Hourman a Missed Opportunity and a Change for No Reason

General Discussion
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Hello, I am wondering if anyone else feels this way.

I am REALLY likeing Stargirl I am liking it so much that I was surprised to find out that it was an Arrowverse show. I was nervouse to start watching it as the last time DC attempted a female led show we got SuperGirl a show so cringy that… well it was nearly universally made fun of and even my mom couldn’t watch it(and she went to college in the 70s). BUT I was really likeing this show until…

Houran!

I found comics late, I would say I was easiy a Jr. in highschool and my first exposure was Sandman(by Neil Gayman) and then imediatly after finnishing that serise Crisis On Infinant Earths. I was hooked. I loved all the hearose. I was exposed to almost the entire world of them all at once after all. But my favorites soon became Animal Man BoosterGold and eventualy Hour Man.

I loved Hour Man, A real flawed individual, a chemist who wanted to repay the world for the ritches it had let him earn. He invented a super drug that when taken gave him super strength endurance and durability, for exactly one hour. He was a fit man but the difference was striking so he wore an hour glass around his neck to help him keep track of the time. Nestalgia right? …Well… no.

I loved Rex Tyler becasue of all the super people he was one of the closest to me. He was baically a nerd who worked his way to the top through hard hard work and determination but when his goals outpaced his abilities he admited it and found a way to overcome his limitations. I have an IQ of 132, I love science I grew up wrestling saleing fencing and cooking, but, like millions of Americans, I also have A.D.D., dysgraphia, and fine motor control difficulties, I also have a hypersensitivity to sound and tactial stimulus(although I also have incredibly good hearing and balance so that is a trade off).

I was perscribed rittlin at eight years old. At first I hated it. The idea that I wasn’t good enough. The idea that people wanted to change how MY mind worked was infuriating, BUT eventually I came to realise that the pills helped me accomplish my goals better. I wasn’t too distracted to sit down and start leanring to read in a usful way(starting at 8 it took me til 12… though no one would ever think that as I have a library worth of books by this point). I was able to moderate my mouth so instead of constant funny comments I could come up with clever quips that charmed instead of annoyed people, and as I got older I learned the other benifites of my pills. I could stay up for days or go to sleep whenever I wanted. I could take a little more when needed and help my school dominate the chess cercate, I could take a little less and wright funny bits for stand up sets. Sure I needed my meds to perform as well as the average person, but with them I could perform better than that.

And then I found Hour Man. No hero represented me better. I loved Hour Man. I know I am not alone, Milions of young Americans take one medication or another. I know that at first glants a slick show runner will see Hour Man and think, “We can’t indorse pill popping drug useres,” but that isn’t what Hour Man ever was to me. I don’t think it is who he was to most people, and I certainly don’t think that is how he would be seen in todays world.

Maybe, I am wrong… what do you fine people of the DCU vewer base think?

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@Thugorp welcome to the forums!

You might want to edit this a bit.
Some of your points are difficult to understand.

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Would you like to give an example? I am not sure as to what you are refering.

Oh, and thank you for welcoming me. :smiley:

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You’re very welcome!

It’s the spelling and punctuation. I clicked on the post initially because I couldn’t quite understand the title; I had an idea but wasn’t sure. When I tried to read the post, it was difficult to understand what you were trying to convey. You have a lot to say about what im assuming is Hourman and I would love to get your take on it, but there’s a lot of spelling and punctuation errors that make it difficult to understand.

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HI @Thugorp, and welcome to the forums! I feel you on relating to a character who is fundamentally changed when portrayed on the small screen. Its likely just as you say; the showrunners and writers wanted to avoid having a teenage hero using a drug to gain abilities. That’s emphasized in that the original Hourman from the comics (Rex Tyler) developed an addiction to the drug Miraclo. All of that probably influenced the decision to go a different route with how Rick manifests his power.

