The cracky saga of Doctor Hormone

[alicemacher]

By request, the first in a series of reposts. Good-hearted but methodologically problematic Doctor Hormone, American, uses his scientific genius to protect vulnerable nations from invasion by barely-veiled Soviet and Nazi German analogues. How? Why, with hormones of course. Also with the help of his annoying but loyal granddaughter, the "shouldn't she be in school"-aged Jane. Created by artist (and writer?) Robert Bugg, Doctor Hormone appeared in Dell's Popular Comics Issues 54 through 60 (1940-41), and has never been seen since. Now in the public domain (scans courtesy of ComicBookPlus.com), here's the first of the Doc's bizarre adventures, from Issue 54 (Aug 1940).



















At this point I think it appropriate to quote from Jon Morris's The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History (Quirk Books, 2015):

"It's actually sort of horrifying how Doctor Hormone plays fast and loose with the lives of children and babies. How many other heroes would be proudly celebrated by a caption describing how he 'experiments on a dying infant'?"

Watch for my next post, in which Doctor Hormone, not satisfied with playing God on young ones, flies passengers in a war plane without any training whatsoever!

Comments

[crinos]

I have to assume that before Radiation became a thing, Hormones were the comic book science go to thing for basically being magic that could do anything.

Also: Turning Boy Scouts into adults to send off to war. There is an adventure scenario in a GURPS book where a monster does that to kids....and its meant to be a HORROR adventure.

[q99]

There were some radiation-heroes in this era already I think. Definitely some 'electricity can do anything,' ones. I think writers were just looking all over for their particular magic-sciences ^^

-Also: Turning Boy Scouts into adults to send off to war. There is an adventure scenario in a GURPS book where a monster does that to kids....and its meant to be a HORROR adventure. -

And a BABY no less! A dying one to be fair, but still!

The boyscouts will probably miss their childhood in the future. The baby will have no idea what one is!

[jmacq1]

I feel like Dr. Hormone and Stardust the Super-Wizard should team up and have adventures together....

[cygnia]

Hell, since they were done by the same guy, I'm now wondering about Fantoma and Stardust teaming up

[leoboiko]

Now FINALLY a superhero who could handle my own problems in particular!!

In real life I can't even get a doctor to prescribe enough hormones to reduce body hair… I pine for a good-hearted and methodologically fast-and-loose endocrinologist.

[q99]

And if you end up part-kangaroo in the process, so be it!

[q99]

Yes! This is one of the best Golden Age series of all!

[astrakhan42]

Since Doctor Hormone was never given a full name, I'd like to suggest Maximum T. Hormone.