Man of Wonders: Wonder Man Appreciation 2021

[stingray]

There have been more recent sets released, but they seem to be hard to find and very expensive. Like, $12 for a pack of 3-4 cards expensive.

Yeah, they started doing new Marvel Masterpiece sets every two years starting in 2016, with the first set being painted by Joe Jusko (same guy that painted the 1992 set). Just beautifully done, but Upper Deck decided to release these as a "Deluxe" set, with forced rarity, 3 cards per pack, and multiple versions of the cards with different color foil trim, printed on cardboard that's 5 times thicker than a regular card. Priced through the roof! I only picked up a few of these because they were so expensive. I picked up the book with all the paintings in it full size instead. 2018 set was by Simone Bianchi, and the 2020 set was by David Palumbo. Same deal. Hugely expensive, and it's a shame. I used to get such a thrill when I opened packs of cards from a new set.

[Phoenixx9]

I was actually relieved that they dropped most of the extra power sets after the series. Simon never needed all those extra abilities, and sometimes giving a character too many powers can work out against them since writers may find them harder to use. Him keeping the ability to fly under his own power was good (although I did like the belt rockets as something rather unique to Simon), and every now and then we still see him project bursts of ionic energy. But the size changing and shape shifting (or time jumping, self-replication, magnetic powers, etc, if he started having ALL of the abilities the Crazy Eight manifested) would just clutter up his power set too much. He already hits as hard as Thor's hammer--he doesn't need all the extras.

Yes, I (mostly) agree with this. I prefer Simon with his original set of powes: Vast superhuman strength, durability, his fists "hit like Thor's Hammer", he can see in the dark, has superhuman reflexes and can outrun a freight train. The only "new" power, which I view as more of a developed power, is that Simon has the ability to fly.

[SJNeal]

I can see your point, still, I think it made him more unique than just another second rate bruiser for whenever Thor was not avaliable. It made him more versatile (of course, for when a competent writer gets hold of him. Most folks nowadays write Thor as a muscle bound moron who can occasionally call down lightning, and is mostly used for punching bag to boost the threat level of a foe or even of his own "next best thing hero" allies). More than the jet belts, I miss good writing.

Peace

This. I saw the extra powers as an opportunity to be more creative with the character, but obviously Jones (blegh) was the only one that felt that way, and he didn't get much time to explore what he'd set up.

[SJNeal]

Yeah, they started doing new Marvel Masterpiece sets every two years starting in 2016, with the first set being painted by Joe Jusko (same guy that painted the 1992 set). Just beautifully done, but Upper Deck decided to release these as a "Deluxe" set, with forced rarity, 3 cards per pack, and multiple versions of the cards with different color foil trim, printed on cardboard that's 5 times thicker than a regular card. Priced through the roof! I only picked up a few of these because they were so expensive. I picked up the book with all the paintings in it full size instead. 2018 set was by Simone Bianchi, and the 2020 set was by David Palumbo. Same deal. Hugely expensive, and it's a shame. I used to get such a thrill when I opened packs of cards from a new set.

I check out eBay once in awhile to see if I can find select cards of my favorite characters for a decent price, and it's always a disappointment. The redundancy is really annoying; does anyone out there really want the same card 4 times, with different color foil? And at that price?!

[Hypestyle]

so where is Simon, currently? seems like without an MCU counterpart, he gets ignored.

[Dermie]

so where is Simon, currently? seems like without an MCU counterpart, he gets ignored.

I wouldn't blame it on the lack of an MCU counterpart. Its more a matter of Marvel wanting to only have one "Avengers" title these days and there being far too many Avengers for them all to fit in a single title. There are lots of Avengers mainstays besides Simon who are currently without a regular book to appear in due to that (Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wasp being some of the most prominent examples--and all of them have MCU counterparts).

Apart from a brief cameo in the MODOK: HEAD GAMES miniseries earlier this month, Simon last turned up as a guest star in Dan Slott's TONY STARK: IRON MAN series in 2019, and before that was a member of the Avengers Unity Squad until UNCANNY AVENGERS ended.

[LAWtoyoto 432]

Its more a matter of Marvel wanting to only have one "Avengers" title these days.

But it's turn out to be the shittest Avenger run ever.

