Wonder Man (vol. 2) #2
Screen Goddess
Wonder Man is clashing with the Avengers West Coast outside the home of screenwriter Alex Flores. While Iron Man, Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, and US Agent try to contain their teammate, Spider-Woman remains on the ground to protect Alex. However, the person who has enthralled Wonder Man has decided that he is is calling too much attention to himself and uses her magical powers to teleport him away.
As the Avengers regroup after Simon’s sudden disappearance they ask Alex why their teammate was targeting her to begin with. Flores explains it all started when she was hired on to do re-writers on a war picture. Things took a sudden turn when the director was fired and replaced the associate producer with a woman named Helen Eve. Alex could immediately tell what she was dealing with by how all the men on set were practically tripping over each other just to please her. Eve wanted to make some major changes and insisted that Wonder Man, aka Simon Williams, be casted in the lead roll. At first, Alex dismissed Simon as just another mindless hunk of beef but she soon learned otherwise.
When Simon met with Helen Eve, he too seemed to be caught in her spell until she was out of sight. Williams then asked when the shuttle was coming so he could go home to study his lines. Alex was surprised to learn that Simon didn’t have a car and offered to drive him home herself, unaware that she was witnessed doing so by Helen Eve, who was furious. On the ride back, Simon began acting strangely, as if he was struggling for control over his own mind. Before getting out of the car, Simon forced himself to write down a phone number and tells her that if he something happens or someone is put in danger call the number and tell whoever answers that Wonder Man is out of control. Sure enough, when Simon later attacked her, she called the number — which belonged to the Avengers West Coast — and they came running to her rescue. After hearing all of this, Hawkeye reveals to the others that he tagged Simon with a homing device with one of his arrows.
Meanwhile, Wonder Man is teleported into the back sweat of Helen Eve’s limo which is somehow driving by itself. Simon is shocked by this but Eve uses her control over him to quiet the hero down. She takes him back to her penthouse apartment. There, Helen Eve reveals that she is actually the Asgardian sorceress known as Amora the Enchantress. She revels in having Wonder Man under her spell once more. She hasn’t forgotten the last time when she used her power to make Simon a god just like her, but this backfired on her because as a god Williams was able to fight off her spell and free his fellow Avengers.[1] However, despite her control over him, part of Simon’s mind is free from her enchantment and is struggling to get free. As he does so, Amora explains that she has come to Hollywood to increase her worshipers and therefore her power. However, she is doing things on the downlow given how Odin recently punished Thor for killing his brother Loki and she doesn’t want to become the target of the All-Father’s foul mood.[2]
Unable to fully resist her, Wonder Man asks her what she wants him to do next. The Enchantress then takes Simon to a rival movie studio that she claims is being run by a rival who is also tied to organized crime.[3] The studio is in the middle of shooting a dinosaur movie, so she orders Simon to trash the set as the insurance will not be able to cover the loss and it will ruin the production. When the racket draws the attention of the security guard on duty, the Enchantress orders Wonder Man to kill her. Simon tries to resist her orders but, luckily, Iron Man arrives on the scene to stop him. Soon the other Avengers arrive on the scene and while Amora is distracted, the Scarlet Witch uses her own power to nullify her spell. Wonder Man then has the other Avengers play along as he prolongs the battle.
This makes it appear as though Simon has defeated his teammates. However, this is only so Simon can get close enough to hit the Enchantress. With the Avengers West regrouped by his side, Simon explains that because of their last encounter and brief period as a god, part of his mind will always be impervious to Amora’s enchantments and he was able to tip the Avengers off to her scheme setting about her defeat. Furious at being outsmarted by a mere mortal, the Enchantress threatens to unleash the full fury of her magic upon Wonder Man and the others. That’s when Simon points out that doing so would attract the attention of Odin. Realizing that he is right and that they are now stuck in a stalemate, Amora vows that she’ll be back and when she does she’ll have her revenge. After making her threat, the Enchantress teleports away.
With the battle over, Simon thanks the Avengers for their help and decides he should go find Alex Flores and apologize for trying to kill her earlier. That’s when Alex comes out of hiding and reveals that she had been watching the whole battle from the sidelines. She accepts his apology though, however this is mostly because it has given her inspiration for a new screenplay to write, much to Simon’s chagrin.
