Avengers (vol. 3) #51
Prisoners - A Love Story
The planet Earth has been conquered by Kang, a warlord from the future.[1] Captured, Wonder Man has been taken to an internment camp in California. As he arrives he thinks how quickly their defeat happened. Kang dropped a bomb on Washington, DC, killing everyone in the city. With that, the American military and the Wasp surrendered to Kang. Even with America captured, Earth’s heroes still resisted. Many, like the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, and Darkhawk, were captured. Others, such as Spider-Man and Wolverine remained on the loose. Wonder Man was among those heroes that were still free until he was captured just recently.
Once at the prison gates, the guards order Wonder Man to stand still while they remove his shackled and fit him with a power dampening collar. He is then tossed in with the rest of the population. There, he is surprised to discover the Scarlet Witch is among their number. She reveals that she was part of a team of Avengers that went into space to try and destroy Kang’s orbital base of operations only to be captured when they failed.[2] Since her captured, Wanda has been spending her time helping the sick and injured around the camp.
Over the next few days, Simon joins Wanda in these tasks. During their downtime one day, Wanda reveals that her hex powers still partially work, probably due to the fact that they are magic based. She figures the guards must be aware of it, but since she only uses these powers to help heal the injured, they turned a blind eye because it is preserving more slaves that are more use to Kang alive then dead.
A few days later, Simon and Wanda watch as two other prisoners jump one of the guards and try to escape on his hover platform. Williams wants to help them out, but Wanda has seen what happens to those who try to escape and convinces Simon to stand down and watch. The other guards grab two other prisoners and order the escapees to surrender or their other two prisoners will die in their place. The escapees refuse and flee into the ruined city outside, prompting the guards to execute the two that are taking their place. They are quickly caught and as punishment the two men are lined up for execution with four others picket at random. The punishment for escapees that are recaptured is that they are killed along with twice their number.
Simon and Wanda comfort each other through the night and while Wanda fears that it is all over, Wonder Man still believes they can defeat Kang. When he tries kissing Wanda, she pulls away. She tells him that their past relationship was one of comfort when she was lonely and she now realizes that while she cares for him deeply, she isn’t in love with him. Simon realizes that he feels the same way too, coming to care for Wanda like a sister. As it turns out, she still loves the Vision, but doesn’t know what this will mean in the future.[3] Since Simon still wants to break out, they begin formulating a plan.
The next day, in the middle of their usual routine, Simon rips off the power dampening collars from both of their necks. The two make a break for it, with Wonder Man being able to break through the wall of the camp. That’s when the guards grab a random prisoner and threaten to execute them if Wonder Man and the Scarlet Witch don’t surrender. Wanda instantly surrenders, unwilling to let another be punished in her place. Simon won’t allow another to die in his place either, but challenges the guards to take him back on their own, calling them cowards. This is enough for the guards to swarm him. Although Williams put up a good fight, he is quickly beaten into submission and taken prisoner once more.
As Wonder Man is being dragged back inside, Kang appears before him as a holographic projection. He admits that he is impressed that Wonder Man chose to stand his ground and fight instead of fleeing like a coward. For that, Kang has decided not to execute any of the others. Regardless, Wonder Man is to be put to death anyway and is put before a firing squad. Wanda pleads with them to spare his life, but her words fall on deaf ears. The guards open fire with their energy weapons, seemingly atomizing Wonder Man on the spot. The Scarlet Witch races to the post where Simon was executed appearing to mourn his death. When the guards order her to solitary confinement. She agrees to go, but demands a moment to mourn for her friend first. That’s when Simon whispers into her ear that their plan paid off.
As it turned out, the two faked Wonder Man’s death as part of their escape plan. When Wonder Man first ripped off their collars, Wanda used her hex powers to wave a spell that turned Wonder Man invisible the moment he was shot, making it look like he was annihilated.
Now as Wanda is being led away, Wonder Man flees the prison before the spell wears off. As he goes, he sheds a tear for Wanda as he fears for her life.
Recurring Characters
Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, Kang, Scarlet Centurion, (in flashback) Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Wasp, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Darkhawk
Continuity Notes
Kang took over present day Earth in Avengers (vol. 3) #49, where were you?
The Scarlet Witch joined Captain America, Photon, and Jack of Hearts on this mission, which ended in failure in Avengers (vol. 3) #48. As we saw last issue, Cap and the others survived and aren’t around because they had been busy dealing with the threat posed by the Triple Evil.
The love triangle between the Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man is quite complicated.
Wanda met and fell in love with the Vision early on in their careers. The pair got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4.
Years later, the Vision was deconstructed by the government. When the Avengers put him back together again, his capacity for emotion was unable to be recovered, as seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45.
It should be noted here, per Avengers #57, that the Vision’s mind was based on brain engrams taken from Wonder Man. In West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #44, Simon realized that he too loved Wanda. Not wanting competition, Simon refused to offer up his engrams a second time.
The Vision later left Wanda in Avengers #312 and they remained estranged for years. Wonder Man was later killed in action in Force Works #1. Not long after this, the Vision deemed his marriage to the Scarlet Witch over in Avengers (vol. 3) #4.
During this time, Wanda also discovered that she could summon Simon’s spirit, starting in Avengers (vol. 2) #2. She eventually brought him fully back to life in issues #10-11 after the pair admitted their true love for one another. Simon and Wanda started dating but the two started drifting apart in issue #41.
