TYRANO REX	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Bob Rozakis and Rich Buckler

Tyrano Rex; art by Rich Buckler

PERSONAL DATA

Gender: Male
Hair: None
First Appearance: DC Special #27 (April-May 1977): "Danger: Dinosaurs At Large"
Creators: Bob Rozakis and Rich Buckler

OVERVIEW

A tyranosaurus who was mutated into a humanoid form, Tyrano Rex threatened Tommy Tomorrow and Captain Comet before being reverted back to his normal form.

HISTORY

Tyrano Rex was an actual Tyrannosaurus Rex that was briefly mutated (or evolved) into a man-like reptile (retaining a tyrannosaur head) by a unique comet that had strange powers of time. The comet had been discovered (somehow) by the costumed criminal known as Chronos in 1977, and as he tried to pull it to that time period, the comet passed through many other eras, including the year 2056, where Tommy Tomorrow's space cruiser was pulled along in the comet's wake. The comet ended up in 100,000,000 B.C., as did Tommy, his partner Brent Wood, and Dr. Schmidt. The three had been part of a mission to Vega IV that was attempting to arrest an outbreak of space-fever before it became an epidemic.

Back in 1977, the hole created by the comet in the timestream was still open and dinosaurs were pouring through it in many major cities over the world. The Justice League was dealing with the situations, and Captain Comet was helping out by manning the JLA satellite while everyone was busy. He saw a report of a brontosaurus appearing in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and saw Chronos (whom he had never seen before) apparently dealing with the problem. Soon after, he also saw Chronos finding the time hole and Captain Comet went down to Earth to help him close it, not knowing that the villain was responsible for all the time troubles to begin with. As he attempted to close the hole in time, Chronos attacked him, but Comet was able to deal with him fairly quickly and return his mental powers to the task of closing the hole.

In the distant past, Tommy searched for the comet, believing it was their only way to get home. He found it on an altar created by Tyrano Rex, who had been mutated by the presence of the comet (and somehow acquired clothing as well). The creature considered it his god and guarded the comet and the time hole it created on this end of the timestream. After eluding the dinosaurs that Tyrano Rex sent after them, Tommy returned to his cruiser and they scooped up the comet with a mechanical arm and fled back to the future through the time hole, not realizing that Tyrano Rex had come aboard the ship with the meteor. Tommy and Brent were both needed at the controls, as the time hole was shrinking the farther they moved through it, and Dr. Schmidt was left to deal with the creature himself. He was gravely injured, as were several other members of Tommy's crew, before the cruiser finally passed through the other end of the time hole, into 1977. The cruiser landed near Captain Comet and Tommy and Brent quickly exited the ship, followed closely behind by Tyrano Rex.

Chronos, who had awoken from his beating by Captain Comet, saw that the reptile had "his" comet, and fired a pair of his clock-hand missiles into it, causing it to explode. This caused Tyrano Rex to revert to his normal form, and the two heroes managed to subdue the Tyrannosaur. Comet tossed it through the time hole just as it finished closing. Tommy also stopped Chronos from escaping. Later, Superman assisted Tommy and his crew to get back to their own time.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Tyrano Rex in chronological order click here