WONDER MAN Volume 1 Hardcover

Collects stories from Mystery Comics #1-4 and Wonder Comics #9-20, 1939-48.

Brad Spencer is accidentally exposed to a sizzling voltage and becomes the super crime-fighter, Wonderman in the early 1940s Nedor comics! Aided by his girlfriend, Carol Paige, Wonderman has the ability to become invulnerable and has super-strength. Working from his Wonderlab, Wonderman created the world's most powerful telescope and soon confiscated an enemy's Vacuum Spiral device which allowed him to cross great distances, even in outer space, in a matter of minutes. His enemies included Lilith, Dr. Voodoo, and the Immortal Emperor. A nice thick collection of all the Wonder Man stories culled from his two titles. The covers alone are nearly worth the entry fee...future EC artist Graham Ingels is doing a stunning job on several, and the others are classics by Alex Schomberg, who was signing these airbrush masterpieces as Xela...perhaps because he was moonlighting from Timely, where he was working on covers for Captain America, Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and Marvel Mystery Comics! Prolific guy, Alex! Artist George Roussos, who would go on to do fine work for DC Comics, is here on the later Wonderman stories and they stand out. He was a fine artist, not too unlike John Giunta and Mort Meskin, a minor name in the Golden Age but one of the better draughtsmen! Fun sci-fi stories, in some ways like the heroes more commonly found in Planet Comics, but more superhero-oriented and a bit more earthbound.