#I KNOW UVE READ A BUNCH OF THESE ALREADY ESP STAR BUT. STILL HOPE ITS SOME HELP <33333

[ufonaut]

out of curiosity, what's your recommended reading for Rex Tyler?

REXY MY FRIEND REXY!!!! they're not too many but more than half of these are coincidentally some of my all time favourite comics:

secret origins (1986) #16 -- a rare gem from roy thomas and definitely some of his best work, this is precisely what it says on the tin but rex's realization that the rats he'd tested miraclo on had died a little after he'd already taken a first dose himself is as viscerally horrifying as ever and the beginnings of rex's addiction are explored in no uncertain terms

sandman mystery theatre (1993) #29-32 -- this is nearly a direct adaptation of rex's first appearance in adventure comics (1938) #48 and while the art has none of bernard baily's charm, there's few things i love like rex's manic episode after taking miraclo and the way he hysterically declares "nothing can hurt me anymore!" minutes after being hit by a car. turns out things do hurt him, he just can't feel it! this arc is like a best friend to me

hourman (1999) #5, #24 -- it's no secret i'm not a fan of rick or the android hourman but both these issues explore the superior hourman and we get my absolute favourite characterisation of rex ever published as well as a more in-depth look at his addiction to miraclo. #5 is more or less an origin issue that circles through rex's entire life ("he grew up poor! he grew up poor! rough edges... no social validation whatsoever! his whole life, he had to accomplish miracles just to feel adequate!" is maybe the one comic book moment i think about the most on a weekly basis) and #24 is a middle-aged rex grappling with what miraclo has done to his life, his inability to be a good father to rick or husband to wendi due to the little matter of blacking out every weekend, and we even get poor kent nelson dragged along into a marital argument between the tylers. most of all time

smash comics (1999) #1 -- this is part of the 1999 one shots collected under the 'jsa returns' title and while the overarching story can be understood via all-star comics (1999) #1-2, i think it stands well on its own. this particular one shot sees known odd couple rex & charles mcnider sent on a mission together and it's genuinely one of the funniest comics ever published as far as i'm concerned. you won't believe the sheer number of people i've seen take as literal fact the story rex tells when fucking with mcnider by saying he became hourman because someone threw a clock through his window ("yes, father, i shall become a bat" year one style!)

dc 2000 (2000) #1-2 -- not a rex-focused story per-se but a great look at his dynamic with the rest of the jsa and great fun in general. highlights include wes & al bullying rex into taking his miraclo cause he's "pretty dull company" otherwise

solo (2004) #7 -- he's wired, baby! he's gonna get the shakes! what's a guy supposed to do when he's taken his super coke and there's no crime to stop? this little story will tell you!

all-star squadron (1981) #34, #44, #49, #50 -- there's some great rex action in squadron as a whole, by far his best ongoing, but the issues i've linked are basically a highlights reel of rex's various miraclo-induced heart attacks. as far as i'm aware, this is the earliest comic to have explicitly acknowledged rex as an addict and to have dealt with the consequences of it in a realistic manner, something i'm always on the lookout for and greatly enjoy here

the golden age (1993) -- the quintessential rex comic. the rex manifesto, even. robinson's clearly very inspired both by adventure comics and by roy thomas' work on squadron but on both counts he manages to elevate the very concept of hourman to another level entirely, and evidently the mature tone (and themes) of the book work in rex's advantage like few things do. his vivid hallucinations in #2 make for one of the most memorable sequences in the entire medium and that end note of "one day, maybe, rex will tame his inner demons. maybe" is a gut punch to me every time. a magnificent book as always

starman (1994) #11, #37, 77-79 -- see: the golden age above. rex's starman appearances are in effect just more of what robinson had already previously established but they're an endless delight to me and i enjoy the varying time periods as even with rex's addiction and his untimely end (we were still on zero hour territory here after all), there's still glimpses of rexy at his very best

justice society of america (1992) #1, #5-6, #8-10 -- the series is a must-read for any jsa fan, of course, but it's especially important on the rex front. #5 marks the first time we see rex go to a NA meeting and as this deals with the then-present day jsa, we also get the pleasure of seeing rex slowly and awkwardly try his hand at repairing his relationship with rick

these are roughly in chronological order (in-universe chronological order, that is) and i'd also like to give a special shoutout to elseworlds jsa: the liberty file 2000 and jsa: the unholy three 2003 -- which have some of the most fun rex appearances in history, as well as confirmed socialist leanings -- and dc: the new frontier 2004 #1 -- which doesn't actually include the jsa in a real sense but does feature a wonderful article about rex's death and the public's attempt to reconcile hourman the hero with rex tyler the addict, really great stuff in there.

rex's golden age stories are great -- bernard baily's art is just entirely something else -- but they're often hard to find and even more so in readable quality, hence their absence from this list. i wholly recommend them though, even if rex's evolution as a more mature character had obviously been a wholly necessary one. enjoy! :)