DC Teams: H

(The Alliance of) Haven

Haven is a former prison colony from the planet of Competalia. It was created by Anathema as a prison to contain all opposed her. Those who served Anathema were subject to her "treatments" which imbued each person with a different ability. Her process also, however, eventually sapped the subject's will. With the help of Siv, one of Anathema's former servants, the Havenites also developed a treatment — without the side effects. The "prisoners" of Haven eventually grew so sophisticated that they were able to engineer and escape from Competalia. They launched the entire city into space as a great space ship and set out to find a new home.

That they found, but not without heavy cost. When Haven came out of warp space too near the Earth, it crashed, destroying Lamont, California and killing many of its own citizens. The JLA and super-powered Havenites ultimately managed to stop the ship from hitting the ocean. The ship ultimately came to rest upon the former site of Coast City (home of Green Lantern, destroyed by Mongul). With the Imperiex/Brainiac 13 war, President Lex Luthor realized the need to address alien affairs. He appointed Nicole Stein Ambassador to Extraterrestrial Interests.

Haven is protected by members of their Alliance. Many of these members perished in the crash, but new recruits including Katalia and Nia soon joined. The major players in the Alliance include...

• Siv, their greatest genetic scientist. He uses nanites as an internal power source which he can manipulate in many ways. He wears armor which can also be controlled by the nanites. Siv helped develop the treatments Anathema used on her slaves. He then perfected the process for use in Haven.
• Valadin is the leader of the Alliance. He possesses great strength, invulnerability, flight and heat vision.
• Nia is also a great powerhouse. She received Anathema's treatment just days before Haven launched into space. Though she was still in service to Anathema, she traveled to Haven seeking to reconcile with her lover, Cohvan. Cohvan died in the crash and Nia joined the Alliance.
• Katalia is a telepath and telekinetic. Her parents once served Anathema. When they were killed, she fled to Siv for the treatment to obtain powers of her own.
• Hank Velveeda, who can gather and store endless amounts of information
• Melik, a magnetist

The Alliance eventually unearthed evidence of a traitor. (#8) This turned out to be Mavaar Lin, chancellor of Haven. Mavaar had helped Anathema come to Earth and assemble a small army of slaves. (#9) Anathema was brought down when Siv used a sample of her DNA to return her to her original, pretreated form. To generate power, Haven had long used powerful individuals who volunteered to function as power sources. Most of these people died in the crash and so Anathema's weakened form was put to this use.

Nicole Stein replaced Mavaar Lin as Haven's chancellor and the city is now an official part of the United States. (JLA/Haven: Anathema #1)

» FIRST APPEARANCE: JLA/Haven: Arrival #1

» SERIES: Haven: The Broken City, 9 issues (2002) • JLA/Haven: Anathema #1

Hayoth

The Hayoth are a foursome who operate as a strike force for the Israeli army, the Mossad. Their first contact with the West came when Amanda Waller (see Suicide Squad) was contracted to deal with Kobra. Waller was hired by an Egyptian man named Nazair who claimed that even though Kobra was in Israel, he was a threat to Egypt's interests as well. Their members are named after the four holy beasts of Ezekiel and Revelation (angels with the face of either a lion, eagle, ox or man).

The Hayoth are borne along by the supernal power; and so were the movements of the tribes below who bore on their standards the likenesses of the Hayoth, that of Lion, Eagle, Ox, Man. (Ezek. I, 19)

They follow the command of Colonel Hacohen:

• Golem is Moyshe Nakhman. He can change his body composition to various solid and liquid forms (and sometimes to air).
• Judith is a master assassin and swordswoman trained in the martial arts.
• Ramban is a magician named after a great Kabbalistic mage
• Dybbuk is an artificial intelligence, who functions as a strategist and electronic troublemaker.