Recurring Characters
Wonder Man, Enchantress, Alex Flores, Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Spider-Woman)
Continuity Notes
The Enchantress previously enthralled Wonder Man in Marvel Comics Presents #38-45.
Thor seemingly killed his half-brother Loki in Thor #432 forcing Odin to banish him deep into the mind of his then human host, Eric Masterson. This was actually all part of a ploy by Loki so the trickster could take possession of Odin’s body and rule Asgard. The status quo between Thor, Odin, and Loki will be restored by Thor #457.
The woman in charge of this rival studio will be revealed to be Lotus Newmark in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #4. She has been part of the LA crime scene since Avengers Spotlight #30-36.
Topical References
When Alex Flores complains about her lawn getting wrecked, Spider-Woman tells her to Roto-Till it later. Rototiller is a brand of cultivator, a piece of gardening equipment using for tilliging soil. In urban areas Rototiller has become a proprietary eponym for tilling. As such, this wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference.
When driving off the studio lot, both Alex Flores and Simon Williams trade some quips by asking if they are related to individuals involved in the NFL that have the same last names. These are topical references because the NFL is a real world sports league. As for the name drops we have:
Tom Flores: Who got his start playing professional football until he retired from the game in 1969. He then coached from 1971 to 1994. Wonder Man mentions how he coached the Raiders, he did so for the team between 1972-1987. Following his coaching career he became a radio announcer for Raiders games from 1997 until his retirement in 2017. As I’m writing this, dude is 85 years old so he’s not long for this world.
Jamie Williams: Is identified as being the “best run-blocker in the NFL”. Yeah, there’s more than one guy who went by Jamie Williams in the NFL. So given the run blocker reference she is talking about James Earl Williams, also known as J.D. Williams. He played in the NFL from 1990 to 1996 for the Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cartinals, and San Francisco 49ers respectively. Since retiring from the game he has coached multiple university teams over the years. Williams is probably not the best run-blocker on record anymore but I don’t care enough about football to bother looking. Anyway, where this is a funny joke is that Simon Williams is Caucasian while Jamie Williams is African-American. This is why sports jokes are as funny as lung cancer.
Gutwrencher Magazine (part 2)
This is a one page feature continued from last issue. It was placed in lieu of a letter page. It is a mock magazine interview between Wonder Man and the fictional magazine Gutwrencher. In it, Simon recounts his history up to that point.
He picks up from the moment after he died due to Baron Zemo’s ionic power process. How his brain engrams were recorded by Hank Pym and later used by Ultron to create the android Vision’s personality. He recounts that during this period his brother Eric became the Grim Reaper and sought to convince the Vision to join his crusade against the Avengers, even offering to transfer the Vision’s mind into Wonder Man’s “dead body” which the Reaper had possession of at the time. When these attempts failed, Eric enlisted the aid of the voodoo practitioner known as the Black Talon who used his power to revive Simon as a zombie.
This led to Simon’s actual revival and learning that he didn’t actually die but was undergoing a transformation into a purely ionic being and was offered a spot on the Avengers. Simon recounts how during that time he became afraid of dying again, affecting his effectiveness as an Avenger. He also mentions how it was during this time he had fallen in love with the Scarlet Witch, but ignored his feelings for her because she was married to the Vision. He concludes this part of the interview by saying he eventually overcame his fear of death during the Avengers battle with the godlike entity known as Korvac where he was killed and brought back to life a second time.
Continuity Notes
For more on Simon Williams during his period of “death” see Avengers #57, 102, 131-132, and Giant-Size Avengers #2.
Simon was resurrected as a zombie by Black Talon in Avengers #151. He was restored to normal in issue #152. He was made a full time Avenger in issue #160. In Avengers #164 he learned about his metamorphosis.
Wanda got married to the Vision in Giant-Size Avengers #4 during the time that Simon was “dead”. However, Simon did not vocalize his true feelings for her until West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #44.
Simon recounts his second near-death experience during the Korvac Saga which took place in Avengers #167-177. Here, he states that Korvac has lived on by astral projecting his mind into a new body. That’s not entirely accurate. When Korvac killed himself at the end of the Korvac Saga he sent a genetic package through time that would pass through his ancestors until his birth in the 31st century allowing Korvac to be born with his godlike powers. This was prevented during the Korac Quest event in Fantastic Four Annual #24, Thor Annual #16, Silver Surfer Annual #3, and Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1.
