Oct 17

Oct 17 Wonder Man (vol. 2) #27

The Furor Begins

Wonder Man has ventured to the Islamic state of Kanem to help protect the Agrimax — a machine that will help support crops in the draught afflicted region and help them obtain food security. There Simon has been framed for being the saboteur that the military is seeking to stop. In order to clear his name and find out who is really responsible, Wonder Man has teamed up with the Hulk — who is there on behalf of the Pantheon — to search the region of Satan’s Head. Little do they know that General Bornu — the head of the Kanem military — has tipped off Furor and Plan Master, the pair who are really trying to sabotage things.

When they arrive at Satan’s Head, Furor tries to ambush them but Wonder Man spots their attacker before they can strike.[1] While Wonder Man and the Hulk are able to hold their own, they are knocked out when General Bornu and his men arrive in tanks and open fire on them. While Furor and Bornu pat themselves on the back Plan Master — a man with a massive head confined to a hover chair — reminds them that it was his planning that led to this victory. As it turns out Furor and Plan Master were hired by General Bornu to destroy Agrimax so that Bornu can use it to stage a coup d’etat and overthrow the Council of Elders that run his country. When Bornu suggests that they are merely working for profit, Furor gets upset and says that their bond is like one between parent and child. Plan Master orders Furor to compose themselves as they still have to destroy Agrimax.[2]

Once General Bornu is alone, Wonder Man and the Hulk reveal that they were only playing possum and trash him and his army. They then race back to the Agrimax where they engaged Furor in battle once more. When the Hulk confronts Plan Master he sends a signal to Bornu’s army and they launch missiles at Agrimax. The Hulk then lunges into the sky to intercept them leaving Wonder Man to fend with Furor by himself. This is all according to the Plan Master’s scheme as he never intended to put his own son into harms way. Overhearing this, Furor is deeply upset by the fact that Plan Master referred to him as his son. Furor pummels Wonder Man into the ground just as the Hulk destroys the missiles.

However, Simon isn’t down for the count and he quickly gets up and resumes his brawl with Furor. In the ensuing melee, Wonder Man accidentally throws Furor on top of Plan Master.[3] This seriously injures the man and destroys his hover chair. Horrified that they hurt their partner, Furor lunges at Wonder Man in another fit of rage. However, Wonder Man is able to use Furor’s blind rage against them and fights the brute to a stand-still.

That’s when the Council of Elders arrives on the scene and demands to know what is going on. The Hulk hands over General Bornu and explains his plot to try and overthrow their rule by sabotaging the Agrimax machine. When Bornu denies this, Furor tells them that Bornu is lying. They also explain that they were working in league with a major food exporter that saw Agrimax as a threat to their bottom line as they made money selling food to the impoverished nation. They even went so far as bribe other governments to turn a blind eye and use the country’s Islamic government to stoke xenophobic fears about their country. Although Furor went along with Plan Master’s scheme they didn’t have the stomach for the job. With that, Furor picks up the Planner and teleports away. The whole situation leaves Wonder Man and the Hulk confused as to the relationship between the pair. However, Wonder Man assures the Hulk that he’ll look into Furor and Plan Master further when he rejoins the Avengers West Coast.[4]

With the battle over, the Hulk thanks Wonder Man for his help. They are also commended by the local government. Wonder Man then assists in repairing the Agrimax machine before flying back home to Los Angeles. Wonder Man is looking forward to being back home since he wants to check in on his friends Ginger and Spider Beach and catch up with Alex Flores to get their romance back on track.[5] He also has to get back on set for the film adaptation of MacBeth that he is starring in.[6] Deciding to stop in on Alex first, nobody answers when he knocks at the door. Since she gave him a set of keys, Simon decides to wait for her inside and turns on the television to pass the time. He puts on the news where he is hit with two shocking stories: The first being that Ginger Beach has just recently lost custody of her brother Spider, who is now being put in a foster home.[7] The next, and even more shocking, is the news that Longjohn Films is planning on doing a movie about Wonder Man’s recent bout of insanity and violence and that Alex Flores has been tapped to write the screen play.[8]

Recurring Characters

Wonder Man, Hulk, Furor, Plan Master

Continuity Notes

Here, Wonder Man refers to himself as “new an improved”, he is referring to his recently increased powers and new mission to be Earth’s immortal defender. Wonder Man went through a dark period where he went “savage” between Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9 and 25 and is now trying to reinvent himself.
This story suggests that there is some kind of familial relationship between Furor and Plan Master. Everyone presumes that this is a father/son relationship until Furor is referred to as Plan Master’s son which sends them into a fit of rage. This suggests that they might actually be female. However, none of this is explained in this story and as of this writing (October, 2022) neither character has been seen since so these are questions that remain unanswered.
Wonder Man uses some of the fighting moves that were taught to him by Captain America back in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #6.
Wonder Man quit the AWC following the events of Wonder Man (vol. 2) #16-18. He’ll attempt to rejoin the group in Avengers West Coast #102 only to discover that they have been disbanded. He’ll join up with Force Works in Force Works #1 and it doesn’t go so well for Simon.
Wonder Man and Alex have been trying to date since Wonder Man (vol. 2) #10 however the craziness of his life at the time have prevented it from moving forward. Here, Wonder Man mentions how Alex has been recovering from injuries as well as from being used as a pawn by Mephisto. Alex was seriously injured by Splice in issue #20. Hospitalized she then became a target of Mephisto when he sought Wonder Man’s soul as seen in issues #22-25.
Wonder Man was offered the starring role in MacBeth in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #19.
As explained in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #13, Ginger gained custody of Spider after her mother abandoned him. As of issue #21, Child Services had discovered that Ginger had been endangering her brother vis-a-vie their relationship with Wonder Man. Ultimately, they took Spider away to a foster home last issue.
Alex Flores was also offered to write the screen play about Wonder Man’s recent troubles last issue. She was reluctant at first until she was offered a seven figure payment.