Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Reading Room: NOT WHO YOU THINK: "Wonder Man" Conclusion

Aw, c'mon, he's leaping tall buildings at a single bound, for Chrissakes!
During a visit to Tibet, electronics expert Fred Carson is given a ring by an elderly monk which imbues him with superhuman strength, speed, limited flight, enhanced vision and audio abilities, and invulnerability.
Returning to the USA,  he is sent by his employer to the war-torn country of Tatonia to test his new long-range television transmitter, as well as chaperoning the boss' daughter who is serving as a Red Cross nurse.
When the Red Cross field hospital is attacked, Carson becomes Wonder Man and battles the enemy.
Meanwhile, the boss' daughter is captured...
Nope, there wasn't "another action filled Wonder Man adventure"!
When the second (and last) issue of Wonder Comics came out, Wonder Man was nowhere to be found.
DC Comics' lawyers had immediately leaped into action when Wonder Comics #1 hit the newsstands,  suing Fox Publications with a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Will Eisner, who wrote and drew the story at the behest of publisher Victor Fox claimed for years that he testified in court that Wonder Man was a deliberate imitation of Superman (which was the truth).
However, as shown in court transcripts HERE, Eisner committed perjury on the stand (as instructed by Fox), claiming that the then-neophyte writer/artist had conceived the Wonder Man strip months before Action Comics #1 had been published!
Despite that, the court ruled in favor of DC, and the first Wonder Man never reappeared.
There have been several Wonder Men since then, including a super-powered futuristic hero who also used advanced weaponry, more of a Captain Future than Superman (and who was called "WonderMan")...
...and the Marvel Comics character introduced in Avengers #V1 N9 (1964).
BTW, is it a coincidence that the costumes of The Incredibles follow the same design motif and color scheme as the original Wonder Man's?
 I think not! ;-)

Support Small Business this Christmas

No comments:

Post a Comment