FATMAN The Human Flying Saucer # 1

Fatman, The Human Flying Saucer was a delightfully odd comic book that ran for a mere three issues in 1967. The book's publisher was the equally short-lived Lightning Comics, an outfit whose entire published output was a grand total of five comic books (the three issues of Fatman and two issues of Tod Holton, Super Green Beret). The line was birthed in the comic-book feeding frenzy of 1966 Batmania, and died with that fad as well. A third Lightning Comics title--Captain Shazam--was announced but never published (and presumably never completed). That third name was intriguing, though, since it conjured an image of the best-selling superhero character of the Golden Age of comics in the 1940s: the original Captain Marvel, whose magic word SHAZAM! gave young Billy Batson the fantastic powers of the World's Mightiest Mortal.



But even without Captain Shazam, Lightning already had a direct connection to Captain Marvel already: Fatman was created by veteran writer Otto Binder and artist C.C. Beck; Beck was the very first Captain Marvel artist, and Binder was one of the most-beloved among Cap writers. Binder and Beck hadn't worked together since Cap's publisher Fawcett Comics succumbed to the dual pressure of declining sales and lawsuits from DC Comics (which claimed that Captain Marvel was a swipe of Superman) and pulled its comics line in the mid '50s. Reunited for this new Lightning book, Binder and Beck essentially created three more issues of a more corpulent Captain Marvel's adventures.

However, Fatman was not a copy of Captain Marvel, and certainly not an imitation of Superman. As Fatman, wealthy raconteur Van Crawford wore a costume patterned after Captain Marvel's, and Beck's visual style was unmistakeable. Binder, in turn, brought a familiar energy and general wackiness that called to mind his earlier work on Fawcett's Big Red Cheese. But Fatman was not Captain Marvel. His only real super power was his ability to turn into a flying saucer; otherwise, he relied on his wits and his weight to see justice done. Nonetheless, Fatman's comic book exploits are undiscovered treasures, and a real treat for Captain Marvel fans like me.

Fatman is now presumed to be in the public domain. So please enjoy these adventures from his first issue, cover-dated April 1967. Heavenly Hamburgers! Make way for Fatman, The Human Flying Saucer # 1.

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Boppin' fans! Wanna see more of the mighty Fatman? Lemme know!