a guest as "the everready bunny" because he "keeps going and going." Let's hope Energizer isn't a sponsor of the radio show!] to Dial "H" for Hero."

First Appearance (Robby Reed): HOUSE OF MYSTERY #156
(Chris and Vicki): ADVENTURE COMICS #479