The Short, Strange Life Of A Superman Parody

Hi. This video is about the obscure Marvel Comics character, Wundarr, and how he began as a parody that was taken seriously. Which led to a series of ridiculous changes.
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[@ethansloan]

I love the idea of a Jor-El figure actually not being a brilliant scientist who saves his only child from his dying planet, but being an insane conspiracy truther who needlessly blasts his only child into space.

[@matthewrosenthal753]

Except it was his wife that sent the child into space as the ruling council came in and murdered the father. I mean how is building a rocket ship going against the council’s ruling when the only required him to not spread his theory which there is no indication that he did. They just decided “this nut is building a rocket” let’s kill him. Yes, he was wrong in that the sun didn’t blow up, but if murder is the reaction to a parent building a rocket to save his child because he believes in his findings, maybe it the government of the planet that’s crazy.

[@VOLKHVORONOVICH]

DC's Inferior Five explored the same idea. Awkward Man was the son of Mr. Might and the Mermaid (parodies of Superman and Aquaman). The Jor-El analogue was an "The End is Near" type character who preached that their planet Neon was going to explode and so he builds a rocketship to send his baby son to Earth. "Awkward Man reminisces, "It's too bad I have to tell the next part. Neon never did explode. 'Cause granddad really was a crackpot."

[@RememberTheDead]

I read the issue Wundarr made his debut in (the panel with the knockoff Kents not wanting to touch the rocket out of fear of communists got me good), it was fun. What is truly amazing is how Steve Gerber can't even do a random throaway one issue parody without everything spiraling into utter chaos and 1970s psychedellia eventually.

[@Mario_Angel_Medina]

I have to admitt that Wundarr has some interesting elements that could make a good story if someone ever bothers to explore them. "What if Jor-El was a delusional paranoid?" and "What if Superman was a hippie cult leader?" sound like compelling spins on classic tropes, and "two women have to rise a superpowered child in an adult's body" is a good setup for a sitcom-style comedy

[@Bolsonaro_em_Haia]

The Omega the Unknown series (also from Gerber around this time period) sort of does this sitcom setup, Mario. But it is not as comedy. Well, not quite as comedy, anyway.

[@qwellen7521]

Wundarr’s real power is to break the basic morality of the more popular characters around him.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Now that's a character just waiting to happen. :)

[@juliagoodwin9510]

Hearing Captain America being in favor of Wundarr being imprisoned because he's "an illegal immigrant" gave me whiplash.

[@dansmith3085]

I've always had an attachment to the Aquarian. The Project Pegasus finale was one of the earliest comics that I owned. To be fair, he is actually one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. He has the ability to render anyone and anything harmless, plus having massive strength and invulnerability. If he wasn't a pacifist, he could be extremely dangerous.

[@chrisdragnet722]

I liked Wundarr's relationship w/ Ben Grimm during Project Pegasus when he was The Aquarian. One of the funny things was Deathlok penetrating The Thing's hide w/ his laser pistol. Ive never seen Ben's hide get compromised like that before. He wears a bandage for that story arc.

[@markshulusky6680]

To be honest, Marvel does have a long history of "adapting" DC character designs: Squadron Supreme/Sinister is a JLA clone; the "original" Shi'ar (sic) Imperial Guard from X-Men 107 is a Legion Of Superheroes clone, among other, smaller, swipes. It must have been a bit much after a while.

[@juniorjames7076]

It was the SAME people coming up with the same stuff. Paul Levitz, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Keith Giffen, etc all bounced back and forth tween DC and Marvel throughout the 70s and 80s. They took the same Ideas (Doom Patrol vs X-Men) with them wherever they went.

[@Archeopteryxman421]

​@@juniorjames7076wait, Paul Levitz? I thought he was mostly a DC guy.

[@akiraeatsguitarpicks491]

Well to be fair, two of the members of the JLA are Namor and Whizzer clones

[@RamManNo1]

@@akiraeatsguitarpicks491Flash appeared a year before the Whizzer.

