Is Doctor Hormone the Strangest Superhero Ever? 

Comic Tropes have taught me that no matter how edgy and weird comic writers got in the 1980s and onwards, they've still got nothing on the Golden Age creators.

To be fair about "so-called granddaughter", Doctor Hormone would look suspiciously young to have a granddaughter given he'd seem like someone in his mid-20s.

Gotta love the Golden Age philosophy of 'As long as they're fighting nazis or the klan, we're sure to make some sales, and maybe a character will actually stick around for more than 2 issues!!'

I instinctively know this will be an instant Comic Tropes Classic.

To be fair, children who turn into adults still have the brains of children. So, if an old person was de-aged, they'd still have the mind of an old person. Case in point: Doctor Hormone was an old man and he forgot to turn his machine on. So, turning kids into adults was a safer bet.

Dr Hormone is a classic supervillain.

You could never get a superhero like this nowadays who inhumanely experimented on people to turn them into animal hybrids and fights an arch-nemesis named ASSinoff. This is why I love Golden Age comics.

We are basically following a mad scientist. And I'm here for it

GRANT MORRISON NEEDS TO REVIVE THIS CHARACTER! Btw, Chris, another great episode. The research could've left a lesser man bonkers!

Pretty sure the general's name isn't supposed to be "Battle-Sky", but "Battlesky", i.e. combining the English word battle with the common Slavic name suffix -ski/sky. The scientist guy has a similar punny name with Smartinoff, combining smart with another common suffix, which also ends up sounding like "smart enough".

I'm reminded of the Spirou & Fantasio story with the mushroom-based metal-softening gas, "Métomol", which they use to render tanks and bombers useless and prevent a war.

You had me at "Babies turned to men who were immediately send to war"

There is a lot of potential for either a parody or very dark revival for Dr Hormone.

I LOVE The video's thumbnail! "I feel a terrible new strength in my body!" *Doctor METH to the rescue!*

Stalin would totally call the guy with donkey ears "Assinov." Humiliating his subordinates is quite on-brand.

My favorite Comic Tropes episodes is when Chris covers crazy golden age comics, it's just so fascinating

"This is all highly irregular!" - leader while against the wall.

Personally I like the idea of villains who base their motifs on their names, and I think Dr Hormone qualifies. Personally I would like to see a comic featuring Dr Buttstuff, but perhaps I shouldn't mention it.

Strange golden age heroes is my favorite series on this channel

This is Stardust the Super Wizard level body horror

That's a big zipper, my man.

30 minutes of comic history with Chris! It’s a good day !😂

That one "hormone" dad joke... every time after that you said "Dr. Hormone", I giggled a little. Dang it, Chris! People are looking at me funny!

Insane! This story needs to be immediately optioned into a major motion picture or premium streaming on-going series.

I like how this character is exactly what everyone who wants to capture Spiderman's blood wants to be. A guy who can create a whole army of super powered bug men would have complete military dominance over the world. It's fun thinking about what history would look like with technology like that proliferating.

Each time you list off a war crime it reminds me of the old format from years back where you would call out specific tropes and then a put a post it note on the wall. I'm just imagining you doing that with every war crime or violation of scientific ethics in this comic.

Another great episode! But I have to admit, I'm mesmerized by that GIANT Zipper! 😂

this is just dr strange after he looks at scarlet witch in the shower by accident

I’ve been low key obsessed with Doctor Hormone for several years since reading the League of Regrettable Superheroes. I interpret Hormone as an ethnic name badly translated or transcribed. If the hormone gas doesn’t change the mental state of the subject, that would account for both Doctor Hormone’s forgetfulness and the choice of mentally fresh Boy Scouts as cannon fodder. The last issue is crazy but at the same time capitulates the tendency of Golfen Age heroes to gain superpowers. From inventor to crazier inventor to superpower to meeting God a la the Spectre all in one issue! I’ve been working on Golden/Silver Age Dell Expanded Universe. Doctor Hormone is at the center of it.

Like Ivankov from One Piece. He ate hormon fruit and he can swap sexes of others and his own.

3:39 An idea that would warrant peace without weapons would indeed be priceless.

This story is a straight-up rollercoaster without the lap bar.