After clashing with the Suicide Squad, the Hayoth ultimately realized they were on the same side and worked together to capture Kobra. (Suicide Squad #45-47) Their next encountered occurred when the Hayoth mistakenly believed they would be allowed to take Qurac's former President Marlo into custody (see Jihad). The misunderstanding brought the teams into conflict and the Hayoth were detained by U.S. officials. (#59-61) To bargain for their freedom, Dybbuk agreed to help Waller free Mindboggler from the confines of her "Ifrit" programming. (Mindboggler's mind had been used by the Quracis to create Ifrit.) Dybbuk was successful; in fact he and Mindboggler (now "Leah") were engaged to be married (#63)

» FIRST APPEARANCE: Suicide Squad v.1 #45

» FEATURED APPEARANCES: Suicide Squad v.1 #45-47, 59-61, 63

Helix

Some material from Who's Who #10, and Who's Who Update '87 #4

Years ago, the gynecologist Dr. Amos Love injected six pregnant women with an experimental mutagneic drug. As a result, the six women each gave birth on the same night to metahuman children. Dr. Love called the children "genomorphs" because of their transformed genes. The doctor abducted the infants from the hospital and brought them to a house in the desert near Bakersfield, California, where he raised them. As the years passed, Love raised the children himself, never allowing them to leave the house so that all they knew was what they learned form books, radio, and television. He told them their natural parents hadn't wanted them, and knowing no better, they believed him.

As the six children he raised grew, Dr. Love kept them confined to his property. The children learned all they knew from books radio, and television and never met anyone else. After the supposed death of Dr. Love (who, in fact, still lived), the six genomorphs learned the true story of their origins from reading Love's diary. Since they'd all grown up watching TV clips of the Justice Society of America, another group of super-powered beings, the young adults designed costumes to go with the names Doctor Love had given them and called their group Helix.

   

Their original membership included:

• Arak the Wind-walker, apparently a pure-blood American Indian, capable of controlling the so-called Panther winds to create focused hurricanes and tornadoes;
• Baby Boom, who stopped growing at five years of age; she can explode anything around herself merely by concentrating;
• Kritter, a bespectacled being seemingly more canine than human, but a master of computer programming;
• Mr. Bones, possessed of transparent skin that reveals the skeleton beneath and a cyanide touch that can kill without effort;
• Penny Dreadful, who can absorb any small amount of electricity and return it a thousand-fold; and
• Tao Jones, whose powerful mind enables her to levitate as well as to return any energy hurled at her to its source.

In an attempt to extort money, Helix kidnapped the heroine, Fury. This brought Helix into conflict with Fury's Los Angeles based allies, Infinity, Inc. Though the Infinitors managed to thwart Helix's plans, the six villains made good their escape (Infinity, Inc. #17-18). Later, the group learned that there had been other children who were a part of Dr. Love's program. The shark-villain, Carcharo, entered the fray and revealed that both he and the Infinitor, Wildcat were long-lost "cousins" and products of Love's experiments. Following this fracas, Mr. Bones was arrested and the others escaped (#25-26). When they reappeared, Baby Boom had taken the name Babe and assumed leadership of Helix. (#28) Carcharo joined Helix but soon turned on them and kidnapped Mr. Bones; Carcharo died from cyanide when he bit Bones' leg off. To ensure Bones' safety, Helix turned themselves in. Bones was then freed from prison by Dr. Love. (#29) After this, Mr. Bones received an artificial leg and was nursed to health by Dr. Beth Chapel (Dr. Midnight). Because they were minors, an informal hearing was held to try to decide the fate of the Helix children. In their defense, they claimed that they were not raised with a sense of right or wrong. Kritter even devised a voice box to allow him to testify personally. The court found that Mr. Bones was a bad influence on the others; Bones would be remanded to the custody of Infinity, Inc., and the others would receive treatment. (#38)

Bones' time with Infinity was strained, but he became a hero (and an Infinitor) in his own right. His tenure with Infinity ended tragically; his cyanide touch was the cause of Skyman's death. This happened when the Harlequin used Solomon Grundy to place Bones' hand on Skyman's flesh. Distraught, Bones disappeared and the Infinitors sought him out at the treatment facility where Helix resided. There, Helix had again come under the control of Dr. Love. When Love commanded them to kill Bones, they instinctively turned on him and killed Love instead. Helix departed bitterly, claiming that Bones was no longer one of them. (#51) The end for Bones was bittersweet, though he was granted official Infinity membership, the group soon disbanded. (#52)

Sometime after Infinity's breakup, Mr. Bones was offered the Director's position at the D.E.O. (the US Department of Extranormal Operations). The D.E.O.'s agenda sometimes brings Bones into conflict with his former comrades, who are now in the Justice Society. The rest of Helix has not been seen since, except briefly as part of the hell-raisers in Wonder Woman's recent battle against Circe.

