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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[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.

[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.

[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

[qwellen]

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

[FirstnameLastname-mybz]

6:15 (original) Superman also had this, started with Superman #4, #5 and some issues further on like #17 where he could literally absorb even vibrations from explosions!

[dansmith]

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.

[mayomonkey-gen]

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

[chrisdragnet]

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.

[markshulusky]

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.

[jamilfrost]

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

[esean]

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!

[Gamer]

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...

[Nintaboy]

really enjoying these Steve Gerber themed videos, great job!

[Norvo]

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 🙂

[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😅

[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.

[bensneb]

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

[Hrppy]

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.

[jikorijo]

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?

[mercuryman]

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