[@akiraeatsguitarpicks491]

@@RamManNo1 huh, I forgot about Jay

[@Gamer12051]

Honestly, this is some amazing character development. It feels like it's the first two parts of a three part arc. Now for a good writer to have it all make sense...

[@esean1]

Makes it even funnier to me that Steve Gerber went on a few years layer to write one of my favorite Superman stories of the 80s, the PHANTOM ZONE miniseries. Even later, in the 97th and final issue of DC COMICS PRESENTS, he wrote a "sort-of" sequel to that series in a story that destroys the Phantom Zone, Mr. Mxyzptlk's 5th-dimensional home of Zrfff, and the remains of Argo City almost as if he were clearing the decks of Superman's Silver Age mythos ahead of the John Byrne revamp. This reminds me that, before Byrne's reboot was approved, Gerber and Frank Miller proposed new versions of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to be done by them under a new imprint. Have you ever heard of or looked into this? Another great video. Thanks!

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I have a complete review of Phantom Zone (and the DC Comics Presents one shot) waiting for me to get around to it! As I wrote to someone else in this comments section: Yes, I have looked into that Trinity pitch and have found very few details. I would LOVE to be able to do a video about it, but it's very hard to find information. Right now, the best I could do is a one minute Short. :)

[@miguelvelez7221]

​@@StrangeBrainPartsIs this in reference to the Jim Shooter, Marvel buys DC thing?

[@bensneb360]

He is an interesting character, he feels like Marvel’s version of Kamandi mixed with Superman

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

Superman meets Stranger in a Strange Land meets hippie parody.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

You know...that doesn't sound far off the mark. :)

[@Norvo82]

Of course Ben Grimm is perfectly fine with exposing Wundarr to the Cosmic Cube... Just as he was fine with taking a scientist, his girlfriend and her kid brother up in a stolen rocket with insufficient shielding. It's actually good continuity conscious writing 🙂

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Very good point. I mean, ultimately, it was Reed that talked them all into it. But, as a pilot, Ben would have been really concerned about his safety and the safety of his passengers. So he's culpable at the very least. :)

[@Norvo82]

@@StrangeBrainParts Agreed, though it was Sue who put it over the top when she called Ben a coward because he brought up the possible risks of flying an untested rocketship. Sue wanted to beat the commies to space... Marvel in 1961, ladies and gentlemen. Still, the ultimate responsibility was with Ben who could have simply said: "Better red than dead, lady... I ain't flying that contraption until we're sure dem cosmic rays don't fry us to crisps."

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Ha ha ha! Different times, right? We certainly don't want the night sky or the moon to become Red.

[@amanzeihedioha]

I like him. He was such a chill guy the first time I saw him in Mark Grunwald's Quasar. I was suprise that he used to be child like though😅

[@StrangeBrainParts]

He was indeed! For the majority of his early "career".

[@amanzeihedioha]

@StrangeBrainParts Man, I wonder why he's underlook. Hickman could used him during his FF run.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

You are 100% correct! That would have been good, deep dive for Hickman.

[@lanternsown3525]

It is funny how characters grew and change over time.

[@jimgillespie6109]

Have you ever done a video on The Shroud, Steve Englehart's "homage" to Batman (before he got to write the genuine article in Detective Comics)? Maybe Shroud and Wundarr should be given a book titled "Globe's Greatest" or something like that.

[@H4rppy]

IIRC the last we saw of him was in Marvel Zombies 3 #1 where he and the rest of the Florida initiative from 616 go investigate something in the swamps where they are ambushed by Zombie Deadpool (and others), while most of the team is killed, when he gets biten he manages to fight the infection by going into a sort of hibernation. This was in 2008, so idk if he has reappeared since.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I do believe you are correct! As far as I can tell, that was his final appearance. And I think he's immune to the zombie virus? Don't quote me on that.

