Wonder Man (vol. 2) #11
Killing Fields West!
A Cambodian priest named Thommanon has apparently had his prayers to Shiva answered. Transformed into Angkor, he is now rampaging across Los Angeles trying to turn the city into a killing field just like his country during a recent military conflict that forced him to seek refuge in America. Smashing his way through a shopping mall, he kills everyone in his path including women and children.
Meanwhile, Simon Williams — aka Wonder Man — has been invited over to the home of Alex Flores, the screenwriter he wants to date. There he is shocked to discover that Alex has a teenaged daughter and he’s not entirely sure if he’s prepared for dating someone with a child. As he and Alex discuss this development, her daughter Jamie calls her friends to tell them how Wonder Man is in her house. This leads to an awkward situation where Simon has to formally introduce himself to Jamie. When he refers to himself as Alex’s friend, both women toss him shade much to his chagrin. That’s when Spider Beach, whom Simon’s agent is trying to make his sidekick, comes barging into the house.[1] He tries to tell Simon about Angkor’s rampage but the hero-turned-actor is too busy scolding Spider for following him around. That’s when Ginger — Spider’s brother — comes racing up to the house and manages to explain the situation. As explanations are being frantically made, Spider notices Jamie and is instantly smitten with her and begins bragging about being Wonder Man’s sidekick.
Realizing the extent of the danger, Wonder Man strips off his street clothes and leaps toward downtown. However, along the way his powers begin to fluctuate again — a side effect of being exposed to a nega-bomb explosion while on a mission in space.[2] Meanwhile, Ginger and Spider — both danger junkies — decide to follow after Simon in their car. Alex also decides to follow in her own car as she too is worried about Simon. Although she tells Jamie to stay at home, the impressionable young girl manages to sneak into the back seat of Ginger’s car. When Spider notices that Jamie is tagging along she tells him to keep her presence a secret. They finally catch up to Wonder Man who is now running down the street since leaping has become unpredictable. He is not happy to see that Ginger, Spider, and Alex are following him because thew battle ahead will be dangerous. In order to lose them, he pours on the speed and outruns their cars.
Taking a gamble, Simon leaps again and this time he clears the distance to the Southside Mall where Angkor is still on the rampage. He lands on Angkor before he can kill a security guard. As the two start brawling, Angkor can sense that his powers come from the same source as Wonder Man’s. Despite their similar power, the newly minted destroyer vows to vanquish his foe.
As the battle rages, two spies for Lotus Newmark have arrived on the scene and are monitoring the situation. Lotus is furious to learn that the news media is coming out to film the battle between Wonder Man and Angkor. This is because this is taking attention away from the spate of gang violence that has been taking place in wealthier neighborhoods that she has been instigating for some new scheme.[3] However, she looks on the bright side as Angkor might kill Wonder Man in battle and that would solve a lot of her problems.
Back at the scene of the battle, Wonder Man notices that his powers ebb and flow due to his emotional state and realizes that in order to match Angkor’s strength he will need to stay angry. As the two fight, Simon’s friends arrive at the scene and that’s when Alex notices that Jamie had sneaked her way into Ginger’s car. Meanwhile, Wonder Man is stopped dead in his tracks when Angkor grabs him by the head and begins showing him visions of the horrors committed during the recent war in Cambodia. Seeing all these horrific images makes Simon realize that Angkor is the Buddhist priest he met a few hours earlier. Unfortunately, being exposed by all of these traumatic images also quashes Simon’s anger, allowing Angkor to pummel Wonder Man into submission. With his foe defeated, Angkor leaves the scene to resume his slaughter.
Moments later, Alex, Jamie, Spider, and Ginger find Simon and discover that his muscles have deflated when he lose control of his powers. Still incredibly weak from Angkor’s beating he tells them to call the police and the Avengers to deal with Angkor and then take him home. They take Simon back to his apartment where they have his neighbors Aundray Phelps, Argus LaVecchio, and LaHoya Scripps help them carry Simon inside. While they help Simon, his landlord Gloria Angel tries to call the Avengers for help. She manages to reach the Scarlet Witch who tells her that the Avengers can’t answer the call for help because they are gearing up to join a meeting with other heroes in New York City to deal with a crisis of cosmic proportions.[4] Suddenly, Wonder Man begins coming around and the others notice that his muscles are coming back. Simon suddenly becomes aware that his powers are surging out of control and tells everyone to run. Unfortunately, the warning comes too late as Simon’s body unleashes a powerful explosion of ionic energy.[5]
Recurring Characters
Wonder Man, Angkor, Alex Flores, Jamie Flores, Ginger Beach, Spider Beach, Gloria Angel, LaHoya Scripps, Argus LaVecchio, Aundray Phelps
Continuity Notes
Neal Saroyan has been trying to get Simon to accept Spider as his sidekick since Wonder Man (vol. 2) #3.
Wonder Man was caught in a nega-bomb explosion in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9. He first discovered his powers were affected by it in Wonder Man Annual #1. His power levels are no affected by his mood. This will remain the status quo until Wonder Man (vol. 2) #25.
Beginning last issue, Lotus Newmark has been sending gang bangers into places like Beverly Hills to murder people and cause damage. This is all part of a scheme to get support for Armed Response, a private security firm that she will profit from by using them to clean up the streets. Her plan will come to fruition in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #16.
This would be the threat posed by the Magus. See Infinity War #1.
Wonder Man’s ionic explosion here will bombard everyone else present with his ionic energy giving them all superpowers as we’ll learn over the course of the next 8 issues. They will eventually become the superhero tea Crazy 8 in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #19. They will retain their powers until Wonder Man (vol. 2) #25.
Topical References
Angkor is said to have fled to American from Cambodia to escape the tyranny of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge are a violent far-left organization that ruled Cambodia from 1951 to 1968 and again in 1975 to 1979. Their most heinous crime being the genocide of Cambodian minorities that claimed the lives of somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million people or about a quarter of the population. Making things extra horrific were the actions of the United States army during the Vietnam War where Cambodia was subject to targeted bombings, which killed countless innocent people as well. This should be considered a topical reference. Per History of the Marvel Universe #2, modern readers can assume that these are refugees from the fictional Sin-Cong Conflict instead.
Jamie Flores asks Wonder Man if he knows Christian Slater. At the time, Slater was at the height of his career and was something of a teen heartthrob. Hence why Jamie would be asking about this. As I write this (October, 2022) Slater is now 59 years old and not many teens are thinking of him in that way. So you know, this is a topical reference.
When recounting the time that Wonder Man fought the Ultramax AI on an island once owned by Hydra, Spider refers to it as Gilligan’s Island. This is a reference to a popular sitcom that ran from 1964 to 1967. The titular Giligan was the shipmate aboard a tour ship that ends up stranded on a deserted island. Wacky antics ensue. While the show has been in syndicated reruns for all eternity, you could call this a topical reference since someone like Spider wouldn’t necessarily know about the show if this story were retold today.