Penny Dreadful and Arak fell in line with the JLA's nemesis, Prometheus, helping him to kill the lover of Starman Mikaal Tomas, and gorillas in Congo Bill's tribe. When Arak caved to interrogation by the heroes, Penny killed him. In turn, her own powers set off a bolt of energy from Mikaal that killed her. (Justice League: Cry for Justice #4)

» FIRST APPEARANCE: Team: Infinity, Inc. #17. Mr. Bones: Infinity, Inc. #16. Carcharo: Infinity, Inc. #25. Wildcat II: Crisis #6

» FEATURED APPEARANCES: Infinity, Inc. #17-19, 25-26, 28-29, 38, 40-41, 51-52 • Wonder Woman v.2 #176 (Penny and Tao)

Hero Hotline

Created by Bob Rozakis & Stephen Destefano
Entry revised & expanded by Russell Hillman

Need help? Call 1-800-555-HERO! Hero Hotline was a quick-response team of lesser-powered, salaried super-heroes, funded by a number of public and private organizations. Their office fielded calls from the public and then sent field officers/agents to investigate the problems.

Harry, aka the Coordinator was the man behind the Hotline. Though his identity was never revealed in-panel, series creator Bob Rozakis identified him as "Tex" Thomson, the former Golden Age hero known as Mr. America/The Americommando (see below). He was assisted by the "most advanced robot monitor in the world", the 500-2Q, aka Soozie-Q, or Sooz.

Hero Hotline had civilian operators to screen calls, and a number of super-heroes on the payroll. The superheroes included:

• Diamondette (Diana "Di" Theotocopoulos), had hands as hard as diamonds and could slice through almost anything. She used her job at Hero Hotline to pay her way through medical school, wanting to be the first surgeon to perform an operation without using a scalpel.
• Hotshot (Billy Lefferts) was the youngest member of Hero Hotline and could shoot fireballs from his fingertips.
• Lightning Eyes (Terry Carbone) was a speed reader who was hired to help process the telephone messages.
• Microwavabelle (Belle Jackson) joined Hero Hotline after her husband Martin was killed in a liquor store robbery. A mother of two, she invented a portable microwave generation device and used it to get the job. She eventually met up with her husband's killer on a case, and the man committed suicide when confronted with all the things he had done.
• Mr. Muscle/Flex/Mr. Mighty/Brother Bicep (Sturgis Butterfield), had a penchant for frequently changing his super-hero code name. He was a bodybuilder with considerable strength (but unclear whether it was truly superhuman.
• Private Eyes (Lester Lee) was a private detective with a unique set of goggles that gave him telescopic, x-ray, microscopic and a variety of other vision abilities.
• Stretch (Thomas Longacre) had the ability to stretch and reshape his body, like Plastic Man or the Elongated Man (in fact, he apparently got his abilities by using Gingold well before Ralph Dibny discovered it, and claimed to have been stretching long before Plastic Man as well). He often lamented his role at Hero Hotline, since he was primarily given jobs like retrieving kittens from trees, or rings that have fallen down sewers. Stretch apparently knew the Coordinator from way back. He also claimed to have worked with the original Red Tornado, the Justice Society, Hourman, (and the obviously out- of-continuity duo of Captain Atom and Dr. Manhattan) and boasted to being the godfather to one of Johnny Quick's children. He has also battled the Penguin and the Calculator. Stretch was married to a woman named Selma whom he described as a bit of a flake.
• Voice-Over (Andrew P. Greenwald) had the ability to minic any voice/sound and was an accomplished mimic and ventriloquist. He was accompanied by Fred, his invisible, intangible partner (who may or may not have been a vocal creation).

Others heroes appeared irregularly, such as:

• The organization's Night Crew included the pro-union Zeep the Living Sponge (a former Dial H for Hero character from Adventure #482), Marie the Talking Turtle, Thunderhead, Bat-Myte and Chlorino.
• Other heroes working for the organization include versions of Card Queen, the Herald, Ms. Terrific (modeled after Terry Sloane), and a civilian looking remarkably like Alley Oop. (Note: It is unclear whether these names were made up by the biographer, or came from writer Bob Rozakis)
• The Peeps, a Tribble-like seeming collective, may also be official members of the group, but that was unclear from the stories.
• The Odd Man was also shown entering the office in one issue, though whether or not he is/was an official employee is unclear.
• And the Flash also stopped by once, but just to use the rest room.