[@Ultron71]

I have not Marvel Zombies (not a fan) but before then he reappeared in West Coast Avengers, ironically written by Roy Thomas at the time, and with no explanation he was back in the Wundarr identity and retained his intelligence but was very brutal in his return.

[@jamilfrost6217]

I'm really liking the Steve Gerber videos you've been putting out mate.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thanks a lot! I'm cleaning up some longer odds and ends that were difficult to include in the recent Gerber retrospective. I might try to piece all the audio together into a hour long podcast type of thing, where all these odds and ends are inserted into their proper place.

[@jikorijo4516]

I had heard about Wundarr from an interview with Steve Gerber in the Krypton Companion by TwoMorrows Publishing. I found out from his interview that he was a big Superman fan and even tried to pitch (along with Frank Miller) a new take on Superman, before DC went with John Byrne. I’m kinda sad he never wrote for Superman again since I really enjoyed his and Gene Colman’s Phantom Zone miniseries. Do you have any plans on covering that in the future?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I've been trying to find all the information I can about that reboot! It's very scarce. In fact, I think it was reboot that involved Batman (Miller), Superman (Gerber) and Wonder Woman (unknown), in at least a miniseries together titled, "Trinity." Then into their own solo series. All I know for certain is there was a pitch that Miller and Gerber did together and DC decided to scoop up John Byrne instead to (possibly) spite Marvel.

[@Nintaboy]

really enjoying these Steve Gerber themed videos, great job!

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thank you very much! Thank you for watching.

[@TitularHeroine]

Thank you for another very cool episode. (First learned about Wundarr from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe!) If another writer ever does take a crack at this character and his "cult leader personality", I hope they portray the dangers and pitfalls of cult membership in a nuanced way. Maybe the Aquarian's innate naiveté would blind him to the more damaging aspects until it was too late.

[@g.a.2997]

could easily make him a mason type who tells people he's a superhero and to worship him.

[@LRM23936]

I discovered him the same way.

[@TitularHeroine]

@@LRM23936 That and DC's "Who's Who" were such good series. I pored over those things repeatedly.

[@TitularHeroine]

@@g.a.2997 That sounds.... villainous! Nice! It could still work with him being too "innocent". Like what if he means well, but things get really out of hand and he's like "Oh sh**, I really screwed up, huh??"

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Indeed! I don't think hitting people over the head with obvious plot points would work, if one were to explore the cult leader angle. That's why I said, "Good writer," not, "Average writer, with a chip on their shoulder." :)

[@SKSith]

Another interesting Gerber story. Elf with a Gun and stealing Howard are 2 of the most interesting stories I've learned from your channel. I find his chaotic mark on the comic industry fascinating. I added some of his work to my collection for the first time yesterday, the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Elf with a Gun appearances.

[@mayomonkey-gen1]

I find it funny in 2023 that DC was so protective about the image and reputation of Superman at one time.

[@lightspaceman5064]

Another one!? I made a joke in a video about Superman copies, and I thought I got all of Marvel's. It's weird how many of them they have. They have, at least, The Sentry, Hyperion, Blue Marvel, Gladiator, and this guy. They could make a team book out of them. It's funny they only cared about this one. But now that I think about it can you imagine if DC had 5 Spider-man clones and not... two.

[@mercuryman1250]

Your videos are highly addictive and full of cool information from golden,silver,bronze copper and modern age of comic books. Im a fan of mostly silver bronze and copper age of comics since I'm born in 1982

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thank you very much. And thank you for watching!

[@ctbinary42]

I do remember Wundarr from 2-in-1 but never knew his origin. It makes sense now, sort of. Yah the 70s were a strange time 😂

[@TighelanderII]

I enjoyed the Project Pegasus when it came out. I was surprised to see Wundarr briefly at the beginning of the Marvel Zombies volume that spotlighted Machine Man.

[@Brilchan]

Interesting video with some random trivia from Marvel Comics history, thank you this was fun

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thanks for watching!

