It’s Trivia Tuesday! Tell us, which of the below characters did Stan Lee have a hand in co-creating?
A. Wave
B. Will o’ the Wisp
C. The Witness
D. Wyatt Wingfoot
And the answers are…
C. The Witness and D. Wyatt Wingfoot!
But before we dive into their tales, let’s hear it for the other W characters!
Wave
Wave, aka Pearl Pangan, first rolled into Marvel Comics relatively recently. The Filipina hero debuted in War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1 (May 2019) from the team of Greg Pak and Leinil Francis Yu.
Will o’ the Wisp
This supervillain, aka Dr. Jackson Arvad, flew into the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #167 in April 1977. Will o’ the Wisp was created by Len Wein and Ross Andru, and as you may have guessed, he often battled Spidey.
And now, onto Stan’s handiwork!
The Witness
A few iterations of this character exist in Marvel Comics, but here we’re spotlighting the first two. Yes, two. The first ranks as one of Stan’s earliest creations, first appearing in Mystic Comics #7 in December 1941. Stan contributed the Witness’ tales under the name S.T. Anley with an uncredited artist. The costumed hero also turned up in two more Mystic Comics issues through 1942. Apparently, he found himself placed in suspended animation in 1945.
Fans were introduced to another costumed Witness character a few years later, in 1948, in his own series: The Witness #1. Stan scripted the yarns in that book, with art by Ken Bald, Syd Shores, and Charles Nicholas. Though sadly the world never got to see The Witness #2, the character narrated tales in several comics published in 1949, including Captain America Comics and Marvel Mystery Comics.
Wyatt Wingfoot
A Native American descendant of the Comanche, Wyatt Wingfoot first appeared in Fantastic Four #50 in May 1966. The brainchild of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Wingfoot was a college roommate of Johnny Storm’s. As such, he ended up partaking in several of their exploits over the years. (He also occasionally dated She-Hulk and ended up appearing in her series, Sensational She-Hulk.) Though Wingfoot doesn’t possess any superpowers, he boasts strong athletic skills, especially in hand-to-hand combat, and exceptional marksmanship. And, fun fact, he’s also an excellent animal trainer!
Every couple of weeks, we’ll spotlight some of Stan’s most obscure co-creations through trivia, starting with A and ending with Z! Stay tuned for ‘X,’ coming soon!