Oct 17

Oct 17 Wonder Man (vol. 2) #8

Operation: Galactic Storm Part 11 - Death Adrift

This story continues from Quasar #33…

An intergalactic war between the Kree and the Shi’ar is has seen the increase use of a warp gate near Earth, putting the planet at risk by destabilizing the sun. In response, the Avengers have sent a delegation to each galaxy to convince them to stop using the warp gate.[1]

Wonder Man has joined the group that has ventured in to the Shi’ar galaxy along with Captain Marvel, the Scarlet Witch, Thor, the Living Lightning, and the Vision. The have arrived just in time as Empress Lilandra is preparing to send a massive nega-bomb into the Kree galaxy. Although they have convinced her to meet with them, she is preparing to send the bomb to the Skrull galaxy.[2] She summons the Starjammers to help pilot the bomb into Kree space. Corsair, the leader of the Starjammers, objects to this mission because he originates from Earth and doesn’t want to put his home world at risk.[3] Lilandra refuses to change course but allows him to bow out of the mission. The other Starjammers — Raza, Ch’od, and Hepzebah — are loyal to the Shi’ar empire, agree to carry on the mission without him.

While the other Avengers stand by and do nothing, Wonder Man wants to stop them because — as a former arms manufacturer himself — knows the horrors of war and refuses to let them use a weapon that could kill on a galactic scale.[4] Grabbing the Vision to help him out, Wonder Man leaps onto the departing bomber as it leaves the space port. The android — being bereft of human emotions — cannot fathom why Simon would want to stop the nega-bomb. Based on his own logic, the Vision has concluded that the use of the nega-bomb would be a prudential way of ending the war, seeing the loss of life as a necessary expense. Simon tries to explain the perviousness of life, since he himself once cheated death before and knows how horrible it is. He also admits that since he cannot have children of his own, he saw the Vision like a son and felt a little more human when the Scarlet Witch fell in love with the Vision because he was a little part of himself. Simon is annoyed when the Vision doesn’t recall the feelings he once had for his former wife.[5] Since he’s not getting through to the android, Wonder Man tells him to never mind as they need to destroy the nega-bomb.

The Vision presses the issue of Simon’s attraction to Wanda. The android points out that she is available to pursue now that he no longer has any emotional connection to her. Simon explains that things have gotten more complicated than that now that he has ordinary women interested in him now. This has left him conflicted since he wonders if he really wants to get involved with a fellow superhero or if he wants to have an ordinary relationship.[6] The Vision finds this conflict baffling and suggests that Williams put aside his emotions and make a rational decision. Wonder Man has reached his limit on this discussion and tells the Vision to shut up and focus on finding some way to shut down the nega-bomb.

Meanwhile, the Starjammer continues to tow the nega-bomb into Kree space. They are contacted by Empress Lilandra who warns the crew that Wonder Man and the Vision have stowed away and are attempting to sabotage their mission. Raza uses the ships scanners to lock onto Wonder Man’s ionic energy signature. Pinpointing their location the three Starjammers teleport themselves to their location and launch an ambush attack. This is not just a physical fight, but a battle of ideals a fight between duty and what’s right. The two sides fight each other to a standstill and Raza decides to at least hear Wonder Man. Simon points out to the Starjammers that they haven’t been told the full destructive potential of the nega-bomb. Likening this to how, during World War II, President Truman didn’t inform the bomber pilots transporting the first atomic bombs to Japan how destructive they were. That was because if they knew how devastating the weapons were they might have suffered a crisis of conscience and disobey orders. Sure enough when the nukes were dropped, the pilots were horrified by what they had done. Wonder Man then explains that is exactly the position the Starjammers found themselves in.

This gives the trio a lot to think about as they consider the ramifications of their actions. They aren’t happy that the Shi’ar would hire them to do their dirty work, wondering why Lilandra wouldn’t use her own men to transport the bomb. Raza agrees to stop the transport at the star gate so they can hash it out. That’s when Hepzebah reminds him that she set the ship for full speed. As the Starjammers head back to their ship to take evasive action, they ask Wonder Man to make repairs to the bomb. Simon has no intention of doing so and only agrees to get them to follow through on their promise. However, when Raza and the others return to the ship they discover that they cannot stop their passage through the star gate without jettisoning the nega-bomb. Deciding that keeping the bomb in Shi’ar space is too dangerous and the loss of two lives in the face of billions of Shi’ar, the Starjammers loose the nega-bomb which then hurtles through the star gate.

Feeling the passage through the warp gate, Wonder Man realizes that they have been stranded in a distant galaxy in a massive bomb with no way to get back home!

… This story continues in Avengers #346.

Recurring Characters

Wonder Man, Avengers (Thor, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Captain Marvel, Starfox), Lilandra, Starjammers (Corsair, Ch’od, Raza, Hepzibah, Cr’reee)

Continuity Notes

The discovery that the warp gate was affecting Earth’s sun was detected in Quasar #32, prompting the Avengers to form two delegations in Avengers #345.
The Shi’ar delegation ventured into Shi’ar space in Thor #445 and managed to secure a meeting with Lilandra in Quasar #33.
As revealed in Uncanny X-Men #156, Corsair — aka Christopher Summers — was abducted by the Shi’ar many years ago. He spent years in the slave pens of then Emperor D’Ken until he and the future Starjammers broke free from their prison and became space pirates.
Before gaining super powers, Simon Williams was in charge of Williams Manufacturing. His career came to an abrupt end when he was caught in an embezzlement scandal which sent him down the path to becoming Wonder Man. See Avengers #9.
The relationship between Wonder Man, the Vision, and the Scarlet Witch is a very complicated one indeed. Let’s break it down:
- After gaining his powers in Avengers #9, Simon was told the process would kill him without an antidote. When that was seemingly what happened, the Avengers made a copy of Wonder Man’s brain engrams. These engrams were stolen by Ultron and used to create a personality for the Vision as seen in Avengers #57.
- The Vision eventually fell in love with the Scarlet Witch and the pair got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4. Shortly thereafter, Simon came back to life in Avengers #151. It was later explained in issue #164 that he didn’t really die but entered a death-like state as his body underwent a metamorphosis and transformed him into a being of pure ionic energy.
- More recently, the Vision was kidnapped by a government agency and disassembled. When the Avengers put him back together, he no longer had a capacity for emotion. Simon later refused to off his brain engrams a second time not only because it was done the first time without his permission but he also discovered that he was in love with the Scarlet Witch. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45.
- When the Vision later abandoned his wife in Avengers #312, Simon tried to pursue a romance with Wanda. The two briefly dated between Avengers West Coast #63 and 69. However, the Witch called it off because she started decided she only wanted to be friends with Simon.
Simon’s potential love interests are actress Ginger Beach who his agent had set him up with to try and boost his popularity in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #1, and screen writer Alex Flores whom he met in the following issue. At the time of this story, Simon is leaning more toward dating Alex.