Hero Hotline's first recorded adventure detailed the arrival of Hotshot (and his mother) to the team. Meanwhile, Mr. Muscle and Diamondette struggled with a costumed criminal Soon after that, Mr. Muscle changed his name to "Flex," then "Private Eyes," and investigated the disappearance of actress Melanie Boulder. After freeing her from a religious fanatic, Melanie and Private Eyes began dating. They were eventually married. (Hero Hotline #??)

Concurrently, Microwavabelle and Voice-Over saved a liquor store from a drug-crazed gunman—who turned out to be the killer of Belle's husband. Belle and Voice-Over combined their powers to make him believe he was talking to God, and the gunman killed himself. Hotshot and Stretch disarmed an anti-smoking zealot in the subway. The workday ended with inventor Roderick C. Broderick locking his dog inside an indestructible box, from which Diamondette was able to free him. (Action Comics Weekly #63)

Rozakis explored a good number of plot points in the team's own limited series, including Voice-Over's invisible/intangible friend, Fred. Most assumed it was a joke, but Fred's existence never was totally debunked. Fred was scheduled to make an appearance on a TV show, but he got stagefright and couldn't say anything. Voice-Over and Private Eyes saved Mrs. Culligan from "Martians" that had made her their queen (hoping to extract money from her).

After fishing a ring out of the sewer for a pair of lovebirds, Stretch and Private Eyes happened upon the super-villain known as Quakemaster, who was attempting to tunnel into a bank. The majority of Hero Hotline showed up and managed to capture Quakemaster using a unique brand of teamwork.

Mr. Muscle (back to using that name) saved one Mrs. Bartoli from spousal abuse. But the next day, her husband served Muscle and Hero Hotline with a summons, accusing Mr. Muscle of injuring Mr. Bartoli in that scuffle. Bartoli continued to stalk Muscle, luring the hero into an alleyway and hitting him with a pipe wrench. Then Mr. Bartoli turned up dead and Mr. Muscle was arrested for the murder. Stretch's niece, Ellie Longacre, was hired as his defense attorney. At trial, Mrs. Bartoli claimed to have seen Mr. Muscle kill her husband with the aforementioned pipe wrench. But Stretch cracked the case by uncovering evidence and forcing Mrs. Bartoli to recant her testimony and finger the real murderer.

Microwavabelle's kids were among those held hostage on a bus by a group of gunmen calling themselves the United Fighters for Freedom. After waiting impatiently for the authorities to solve the situation, Belle finally lost her cool and took matters into hand. The Coordinator sent others to help, and the situation was resolved without injury to any of the children. The next day, Belle was relegated to desk duty because she couldn't find a sitter, and showed their newest employee, Lightning Eyes, around Hero Hotline.

Nearly everyone was sent in after Snafu (a former foe of Man-Bat), who attacked the stock exchange, disrupting trading. Voice-Over stopped the criminal by overloading his hearing with an amplified shout.

The Coordinator/Mr. America Mystery

One day, a strange delivery arrived from Burger Town—a block of ice containing what appeared to be the frozen body of wartime hero Mr. America! Harry stated unequivicoally that this was not Mr. America: "… it's not the real Americommando… trust me on this, okay?" They found that the body inside was a fake—and contained a bomb. (Hero Hotline #4) The team barely escaped headquarters before it exploded. Meanwhile, someone hired the Firebug to attack Hero Hotline offices and draw out the Coordinator. A well-planned assault brought a quick end to the stand-off, but SooZ's head was badly melted during the attack. Belle replaced it with the synthetic head of "Mr. America," defrosted the previous day.

Their greatest challenge was against the Calculator, who called Hero Hotline operatives then kidnapped them. Sooz's monitors were disrupted, too, so it was up to the Coordinator to evacuate the office and track down the villain. The Calculator knew Harry from a past history; he'd fought both Harry and Stretch. Hero Hotline were freed and stopped him fairly quickly.

