Oct 17

Oct 17 Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7

Operation: Galactic Storm Part 4 - Shared Space

This story continues from Quasar #32…

Wonder Man was left to guard Rick Jones at Avengers Compound after he was targeted by both the Kree and the Shi’ar. However, while doing so, Jones suddenly vanishes and is replaced with Captain Atlas, a Kree soldier involved in the current crisis. Disorientated by the swap, Atlas attacks Wonder Man demanding to know where his companion Doctor Minerva is.[1] The two brawl until Atlas realizes that he is back on Earth after he was forced to clash his Nega-Bands together.

What happened to Rick Jones? Well after Atlas clashed the Nega-Bands together, he and Rick swapped places. Jones is now on the asteroid where his old friend Captain Marvel was buried and kept alive thanks to a quantum bubble created by Quasar, who was fighting Captain Atlas at the time.

As Rick explains his connection to the Nega-Bands, Captain Atlas and Wonder Man continue to struggle on Earth. As the two are fighting in the air, Atlas accidentally clashes the Nega-Bands together causing him and Rick Jones to swap places again. Without Atlas keeping him airborne, Wonder Man and Rick fall to the ground like a ton of bricks. Luckily, Simon is able to twist his body to take the brunt of the fall. When Captain Atlas appears back at Mar-Vell’s tomb he finally figures out what’s been going on. Before Quasar can subdue him as he has Doctor Minerva, Atlas clashes the bands once more causing the hero to snare Rick Jones instead.

While this bring Captain Atlas back to his battle with Wonder Man on Earth, the Kree soldier uses his knowledge of the Nega-Bands to his advantage. Every time Wonder Man tries to land a blow, Atlas changes places with Rick forcing Simon to pull back his punches. Atlas then switches back and hits Williams before swapping with Rick again. This catches Wonder Man off guard for a bit, allowing Captain Atlas to land some solid blows. However, Simon quickly figures out the Captain’s timing and throws a punch at Rick just moments before Atlas switches places again. This time, the punch strikes his intended target allowing him to knock the Kree warrior out for the count. By this time, Quasar has managed to create a barrier around Rick to interfere with the Nega-Bands, but by this point Jones is so upset about the experience he demands the Avengers keep Wonder Man away from him.

Meanwhile, in deep space, the being once known as the Demon Druid stops on a planetoid to rest during his search to find out his origins. Wondering where to look in the vastness of space, the Druid is contacted by the Kree Supreme Intelligence. The entity informs the Demon Druid that he is a member of the Kree race and offers to reveal all the mysteries of his past, rechristening the Druid as Ultimus.[2]

By this time, Quasar has returned to Avengers Compound on Earth with both Captain Atlas and Doctor Minerva as a prisoner. Still, Rick Jones is still unhappy with how Wonder Man has protected him through all their ordeals that day. However, the Scarlet Witch speaks up in Simon’s defense leading Rick to soften up a little. When he suggests that Wanda might have a thing for Simon, Wonder Man gets defensive and says he’d know if she did.. at least he’d think he would know.[3] Captain America then calls to order and suggests that both Avengers teams meet in New York and form two delegations to send to the Kree and Shi’ar galaxies and convince both empires to stop using the warp gate near Earth as it is destabilizing their sun.[4] When Wonder Man asks if that means he’ll have to keep guarding Rick Jones, Cap decides that it’s best to return Rick to the Pantheon, much to the relief of both men.[5] However, when the meeting is adjourned, Rick pulls Wonder Man aside and admits that Simon didn’t do that bad a job at protecting him and thanks Simon for saving his life.

Needing to leave town for the foreseeable future, Simon goes to his apartment to get his personal affairs in order. He calls his agent Neal Saroyan to tell him that he won’t be available for any auditions for the next while.[6] He also calls Alex Flores to cancel their dinner date, Alex understands saying that they can meet up when he gets back but tells him that before they consider dating there is something she needs to talk to him about first, but only hints at what that might be.[7] After packing a bag for the trip, Simon pays a month of rent in advance to his landlord Gloria Angel. Watching Simon bound away, Gloria — who is smitten with Simon — wonders what sort of adventures he’s up to now and what amazing places he could take her.

Meanwhile, aboard Starcore One — a satellite monitoring station near the sun — an evacuation order is called as the sun goes through another fit of deadly solar flares that threaten to destroy the station.

… This story continues in Avengers #345.

Recurring Characters

Wonder Man, Rick Jones, Captain Atlas, Avengers (Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Starfox, Quasar), Doctor Minerva, Ultimus, Supreme Intelligence, Alex Flores, Neal Saroyan, Gloria Angel

Continuity Notes

The Shi’ar and the Kree are in the middle of an intergalactic war. The Shi’ar Imperial Guard had gone after Rick to learn the location of a long lost Kree weapon called the Psyche-Magnatron while the Kree Captain Atlas and Doctor Minerva sought out the Nega-Bands once worn by Captain Marvel. Rick knew about both during his time he spent as a companion of Mar-Vell that spanned Captain Marvel #17 until Marv’s death in Marvel Graphic Novel #1. See Captain America #398, Avengers West Coast #80, and Quasar #32 for all of Rick’s recent troubles.
Although it’s never clearly explained during Operation: Galactic Storm, the Ultimus profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #5 explains that Ultimus is of the few remaining Kree Eternals. He went to Earth some 4000 years ago where he was imprisoned by the Deviant known as Tentalus as explained in Blackwulf #7. He had been trapped on Earth for centuries with no memory of who he was as seen in Thor #209. He finally escaped Earth for the stars following the events of Excalibur #20.
The dynamics between Wonder Man and the Scarlet Witch are quite complex at the time of this story. Wanda had been married to the Vision since Giant-Size Avengers #4 who, as per Avengers #57, was programmed using a copy of Simon’s mind. In West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45, the Vision was taken apart by the government. When he was reassembled it was bereft of his personality. This ordeal also led to Simon realizing that he loved the Scarlet Witch. After the Vision abandoned Wanda in Avengers #312, Simon pursued a romance with her. The two started dating circa Avengers West Coast #63, but Wanda put a quick end when she decided she only saw Simon as a friend in issue #69.
The discovery that use of the warp gate was destabilizing the sun was discovered in Quasar #32.
Rick Jones has been affiliated with the Pantheon since his old friend the Hulk joined the group in Incredible Hulk #382.
Neal tries to convince Simon to delay his mission so they can work on boosting Spider Beach as Wonder Man’s new sidekick. Neal has been trying to pair Spider with Simon since Wonder Man (vol. 2) #3, much to Wonder Man’s chagrin.
Alex Flores wants to tell Simon that she has a daughter, Jamie, from a previous marriage. We’ll learn this in Wonder Man Annual #1, but Simon himself won’t learn about this until issue #10.

Topical References

Neal Saroyan has a small figurine of Marvin the Martian on his desk. This should be considered a topical reference.
Alex Flores has a poster hanging on her wall advertising an American Film Institute tribute to actor Billy Wilder. This would not be considered a topical reference since it is paying tribute to an actor from the “Golden Age of Hollywood” as opposed to someone who was popular at the time this story was published.