You’ve probably heard of Wonder Woman. You definitely know the Marvel version of Wonder Man—the purple-eyed ionic powerhouse named Simon Williams who occasionally dates Scarlet Witch. But if you dig into the dusty bins of 1963, you’ll find a massive legal headache in the form of the DC Comics Wonder Man. He wasn’t a god. He wasn't even a permanent fixture of the Justice League. He was a one-off character who sparked a corporate feud so intense it basically erased him from existence for decades. Honestly, it’s one of the weirdest footnotes in comic book history because it highlights exactly how cutthroat the "Big Two" were before they became massive movie studio assets.
The story starts in Superman #163.
The cover features a guy in a red and yellow suit who looks suspiciously like a beefed-up version of the Man of Steel himself. This wasn't a mistake. DC Comics was experimenting with the idea of a "successor" or a rival, but they didn't realize they were stepping into a trademark minefield that would eventually involve lawyers from both New York and California.
Who Was the DC Comics Wonder Man?
His name was Hercules Kort.
That’s right. Not an alien from Krypton, but a guy who gained powers through a machine. In the story "The Triumph of Wonder Man!," Kort is given powers by a villainous group known as the Superman Revenge Squad. They wanted someone to finally take down Kal-El, so they basically "super-charged" this ordinary human with a rays-and-gadgets approach. He ended up with a power set that mirrored Superman’s almost exactly: flight, invulnerability, and super strength.
He was strong. Scary strong.
But there was a catch. It's always the catch that gets you in these Silver Age stories. His powers were temporary and, more importantly, they were killing him. Every time he used his abilities, he was essentially burning through his life force. It’s a classic tragic hero trope, but DC leaned into it hard. By the end of the issue, Wonder Man realizes he’s being used as a pawn to kill a good man. He turns on his creators, helps Superman, and then—in a classic bit of 1960s melodrama—he dies.
He lived for exactly one issue. One.
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You’d think a character who died in his debut would be forgotten, but the name "Wonder Man" carried a weight that DC hadn’t fully calculated. At the time, Stan Lee and the folks over at Marvel were just starting to find their footing with the "Marvel Age" of comics. When DC released Superman #163 in May 1963, Marvel took notice. Why? Because they had their own Wonder Man waiting in the wings.
The Marvel vs. DC Legal Drama
Marvel’s Wonder Man (Simon Williams) debuted in Avengers #9 in 1964. If you’re looking at the dates, you’ll notice DC actually beat them to the punch by about a year. Usually, the first person to use a name wins the trademark battle. But this wasn't a usual situation.
DC already had Wonder Woman.
Marvel argued that DC using "Wonder Man" was an attempt to monopolize the "Wonder" prefix, even though Marvel was the one trying to introduce a character with that exact name. Stan Lee later recounted that DC’s management (National Periodical Publications at the time) reached out and essentially told Marvel they couldn't use the name because it was too close to Wonder Woman.
It was a bluff.
Marvel backed down initially. They killed off Simon Williams in his first appearance too (comic book writers in the 60s were weirdly obsessed with killing off "Wonder" guys). For years, Simon Williams stayed dead because Stan Lee didn't want to deal with a lawsuit from DC.
But then things got petty.
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In the early 70s, DC introduced a character called Power Girl. Marvel looked at that and said, "Wait a minute, we have Power Man (Luke Cage)!" Marvel threatened to sue DC over the name Power Girl unless DC dropped their opposition to Marvel using Wonder Man. It was a "tit-for-tat" trade that only lawyers could love. DC blinked. Marvel brought Simon Williams back from the dead, and the DC Comics Wonder Man was relegated to the "Never Mention This Again" pile.
Why the 1963 Version Still Matters to Collectors
If you find a copy of Superman #163 in a garage sale, buy it.
It’s not just a random back-issue; it represents the end of an era where characters were thrown at the wall to see what stuck without five-year marketing plans. The DC Comics Wonder Man is a "lost" character. He represents a timeline where DC might have had a male counterpart to Diana Prince who wasn't just a sidekick or a love interest.
There are a few things that make this specific version of the character interesting:
- The Costume: It was bright red and yellow, intentionally designed to look like a "generic" Superman.
- The Motive: Unlike many villains of the week, Kort wasn't evil. He was a victim of circumstance who chose a heroic death.
- The Rarity: Because of the trademark issues, DC rarely reprints this story in its entirety in major collections.
Most people confuse him with the "Wonder-Man" from Fox Feature Syndicate, a character created by Will Eisner in 1939. That version actually resulted in the first-ever copyright lawsuit in comics history, where DC (then Detective Comics) sued Fox because Wonder-Man was a blatant rip-off of Superman. The 1963 version was DC's own attempt to reclaim that name, but they tripped over their own feet.
The Multiverse Loophole
Does the DC Comics Wonder Man exist today? Sorta.
In the modern DC Multiverse, everything is "canon" somewhere. Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths and through events like Convergence, DC has hinted that these one-off Silver Age characters exist on fringe Earths. However, you won't see him leading a movie. You won't see him in a crossover with Batman.
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The character is a ghost.
He serves as a reminder of how precarious the industry was. One day you’re the next big rival to Superman, and the next, you’re a bargaining chip in a trademark dispute over the word "Power."
How to Track Down the Real History
If you're looking to dive deeper into the history of the DC Comics Wonder Man, don't just search for the name. You'll get 10,000 hits for Marvel's Simon Williams. Instead, look for archives of Superman Volume 1.
- Check the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide: This is the gold standard for verifying the "first and only" appearance of Hercules Kort.
- Look for Digital Archives: DC Universe Infinite occasionally rotates Silver Age Superman titles. Look for the 1963 run.
- Read the "Power Girl" Trade History: Researching the 1970s legal battle between Stan Lee and Carmine Infantino (then DC's publisher) gives you the "why" behind the character's disappearance.
The reality is that the DC version of the character was a casualty of corporate growth. He was a good character with a tragic arc, but he wasn't worth the legal fees. In the world of capes and cowls, sometimes the most dangerous villain isn't a guy with a kryptonite ring—it's a trademark lawyer with a cease and desist order.
If you want to understand the modern landscape of comics, you have to understand these weird, abandoned corners. The DC Comics Wonder Man is the ultimate example of a "what if" that actually happened, then was promptly deleted from the record.
Actionable Insights for Comic Fans:
- Identify Your Issues: Always check the publisher and year. If it's DC and says "Wonder Man" and the date is 1963, you're holding a piece of legal history.
- Understand Trademark vs. Copyright: This case study is the perfect way to learn how names (trademarks) are protected differently than the actual art and stories (copyright).
- Dig into the Silver Age: Many modern "new" characters are actually recycled ideas from this era. Knowledge of 1960s DC stories often predicts where modern writers will look for "retro" inspiration.