[@christopherulichney]

I first encountered Wundarr in the pages of the first issue of the official handbook of the Marvvel Universe. I always thought he had a stronger claim to the title "Space Jeaus" than Adam Warlock just based on his bearded look.

[@hsatin20]

I liked your KLF reference at the end of the video. Well done.

[@KalleVilenius]

Gerber also did some wonderful Batman parody during his She-Hulk run.

[@DWNicolo]

Another great podcast.

[@oliverortiz8507]

I enjoyed this video. I was missing some of the stories that would have made Wundarr more clearer to me so thank you.

[@notsosmartguy6254]

I literally just read his appearance yesterday!!!!!!!! Steve Gerber is a writer ism growing to love.

[@paulocosta4744]

Wundarr makes another appearance, in what can be considered an alternate future, in Bizarre Adventures #32. He's not named in the story, titled "The Prophet", but it's clearly meant to be him, in costume design and power set.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Good catch! I did not know that.

[@carloscrecelius9597]

He should have been used as our Cubes version of Glorian from the Hulk.

[@jonanjello]

I appreciate all of your Gerber videos. These issues are comics of my youth. Thanks for the history lesson, BBP!

[@StrangeBrainParts]

You are very welcome!

[@deeconstruction8163]

Thank you for this deep dive (well as deep as possible) into this obscure Marvel character. I remember Aquarian from the early issues of Quasar and was curious about him and Project Pegasus. I'm going to check out those issues of Marvel 2 in 1.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

You're welcome!

[@kforcer]

I thought there was something really beautiful about the Thing's relationship with Wundarr and the way in which their love for each other still sustained itself when the dynamics of their relationship changed and Wundarr, as Aquarian, was suddenly much smarter than his "Uncle Ben." It recalled to me that bittersweet feeling when a kid you may have coached, mentored or taught in some way reaches the point where they no longer "need" you. And I thought it really illustrated just how special, for lack of a better word, The Thing is.

[@joeparrigen4982]

I remember the Aquarian from Quasar. Though a minor character, for some reason, I never forgot about him. It bow blows my mind to know that he was an earlier Superman spoof.

[@jakepalermo9181]

I've seen this character twice before! Great to see that I finally know what happened to him without looking through a contrived Fandom page.

[@ianr.navahuber2195]

I am surprised Al Ewing hasn't tried to utilize Wonderr. Given his usual preference to write Blue Marvel (and how his daughter is involved with Project Pegasus), and his usual encyclopedic knolwedge about the Marvel Universe. I am pretty sure you could write an interesting story involving "the Supermen of MARVEL (Blue Marvel, Wonderr / Aquarian, Sentry and throw Hyperion and Gladiator in becaue why not?") and the cosmic cube (excuse to involve Kobik again?)

[@TitularHeroine]

May I suggest Captain Ultra for your Marvel Men team? :D

[@shanechannel7066]

Never heard of the guy until a few days ago.

[@MrChupacabra555]

Wow....all this time (and I'm an Old Codger 😅) and I never knew that The Aquarian started off as this Superman Parody 😄

[@delphinazizumbo8674]

the Project Pegasus storyline is a very fun read the Deathlok appearance is a CLASSIC

[@lsgreger2645]

Reading stories about Marvel in the 70s can be a trip. Roy Thomas created a parody of the Justice League in the the Avengers in 1971 called Squadron Supreme that is later made into a mini series in 1985 and gets little to no flack for it. Gerber almost gets fired for doing almost the same thing.

[@tommccarthy8905]

I was under the impression that Marvel and DC had an agreement to create the Squadron Supreme and Champions of Angor, so no foul there. But Gerber took unilateral and unsanctioned action.

[@KardboardKenny]

good thing Wundarr didn't get popular. see the Capt Marvel story.

[@AncientRylanor69]

The Short, Strange Life Of A Superman Parody

[@eyeseer1]

Wundarr could have been a better in a Guardians of the Galaxy series or could have been an eliminated one-off to Howard the Duck if Steve Gerber was a bit more lucid in the 1970s.

