Wonder Comics #1

History

Victor S. Fox, who had access to DC Comics' extraordinary Superman sales data through his work as an accountant or through industry contacts, launched Bruns Publications (trading as Fox Feature Syndicate) in early 1939 and immediately contracted the Eisner & Iger studio to produce his debut title. Working under the pen name 'Willis,' Will Eisner wrote and drew the Wonder Man lead feature, and the completed issue reached newsstands in under six weeks from the initial commission — a remarkable production pace even by the standards of the era's assembly-line studios. DC Comics filed suit on March 15, 1939, essentially the same day the issue appeared on stands, and District Judge Woolsey ruled for DC on April 7, 1939; Fox appealed and lost before the Second Circuit in April 1940, ending Wonder Man's publication life after a single issue. Eisner's own account of events — that he testified against Fox at trial — was complicated when comics historian Ken Quattro unearthed the actual trial transcript in 2010, which showed Eisner had in fact argued for Wonder Man's originality on the stand, a discrepancy with the version Eisner told in interviews and depicted (under changed names) in his 1985–86 semi-autobiographical graphic novel The Dreamer.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First and only appearance of Wonder Man (secret identity: Fred Carson, radio engineer), created by Will Eisner for Fox Feature Syndicate / Bruns Publications; published May 1939, cover-dated Volume 1, No. 1.
• Wonder Man's 14-page origin story — in which a Tibetan monk bestows Carson a magic ring granting Superman-like powers — was written and drawn by Eisner under the pen name 'Willis'; the issue was a 64-page, full-color anthology priced at 10 cents.
• First appearances of supporting and backup characters who continued into the Wonderworld Comics run: reporter Patty O'Day (newsreel reporter), Navy sailor 'Spark' Stevens (and his partner Chuck), comedy strip character Shorty Shortcake, and mystery-detective feature Dr. Fung.
• The issue also featured 'Men Who Made the West,' a historical text feature referencing figures such as Buffalo Bill Cody, and 'Movie Memos,' a humor strip spoofing contemporary celebrities including Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
• Additional story and art credits in the issue include S.M. Iger, Adolphe Barreaux, Bob Powell, Bob Kane, Chuck Wilson, and Glenda Carol, making it an early showcase for the Eisner & Iger studio's stable of talent.
• DC Comics (then National Periodical Publications / Detective Comics, Inc.) filed suit on March 15, 1939, alleging Wonder Man infringed the Superman copyright; the resulting case — Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc., 111 F.2d 432 (2d Cir. 1940) — is recognized as the first copyright lawsuit in comic book history.
• The Second Circuit's ruling held that while a general 'Superman' archetype could not be monopolized by copyright, the specific pictorial and literary expression — costume, feats, sequential arrangement of incidents — could be protected; this distinction became a foundational precedent for subsequent superhero IP litigation.
• Wonder Man's story was reprinted in black and white in the fanzine Alter Ego #48 (May 2005); the issue's cover has also been reproduced in published comic book history reference works including The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History (Taylor Publishing, 1989) and Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age 1933–45 (Fantagraphics, 2011).

Cast · 9 characters

Full credits