This story left "Harry's" true identity a mystery, and readers speculated that the Co-ordinator was Tex Thompson, the former Mr. America/Americommando of World War II. This led many to believe that the Coordinator was Tex Thompson. Creator Bob Rozakis cleared everything up in his May 2001 column:

He IS Harry "Tex" Thompson. Always had been, always will be… even if it is never acknowledged in a comic book. So, to answer T5’s question above: No, Mister America did not die… at least not in the BobRo corner of the DCU.

Because of DC's editorial policies at the time, Rozakis was forbidden to use the Americommando because Roy Thomas had control over the character in All-Star Squadron.

Strangely, many clues pointed to the Coordinator being Harold Jordan, Air Wave II. The Coordinator was said to have been a former hero with ties to Batman and Green Lantern. He had a fondness for Golden Age heroes, but is never said to have been active in the Golden Age. In Hotline #5, a photo shown on the Coordinator's wall suggests that Johnny Quick is his god-father. Further, he is called "Harry" by the Hotline staff and by the Calculator, who is a verified former foe.

Other Appearances

Members of Hero Hotline were spotted at the opening of Warriors, Guy Gardner's theme bar and restaurant. (Guy Gardner: Warrior #29)

Former private investigator/secret agent Tim Trench joined Hero Hotline after the original mini-series ended. On his only recorded job with the group, He attired himself in a brown/green costume reminiscent of the Spirit. He went to Houma, Louisiana in response to a call from some hostages of an evil druid, but got caught in traffic and missed everything. (Swamp Thing #162)

Stretch, Private Eyes, and Diamondette also showed up at Project Cadmus when the call was put out for a replacement for Superboy (when he was on his Hyper-Time adventure). (Superboy v.3 #65)

Diamondette and Mr. Muscle had cameos during Wonder Woman's battle in the Joker's Last Laugh crisis. Diamondette appeared to have been knocked out by Lady Shiva, while Mr. Muscle stood beside Anarky and watching the women fight. (Wonder Woman #175)

» FIRST APPEARANCE: Action Comics Weekly #637 (1988)

» SERIES: Hero Hotline, 6 issue mini-series (1989)

» FEATURED APPEARANCES: Action Comics Weekly #637-640 • Guy Gardner: Warrior #29 • Superboy v.3 #65 • Swamp Thing v.2 #162 • Wonder Woman #175

The Heroes of Lallor

See Stand-alone Profile

The Hyperclan (White Martians)

Created by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter

Life on Mars (Ma'aleca'andra to its people) developed several millennia ahead of the human race on Earth. The planet was home to two races, one colored green and one white. As their civilization advanced, Martians began to explore other worlds, including Saturn (H'ronmeerca'andra) and Earth. On both worlds, the Martians initiated special experiments, but the Martians were not a populous people. Both races began to clone themselves in order to create a workforce. Red-skinned clones were engineered specifically for the Saturnian environment, but treated as equals by their Green creators. The white-skinned Saturnians were produced to mimic their pale Martian masters, but treated as slaves.

This very situation created a civil war among the Ma'aleca'andreans. After massive casualties all around, the triumphant green Martians exiled their remaining 70 white brethren (JLA #3) into the "Still Zone," aboard their mammoth mothership, where they would not be heard from for thousands of years. (The Still Zone is the same as the Phantom Zone) (Martian Manhunter #4)

Eons later, the White Martians found a way out of the Still Zone and introduced themselves on Earth — disguised as the Hyperclan: A-Mortal, Armek, Fluxus, Primaid, Protex, Tronix, Zenturion and Zum. They based themselves in the ancient Martian city of Z'onn Z'orr, which had been founded in Antarctica by those Martian explorers 5000 years earlier. They quickly became media darlings for their vigilante approach to global problems. (JLA #1)

     

     

The Hyperclan secretly captured most of the Justice Leaguers. (#2) But Batman soon deduced the truth and played his ace: fire. Soon the JLA was free and J'onn J'onzz mindwiped the surviving Martians. The new JLA made an odd decision about how to handle their foes. Rather than restore them to the Phantom Zone, the White Martians were commanded to change shape and live unknowingly among humanity. (JLA #4)

This was doomed to failure. Soon, a sole white Martian shook off its brainwashing and impersonated Bruce Wayne. He was quickly righted by the JLA. (#33) Then later, J'onn's himself accidentally unleashed all the White Martians across the globe. At the time, he was subject to influence by the alien Cathexis, which could turne one's desires into reality. (JLA #54)