This series was pure insanity! I'd love to see a Doctor Hormone and the Flea Men revival

Dr. Hormone is what my HRT provider is listed as in my phone

Honestly, this would be a really fun one for someone to dig up and spit shine like so many other of these golden age comics that get the same. Definitely a lot of blanks to fill in, but I can see a protracted arc leading to Jane taking the mantle while learning her grandfather was actually an insane, stumbling geneticist who had all of the skill but somehow none of the knowledge. Love that you give the spotlight to goofy old stuff like this, chances are I'd never have known about Dr. Hormone otherwise, and it helps keep these comics that much more alive...or at the very least keeps them from total obscurity for the rest of us 😂

4:41 This happened to a friend in Peru lol. Got off the taxi - the taxi immediately went bye-bye with his luggage!

Your objective critique on comics is brilliant. In the early eighties, out in rural Minnesota, an older neighbor boy shared a large box of old comic books with me. As a a six year old I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. So much color, art, things I had never seen anything like it before. I asked him if I could have them. He said no immediately. So began my years long obsession to recreate that euphoria for enjoying comic books. I still enjoy comic books in my way. I don’t think it’s a brand or marketing campaign that hooked me at that time. It was just that these things exist. What a great way to get away for a few minutes.

Well, there's a swell opening for anyone who wants to revive Doctor Hormone, who is surely in the public domain: he wakes up and the Thinker explains what he needs to do to save "Time's beloved United States".

Took me second to realize that by "Doctor Hormone is his actual name" Chris did'nt just meant his family name is Hormone' like, say, Doctor Strange, but that his given name is Doctor.

Man, when it comes to bedside manner, Dr. Hormone makes Reed Richards look like kindly old Mr. Wizard!

Informative as always. Dell comics! They were on some powerful hallucinogens over there.

I ❤️ those crazy Golden Age comics. 😊 This seems to be right up there with the best of Fletcher Hanks’s Stardust and Fantomah comics stories.

I have a hunch you're mispronouncing Battlesky. While Battle Sky sounds cooler (kinda like an early version if Skywalker), I think their made up country is supposed to be a WW2 era Poland stand in... so it might be intended to sound like "Battleskee". 🤷‍♂️

Dr Hormone, OMG. If you go back to create comic books and get inspired by the golden age crazy names, create a female team in Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew's style and call the Falopian Furies.

Laugh at the concept all you want, I could see this being a fantastic horror film. You'd have the military storm into people's houses, steal their children and forcibly turn them into adults to ship them off to war. It sounds like some proper WWII schlock.

well that was certainly ridiculous lol

Another wild, Golden Age "hero." Thanks for this fun video.

"you can battle try again, brother." 😂

I know my golden age weirdos but Dr. Hormone is new to me! Excellent stuff, the more bonkers, the better! Thanks Chris!!

I love these kooky golden age comics episodes! More please!

I love the old golden age comic episodes! And this one is one of the strangest yet

That name must have caused some problems when he was a teenager: “Hello, Sir. I’m here to pick up your daughter for our date.” “What’s your name, kid?” “Johnny Hormone.” “Beat it. And stay away from my daughter!”

I always love seeing you discuss these bonkers Golden Age comics, the videos on Blue Beetle, The Dart, 711 and Black Condor were always some of my favorites 😂👍👍💥

This just might be your Golden Age masterpiece, Chris!!

Where would we be without Chris showing us these weird Golden Age gems? Def up there as ome of my fav series on the channel

"But we've never seen a hero who straight up commits war crimes with science" You're clearly not up to date on X-Men. Dark Beast is no longer the darkest Beast.

I think the kangaroo joke might just be that kangaroos have pouches/pockets?

Dr. Hormone was insane. Somewhere in the multiverse, he's working for the Joker, or OzCorp, or A.I.M.

You outdid yourself on this episode! I'm annoyed it took me this long to get to it! Fantastic work as always!

"where we look at really bad schlocky movies" WELP, I'm sold

Can I use the phrase "Scientific Chemicals" freely or do I have to pay royalties now?

you're almost rooting for dr hormone for how anti-hero he feels like

This episode was so absurdly hilarious I was genuinely laughing out loud a few times, and I watched this alone so you know it was funny lmao

I thought a couple of years ago that Chris already makes such good videos that there is really no way for him to improve in every field, golden age comics were one. This new golden age superhero not only disproved but destroyed my earlier assessment. Great work! 👏🏻

Another gem of a review of a Golden Age comic. Great job! These kinds of reviews are so much fun. Thanks for your hard work, Chris!

