Origin: Will Everett was a talented young athlete who went on to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. He won numerous medals but upon returning home, he (like so many young African Americans of the time) had a hard time finding work. Taking a job as a lowly janitor at a laboratory owned by a Dr. Terry Curtis, Will was kidnapped by the villainous Ultra-Humanite and his minions. Used as a test subject for a machine that Curtis and Ultra-Humanite had built, Will was mutated when an explosion occurred. As a result, Will and Curtis (now known as Amazing-Man and Cyclotron respectively) both gained superhuman abilities and were blackmailed into working for Ultra-Humanite (who had kidnapped Curtis’ infant daughter). Eventually, after repeated battles with the heroic All-Star Squadron, Will grew and more desiring of giving up life as a villain. Amazing-Man and Cyclotron turned on the Humanite once Cyclotron managed to rescue his daughter. The two former criminals and the Squadron teamed up to defeat Ultra-Humanite and Will thereafter went back home to Detroit. In 1942, the racially charged atmosphere of Detroit exploded when the Ku Klux Klan began terrorizing African American citizens (including Will and his family). When a peaceful protest was attacked by white supremacists, it attracted the attention of the All-Star Squadron. Working together, the Squadron and Amazing-Man were able to contain and quell the situation. Seeing an opportunity to show the American public equality between the races and an example of a black superhero, Will joined the All-Star Squadron. Powers/Abilities: Originally, Amazing-Man had the power to duplicate the physical properties of virtually any substance he touched (for example: touching a piece of wood would make him a being of living wood, touching rock converted him to stone and so forth). He could even convert himself into radio waves. Later on his powers changed so that he could manipulate magnetic energy, attracting and repelling metallic objects with his hands. In his prime, Amazing-Man was a master athlete in peak physical condition.
Random Trivia: At some point in the 1950s, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover outed the Amazing-Man’s identity to the American public endangering the Everett family. In the 1960s, Will was inspired to participate in the Civil Rights Movement after his nephew and two other activists were killed by white supremacists. He led marches against segregation, put a stop to violent riots in his hometown of Detroit, and even captured James Earl Ray (the man who killed Martin Luther King Jr.). In the DC Universe, he was considered to be the third most important figure in the fight for African American rights, behind King and Malcolm X. Will had a son and a daughter. Will Jr. (the son) developed powers but rather than becoming a super hero enlisted in the Army and was killed in Vietnam. Will Everett III (Will Jr.’s son) became the second Amazing-Man, having inherited his grandfather’s powers as well, and died while serving with the Justice League. Will Sr.’s other grandson, Markus Clay, became the third Amazing-Man who briefly served with the Justice Society of America. Will Sr., the original Amazing-Man, died of cancer in his hometown.
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