The White Martians awoke from their hypnosis, captured J'onn, and mentally struck down the JLA, and went on to detonate a nuclear explosion in Murmansk, Russia. (#55) The Martians quickly began dissecting humans, and transforming the atmosphere to make it less flammable. (#56) Again, it was the Batman who traced the Martians via the recent disappearance of several psychics. The White Martians had targeted Earth's magicians in order to ingest their latent human telepath brain matter and extend their own powers to conquer the galaxy. The JLA head for Superman's fortress where they intend to use the Phantom Zone projector. In a clever ruse, J'onn tricked the aliens into projecting the JLA into the Phantom Zone — the only place where the Martians couldn't intercept the JLA's plans. (#57)

The Atom retrieved the JLA and the Sentinels of Magic nullified the gravity of the moon to bring the satellite into Earth's atmosphere. The Martians withered in the resulting heat, and submitted again to banishment in the Phantom Zone. J'onn had planned to sacrifice his life in this plan; though he was badly burned, he was saved by the JLA. (#58)

Recently, J'onn set about conquering his weakness to fire. Unbeknownst to him, his race had achieved its heights only because of the intervention of the Guardians of the Universe. Prehistoric Martians were savage, burning creatures. The Guardians turned this race around by constructing genetic blocks that stopped the Martians' burning and greatly soothed their nature. The price: Martians would forever be susceptible to fire. J'onn's new training broke through the ancient genetic blocks and unleashed that ancestral nature ("The Burning").

The League thought to recruit the White Martians against him, but when they opened the Phantom Zone, they discovered that Fernus (J'onn) had already killed them all! (JLA #86) With the JLA's help, J'onn eventually conquered the Burning, but the damage was done. (#89)

This powerful but destructive race seems to have been finally eradicated. Only time will tell if any have survived "the Burning"...

» FIRST APPEARANCE: JLA #1

The "Hypothetical Army"

Created by Gail Simone and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

When the JLA deposed the genocidal dictator, General Dvory Tuzik, Tuzik fled to China and brokered a deal with other nations send him their metahuman resources. One of these "weapons" was a woman he called Sybil, the Hypothetical Woman: a being capable of reverseing the natural order of the universe. (JLA: Classified #16) When a band of freedom fighters came after Tuzik, he captured and killed them in proximity to Sybil. Her power brought them back to life, transformed into metahumans of great power. (#17-18)

These freedom fighers were:

1. Ghost Lion (Dulu), who could manifest any story into reality, including even such a massive thing as the Titanic.
2. Marieke, a Dutch woman who controlled the force of the seas.
3. Soldat (Erich Cross), the ultimate soldier with heightened speed, strength and endurance.
4. Jin Si, the spirit of unarmed combat, whose ability surpassed even the Batman's.
5. Dybbuk, and avatar of mischief, who could manipulate all forms of matter.
6. Velocista, who could travel at speeds rivaling the Flash and left a trail of Speed Force razors in her wake.

Though extremely powerful, Sybil was powerless to stop Tuzik in her physical form. But after the freedom fighters' deaths, Sybil brought them onto an astral-like plane where she warned them: they would be given the power to defeat Tuzik, but he would have control over their minds.

Tuzik controlled this formerly "hypothetical army" by using another new asset — a mind-controlling virus made from microscopic Star Conquerors. With this, he and his Army overtook the Chinese army. (#19)

The members of the Army were not fully aware that they were being controlled, and believed that they were doing right work. When they encountered the JLA, they saw evil demons, enemies. When members of the Justice League intervened to stop Tuzik, they were handily trounced by the Army — that is, until Superman and the Martian Manhunter arrived. (#20)

Superman was too powerful a force, and J'onn had found a way to extract the Conqueror virus from its hosts. As J'onn freed the Hypothetical Army from Tuzik's control, Tuzik's former ally, Chen, also freed Sybil. She began to die, taking the effects of her power with her. With her last breath, she bade Chen to bring her to the Army. As they died for the last time, she delivered them all into heaven. (#21)

» FIRST APPEARANCE: As civilians: JLA Classified #17. As metahumans: JLA Classified #19