Silver Age: Dial H for Hero (2000)
by Mark Waid & Barry Kitson
cover by Jim Mooney
Robby gets his own special during the “Silver Age” event, which goes the extra mile on the cover to make it look like a proper Silver Age one.
Bonus points for having him face Martian Manhunter, who WAS the backup feature on “House of Mystery” during the Dial-H run!
We even begin at Robby’s house, although for once it doesn’t look like he skipped a meal.
This time he turns into Twilight, who can create shadows. And fly like 99% of his transformations.
As mentioned in Silver Age Secret Files and Origins, Waid is retconning the H-Dial into having Interlac letters. This one goes into more detail by explaining HOW Robby knows some Interlac.
However, even if this version does make a bit more sense than a high schooler translating an alien alphabet without any reference… THAT’S NOT HOW LANGUAGES WORK!
I do like this moment when Robby realizes he can be a superhero, though.
This flashback shows a bunch of Robby’s old transformations. Luckily skipping the embarrassing ones.
This continuity insert is set somewhere in the middle during Robby’s career, so his main concern is still taking down Thunderbolt. Which he does easily.
Waid is a huge Dial-H fan, so I’m guessing he’s using the opportunity of this special to showcase that Robby COULD have been a mixture of Spider-Man and Captain Marvel.
And I’m not mentioning Spider-Man for the whole “save the day in high school” vibe.
It’s also because his civilian life DOES suddenly feel interesting, once he’s given a friend AND some dark trauma to work through!
Specifically, having blocked all memories of his father.
Robby’s class in a school trip to a military facility (???) where they are developing something called the Internet.
Meh, I don’t think it’s going to be useful for anything.
Except maybe snarking on old comic books.
This is when the comic connects to the larger “Silver Age” event.
The main idea behind it… besides the gimmick of doing it in the style of the Silver Age… is that the members of the Justice League have had their bodies switched with those of their villains.
So currently Martian Manhunter has the body of Dr. Light.
So the Justice League came up with a completely bonkers plan: commit crimes to make the mind-swapped Leaguers look like the bad guys!
That’s right: the villain of this story is Martian Manhunter in Dr. Light’s body, using Dr. Light’s powers to make himself look like Martian Manhunter, which he actually is, in order to make the current Martian Manhunter, which is actually Dr. Light, look like a bad guy, which is truly is, since he’s got the mind of Dr. Light.
It’s kind of amazing that Martian Manhunter is able to use Dr. Light’s powers with such versatility.
This is where Waid drops a massive bombshell: not only Martian Manhunter knows Robby…
…we get Robby’s ACTUAL ORIGIN STORY!!!
So not only is Robby one of the world’s greatest detectives and an orphan, but his parents were murdered by a criminal when he was still a child?
Martian Manhunter, please introduce him to Batman as soon as you can, he’s THE best candidate for the next Robin!!!
Before he can actually talk to Robby, though, he transforms into Pyronic Man.
Which might be the H-Dial having a sense of humor, because fire is Martian Manhunter’s Kryptonite.
So even if he’s not weak to fire RIGHT NOW because he has Dr. Light’s body, it’s still enough to distract him.
Not that it matters much, because Dr. Martian Light blasts a fuel tank with lasers.
That’s not the only bad news for Robby: the Justice League is here!
Just kidding. It’s just holograms.
Again: Dr. Light can be impressive on his own, but I still get the feeling Martian Manhunter does a better job at using his tech.
Feeling Pyronic Man isn’t up to the task, Robby tries a new transformation.
Which he only keeps for a couple of panels without doing much with it.
The fact that he picks up a tank thrown by “Superman” makes me wonder how the heck Dr. Martian Light managed THAT trick… even assuming these holograms are solid (which I don’t think they should be in this period), would they be strong enough to lift a tank?
And if the tank is just a hologram, shouldn’t Robby feel it?
Robby tries a new transformation, kind of a gender-bent Triplicate Girl…
… but even a hologram of Flash is too much for this transformation.
This looks like a job for a familiar face: Radar-Sonar Man!
With his radar sense he can find the real Dr. Martian Light and knock him out with a sonar blast.
This breaks all of Dr. Martian Light’s toys, but his work is done: the Justice League are considered the bad guys now.
I don’t know man, you’re in the middle of a military base that is currently on fire… you still kind of stick out!
Unfortunately for Robby, that’s enough transformations for today.
So he returns home. Presumably skipping dinner.
There is, however, a silver lining. Because Robby might be able to remember his father.
Except his grandfather is, well, he’s kind of a dick isn’t he?
WTF Granpa!?!? Now I understand why Robby never wants to eat next to you!!!
Yeah, uhm, bet you didn’t expect a Dial H story to end on such a depressing note!
Good thing there’s still one story in this event that involves Robby because holy crap, that was depressing.
Historical significance: 4/10
I’m not sure if the murder of Robby’s parents has been mentioned in the more recent Dial-H revivals, but I doubt it. Still it HAS to count, right?
Silver Age-ness: 3/10
Despite the effort to have it match the tone, this one is definitely more serious than the rest of the event.
Does it stand the test of time?: 8/10
This really, REALLY makes me wish Waid had the chance to do an actual running series with Robby. Who knew you could find so much depth in a character that has been essentially a blank slate in his original stories?
While the ending is a downer and it’s a missed opportunity to have Robby interact with the actual Justice League, the next part will remedy that and give a nice sendoff to Robby.
Dial S for SOCKAMAGEE! : 98
Five uses of the catchphrase.
Dial I for superhero identities: 51
Aside from the returning Radar-Sonar Man, we have four new ones. Only Twilight and Pyronic Man get a proper name but we also have “Giant” and “Quadrulets”. Unlike Castor and Pollux, however, the quadruplets don’t act independently so I’m still counting them as a single superhero.
Dial U for most used identity: Radar-Sonar Man becomes the most used transformation, with this one being the third time he shows up.
Dial C for the superpowers count: 71
Twilight can create darkness. You would think pyrokinesis was already in the list, but it’s added only now thanks to Pyronic Man. “Giant” doesn’t have anything, since size increase was already covered by Giant Boy. As for “Duplicates”, I’m going to assume that the power to split into four separate bodies is its own superpower. If it counts for Triplicate Girl…