[@billtree52]

The Aquarian being a cult leader would've made great material for the She-Hulk TV show. 😂 ooh well

[@brynstarre]

Really strange that not-Supermans are relatively common nowadays - Hyperion's latest incarnation has similarities - and apparently DC either doesn't care any longer or parody laws have been solidfied by court cases since.

[@earlpipe9713]

I'm pretty sure there's been case law in parody's favor since then, iirc Larry Flynt was one such case, as he was unsuccessfully sued for how he lampooned public figures in Hustler Magazine.

[@juniorjames7076]

Anyone else think the artwork in those particular issues were terrible??!?

[@kallianpublico7517]

Considering his "boost" by the cosmic cube, it would be interesting to have him fight molecule man. I dare wonderr how he would be viewed by the beyonders. I remember reading these comics way back. Never was fleshed out the real scope of his powers before or after he was transformed into the Aquarian. Considering all the fuss around the cosmic cube, molecule man and the beyonders i imagine he could have been an informative character to exploit and flesh out. Liked to have seen him up against Thanos.

[@Sorrelhas]

Wundarr shows up in Ben Grimm's bachelor party It's a neat reference

[@KasumiKenshirou]

9:30 The Thing also never meets Fred and Barney in Fred and Barney Meet The Thing.

[@1fishmob]

The funny thing is, starting next decade, DC's characters will start entering public domain. It's weird knowing at one point they were as trigger happy as Disney with their copyright protections, but are now forced to sit back and watch as anyone can now use and parody them.

[@13thwho]

In his first appearance, Wundarr’s origin is straight out of the first episode of the Superman radio series in 1939. In the episode, Superman grows up in his rocket ship, but upon emerging, he has full intelligence. He rescues a man and his son before their car crashes, who then advise him to become a reporter and call himself Clark Kent.

[@scifiguy9000]

Wow, now that's a strange take even in these modern times.

[@ivane5110]

Back when they were coming out, I enjoyed Wundarr's tales and got use to him as one of the FF family, along with Alicia and Franklin (though I stopped seeing him as himself when he became Aquarious so stopped paying attention). His backstory was obvious even then as a parody, not swipe, but it was a bit on the nose to have his costume be blue with red trunks and highlights, I gotta admit. Still he did predict Superman's eventual long hair. Now that I know the storm that this whipped up I know it would never have happened, but at the time I really hoped for either a What If about the "Kents" not having driven off and/or Wundarr eventually, for a single issue at least, teaming up with just as blatent parodies/analogs of the rest of the JLA (but none of the Squadron). At the time I think it was Thundra, Moonknight or Shroud, Marvel Man (Quasar) and Namorita or Stingray. There was even a Luke Cage frenemy with superspeed. Who knows, maybe DC isnt as sensitive about it now.

[@philiptangatue]

Wundar comes from Dakkam. Mon-El of the DCU comes from Daxam. Hmmm

[@kingcheerio8558]

The idea that a Superman parody character eventually becomes Jesus is honestly hilarious.

[@morrelljw]

How did I not know about this!!!?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Now you do. :)

[@mrXOwarrior]

I read the Project Pegasus and Quasar issues and enjoyed them. I definitely feel there is more to tell about him.

[@Steve_Vendetta]

DC's issue with Wundarr was never about Marvel violating "Copyright," as you stated, Allan. It was a matter of intellectual property infringement, as DC perceived it.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Well, yes...DC perceived an infringement on their intellectual property. Which is a violation of copyright. I'm not a legal expert, but from what I understand, that's basically saying the same thing with different words. :)

[@Steve_Vendetta]

@@StrangeBrainParts That's not the case here. Marvel's action arguably qualified as Patent infringement, not a Copyright violation. The latter would have occurred if Marvel took DC's printed material and counterfeited it under their own branding, then attempted to sell it to the masses. The problem is that lay people tend to interchange these legal terms casually and carelessly. Without any effort to curb this trend, the error becomes accepted, generally. Then it proliferates, surfacing in content such as yours. Also, "basically" is NOT a real word. 😉

[@Fayanora]

LOL I want to reboot this character, keep the cosmic ray angle and his father being insane, but instead of being a man-child, he gets found as a baby by some kind but not terribly bright people. As a result, he grows up to take after his adoptive parents: really, really stupid. Well meaning, but dumb as a sack of hammers.

