Wonder Man (DC Comics)
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This article is on the DC Comics character. For the Marvel Comics character, see Wonder Man. For the Fox Publications character, see Wonder Man (Fox Publications).
Wonder Man is the name of two fictional comic book characters in the DC Comics universe. The first is a a superhero and his only appearance was in Superman # 163 (August 1963). The second is Hercules, who uses the name when he replaces Wonder Woman as the representative of the Olympian Gods in Wonder Woman v3, #3.
[edit] Ajax
Within the story, he appeared on the scene and eventually came to rival Superman, possessing the same powers as he, but not his weaknesses. His popularity surpassed Superman which left him depressed, feeling like a has-been.
It was later revealed that Wonder Man used to be Ajax, one of Superman's duplicate robots that he used for help or hiding his identity. Ajax was kidnapped by alien invaders who turned him into a real living being while still having his bionic super-powers. The invaders wanted to use him to remove Superman so that he would no longer be in their way for their attack. Wonder Man, not being evil, thwarted their plan with Superman when he learned of their full intentions. After the aliens' defeat, Superman offered Wonder Man (who revealed to him his secret) the chance to fight at his side, but the aliens installed a death-mechanism in him that was triggered to kill him within a week. Wonder Man died, and then laid in a grave which said that he was born a robot, but died a human.
[edit] Hercules
Hercules appears during the events of One Year Later. Now shaven and bearing an updated version of the armour worn in the Hercules Unbound series, he replaces Wonder Woman as an agent of Olympus. He is referred to as "Wonder Man" by Cheetah and Nemesis. He temporarily set up his base in the Greek Embassy.
In Wonder Woman v3 #4, Hercules is revealed to have lied about his reasons for returning to Earth and was actually partnering with Circe.