Issue(s): Fear #17
Cover Date: Oct 73
Title: "It came out of the sky!"
Credits:
Steve Gerber - Writer
Val Mayerik - Penciler
Sal Trapani - Inker

Review/plot:
Steve Gerber asks "What if Superman was never found by Ma and Pa Kent and was left trapped in his escape pod until adulthood?"

The Kryptonians in this story are played by the Dakkamites, which is a derivative of the Daxamites, a group of colonial Kryptonians in the DC universe.

Our Superman's name is Wundarr.

When he finally emerges from his pod (released by the Man-Thing during a rare display of curiosity), he's physically powerful but developmentally an infant.

There's a cute panel showing the Man-Thing bumping his forehead up against Wundarr's pod to hear Wundarr's tapping better because, as the narration explains, the Man-Thing's body is all messed up and his forehead is where his auditory organs are.

Once Wundarr is free, he bonds to the Man-Thing, thinking that it is his mother.

The Man-Thing is of course barely sentient, so that relationship doesn't go very well, resulting in a big brawl in Citrustown.

Wundarr eventually leaps off into parts unknown.

It's a cute story. Gerber doesn't really seem to have a lot to say about his hypothetical scenario other than "Wouldn't it be interesting if..." but it's still an enjoyable and unusual story about two very confused and oblivious characters. Wundarr will go on to be a background character in Marvel Two-In-One and later becomes the weird cosmic character Aquarian (although i'll continue to tag him as Wundarr for consistency).

It's worth noting that while my modern eyes see this as "just another Superman send-up", at the time it was rare enough that DC briefly threatened to sue Marvel over it, according to Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.

There's a brief sub-plot which shows Jennifer Kale waking up from a bad dream and her father secretly worrying about the implications of her dreams.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - first Wundarr

Chronological Placement Considerations: I've pushed a bunch of Marvel Two-In-Ones back in publication time due to Captain America's appearance in issues #4-5, and Wundarr appears in some early issues of Two-In-One, so this has to be pushed back as well.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

At the same time this came out, the Man-Thing had a bizarre cameo in DC's Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes #198.

More of an easter egg really (he and Swamp Thing have mannikins or statues of some kind used as decoration at the entrance of a circus haunted house, and the colloring is ever so slightly off for Man-Thing), but the cover date is identical.

An inside joke between Cary Bates and Steve Gerber, probably.

Mike Sterling put up a scan of this recently.

I suspect Dave Cockrum was entirely responsible for Man-Thing being there(he also put the Creature from the Black Lagoon in a later panel, and he was known to be a fan of those movies). Cary Bates was still a 100% DC guy at the time, and editor Murray Boltinoff was one of those longtime DC guys who considered anything Marvel did to be beneath their notice.

According to Roy Thomas in Swampmen/Comic Book Creator #6, not only did Carmine Infantino complain to Stan Lee about this, but Steve Gerber nearly got fired from Marvel over it.