Tex Thompson

Harry "Tex" Thompson (Thomson pre-1993) is a superhero owned by DC Comics who later became the masked crime-fighter Mr. America and then became an espionage operative called Americommando.

When he joined the Office of Strategic Services as the Americommando, he became a trained spy and field operative, gaining skills in combat, weapons, explosives, and military vehicles.

Originally introduced as an independently wealthy adventurer named "Tex" Thomson, the hero regularly used a gift for detective skills to solve crimes he heard about or came across.

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.

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 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.

For the rest of his Golden Age adventures, Tex infiltrates and disrupts various Axis Powers operations, sometimes in costume and sometimes while wearing civilian clothing or disguised as a Nazi, 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".

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 Yellow Peril 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".

[2] In the series All-Star Squadron (1981-1987), writer Roy Thomas 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.

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.

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.

Writer Bob Rozakis later revealed he intended the Coordinator to be Tex Thomson, still alive decades after World War II, but this was never confirmed in-story.

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 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.

The same story implies the Americommando dies during the bombing of Dresden, 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).

[4] Thompson is originally a blond-haired young man from Texas who leaves behind the possibility of becoming an oil baron to pursue a more adventurous lifestyle with his friend, Bob Daley.

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.

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.

When the US official enters World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates "Article X", drafting America's superheroes to unify as a special war-time organization called the All-Star Squadron.

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".

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.

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.