Wonder Boy
Created by Jerry Iger, Toni Blum & John Celardo
+ History
Wonder Boy was created by the Eisner & Iger Studio for Quality Comics. It's interesting to note that in 1939, Eisner & Iger created a red-clad hero named Wonder Man for Fox Features Syndicate (Wonder Comics #1, May 1939), but they were sued by DC (National) and had to discontinue the strip. Wonder Man had powers similar to Superman's but a different origin.
The entire Wonder Man story was reprinted in Alter Ego #48 (May 2005). It’s also available at Golden Age Comics Downloads.
Wonder Boy was similarly fantastic—strong and impervious—but I guess the fact that he was merely a boy allowed him to slip under DC's radar. Ironically, DC didn't capitalize on Superboy until More Fun Comics #101 (January-February 1945). But of course, Wonder Woman debuted in All-Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941).
At Quality Comics
Wonder
Boy! Art by Al Bryant.
From National Comics #13 (July 1941)
"The strength of a hundred full grown men in one little boy!" Wonder Boy hails from the destroyed planet Viro, and fell to Earth in Chicago—the picture of humanity, aside from his powers. The crash killed many people, but the boy survived. Nobody believed his origins and he found himself in an orphanage. Meanwhile, in Mongolia, a general took Wonder Boy's craft as an omen to begin warring on Europe. Wonder Boy heard this news and swam all the way to Europe to help. He successfully led the army to victory over the Mongolians. (#1) After the Mongolians took revenge by kidnapping Wonder Boy, he turned the tables by helping them. (#2) Rescued a lost expedition from savages (#3) Wonder Boy wrangled dinosaurs in the western plains, adopts a hatchling dinosaur. (#4)
WB meets Paul Darrow in the American Southwest who was amazed by Wonder Boy’s strength. He asked the lad to accompany hiim on a South American expedition. However, the man Wonder Boy replaced got jealous. On this mission, he showed no hesitation in maiming a crocodile and leaving it to die. Meanwhile, the vengeful Richards allied with natives to attack Darrow and the boy. In the end, Wonder Boy easily ended Richards’ scheme and coaxed the local tribes into a truce. (#13)
When Wonder Boy found a man named Papi was being held against his will by a circus, he helped return Papi to his South Pacific island homeland. (#16) He later helped another unnamed tribe fight off brigands. (#18)
Although he couldn't enlist, Wonder Boy offered his services directly to the Army Air Corps, where he reported to Sgt. Crane. Naturally, this division had been infiltrated by spies. (#17)
He took a shine to several young ladies, Doris Emery among them. He helped save her family from eviction. (#22)
In one of his last recorded adventures, Wonder Boy saved New York's Holland tunnel from attack by Nazis. (#26)
In Bomber Comics, 1944
In time, as he acclimated to life on Earth, Wonder Boy took to wearing civilian attire, but did not fuss with an alter ego. He also found a girlfriend, a young debutante named Sally Benson. Sally's friend, Page Mason was a Fifth Columnist and Wonder Boy orchestrated her downfall. (Bomber Comics #2)
When Sally was courted by Armand, a French count, Wonder Boy's jealousy led him to expose the Count as a spy. The Count was only after the invention that Sally's father's had made for the War Department. After her suitor was taken away, Sally threw herself back into Wonder Boy's arms. (#3)
Behind the Scenes
The author of the Wonder Boy strip was signed "Jerry Maxwell," which was a pseudonym for his creator, Jerry Iger. The Who's Whose? web site credits Toni Blum & John Celardo as creators. This may be true; they worked for Iger. Writers especially weren't always given accurate credit.
His adventures frequently involved water and underwater feats. In one amazing tale, he actually helped a sea explorer to strip a rare coral reef of its "valuable skeleton"! (National #10)
Both Wonder Boy and Merlin were cancelled after National #26, perhaps due to wartime production restrictions.
Iger later revived the hero for a four-issue run in Bomber Comics #1 (March 1944), which he produced for another publisher, Elliot. Iger revived three former Quality strips in the pages of Bomber Comics: Wonder Boy, "Kid Dixon," and "Kid Patrol." Quality's owner, Busy Arnold never fussed with Iger to retain copyrights. Iger also went on to republish Phantom Lady for Fox in 1947.
+ Powers
Wonder Boy possessed super-strength, invulnerability and super-speed. In his later adventures, his strength seemed much more limited than when he debuted. Notably, Wonder Boy could not fly.
His internal chemistry, was, however suseptible in various ways such as poisoning (#14) and tear gas. (#15) More than once, when hit upon his head, he was momentarily knocked unconscious. (#17, 20)
Appearances + References
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