Tex Thomson

Harold 'Tex' Thompson was a wealthy Texan adventurer who roamed the world seeking danger, relying on expert hand-to-hand combat, a bullwhip, and sheer nerve. He later served as an OSS spy during World War II, eventually donning a flight-capable cape as the costumed hero Mr. America.

There's something genuinely electric about a character who was there from the very beginning — and Tex Thomson is exactly that, debuting in Action Comics #1 (1938), the single most legendary comic book ever published, brought to life by none other than Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. A true Platinum Age original, Tex shares that historic first issue with the likes of Zatara and, of course, a certain Lois Lane, making his origins about as storied as comics gets. Over the decades he's turned up across Action Comics, All-Star Squadron, and DC Universe: Legacies, weaving him into the grand tapestry of DC's history in ways that reward deep-diving collectors — five of his appearances carry key-issue status, which tells you this isn't a character the hobby has forgotten. For anyone who loves tracing comics back to their roots, Tex Thomson is a living piece of the foundation.