[@michaelpenkas1885]

Just re-read this issue the other night. Steve Gerber's work on Man-Thing often gets overshadowed by his later work on Howard the Duck, but both series are classics.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I agree! Both are great, but Man-Thing seems to get overlooked in favour of Howard.

[@HepCatJack]

His name would remind me too much of a candy bar with a similar name.

[@bazzjedimaster]

Is funny considering other "Supermen" in marvel are way more obvious like Hyperion, Omega the Unknown and the Sentry (and more) yet they were allowed to be, yet poor Wundarr draw anger from DC with just one appearance.

[@chemistryguy]

Wundarr died on the way back to his home planet

[@remc0s]

Do "Omega the Unknown" by Marvel Comics. A weird, Superman-like character that appears to have a strong connection to an earth boy.

[@TechnicolorGhosts]

He has: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZjSqJeviblpfckfeature=shared

[@shoresean1237]

Q: How many Marvel Superman homages does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: How many are there? Besides Hyperion, Wundarr and Sentry, both Super-Skrull and Gladiator have real names that are Kal-El derivatives - plus She-Hulk had a parody during/after Byrne's early issues.

[@JKevinCarrier]

It's interesting...Gerber mocks Superman here, but when he actually got a chance to write Superman (in the Phantom Zone miniseries) his approach to the character was downright reverent, being careful to respect the established lore, etc. Although he still had some fun with things like the Bizarro punk band. (He also handled Wonder Woman really well, I thought, and it made me wish he'd had a chance to do more with her)

[@matias9609]

If they ever brought this character back, they should bring him back as Wundarr The Aquarian. Maybe make him a kind of sage that can help people get tgrough their inner struggles. A mentor i guess .

[@scifiguy9000]

Maybe recruits a bunch of young people to be heroes?

[@earlpipe9713]

Or it could work as a great parody once again if a writer could figure out a good way to incorporate some NXIVM cult elements, and how actresses from the Superman Smallville TV show were prominent members of it.

[@comicswatching4851]

One of my favorite characters!!!!

[@patrickstonecrusher]

Here l thought this was going to be about Stupidman: Rain on the Stupidman 😅

[@deliusmyth5063]

Didn't Roy Thomas create the Squadron Sinister as a DC knock-off?

[@carlgibson285]

Yes, but they were an "official" knock-off. The Squadron Sinister was created with DC's blessing as part of an unofficial "crossover" between Marvel and DC. The same month that the Squadron Sinister debuted in the Avengers, an Avengers knock-off team appeared in DC's Justice League Of America. Only the Squadron Sinister caught on though, which is why nobody remembers the DC knock-off Avengers (they were so unmemorable that I can't even remember that team's name).

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Yes, as @carlgibson285 pointed out. It was an agreement between the writers of Avengers and the Justice League. They did an unofficial crossover for the fun of it. They also did a small, interrelated cameo including Roy Thomas (as a character) that ran for three issues or so. I would have to look it up for specifics, but it deals with Roy's car breaking down and that scene shows up in a few different series.

[@KnightLineArtYT]

Yeah, there's some potential with the idea. Again, the usual things with Superman is either playing it straight or making him evil, but making him an unfortunately stunted person who has to learn right and wrong would have been interesting. Same with the guy being some weird hippie cult leader.

[@ericpeterson8732]

It's amazing how DC gets so bent out of shape, but the cyborg Superman Hank Henshaw is a total Reed Richard clone. The idea that the cosmic rays horrifically killed his friends and family and drove him insane should have instigated some kind of legal action. But if it did, I never heard of it.

