| Mercury Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Merco |
|
First Appearance |
Space Adventures #44 (February 1962) |
|
Original Publisher |
Charlton |
|
Created by |
Rocke Mastroserio |
Origin[]
Merco, the Mercury Man, was the last of a race of people from Mercury. His people were much like humans, ruled by greed, hatred, and fear. They developed ever more powerful weapons until they destroyed themselves and reduced their world to a desert. The only survivor was Merco, who had accidentally discovered a way to transform himself into pure mercury. He experimented on himself and the metallic Mercury Man. His powers include flight, the ability to survive in a vacuum, near invulnerability, nuclear powers, and limited telepathy (he could contact Dr. Penn but not determine her gender). He looks different from humans because of his wing-like ears and small ankle wings (similar to the Roman god Mercury or the Greek god Hermes).
The Mercury Man came to Earth to save it from the same fate as his world. He saved the United States from a nuclear attack, and stopped a war in Africa by blowing up the soldiers' weapons. His actions made the world take notice, inspiring the newspaper headline: "Warlike Peacemaker." He also telepathically contacted a brilliant American scientist, Dr. Erika Penn,who he was pleased and surprised to find was female. Dr. Penn gave him the power to transform into a normal human, then transform back into Mercury Man. He could only use his powers in his metallic form.
In his next adventure, Mercury Man took some warmongers to his devastated homeworld of Mercury. He hoped that if they saw the results of nuclear war they would change their ways. However, they refused, so he left them marooned on Mercury.
from Space Adventures 44
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Space Adventures #44-45
Notes[]
- Like many Charlton Characters such as Tyro Team and Shape, Mercury Man's pre-1964 appearances are public domain thanks to a lack of a proper copyright notice. This is because any work published without a proper copyright notice between 1923 and 1977 are in the public domain upon publication.
- Although Merco's Mercury Man form had silver skin in the interior, on the cover he was colored as a Caucasian in a blue bodysuit. In his second and last adventure (drawn by Charles Nicholas) he had a red bodysuit and ears that were pointed rather than winged.
- Spiderwood Studios paid for the rights to the character in 2014 and currently claim to own the copyright however, the copyright had already lapsed prior to their purchase.