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Rex Mason
Rex MasonRex Mason

Rex Mason

221 appearances · Silver Age · 1964–2025 · 7 key issues
Who is Rex Mason?

Rex Mason was a daring soldier-of-fortune and adventurer who, while on a mission in Egypt, was exposed to a mysterious radioactive meteor fragment called the Orb of Ra. The strange energies transformed him into Metamorpho, the Element Man — able to transmute his body into any chemical element or compound found in the human body.

Born in the Silver Age pages of The Brave and the Bold #57 in 1964, Rex Mason is one of DC Comics' most distinctive and enduring creations, conjured into existence by the inventive team of Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon. Over six decades of publication history — stretching all the way to 2025 — he's proven himself far more than a curiosity, accumulating 201 catalog appearances, seven of which carry genuine key-issue weight for collectors. His adventures have unfolded across Metamorpho, Justice League Europe, and the anthology title that first introduced him to the world, and along the way he's shared the page with some of DC's heaviest hitters: Batman, Superman, and The Flash. That kind of company speaks for itself — Rex Mason belongs to the Silver Age's most imaginative tradition, and any fan with a taste for the weird, wonderful, and genuinely original owes it to themselves to seek him out.

Identity

Real name. Rex Mason

Affiliations. Outsiders, formerly Doom Patrol, Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, Seven Soldiers of Victory

★ First appearance
The Brave and the Bold #57
Dec 1964

Trivia

  • After a two-issue tryout proved his appeal, DC fast-tracked Metamorpho into his own solo series — yet even that momentum couldn't keep the book alive past 17 issues before it folded in 1968.looper.com
  • Metamorpho's origin was initially rooted in an ancient Egyptian artifact, though DC later deepened the mythology by revealing he was part of a long line of Metamorphae connected to the god Ra.looper.com
  • One of DC's earliest heroes built around a deliberately bizarre, quasi-monster visual concept, Metamorpho found his greatest mainstream traction not through solo stardom but through team books like the Justice League and the Outsiders.looper.com

Top series

Covers through the years — 1964–2021

The Brave and the Bold #57 1964
The Brave and the Bold #57
The Brave and the Bold #101 1972
The Brave and the Bold #101
Swamp Thing #6 1973
Swamp Thing #6
Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3 1984
Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3
Adventures of Superman #428 1987
Adventures of Superman #428
Hawk and Dove #24 1991
Hawk and Dove #24
Guy Gardner: Warrior #31 1995
Guy Gardner: Warrior #31
Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #9 2000
Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #9
Outsiders #27 2005
Outsiders #27
The Brave and the Bold #8 2008
The Brave and the Bold #8
Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes #1 2012
Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes #1
Batman #37 2018
Batman #37
The Other History of the DC Universe #1 2021
The Other History of the DC Universe #1

Appearances (151–221 of 221, oldest first)

Wednesday Comics (2009)
The Outsiders (2009)
Solomon Grundy (2009)
#5
Batgirl (2009)
Outsiders: The Deep (2009)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2009)
#17
DCU: Legacies (2010)
Justice League International (2009)
The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2011)
#4
DC Comics Presents: The Teen Titans (2011)
#1
DC Universe: Legacies (2011)
Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes (2012)
#1
The Infinite Crisis Omnibus (2012)
Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Omnibus (2013)
Solo: The Deluxe Edition (2013)
The Animal Man Omnibus (2013)
Tiny Titans: Return to the Treehouse (2014)
#1
Absolute Batman Incorporated (2015)
Identity Crisis (2016)
Batman (2016)
Detective Comics (2011)
The Terrifics (2018)
#12
Doomsday Clock (2018)
#9
Svengoolie Meets the DC Universe (2019)
#1
DC's 1st Issue Specials (2020)
The Other History of the DC Universe (2021)
Tales from the DC Dark Multiverse (2021)
Bizarro Comics: The Deluxe Edition (2021)
Batman: Urban Legends (2021)
#9
Danger Street (2023)
Flash (2022)
#6
Batman / Superman: World's Finest (2023)
#4
Titans (2023)
#11
Jenny Sparks (2024)
#5
Superman Space Age (2025)
DC Finest: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2025)
DC Finest: Team-Ups: Chase to the End of Time (2025)
The Brave and the Bold 57 (Facsimile Edition) (2025)
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen - The Deluxe Edition (2025)
Superman - Les Derniers Jours de Lex Luthor (2026)
Super Comics (1968)