Wonder Man (Fox Publications)
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Wonder Man is a fictional superhero created by American cartoonist
Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
, whose only appearance was in the comic book ''Wonder Comics'' #1 (May 1939). The character is of some historical significance due to a lawsuit that resulted from his only appearance.


Fictional character history

Wonder Man's secret identity is Fred Carson, radio engineer for the International Broadcasting Corporation. During an excursion to
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
, an old monk bestows Carson with a ring that gave him the power to fight evil when the need arose. His powers are almost exactly like those of Superman. He travels to war-torn Tatonia, beats up the invading dictator General Attila, and stops the war. Then he rescues his boss's daughter,
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
nurse Brenda, and kisses her.


Publication history

Wonder Man was created by Will Eisner in the Eisner-Iger Shop for Victor Fox, who was publishing astrology magazines when he ran across his distributor's reports on the incredible sales for National Periodicals' ''
Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/ magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications ...
'' in February 1939. He immediately decided to get into the comic book business, setting up offices in the same building DC had theirs, then contacted Eisner. Using the pen name Willis, Eisner wrote and drew the first issue of ''
Wonder Comics Wonder Comics or Wonder Color Comics was a very short-lived American comic book publishing company that existed from 1985 to 1987. They only published a few titles, some of which moved to another short-lived company, Pied Piper Comics, after their ...
'' which appeared on the news stands less than six weeks later.


Lawsuit

On March 15, 1939, DC Comics brought a
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
lawsuit against Fox, due to the character's similarities to Superman, as well as story and illustration elements that were similar to previous Superman adventures. The case was brought to court in '' Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc.'', 111
F.2d The ''Federal Reporter'' () is a case law reporter in the United States that is published by West Publishing and a part of the National Reporter System. It begins with cases decided in 1880; pre-1880 cases were later retroactively compiled by W ...
432 (
2d Cir. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate jur ...
1940), in which Eisner defended the originality of his creation. Despite this testimony, the subsequent decision forced Fox to drop the character after just one issue. ''Wonder Comics'' however, continued as a title, featuring Yarko the Great in #2, then changed its name to '' Wonderworld Comics'' featuring The Flame in #3 and continued for another 30 issues. This was the first
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
lawsuit in comic book history and set a precedent for DC Comics' vigorous protection of its characters (''
National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications was a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a twelve-year legal battle between National Comics (also known as Detective Comics and DC Comics) and the Fawcett Comics division of Fawcett Publications, concerning ...
''). The dispute is depicted in disguised fashion in Eisner's
semi-autobiographical An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. ...
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
, '' The Dreamer''. This depiction is at odds with Eisner's own testimony at the trial, transcripts of which were unearthed in 2010.


See also

* Master Man, a similar character.


References


External links


Wonder Man
at Toonopedia.
Wonder Comics #1 - A Wonderful Prize?
on Wonder Man ring prize from ''Wonder Comics'' #1.

from material by Ron Goulart.
Court transcripts and analysis of testimony in the case of Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc.
from The Comics Detective.


Full transcript of Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc.
{{GoldenAge American comics characters American superheroes 1939 comics debuts 1939 comics endings Characters created by Will Eisner Comics characters introduced in 1939 Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Comics characters with superhuman strength Fox Feature Syndicate superheroes Superhero comics Golden Age superheroes Male characters in comics Comics set in Tibet Comics involved in plagiarism controversies