[@miguelvelez7221]

I think you have to keep a few things in mind about that. The first thing is that there's a GIGANTIC turnover in personnel at both publishers as well as all kinds of restructuring corporate wise in between the time of Wundar and the original first appearance of Henshaw as a character, close to twenty years. The dynamics between the two companies had changed as well as there being quite a few other cases litigated both in terms of copyright law as well as what the audience itself considered about this sort of thing, ranging from "This is an obvious rip off" on one side of the spectrum and stuff like "Obvious loving homage" and "This is parody and protected by parody carve outs" on the other end. Henshaw was for sure doing a parallel origin to the FF... But it veers wildly away from everything else about the FF apart from "Four Astronauts go on a mission, get exposed to something in space and come back changed". They don't become heroes who adapt to their changes easily and attempt to integrate back into society like Marvel's first family but instead are mostly destroyed mentally and physically by their experiences. His friends dead, Henshaw, who doesn't have "stretching" powers at all puts his consciousness into some Kryptonian tech and mourning both his loss of humanity and his dead colleagues heads to the stars away from Earth. I don't think there were any major plans for Henshaw, undoubtedly given how Carlin era Superman titles were structured something about that would have come back into the narrative at a later date, but I have strong doubts about whether Henshaw as a Eratz Supes was what it was going to be. Remember, "The Death Of Superman" was actually kind of a fluke in conception. The Carlin era creatives had a whole couple of years worth of stories planned leading up to the Lois and Superman wedding. For the sake of corporate "synergy" the DC team was told to hold off FOR YEARS, the wedding because of the LOUS AND CLARK Superman show on ABC. This essentially blew up the very long laid plans of the Superman team at DC. Thus they devised the Death story and the follow up Reign Of The Supermen arc and that's how they brought Henshaw back and the Cyborg "Man Of Tomorrow" Superman villain was born. So while there is obvious homage in the origin it also is so vastly different it would be a fool's errand to make something legal about it and by the 90's both companies have a lot less animosity between them and, frankly when they both did do some "wink-wink" stuff they were smarter about it to make sure they wouldn't be open to legal action.

[@squirrel9407]

This might be a coincidence but the Marvel use of "Dakram" (if I heard it right) seems a lot like DC's "Daxam", a planet similar to Krypton, especially in the inhabitants gaining super-powers under a Yellow Sun. That being said I can't remember if Daxam was before or after the appearance of the Wundarr character as originally put forward by Gerber. Thoughts?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I looked into that too for this video. But I couldn't find anything that either confirmed or denied this connection. It seems to be a fan theory, more than anything. It may very well be a coincidence. Or it could be true! As far as I can tell, Gerber never addressed this point. FYI: The planet in Wundarr is "Dakkam." To me, it sounds like Gerber reusing the name of the sorcerer in Man-Thing: Dakihm The Enchanter. Both sound the same when pronounced.

[@squirrel9407]

@@StrangeBrainParts Many thanks for clarifying both the spelling and use of the planet name. Much appreciated! Continue to use your strange brain parts for goodness and niceness, to quote a certain Agent 86.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

You're welcome! And I will continue to continue on in pretty much the same vein.

[@Cervando]

I had completely forgotten about this character, and rightly so. A pointless parody that underwent unnecessary changes.

[@RacsoHillgreen]

Wundarr should really force Alan Moore out of retirement.

[@nerdmeister9786]

What happened to the Overlord Comics branding?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I was advised that the branding was a touch confusing. I could see the merits of that argument and decided to retire that branding.

[@nerdmeister9786]

@@StrangeBrainParts ten minutes into a clearly branded future…

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Ha ha ha! Very true. very true.

[@docavenger1560]

Yeah these Marvel stories in the seventies are sick

[@eyeseer1]

Marvel stories in the 1970s were bold.

[@gregorio1580]

Where does the "10 minutes into the future" thing, that's at the start of all your videos, come from?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

That's a secret.

