Rex Leech was the manager of Superboy and father of Roxy Leech.
History
Rex Leech is essentially a good guy but who has been involved in more than his fair share of shady deals. Essentially, he's the lovable loser who's always failed to get that one big break in his schemes.
Rex was first introduced after the Death of Superman. Confronting Jimmy Olsen during Superman's funeral, he attempted to buy the pictures he took of Superman's death, but Jimmy suckerpunched him in anger. Rex attempted to use his bodyguards to shoot at Jimmy, only to be rescued by the third Robin. The attack ended up starting a brief riot.
He was next used by Vincent Edge of WGBS to recruit a supervillain for the new Superboy to fight (Vinnie was wanting higher rating on his television station). In exchange, Rex would get to be the sole representative of Superboy. Superboy was reluctant to hire Rex as his manager, having already been offered a deal by Lex Luthor II, until he met Rex's daughter, Roxy Leech, who swooned all over the Kid.[1] Rex managed to secure the exclusive rights to the name and symbol "Superman" and was not happy when the real Superman showed up alive and well and Superboy wanted to "sell" him his name and symbol. Rex made the deal, however, and in exchange the Kid got to officially use the symbol and name Superboy (on the condition that half of all the profits from any merchandising would go to charity).[2] The money in question was initially quite a large sum, given Superboy's superstar status in the media.
Rex then set up Superboy's World Tour. The Tour was cut short in Hawaii, where Superboy decided to stay, fashioning himself as the Hero of Hawaii.[3] Rex pushed Superboy's merchandising as far as he could, even financing an animated series loosely based on the Kid. The series was not picked up because it was too violent.[4] Rex blew a lot of the money on bad investments, and the Kid spent a great deal buying a ramshakle place in a remote area of Hawaii that he called "the Compound." Unfortunately, this meant that Rex did not have the money to pay back a Mr. Gamboni, whom he owed a large sum, so Mr. Gamboni sent the assassin Copperhead after him. Copperhead decided to spare Rex's life at the expense of his daughter's -- but luckily, Superboy was on the scene and managed to save Roxy's life.[5]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Rex Leech is a shrewd businessman and a fast-talker. His talents lie in the areas of entertainment management, cross-promotion and copyright law.
Notes
- Rex Leech was the director of the "Superboy World Tour".
Trivia
- Rex Leech owns the registered trademark and all legal rights thereof of the name, Superboy. For a brief period of time, he likewise owned the legal rights to the name, Superman, during a time when the Man of Steel was believed dead.
Related
- 51 Appearances of Rex Leech (New Earth)
- 4 Images featuring Rex Leech (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Rex Leech (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Rex Leech (New Earth)
Footnotes