Wonder Man (vol. 2) #14
Infinite Memory
This story takes place during the events of Infinity War #4…[1]
Wonder Man is among a team of Earth’s greatest heroes are investigating a cosmic level threat. However, they have been tricked into attacking Adam Warlock by his dark half personified, the Magus.[2] This has led to a clash between Warlock and his Infinity Watch and representatives of the Avengers, Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and X-Factor.
Wonder Man lunges into the fray and attacks Adam Warlock directly. Warlock tries to convince Simon that he is being tricked but these rationalizations fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, Wonder Man’s powers are fluctuating and as his rage begins to subside his strength diminishes.[3] What doesn’t help is that Wonder Man is also suffering from an identity crisis and is struggling with trying to be human. Overhearing Simon mutter this out loud, Warlock points out that their senseless attack is all too human. With others — such as Storm, Colossus, and Polaris — picking up the slack, Wonder Man recovers from the attack. He checks to see if the Scarlet Witch is still safe as she, Doctor Druid, and Agatha Harkness are focused on sustaining a spell to keep them in this dimension between time and space. Confirming that Wanda is fine, Simon decides to put aside all the questions of his own humanity aside and focus on keeping the Scarlet Witch safe.[4]
When Wonder Man rejoins the fight Warlock, Drax, and Thanos are the last three members of the Infinity Watch are standing. Surrounding them are the Hulk, Cyclops, Strong Guy, She-Hulk, Hercules, the Invisible Woman, the Thing, Thor, and Vindicator. However, before they can all attack, Galactus’ ship appears above them and yanks everyone on board with a tractor beam.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alex Flores is working on a new screen play when Argus LaVecchio, an experimental filmmaker that lives in the same apartment as Wonder Man, comes by to talk. After both were exposed to Wonder Man’s ionic powers he has been feeling strange and has developed super-human vision.[5] As he explains this to her, Alex is shocked when Argus’ eyes begin glowing red just like Simon when he uses his powers. Argus then demonstrates his power by being able to see Jamie, Alex’s daughter, through the wall.
Back in the dimensional crossroads, Galactus has used his machines to entrance the Earth heroes so they will stop fighting the Infinity Watch. In the hopes that they might have some knowledge on how to defeat the Magus, Galactus then begins probing their minds. Wonder Man is forced to relive his past: the shame for being caught in an embezzlement scandal, being tricked into getting super-powers by Baron Zemo who used him as a weapon against the Avengers, seemingly dying only to come back to life. The probe then turns his memories into a nightmare as Wonder Man is called inhuman by his brother — who became the Grim Reaper. However, when the Reaper turns to face him Simon is horrified to see they share the same face.[6] Simon renounces this, refusing to admit that he is no longer human, and that he is very much alive. His anxious emotional state causes Wonder Man to weaken and lose muscle mass. However, he regains his composure as Galactus frees him and the others from his mental control. As Hercules and Thor help Simon to his feet, he tells them to stop calling him by his real name anymore as, from now on, he is just Wonder Man.
Hercules is concerned that Wonder Man’s loss of humanity stems from encountering his evil doppelganger earlier, but now he feels like even less real. As Thor tries to calm Simon down, the Thing and Human Torch interrupt to tell them that Galactus filled them in on the Magus and his master plan. Thor is then asked by Galactus to go on a mission for him.[7] Needing to have his humanity reaffirmed, Wonder Man finds the Scarlet Witch and asks her to help him sort out the confusion in his mind.[8] Wonder Man points to Wanda’s past relationship with the Vision — an android that was programmed using his own memories — and asks her if she’s attracted to artificial men.[9] Wanda thinks that Simon is acting insane and demands that he let her go. Realizing that he is losing control, he pulls himself away as his mind reels. Seeing that her friend is deeply suffering and asks him what’s wrong. He once more reiterates how he is starting to believe that he is no longer human and any attempt at a normal life leads to destruction.
Back on Earth, Alex Flores and her daughter Jamie are visited by Argus LaVecchio, one of Simon’s neighbors. They are all trying to make sense of the strange powers they have began developing since they were bombarded with Wonder Man’s ionic energies. They decide that they should call the others that were present. That’s when Jamie reveals that she has Spider Beach’s phone number, much to her mother’s dismay. However, despite Argus having enhanced vision and Jamie being subject to strange dreams, Alex isn’t entirely sold on the idea that they have super powers. However, Argus thinks that they should all talk in person. When he makes his way to the front door he is shocked by the sight of a second Earth and moon in the night sky. He is about to believe that this is another effect of his strange sight powers but Alex tells him that she sees it too.