Your best Golden Age episode yet. If only the creators had taken inspiration from the heroes of the Platinum Age, such as Dick Tracy, The Shadow, The Phantom, John Carter-I loved that movie-Zorro, The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet Conan, Tarzan, Kull, Buck Rogers, Doc Savage , and my personal favorite, Flash Gordon, maybe they would have met with more success. Dr. Horomone...I'm like, "How did they get away with that name?" But then, I remember that this is pre-code.

By the way, to me, this is a top three Comic Tropes production. Gold.

Chris! 😂 Excellent episode- I did a literal spittake! 🤣 You are on FIRE!! ❤️‍🔥 Hope you have a fire extinguisher nearby--don't want your studio to burn down 🔥

🎉 Fantastic video! I just had to show my dad this, since he has been into comics for forever and got me into them too. He found it hilarious too!

this might be a new favorite episode for me! editing/writing are really fun, and always love learning about some weird golden age comics, dr. hormone is a great find. keep the hits comin!!

Oh no - we must never forget 711, but you already talked about THAT one! 🤣🤣

Thanks for that hallucinatory ride through the world of Doc Hormone That was WILD! lol

man you cover some weird stuff at your youtube and I love every minute of it. I get to see stuff even I didnt know about and Ive been in comics for 4 decades

I can't believe Dr. Hormone didn't take off... maybe he needed a partner like Dr. Neuron 🤔

This is why you're among my favorites, man. Would have never heard of something this bizarre otherwise.

Thanks for all your hard work and for helping me learn about all this cool comic history!

You have to remember "It's Never a 'War Crime', ... the 1st Time"

The production quality on your videos lately has been god damn fantastic.

Love your "oldies but goodies" videos! Thx

Although I had read about Dr Hormone in Regrettable Superheroes you really brought out the full insanity of the stories in your video. Thanks, Chris.

18:08 It's a joke about how kangaroos have pouches.

A country using hormones to make kids grow faster so they can be used to for military purposes sounds like something from a grim-dark scifi setting like Warhammer. In fact, i'm pretty sure that's part of Gears Of War lore, except for girls.

You just can't imagine what was out there in the Golden Age of comics. The outrageousness never seems to end. Great episode.What about calling the other show Comic Tropes and Beyond...

I love these wacky 1940’s comics and your take on them is super entertaining Chris ☺️😂

The joke is "you DON'T pay her" A very fun episode, nevertheless!

We need more videos like this, Chris.

I absolutely LOVE these crazier episodes. Great work, and thanks for sharing the fantastic exploits of Dr Hormone!

Playing around with the sounds in "Hormone" can get you "Moreau."

I just wanted to say thank you for presenting such consistently interesting and high-quality content, and for doing so in a positive and non-toxic manner. Even with these 'look how silly that was' videos, you never attack or ridicule the people whose work you critique, but rather poke lighthearted fun at the material itself. That is, honestly, a breath of fresh air when compared to a large swath of RU-vid videos calling everything and everyone 'garbage' or 'the worst _____', and saying that such and such 'is dead' or 'killed'. So, thanks again for taking the high road and refusing to aim for the lowest common denominator in an attempt to stir the cauldron of anti-fandom I see on so many other channels.

"Donkey Powers!" ... I nearly had an accident....

This was a fun episode that Austin Powers cut in was perfect 😂

such a good episode. Love when you read and narrate these golden age comics, they're so wild

Obviously, it is very well researched and scientific accurate.

Man, I love what you do. I can't get enough of these comics and your narration.👍👍

That was an interesting subversion of the “it was all a dream” trope.

I always heard to make a hormone was just not pay her……

This is the first video I saw of this youtube and I will say, I like it and will follow, I am not really replying to tell people, I am typing this so I can know what the first video I saw that made me want to follow you. Keep up the work!

You always present such interesting stories with these golden age characters Chris!

Love your content Chris!

Doctor Hormone, Doctor Hormone. Does whatever an Hormone… cone?