Wonder Man (vol. 2) #26
This Mortal Earth
Wonder Man is forging a new destiny for himself by becoming Earth’s immortal protector.[1] He has just learned that the Islamic nation of Kanem is in crisis, he decides to go there to lend a hand. They have just recently obtained the Agrimax, a device that will help the draught stricken nation grow crops and obtain food security. However, the device has recently come under threat of terrorist attack.
First, Wonder Man tries to take a flight to the nation. However, when he arrives at Los Angeles International Airport the United States government tries to stop him as they do not want anyone interfering with the foreign nation. Fighting his way past federal agents and airport security, Wonder Man realizes that the only way he is going to make it to Kanem is under his own power. Luckily, the hero has recently learned how to use his ionic powers to fly. As he makes his way out of America he is attacked by fighter planes, forcing him to take them down before continuing on his destination.[2] In order to prevent any further attacks from the air, Wonder Man hitches a ride on a commercial airliner.
When Wonder Man arrives in Kanam, he arrives at the massive Agrimax machine. There, the soldiers guarding the machine mistake him for an attacker and open fire. Wonder Man quickly disarms them and explains that he has come to defend the Agrimax machine. The leader of the squad apologizes and then asks for an autograph, which Wonder Man is more than happy to give.[3] Then out of nowhere, Wonder Man is ambushed by Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk.
Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Alex Flores is still recovering from her recent injuries.[4] Watching the news she catches a story about Wonder Man’s unauthorized trip to Kanem. She sends her heart out to him and hopes that they can meet soon and sort out what their relationship will be in the future.[5] When she tries to talk to her daughter Jamie about what’s going on she discovers that her daughter has gone out again, a worrying trend for Alex. That’s when she gets a call from Neal Saroyan. Neal has been offered a deal to produce a bio-pic about Wonder Man’s recent “savage period” and thinks that Alex would be the ideal choice to write the screen play since she knows him so intimately. At first, Alex turns down the job since that would betray Simon’s trust but that’s when Neal dangles the the fact that the job will pay out in seven figures, making it incredibly hard for Alex to turn down.
Elsewhere in the city, Jamie is out joy riding with Spider Beach and are surveying the damage done to the city during Wonder Man’s recent battles with Mephisto. Spider is disappointed that he missed out on all the action because he is supposed to be Wonder Man’s sidekick.[6] He tells Jamie that his sister Ginger has come up with some ideas to get them all back in action and he wants to know if Jamie is in on this plan. However, after everything that has happened to her mother, Jamie isn’t sure if she wants to get involved in anything dangerous.[7] Unfortunately, these plans are completely quashed when they arrive at Ginger’s house and find representatives from Child Services waiting for them. They have heard about Spider being put in danger while in Ginger’s custody and have decided to remove him from her home and place him into foster care.[8]
Back in Kanem, Wonder Man recovers from the Hulk’s punch and asks him what the big idea is. The Hulk explains that he was recruited by General Bornu who needed help protecting Agrimax from sabotage from an unknown superpowered individual. Bornu is now claiming that they saw Wonder Man attacking the facility the night before. Simon tries to explain how that is impossible but the General’s men begin opening fire on him when he tries to move. Not wanting to be manipulated again, Wonder Man then lunges at the Hulk and the two begin brawling.[9] Wonder Man is actually curious to see if his new and improved abilities are a match for the Hulk. However, he is unprepared for the fact that the Hulk isn’t the savage brute he’s always been known to be.[10] Simon also tries to convince the Hulk that they are on the same side, but can only convince Banner of this when he puts himself in harms way to protect a child who wandered into the middle of their brawl.
The fact that the pair are making peace angers General Bornu who once again accuses Wonder Man being an outside agitator saying he saw Simon come from a nearby mountain range called Satan’s Head.[11] Wonder Man insists that he is lying and he and the Hulk decide to head out there to investigate. This is playing into General Bornu’s hand and he tells his troops to head to Satan’s Head as well. Once alone, he radios to the real masterminds trying to destroy the Agrimax machine. This being a massive powerhouse calling itself Furor who assures Bornu that they and their ally Plan Master are more than ready to face whatever the two heroes throw at them.
Recurring Characters
Wonder Man, Hulk, Furor, Plan Master, Alex Flores, Jamie Flores, Neal Saroyan, Ginger Beach, Spider Beach
Continuity Notes
The opening narration and Wonder Man both state that he is trying to change his image after going from Hollywood actor/superhero to a violent savage. This was a long standing issue that started when Simon’s powers were thrown out of whack by a nega-bomb explosion in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9, and an identity crisis developed in issue #13. Just recently, Wonder Man found a renewed sense of self after come to terms with his past and restoring his powers as seen in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #22-25.