[@tumblingworm737]

Love man thing!

[@Jamesalec63]

Wundurr, I remember this character and though his origins are similar to Kal Els my theory his possibly connected to multiple heroes in marvel universe and two come to mind Wonder Man and Sentry, and though there's is another Captain Mar Vel? This Wundurr should be considered lost hero and hero who may return? His origins are also possibly going to also change as the world he came from could be a off shot of either Kree or something closer to earth, and an alternative timeline. Future like the Meastor timeline? The father of Wundurr could be either Bruce Banner or Rick Jones, because in the current marvel universe remember Rick has a mutant gen? In the other reality Rick has it to? Of course this is another reality combined with marvel universe timeline? His powers did come from a matter of mutation and that does have him as a mutant of sorts and he did have similar abilities to Sentry and that is where there's another strange idea what if his really the offspring of Sentrys maybe a son or grandson say from a timeline before the Void saga? Sentry isn't the only one Wundurr has a slight connection with there's Simon Williams aka Wonder Man similar first Wonder Wundurr and their own way they've seem to had a rocky origins and both have a dark side to their powers and though iconic energy isn't quite the same as Wundurrs the similarities are simple identical? Wonder Man himself has gone to a different powerset almost the same? Wundurr or who every his calling himself these days could challenge Wonder Man in a contest?

[@mr.sand7899]

You are the biggest Steve Gerber I know.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I am certainly one of them. :)

[@TevyaSmolka]

I never even heard of wundar until now because man oh man this character sounded like a fun parody at first but then they dropped the ball badly.

[@KarmaSpaz12]

A bit tough to make a cult parody when so much of what a cult leader is could be misconstrued as parody in the first place. The charisma or lack there of, the cultists hanging off the leader due to his charisma or in spite of their lack of it, whatever it is they actually believe, etc etc. The fact his parents were written as insane just adds to the crazy factor.

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@KarmaSpaz12 that's true and you're right about that.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I agree. Ball heavily dropped. If you can drop a ball heavily? Maybe a bad adjective there. :)

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@StrangeBrainParts lol 😂 that’s okay man 😎

[@CordellPotts]

They should bring him back now. They could explain that because of the way his brain developed in the pod, that he's essentially Autistic. I'm of the belief that any character, no matter how lame, can be a great character with the right writer. Wait, nevermind, I had no idea he ended up as Aquarian 😂

[@marcusbrothers5221]

And Gladiator from the imperial guard isnt superman...because he has a mohawk

[@johncole015]

Superman was a direct ripoff of John Carter of Mars until he gained the power of flight.

[@Mlotshaw1]

Think of it is it's a parody in a book that's already very close to Swamp Thing and only a few months apart in publication. Man thing was not taken as a parody so there's a weird thing when you're putting parodies in non parodies if this has been a Howard the Duck character I doubt DC would have cared as much.

[@Luis-jl6oh]

Streisand effect the character

[@StrangeBrainParts]

So true!

[@paulpeterson]

ANOTHER Gerber video… This channel needs to be rebranded as Steve Gerber Parts 😏

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Hah! You're right...it's what? The sixth video or so about Gerber?

[@jackfairy666]

….until next time.

[@marcusbrothers5221]

I'm not saying the Shi'ar are cosplaying Romulans from Star Trek tos ....that's Paramount Pictures job to say that

[@tompuce84]

[@Mlotshaw1]

So basically he's mentally challenged Superman yeah I can see why DC had a problem

[@JoeYT23]

👍🥴

[@jeffreycoogan09]

The Marvel character ''Wundarr'' kind of tackles the question? (What if Superman became a Christ like figure)?

[@eyeseer1]

Adam Warlock and Aquarian were similar concepts.

[@kaksikymmenta3]

Mu Mu

[@LlyodLlwelleyn]

Man, Stan Lee was always a dick. Couldn’t even back up his writing staff

[@eyeseer1]

Steve Ditko was cheated as was Jack Kirby.