Would-be actor Simon “Wonder Man” Williams blows a screen
test when his forgets to change his eyes from red to normal. Then his frustration
leads him to accidentally knock down the wall of the leading actress’ dressing room.
He takes a taxi to Avengers Mansion, on the way meditating on his previous
history (for the benefit of new readers): he was an ex-con recruited by Baron
Zemo and given superpowers though exposure to ionic radiation. Zemo sent him
undercover against the Avengers and he turned against his evil master, dying in
the process. His body was stolen by his brother the Grim Reaper, restored to
life by voodoo, mutated further by the radiation into a being of pure ionic
energy. He joined the Avengers and quit to become an actor which is where we
came in. His cab is stuck in a traffic jam and he carries it over his head to a
clear road and makes it to the Mansion. He is met on the doorstep by Ant-Man who
dashes around the back and opens the door as Scott Lang. Simon goes for a
workout in the combat simulation room, battling all sorts of mechanical menaces.
Then a giant robot freezes in mid-clobber: Scott pauses the program to tell him
that Cordco Inc. is looking for someone with his unique abilities. Scott then unpauses
the game and Simon is clobbered….
Simon goes to Cordco where he meets director Calvin Oakly
who explains that the company was created by Tony Stark as the ultimate
research lab, experimenting with the craziest ideas to see which ones work;
they are looking for a superpowered trouble-shooter to stand by in case
anything goes wrong. Simon meets Dr. Wheetly who is working on a machine that
will see into other dimensions; when the boss isn’t looking Wheetly channels
power from the other labs and wreaks havoc with other scientists’ projects. It
also opens a portal to another world….
Simon is introduced to Dulcy Kimble who will be his
supervisor and suddenly the alarm goes off; two bands of small orange men are
pouring through the portal and fighting. Simon leaps into action but Dulcy has
to feed him suggestions for how to cope with the chaos. He uses a huge metal
pipe to gather the gnomes up but their weapons burn right through. He stops the
power tower from falling and rescues Belker the guard dog from injury. Following
Dulcy’s orders, Wonder Man breaks into the lab, fights his way through two
armies of gnomes and unplugs the machine, which causes them all to vanish….
Later, security guard Al takes Simon to a diner to thank him
for saving Belker; Simon confides in him that he left the Avengers because he
is afraid of dying. Simon also scares off a bully who is trying to pick a fight….
Later, Dr. Wheetly sneaks into the lab and tinkers with the
machine, opening a portal to another dimension and Cal Oakly, entering at the
wrong time, is sucked into it. Wonder Man is summoned and Dulcy has him
outfitted to go into the other world when Simon receives a call from the Avengers,
telling him he is urgently needed. Simon goes off so Dulcy enters the portal
alone….
Simon arrives at a medical center where he is met by Captain America,
Wasp, and Vision. William “Sandman” Baker is a cancer patient there.
Desperate to be cured he took over the labs and started releasing radiation at
random which now threatens to create a meltdown. Only Wonder Man can enter the
lab without being killed by the radiation; Simon enters and fights with the
unbalanced villain. He ends up soaking his foe into mud with a fire hose and
then, after stabilizing the reactor, he uses the damping rods to drain excess
radiation from Sandman. Later, they learn that Sandman accidentally cured his
own cancer but through his fear of death, everything was ruined so the process
can never be recreated. Simon wonders if his own fear of dying has had similar destructive
effects on his own life….
Simon returns to Cordco to find that Cal Oakly brought an
end to the war of the gnomes before Dulcy brought him home. Oakly also admires
Simon for his choice to help the Avengers save the world but it also means he can’t
work for Cordco because they need a full-time trouble-shooter. Simon leaves
with a smile on his face.