While in the dimensional doorway, Adam Warlock has just been kidnapped by the Magus. This has prompted the gathered heroes to go out and mount a rescue mission.[10] As the others debate the threat posed by the Magus, while everyone is acting like this is business as usual, Simon expresses that his world will never be the same again. That’s when Thanos calls everyone to order to explain what’s going on and what the stakes are. Somehow, the Magus has found a power source that has allowed him to create a duplicate universe that is slowly merging with theirs. Thanos explains that when the process is complete they will all be replaced with doppelgangers loyal to the Magus. He then shows them that this process is already happening on Earth. He tells them to give up their home world as lost and to focus on stopping the Magus before this process completes itself across the universe.
… Infinity War continues in Infinity War #5.
Recurring Characters
Wonder Man, Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Vision), Alpha Flight (Vindicator, Sasquatch, Shaman), Fantastic Four (Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Infinity Watch (Adam Warlock, Drax, Gamora, Moondragon), X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Psylocke, Gambit), X-Factor (Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy), Hulk, Quasar, Doctor Druid, She-Hulk, Agatha Harkness, Thanos, Galactus, Argus LaVecchio, Alex Flores, Jamie Flores
Continuity Notes
Specifically, according to the Marvel Chronology Project, the events of this story take place in between page 6 and 22 of Infinity War #4.
The Magus has spent the last three issues of Infinity War to trick Earth’s heroes into thinking Adam Warlock has gone evil.
Wonder Man’s powers have been out of whack since being exposed to a nega-bomb in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9. This will remain the status-quo until until issue #25.
Wonder Man has also been having an identity crisis after the Kree genocide of Operation: Galactic Storm. Haunted by those memories and how own brushes with death he has been trying to established a “normal” life. See Wonder Man (vol. 2) #10 for the details.
Alex and Argus were of 8 individuals that were exposed to Wonder Man’s ionic energies when his powers flared out of control. See Wonder Man (vol. 2) #11-12 for the details. They will eventually use their power to become the Crazy 8 in issue #19. They will eventually lose these powers by issue #25.
Wonder Man’s origin and first bush with death were detailed in Avengers #9. Although he seemed to die, he actually entered a metamorphic state as his body converted into pure ionic energy (as explained in Avengers #164). Simon was revived in Avengers #151. In the meantime, his brother became the criminal known as the Grim Reaper, as seen in Avengers #52.
Galactus sends Thor back to Earth’s moon where he discovers that the Magus is using his power to create a duplicate universe as seen in Infinity War #4.
Wonder Man finds himself confused over his feelings for Wanda. He realized that he loved her in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #44. The pair had briefly dated from Avengers West Coast #63 through 69. Wanda broke it off because she only wanted to be friends.
The Vision was programmed with Wonder Man’s brain engrams as explained in Avengers #57. During his time on the Avengers he met and fell in love with the Scarlet Witch and the two got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4. The marriage came to an abrupt end when the Vision was taken apart and put back together in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45. This left him devoid of emotion and eventually abandoned his wife in Avengers #312.
No you didn’t miss a page (at least not of this issue) as Adam’s kidnapping was depicted in Infinity War #4.
Topical References
Alex’s computer is depicted as having a CRT monitor with a dot matrix printer. These should be considered a topical references as both devices are obsolete technologies.
Infinity War Reading Order
Infinity War #1, Alpha Flight #109, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7, Fantastic Four #366, Spider-Man #24, Captain America #408, Deathlok (vol. 2) #16, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #42, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #67, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #43, Infinity War #2, Fantastic Four #367, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #68-69, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #44, Guardians of the Galaxy #27, Quasar #37, Infinity War #3, Marvel Comics Presents #108-111, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #8, Fantastic Four #368, Alpha Flight #110, New Warriors #27, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #4, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #41-42, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #13, Nomad (vol. 2) #7, Quasar #38, Daredevil #310, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #45, Infinity War #4, Alpha Flight #111, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #5, Guardians of the Galaxy #28-29, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #9, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #14, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #43, Quasar #39, Infinity War #5, Sleepwalker #18, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #46-47, Fantastic Four #369, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #10, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #15, Infinity War #6, Fantastic Four #370, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #44, Alpha Flight #112, Quasar #40
