Wundarr the Aquarian

Wundarr the Aquarian is a Marvel Comics character created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik in Adventure into Fear #17. His first appearance is thought of as a parody of the origin of Superman.

Publication history

Wundarr first appeared in Adventure into Fear #17 (October 1973), written by Steve Gerber. Before long he became a frequent supporting character in Marvel Two-in-One, appearing in #2-4 (March, May, July 1974), and #8 (March 1975) by Steve Gerber, and issue #9 (May 1975) by Steve Gerber and Chris Claremont), and making a guest appearance in Ms. Marvel (Vol. 1) #15 (March 1978) (also written by Chris Claremont). After Gerber's run on Marvel-Two-in-One, Wundarr mostly disappeared until the Project Pegasus saga (written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio), in which he became "The Aquarian." His later appearances in Marvel Two-in-One were in issues #42 (August 1978), #53 (August 1979), #55-58 (September-December 1979), #64 (June 1980) #69 (November 1980) (all written by Ralph Macchio and Mark Gruenwald), and issue #74 (April 1981) (by Mark Gruenwald).

The Aquarian Weekly

The Aquarian Weekly is a regional alternative weekly newspaper based in New Jersey. Founded in 1969, its focus is popular music. It is accompanied by a pull-out section, The East Coast Rocker, which is freely distributed throughout the New Jersey/New York City/Eastern Pennsylvania region.

The paper has remained independently owned and operated throughout its existence.

History

James Rensenbrink (1932–2013), a former employee of two New Jersey newspapers and one Louisiana newspaper, founded The Aquarian in 1969.The Aquarian initially concentrated on radical politics and uncompromising ecological writings, raging against media monopolies as well as antiquated marijuana laws.

In the beginning, The Aquarian promoted hippie culture and healthy lifestyles, dropping issues sporadically from 1969 to 1974 at the cost of 15 cents per issue in 1969, 10 cents by 1971, then becoming free by 1972. In 1973, The Aquarian hit stride, mixing its sociopolitical views and drug culture coverage with new popular music features, as well as covering underground nightspots like CBGB