Wonder Man (vol. 2) #19
The Crazy 8!
After being bombarded by a blast of ionic energy, former friends and neighbors of Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, have decided to use their newfound powers to fight crime as the Crazy 8. They include Auteur (Alex Flores) who has the power of projecting illusions, Attractive Lad (Aundray Phelps) who has the power of magnetism, Buff (LaHoya Scripps) the team bruiser, Dreamer (Jamie Flores) who can project a dream form whenever she sleeps, Glamour Girl (Gloria Angel) who can shift herself through time, Snap (Ginger Beach) who can fire “snaps” of energy, Stat (Spider Beach) who can create duplicates of himself, and Visionary (Argus LaVecchio) who has enhanced sights.[1] They have decided to become the defenders of Los Angeles after Dreamer discovered that the private security firm known as Armed Response has actually been working with local gangs to sell their services. This would have been a job for Wonder Man, however the former hero has decided to quit due to an ongoing personality crisis.[2]
Going out on patrol to find proof that Armed Response has been instigating violence in the city, the team eventually finds a warehouse where the group stores their equipment. With Visionary’s camera they are able to record members of Armed Response revealing their plan. Unfortunately, the team blows their cover, leading to a firefight with the high tech mercenaries. Auteur uses her illusion casting abilities to make the Crazy 8’s numbers seem larger and creates a distraction so the others can retreat outside. However, they are followed by Armed Response. It’s here that Glamor Girl attempts to reach out to Wonder Man using his time traveling powers. When she jumps forward in time, she finds herself in the middle of a battle between Wonder Man and the Grim Reaper.[3] This confuses her as she thought Simon was outside the city shooting a film adaptation of MacBeth.
Glamor Girl is correct as Simon Williams is currently on set outside the city. He is introduced to Upton Greenbaum the director who has his doubts that Wonder Man has the acting chops to play the lead in MacBeth. However, when they do a script reading, Simon completely knocks it out of the park, much to everyone’s surprise.[4]
Back in the city, the Crazy 8 scramble to get their recording away from Armed Response. Its an up hill battle as the group is still figuring out how their various powers work. With the recording in jeopardy, Dreamer forces herself to fall asleep so her dream form can flee the scene with the recording. However, flying to the nearest TV station is pushing her powers to their limit. Luckily, the rest of the Crazy 8 manage to escape and catch up with her. They compel her to hand off the tape and the manage to get their recording to the station just in time for the evening news. With their mission a success, the Crazy 8 return home to watch the coverage of their success and celebrate. The exposé on Armed Response prompts an investigation from city officials. This is followed by a report about Wonder Man’s new film role, which Spider dumps on since he now considered Wonder Man a has been.
The news about Crazy 8’s exposé reaches Lotus Newmark — the owner of the company — as she is in bed with her assassin, Splice. She has decided that the group is a threat to her goals and orders Splice to eliminate them, a task that he is more than happy to carry out for her.
Recurring Characters
Wonder Man, Crazy 8 (Attractive Lad, Auteur, Buff, Dreamer, Glamour Girl, Snap, Stat, Visionary), Armed Response, Grim Reaper, Lotus Newmark, Splice
Continuity Notes
The Crazy 8 all got their powers when they were bombarded with ionic energy when Wonder Man’s powers flared out of control in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #11-12.
Wonder Man’s current identity crisis is due to two major events that have happened to him recently. The first was being exposed to a nega-bomb explosion in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9, which has resulted in his powers being regulated by mood. The second was a mental probe by Galactus in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #14. This revived old fears of mortality in Wonder Man and has made him question his own humanity. Wonder Man quit the Avengers and heroics all together last issue.
The fight between Wonder Man and the Grim Reaper seen here is seen in fill in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #24.
Here, Wonder Man feels he can relate to the material because his own brother Eric, aka the Grim Reaper, is a dead man. At the time of this story, the Grim Reaper is a reanimated zombie, as seen in Avengers West Coast #65. He had committed suicide back in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #2.
Topical References
In Spider’s opening introduction to the Crazy 8, he refers to the team as “Super-heroes for the 90s.” This should be considered a topical reference as it is relative to the date of publication.
When Spider’s monologue discusses Aundray Phelps aka Attractive Lad, he says he feels a lot safter calling him “Aundray” than Attractive Lad. This is alluding to the fact that Aundray is gay and apparently Spider has a problem with that. This was a product of its time given the stigma toward homosexuality that was rampant in the 90s. Still, because we still have homophobic bigots out there this wouldn’t exactly be considered a topical reference.
Spider also hopes that the footage that Argus shoots of their caper gets them on Liquid Television. This was an animation showcase series that aired on MTV from 1991 to 1995. They absolutely wouldn’t be interested in a live action video. Regardless, this should be considered a topical reference since the show has long since been cancelled.
When Attractive Lad tries to handle the video camera, he’s reminded that magnetism can erase video tape. This should be considered a topical reference as shooting on video cassette is now an obsolete medium. Still, a digital format (that is commonly used today) would still have the same vulnerability.
Aundray states that the Crazy 8 are doing their own 1992 version of Shakespear’’s Henry V. The reference to 1992 should be considered topical as it is relative to the date of publication. References to Wonder Man being the “dramatic discovery of the 90s” should also be considered topical for the same reason.
