Fictional character biography
Rex Mason is an amoral adventurer and mercenary who is hired by Stagg Enterprises CEO Simon Stagg to steal an Egyptian artifact, the Orb of Ra.[13] Shortly after hiring him, Simon Stagg learns that Mason has been secretly dating his daughter Sapphire Stagg. This and other incidents begin to fuel in Stagg a dislike for Mason that ultimately leads to a plot to kill him.
Inside the pyramid where the Orb is hidden, Mason is knocked unconscious by Simon's brutish bodyguard Java and exposed to a radioactive meteorite from which the Orb of Ra was fashioned, transforming him into Metamorpho, the Element Man.[14] Shocked by Mason surviving, Stagg instead manipulates him to do his bidding by using the meteorite's energy to threaten him. Later, it is revealed that Ra created Metamorpho and similar beings to help him battle his mortal enemy, Apep.[15]
Metamorpho, unlike most super-humanoids described in DC Comics, does not possess a fully human appearance. Similar to the Marvel Comics character Thing, he considers himself a "freak" and wishes only to be restored to his former human state, rejecting an offer of membership from the Justice League in Justice League of America #42 because of this. Green Lantern attempts to change him back using his power ring but is stopped by a "yellow" component of the meteorite radiation.
Metamorpho briefly has a crimefighting partner named Urania "Rainie" Blackwell, a woman who deliberately exposed herself to the Orb to gain its powers. She calls herself Element Girl (nicknamed "the Chemical Doll") and works with him on a number of cases.[16]
Issues #16–17 were intended to show a new direction for the series, with Sapphire marrying a man named Wally Bannister and Metamorpho joining a mysterious Mr. Shadow to deal with an immortal queen. Bent on world conquest, the queen (an exact lookalike of Sapphire) marries Metamorpho. She later steps outside her mystic city and instantly ages 2,000 years. When Wally Bannister is murdered by Algon (a metamorph who has lived for centuries in a depowered state), Metamorpho is framed. Instead of coming to his defense against the false accusations, Metamorpho's colleague Mr. Shadow comes forth as an enemy. It is revealed that Mr. Shadow was attempting to enslave Metamorpho all along. Metamorpho is tried and convicted by a jury of rabble and is then executed.
Element Girl revives Metamorpho, and Algon, the real murderer, is killed by molten lava in an attempt to regain his burned-out powers. It is later learned that Mr. Bannister's murder was engineered by the villainous Prosecutor, who is then killed by an insectoid villain. At this point, issue #17 ends, and the story is never continued.
Metamorpho reappears years later in The Brave and the Bold #101 (April–May 1972). It is revealed that Metamorpho had spent the period after the end of his own series immersed in a chemical bath concocted by Stagg in an attempt to cure his condition. Stagg retrieves him from this "cure" early because he needs Mason to save Sapphire. Metamorpho stars in a new backup series beginning in Action Comics #413 (June 1972). There is no reference in this revival series to the events or characters of the last two issues of his previous series.
Urania Blackwell, unreferenced since the end of the regular series, is later revealed to have ended her partnership with Metamorpho when her unrequited attraction to him became too much for her. Blackwell's powers are removed at her own request by Ra, resulting in her death; the episode, in Neil Gaiman's Sandman, involves Death of the Endless. Death mentions Algon's death in passing, trying to convince Blackwell that she will not live forever.[17]
Outsiders
Metamorpho spends some time working with the Outsiders. While in the despotically ruled nation Mozombia, Metamorpho is subdued and disassembled. The tyrant's forces keep him inert with a constant application of radiation.[18] He is freed by Katana's indestructible sword, which had been latched onto a live electrical wire.[19] While leaving Mozombia, the Outsiders' plane is shot down by the Bad Samaritan. Metamorpho and the others spend some time stranded on a deserted island, too far away from land to rescue themselves.[20]
In the 1988 event Millennium, Helga Jace betrays the Outsiders and kills Metamorpho.[21] In the 1989 event Invasion!
