Wonder Comics
Entry updated 24 June 2024. Tagged: Comics, Publication.
US Comic (1944-1948). 20 issues. Great Comics Publications Inc. (#1-#7), Better Publications Inc. (#8-#20). Twenty issues. Artists include Ken Battefield, Al Camy, Bob Oksner and Alex Schomburg. Script writers include Al Hartley and Charles S. Strong. 52 pages. Each issue would have four long strips, plus a few short strips (some non-fiction) and a short text story. Initially Wonder Comics featured action stories in a variety of genres: Superhero, World War Two, crime, Westerns, sf, sports, contemporary and historical adventures, plus some Humour; through the latter half of its run the long strips would mainly be sf or superhero.
#1 includes Mekano, where engineer Bill Foster builds "a remote controlled Robot that will do everything but think". An accident leads to Mekano going on a rampage, stopping when it looks as though they might kill a child: clearly Foster's upgrades have made the robot more conscious (see AI). Nazi agents (see World War Two) steal Mekano and a forgettable adventure follows; there are no more Mekano episodes. The first issue also has the crime and Nazi-battling Grim Reaper, who wears a Superhero costume, but lacks Superpowers and Spectro, direct descendant of a sorcerer who was burnt in the seventeenth century: he is a professional mind reader (see Psi Powers) and a murder at one of his performances leads him to Scientist Dr Strogoff (aka The Professor) "experimenter in remote control Hypnosis by short-wave radio". Fortunately Spectro has "superhuman will" and so does not succumb to The Professor's mind control Ray. The final long strip is Jim Dawson "Soldier of Fortune" in a three-part serial that is printed out of order (beginning with part 2).
Spectro, Grim Reaper and Jim Dawson appear in subsequent issues. Aside from his mind reading abilities these Spectro's stories are non-fantastic. A few of the Grim Reaper tales have sf elements: #4 includes a scientist whose Invention can short circuit any motor at a distance; in #8 there is a device that uses "lunar-activated selenite ... [that] can relay the Moon's power and cause heavy quakes"; and #9 a newly invented liquid which can melt metal. The Reaper's final appearance is in #17. Dawson's adventures are mundane, save for his last: in #6, lagoon gas in a Gobi Desert valley has kept a 16th century Mongol princess and her Japanese abductors (from the same era) in Suspended Animation. #2 introduced The Supersleuths, two boisterous young detectives usually involved with non-genre plots, though #4 mentions a formula for a dissolving gas. #8 introduces Jill Trent "Science Sleuth", who with colleague Daisy Smythe solves crime using scientific knowledge and fisticuffs. Jill is also an inventor of gadgets – for example, a powerful hand-held repelling magnet (see Magnetism), bullet-proof cloth that disintegrates metal and magnifying spectacles which "if you stare hard enough" also allow you to see through objects.
#9 saw a shake-up, with the departure of both Spectro and The Supersleuths (though both make one-off returns in #16 and #17 respectively), plus the arrival of Wonderman, last seen in Mystery Comics #4. Here he continues his fight against the team of Dr Voodoo, the goddess Lilith and the Immortal Emperor, who plan to conquer Earth. They kidnap Wonderman and girlfriend Carol, who fortuitously escape and destroy Lilith's base (which is on a satellite of the Moon). However, the villainous trio get away and, unbowed, continue with their plan for a "rule of universal sin": first they move to Pluto (see Outer Planets), from where they lower Earth's temperature, then ally themselves with the Thermodons, a civilization on the Sun. When their Thermodon base is destroyed they target another city on the Sun, home to a peaceful society: their attack is so fierce that it causes earthquakes and tidal waves on Earth. In later issues there is a change in companions: to accompany him and Carol, Wonderman has built Roboroy, an "artificial man" (see Android) with a "real brain, powered by a tiny uranium atomic-pile"; whilst Lilith seems to have ditched Dr Voodoo and the Immortal Emperor but gained three middle-aged assistants, named En-vee, Gree-dee and Gloo-tony. In #20's "Robots of the Demon Star" Wonderman, Carol and Roboroy go to a planet orbiting the Star Algol, to free people enslaved by evil robots: the impressionable Roboroy enthuses, "I saw how the robots enslave puny man", which Wonderman comments on. Eventually Roboroy sees himself as human, with which Wonderman concurs, and apologies are made by both.
Another Mystery Comics regular, Dick Devens, King of Futuria appears in #11-#14: he is a twentieth-century man who is now Chairman of the Supreme Council of the thirtieth-century City of Futuria, spending much of his time defending it from invaders (see Invasion). These include Nazi refugees who had fled Underground after the war: their leader – a doctor – experimented on his followers, making them larger and Immortal; then, on discovering a race of intelligent mole people, militarized them. At one point Dick returns to the twentieth century to tell of the peaceful era that awaits humanity, only for a Japanese scientist to decide the thirtieth century will be easy to conquer. The other stories involve attacks from Pluto and by psi-powered Pterodactyls who survived extinction sealed in a cliff.
In #15 Dick's strip is replaced by Tara. When her father's ship The Space Rover is boarded by space pirates, he is killed and Tara imprisoned. Incarcerated with her are the dashing Robin and the loyal Malo: the three escape and create a diplomatic incident by killing their captor – who turns out to be a Martian (see Mars) Space Force officer. They are now atom-sword-wielding outlaws in space: "freebooters for freedom". At one point Tara is called "a Robin Hood of the Universe", whilst there is also a strong pirate feel to her adventures, which run in all the remaining issues and include "The Eight Hands of Tenslith" (#17), which involves a mercy mission to the water world of Aquam for the cure to a disease that is ravaging Earth (see Pandemic): the ruler, who lives in a floating city, would be happy to help if not besieged by the army of the octopus-like Tenslith, who is duly dealt with. In "The Key of the Cuchin Van" (#18) we learn that a million years ago Aliens known as the Cuchin Van landed on Titan, where they left the treasures of their civilization for any intelligent life that evolves on our Solar System – this includes a Weapon of immeasurable power. Tara and her companions foil an attempt by the Prime Minister of Mars to use the weapon to make himself Emperor of the Solar System (see Imperialism). The medieval hero The Silver Knight (who was in Mystery Comics #1) appears in #18-#20: there are some supernatural elements, such as the appearance of the mythical Barghest in #20. From #14 each issue's text story featured either Wonderman or Tara.
Save for #9, which atypically has some humour, the Grim Reaper's stories are largely forgettable; as are those of Spectro, whose ability means key information is too easily come by. The Dick Devens and Wonderman tales are moderately enjoyable, the banter of the latter's villainous trio being fun, though the only adventure that sticks in the mind is "Robots of the Demon Star". The number of strong female characters in the latter half of Wonder Comics' run is notable: Wonderman's Carol gets involved in the action; and though the Jill Trent adventures are unremarkable, a female scientist as a lead is unusual for the time (see Feminism; Women in SF), as is having no supportive male hovering around. Though Tara does have two such men backing her up, she is still the leader of the operation: her tales are probably the most consistently enjoyable, whilst the artwork is strong, particularly for "The Fabulous Jewel of Morn" (#16) and "The Eight Hands of Tenslith" (#17). The comic's overall standard in the later issues is good: "Robots of the Demon Star" has some nice work. [SP]
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