Still, they preserved a lot of the elements you enjoyed about Hourman. He is still a brilliant scientist. His notes were so unique that even “Chuck,” the AI from Dr. Mid-Nite’s goggles couldn’t decipher them. He also, along with his wife, took a heroic, self-sacrificing course and left their son in the care of his uncle to protect Rick from the ISA. So he is still an uber-geek who worked his way to the top and landed a seat on the JSA. He’s a true hero and left a fine legacy for his son. Let’s see how well Rick does with his father’s hourglass. Maybe the writers will allow him to have the “time vision” of his father and be able to see an hour into the future! That would be a real asset to the new team.

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There maybe spelling errors… this ap doesn’t have any spell check… they should fix that.
The punctuation though is correct.

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I got that and I like that. In fact I LOVE the idea of this show. I never thought we would get a show about these heros. I couldn’t be happier about it.

I do feel though that the show is missing obvios oprotunities for representation. Another example would be the new Dr. Midnight. Would it have really been a challenge to make the character blind? She is already an outcast in a school like her’s why not make the reason because she is blind?

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Dude made it clear he struggles with dysgraphia. I didn’t have a problem reading this.

@Thugorp I’m so glad you found this character. No, I don’t think he endorses taking drugs in a negative way. He’s a classic hero, and was invented at a time that would predate taking pills (especially opioids) as a form of drug addiction. He’s not an example of an illicit user in my opinion. :+1::+1::+1:

Well done, sir! I hope you’re reading old JSA comics now!

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Also a good point. Of course, it would have been more challenging in how she came across the goggles. For example, how would she find them since they were in Courtney’s possession? The bit with the dog wouldn’t have worked. And what would influence a blind person to put on a pair of goggles? Granted, you’re right. Having a blind character in the series would have increased representation. But, as you seem like a true fan, it isn’t just about being inclusive. For many of us fans, it’s about the story. That’s why you see changes taking place in the small screen adaptations.

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Agreed, and thanks.

But, don’t be too harsh. I can understand how annoying it is when people don’t express correctly. Irony of Ironies I am actually a bit of a grammer natzi myself.
It’s very aquard being a grammer nazi who can’t spell but… my dad was an English major and instilled thouse values hard lol.
I wish this ap. had a spell check so my spelling wouldn’t be such an issue but I thank you truly for understanding.

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I also can follow what you’re writing, so its not a problem. One thing I sometimes do is compose replies in Word which has a more robust grammar checking engine. Once I get it to where I want it, I copy and paste the reply where I want it to appear. But I can follow what you’re posting without that, so don’t be too worried. :smiley:

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@Thugorp Sorry, man. I’m kinda a grump. It comes from the right place. I promise. Learning to be more mindful.

Whoosah :peace_symbol: :v:

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Well first… she could just have tripped over the goggles… because she’s blind and the dog left them on the floor.
My point was that the change from pills to a magic hour glass also decreases representation.

I fully understand how anoying it is when shows change cannon to increase representation needlessly(as I said super girl was a desaster) but isn’t it rare for a show to changes cannon to DECREAS representation? :-p

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No no, I appreciated greatly what you said. I just don’t want shade to swing the other way on that guy to much you know?

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Yup

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Point taken! Geoff Johns is a truly creative guy. Hopefully he checks out these threads and finds ways to be more inclusive while keeping the excitement alive (and he’s doing a great job with this series so far in terms of overall story and pacing).

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With that I agree. I assume I am going to have many more NERD RAGE attacks as the series goes on. For instance they probably won’t make The Lightning Bolt a living 5th. dementional person and they will probably do something silly like put an AI in the Starheart lantern turning it from a cool magic metior into a science duhiky and they will probably forget that both of Allen Scotts kids already have super powers… but…

lol sorry. Already started.

Really and trully though the serise is the second best show on here, right after, “Doom Patrol…” mmmmm… and, “Harly Quin,” … and, “Young Justice.” … O.k. it might be better than “Young Justice.” ;-p

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