A
super-hero published by
DC Comics.
Magno first
appeared in
Smash Comics #13 in 1940.
Tom Dalton is the real name of the hero Magno. Dalton's
job as a lineman for a power company brought him contact with
fresh air, bright sunshine, and the beauty of America's highway
system. On one particular day, it also brought him into contact
with 10,000 volts of DC electricity, killing him. His partner
exploited a little known vaguary of electrical engineering and
exposed the corpse to 10,000 volts of AC electrictity, bringing
him back from the dead. Had this been an EC Comic, Dalton
would have been raised from the dead with a hunger for human
flesh or with a need to electrocute those he loved, but as it
was a super-hero book, Dalton had been given electrical and
magnetic powers.
Dalton used his powers to become Magno. Magno could draw or
repel bullets using his magnetic powers and melt them with
his electrical powers. He could also shock his opponents when
he hit them. The only weakness that Magno possessed was that
occasionaly he would run out of power, either forcing him to find a
handy exposed wire or to stick his finger in an electrical outlet.
Magno became one of the Freedom Fighters, a group of super-powered
heroes. Most of this team were killed trying to repel the
attack upon Pearl Harbor.