Here, Wonder Man contemplates returning to the Avengers West Coast. He quit the group when he went full savage in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #16-18. He will eventually try to rejoin in Avengers West Coast #102 only to discover that the team has been disbanded. He’ll join up with Force Works instead in Force Works #1, it won’t go so well.
Wonder Man mentions how he’s not very proud of the Damage Control movie he starred in. This happened in Damage Control (vol. 3) #3. Simon isn’t proud of the film because there was an unintentional nude scene that was added to the final cut of the film.
Alex was seriously injured by Splice in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #20 and needed to be hospitalized. There she was used as a pawn for Mephisto and Blackheart’s attempts to steal Wonder Man’s soul and she even briefly died before coming back to life. See issues #22-25 again.
Wonder Man and Alex have been romantically interested in each other since Wonder Man (vol. 2) #10, but with all the craziness that followed they haven’t really had a fair shake at a relationship.
Spider mentions how he and his sister were paired up with Wonder Man. This was arranged by Neal Saroyan who wanted Ginger to be Simon’s real-life love interest and Spider his sidekick, all to boost their mutual publicity. See Wonder Man (vol. 2) #1 and 3 respectively.
This is hinting at the fact that Spider and Jamie still have super powers. See, in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #11-12, a number of Wonder Man’s friends and associates were bombarded with ionic energy when Simon’s powers were flaring out of control. Discovering they obtained super powers, they became the Crazy 8 in issue #19. Their superhero days were short lived as Wonder Man reabsorbed the energies in issue #25. Although Spider and Jamie believe they held back some of that power for themselves, neither will demonstrate their superhuman abilities from here on. Lingering traces will still exist however, making them all potential targets of Count Nefaria in Iron Man Annual 1999.
As explained in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #13, Ginger was able to convince the courts to give her custody of her brother after their mother abandoned them. However, because the pair of them constantly got into trouble due to their association with Wonder Man and their exploits in the Crazy 8, Child Services sent a letter warning that they were going to take Spider away from his sister in issue #24.
In his running narration, Wonder Man mentions the various villains who have manipulated him in the past. They are:
Baron Zemo: The man who gave him his powers way back in Avengers #9. Zemo withheld an antidote that would reverse a side effect to the ionic power process that would seemingly kill him.
Black Talon: During the period where Wonder Man was believed dead, Black Talon used his voodoo powers to turn him into a zombie. He was freed from this enslavement by the Avengers in Avengers #151-152.
Lotus Newmark: Had been a conspiring against him since Wonder Man (vol. 2) #2, but after her operations were ruined in issue #21 she went into hiding. Wonder Man is referring to a woman who appeared to be Lotus Newmark who claimed to be in league with Mephisto in issues #22-25. However, the Lotus Newmark profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8 suggests that this was probably an impostor.
Mephisto: The literal devil of the Marvel Universe made a grab for Simon’s immortal soul in issue #22-25 as well.
At the time of this story the Hulk is no longer a savage brute due to the fact that his multiple personalities were seemingly merged together in Incredible Hulk #377. This will remain the status quo until issue #425 of that series.
Here, the Hulk mentions he was sent by the Pantheon. This group often conducted missions on humanitarian grounds in an effort to better the world. The Hulk has been a member since Incredible Hulk #382. He’ll be associated with the group until Incredible Hulk #424-426.
Topical References
The TV in Alex’s apartment is depicted as a CRT model. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
Neal Saroyan tells Alex that she’ll be paid 2 million dollars to write the Wonder Man script. Adjusting for inflation this would be about 4.2 million in 2022 money.
When talking about the people who have manipulated him in the past, Wonder Man says that he promised himself to never be manipulated again. He then quips “Wondy don’t play that!” This is a play on a catch phrase of Damon Wayems Homey the Clown character from the sketch comedy show In Living Color which ran from 1990 to 1994. Homey was an ex-con who became a surly party clown. When presented with a situation that wasn’t to his liking he’d say “Homey don’t play that!” before whopping someone on the head with a weighted sock. People used to say the catch phrase all the time in the early 90s. This is a topical reference because it’s dated. So very, very, dated. I had to explain it to you didn’t I? Yeah, I did.