Wednesday 11 July 2007

A WONDERMAN CHRONOLOGY


As I've noted, Wonderman has had several incarnations since his first appearance nearly 70 years ago. There have also been versions of Wonderman in England, Australia and France. Here's a brief chronology:


1939
FOX FEATURE SYNDICATE WONDER MAN. His only appearance is in Wonder Comics #1. National Periodical Publications successfully sues Fox for copying their Superman character. Fox’s character was the first Golden Age Wonder Man.

1940
NEDOR PUBLICATIONS WONDER MAN. The second Golden Age Wonder Man made his first appearance in Startling Comics #1. A mummy restored to life by a “vita-ray,” this offbeat version of Wonder Man lasted for two years.

1944
NEDOR PUBLICATIONS WONDERMAN. Spelled as one word instead of two, Nedor’s Wonderman is the third Golden Age Wonderman. The most popular of the Golden Age characters, Wonderman made his first appearance in The Complete Book of Comics and Funnies #1. With his secret identity of scientist Brad Spencer, Wonderman battled evil until 1948 and appeared in several different magazines, including Wonder Comics (see image at left).

1963
DC’S WONDER MAN. Perhaps the least-known Wonder Man is the character whose first and only appearance was in Superman #163. This Wonder Man had all of Superman’s powers, but none of his weaknesses. He was later revealed to be one of Superman’s robot duplicates, turned human by alien invaders. Wonder Man teams up with Superman to defeat the aliens, but shortly thereafter dies, the result of a death-mechanism the aliens had built into him.

1964
MARVEL’S WONDER MAN. First appearing in The Avengers #9, Marvel’s version of Wonder Man (spelled as two words) is actor Simon Williams in his everyday identity. Wonder Man has appeared on-and-off in various Marvel comics and is considered a minor character in the Marvel lineup.

2009
THE NEW BRAD SPENCER: WONDERMAN from the creative team of Stern, Timmons and Florea!

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