View source for Fatman the Human Flying Saucer

{{short description|Comic book superhero}}
{{Infobox comics character <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| image = Fatman1.jpg
| caption =  
| character_name = Fatman the Human Flying Saucer
| real_name = Van Crawford
| publisher = [[Lightning Comics (1967)|Lightning Comics]]
| debut = ''Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer'' #1 (April 1967)
| creators = [[C. C. Beck]] and [[Otto Binder]]
| alliances =
| previous_alliances =
| aliases =
| powers = Able to turn into a flying saucer<br>Fire energy beams while in this form
}}

'''Fatman the Human Flying Saucer''' is a fictional character, a [[comic book]] [[superhero]] created by artist [[C. C. Beck]] and writer [[Otto Binder]] in the 1960s.<ref name="Schelly">{{cite book |last=Schelly |first=Bill |title=Otto Binder pp. 226-7 |publisher=[[North Atlantic Books]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-6231-7037-0}}</ref><ref name="Misiroglu">{{cite book |last=Misiroglu |first=Gina |title=The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes p. 74 |publisher=[[Visible Ink Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-5785-9397-2}}</ref>

Beck and Binder created Fatman long after Beck's popular creation [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] was canceled partly due to a [[National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications|copyright infringement suit]] with [[DC Comics]].<ref name= "shazam">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Zack |url= https://www.newsarama.com/35839-an-oral-history-of-dc-s-captain-marvel-shazam-the-lost-years-part-2.html |title=An Oral History of DC's CAPTAIN MARVEL/SHAZAM: The Lost Years, Part 2 |work=[[Newsarama]] |date=August 7, 2017 |accessdate=July 11, 2018}}</ref>

==Overview==

Fatman's costume was green and yellow with a yellow flying saucer emblem on the chest.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wells |first1=John |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969 |date=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490557 |pages=147–148}}</ref> Fatman was fat and could change into a human flying saucer.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |accessdate=2 April 2020  |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/fatman.htm |title=Fatman the Human Flying Saucer}}</ref> His comic ran for only three issues and was published by Lightning Comics, an almost equally short-lived company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GCD :: Publisher :: Lightning Comics [1960s] |url=https://www.comics.org/publisher/312/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.comics.org}}</ref> Fatman comics were produced in small numbers and are considered valuable because of Beck's artwork and their rarity.

Van Crawford became Fatman after coming to the aid of an alien [[Unidentified flying object|flying saucer]]. The saucer itself turned out to be a [[shapeshifting]] alien, who rewarded Crawford by giving him a chocolate drink with the ability to transform him into a human flying saucer.  Being a wealthy man, like many superheroes of the era, Crawford decided to use this newfound power to become a superhero. He teamed up with a teenage sidekick, Tin Man, who could turn into a robot.<ref name=regrettable>{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Jon |title=The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half Baked Heroes from Comic Book History |date=2015 |publisher=Quirk Books |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-1-59474-763-2 |pages=152–153}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Fatman was also mentioned on the second episode of series 2 of the British [[panel show]] ''[[Question Time]]'' in 2022.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/f/fatman1.htm International Hero entry]

[[Category:1967 comics debuts]]
[[Category:American comics titles]]
[[Category:Characters created by Otto Binder]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1967]]


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