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raul grau
Jun 7, 2004, 08:05 am
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/headshots/dc/nopic.jpg" align=left alt="No Image Available">Real Name: Will Everett
Former Aliases: None
First Appearance: All-Star Squadron #23
Known Relatives: Will Everett II (Amazing Man II, grandson, deceased), Unnamed son (deceased), Unnamed father (presumed deceased), Unnamed mother (presumed deceased)
Group Affiliation: formerly All-Star Squadron
Known Allies: formerly Liberty Belle, Green Lantern I, Flash I
Major Enemies: formerly Ultra-Humanite, Real American
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 185 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Will Everett was raised in the southern United States, as part of a sharecropper family. After an altercation between young Will and their landlord, his family was forced to swiftly relocate. Moving to the city of Detroit, his father found it difficult for a black man to obtain work. Fortunately, his father managed to gain employment at an automotive factory, which allowed Will the opportunity to attend to his education. Will also discovered that he had a talent for track and began training for the Olympics.

With onset of the Great Depression, his father was laid off, and his mother was forced to obtain work as a scrubwoman. Will wanted to leave school, but his parents would not allow him to, insisting that he would one day make them proud. In August of 1936, their dreams came true, when Will won multiple gold medals at the Summer Olympic Games held in Berlin. However, Will found that his fame was fleeting, and he took on janitorial work, sweeping up the lab of Terrance Curtis, a nuclear researcher. A few weeks later, Terry Curtis vanished, but Will continued his duties, as he had been paid in advance.

While at work, Will was approached by armed men, who insisted that he assist them with removing some equipment from the lab. Offended by their racial slurs, Will attacked them, but was knocked unconscious. He was taken to the underground kingdom of the Ultra-Humanite, the criminal genius who had employed the men. Will awoke to find himself dressed in a strange costume, lying on a table connected to an electro-generator, which had been built by the missing Terry Curtis. When the device was activated, a powerful charge was passed through Will, and he strained to fight against it, until the machinery exploded around him.

Will survived, and found that he now had the ability to take on the attributes of any material he came into contact with. He rushed to attack the gunmen who had captured him, but Ultra stepped forward and ended the battle. She told Will of her plan to blackmail the nation by threatening several major cities, and offered to retain his services. Will accepted her offer, hoping to earn money for his struggling parents, though he insisted that Detroit not be one of her targets.

Will (who had now been dubbed 'Amazing Man') soon came into conflict with the assembled All-Star Squadron, a united force of superheroes. After he was restrained, the chairwoman of the Squadron, Liberty Belle, sensing that Will was not a hardened criminal, implored to him as an American to side with them against Ultra. When Will learned that Ultra had gone back on her word by sending forces to attack Detroit, he choose to switch his allegiance, and fight alongside the All-Stars. After the combined heroes vanquished Ultra, Will returned to Detroit, still contemplating whether to remain a costumed hero.

Shortly after, the All-Star Squadron traveled to Detroit in order to assist Will in battling a sinisterly patriotic villain known as the Real American. Violence had erupted across the city, as the first group of black residents were moving into a newly constructed housing project, and the All-Stars attempted to quell the carnage. Will and the team then managed to defeat the Real American, and reveal him to be a robot. Amazing Man then chose to take his place among the All-Stars, and continued to serve with the team until its dissolution with the end of World War II.

Will would later have a son, who inherited his special abilities, but who was killed serving in the Army. Will then raised his grandson, Will Junior, himself. Decades later, Will (now hospitalized after being stricken with cancer) was visited by his grandson, who had recently learned that he also possessed the family powers. The much weakened Will suggested that perhaps one of his former comrades from the All-Star Squadron would train the younger Will in the use of his abilities. Will Everett II soon became the inheritor of the Amazing Man mantle, but fell in battle serving with the Justice League. The current condition of the elder Will Everett remains unknown.

Amazing Man has the ability to imbue himself and his uniform with the properties and appearance of any material he comes into contact with, while still retaining full mobility. For example, if he touches something made of steel, he can become super strong and bulletproof. It is unknown if Will still possesses his special powers in his present condition.

APPEARANCES:

All-Star Squadron #23-27, 31, 38-43, 46-47, 50, 53-54, 57-60
All-Star Squadron Annual #2
Crisis on Infinite Earths #5
Justice League America #87
Young All-Stars #2-3, 7, 9, 12-14, 25, 27, 30-31
Young All-Stars Annual #1

Jon Hancock
Jun 7, 2004, 09:31 am
Good job Raul. Never really knew that poor ol' Will had a grandaddy of such fame.

Just a small query. Shouldn't the Ultra-Humanite be referred to as a male? I know he inhabited a female body for a long time but the brain inside (which is really the only true part of the Ultra Humanite) is male isn't it?

raul grau
Jun 7, 2004, 08:41 pm
Thanks, Jon. Yes, Ultra (presumably) began as a man, but the only time Will ever met him, he was still a she, so I let the pronouns reflect that.

Just to add a few points that I could not include in the bio: Will Everett was named for Bill Everett, creator of Sub-Mariner and another Amazing Man. Bill Everett gave Roy Thomas his permission to create a new Amazing Man, but passed away years before Will Everett made his debut. Also, despite the fact that this Amazing Man first appeared in 1983, thanks to a bit of retroactive continuity, he is chronologically DC's first black superhero.

- Raul

JRCarter
Jun 8, 2004, 11:41 pm
There's always the chance he could come back from the dead, especially given the nature of his powers. They already brought back Blue Devil (who was killed along with him).

In fact, there are a number of fans who'd like to see him make a comeback.

Jon Hancock
Jun 8, 2004, 11:45 pm
I doubt it though. Devil came back somewhat believably but Will was shattered into thousands of pieces that have almost certainly been scattered since.

raul grau
Jun 9, 2004, 08:59 am
I felt that by smashing a character who can alter his own molecular structure, Robinson had left enough wiggle room for another writer to bring Will II back to life. Now if only another writer would come along who would want to bring Will II back to life. :)

- Raul