[SJNeal]

I wouldn't blame it on the lack of an MCU counterpart. Its more a matter of Marvel wanting to only have one "Avengers" title these days and there being far too many Avengers for them all to fit in a single title. There are lots of Avengers mainstays besides Simon who are currently without a regular book to appear in due to that (Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wasp being some of the most prominent examples--and all of them have MCU counterparts).

Apart from a brief cameo in the MODOK: HEAD GAMES miniseries earlier this month, Simon last turned up as a guest star in Dan Slott's TONY STARK: IRON MAN series in 2019, and before that was a member of the Avengers Unity Squad until UNCANNY AVENGERS ended.

He was also in the War of Realms: Journey into Mystery mini in 2019 (around the same time as his Tony Stark: Iron Man appearance).

Simon didn't have a huge roll, but was actually a pretty fun series.

[Chris0013]

https://screenrant.com/wandavision-w...athan-fillion/

Your thought?

He would have to hit the gym hard...but I would love him as Simon.

I wouldn't blame it on the lack of an MCU counterpart. Its more a matter of Marvel wanting to only have one "Avengers" title these days and there being far too many Avengers for them all to fit in a single title. There are lots of Avengers mainstays besides Simon who are currently without a regular book to appear in due to that (Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wasp being some of the most prominent examples--and all of them have MCU counterparts).

Apart from a brief cameo in the MODOK: HEAD GAMES miniseries earlier this month, Simon last turned up as a guest star in Dan Slott's TONY STARK: IRON MAN series in 2019, and before that was a member of the Avengers Unity Squad until UNCANNY AVENGERS ended.

Which is why I say they should be doing multiple Avengers books.


I really hate the whole pacifist thing he has going on. This is a guy on par with some of the heavy hitters. I would love to see him in a position that he has to us violence.

[SJNeal]

I really hate the whole pacifist thing he has going on. This is a guy on par with some of the heavy hitters. I would love to see him in a position that he has to us violence.

He actually joined the fight against Ultron in Slott's Iron Man arc; he was actually shown hitting!

So either he ditched the pacifist stance off panel, or Slott just chose to ignore it...

[Dermie]

He actually joined the fight against Ultron in Slott's Iron Man arc; he was actually shown hitting!

So either he ditched the pacifist stance off panel, or Slott just chose to ignore it...

I think in that particular case Simon set it aside because he knew there wasn't any other option. This is Ultron--peaceful dialogue and reasoning simply wasn't going to happen with a psychopathic machine intent on exterminating human existence. :P

He was also in the War of Realms: Journey into Mystery mini in 2019 (around the same time as his Tony Stark: Iron Man appearance).

Simon didn't have a huge roll, but was actually a pretty fun series.

Yeah, it was. A fun mini with a really oddball mix of characters for its cast.

I just realized I forgot another appearance of his--he was in the EMPYRE: AVENGERS miniseries last year. He was part of an Avengers squad with Mockingbird and Quicksilver that was helping defend Earth from invading Cotati.

[Nomads1]

I really hate the whole pacifist thing he has going on. This is a guy on par with some of the heavy hitters. I would love to see him in a position that he has to us violence.

I really wonder if there is any true fan of Wonder Man that really liked the pacifist angle. "Yeah, that's what I want t see, my favorite character stick to his principles and be a punching bag."
Of course I'm being extreme, and a character that does not resort to violence as the only way to solve a problem might be intresting, but action is a huge part of comics, and such a passive stance really doesn't seem like a good idea for me.

Peace

[SJNeal]

I just realized I forgot another appearance of his--he was in the EMPYRE: AVENGERS miniseries last year. He was part of an Avengers squad with Mockingbird and Quicksilver that was helping defend Earth from invading Cotati.

Interesting. I only read the main Empyre mini, and skipped the 475 tie-ins, so if Simon appeared I missed it.

Did Slott also write the Avengers tie-in? Just curious because at least that would account for whether or not they'd reversed the pacifist thing, or if it's just Slott being Slott.

I wish we'd get some sort of on-panel confirmation if Simon has indeed reversed his stance, considering it's been his defining characteristic for years... *eyeroll*

[Dermie]

I really wonder if there is any true fan of Wonder Man that really liked the pacifist angle. "Yeah, that's what I want t see, my favorite character stick to his principles and be a punching bag."
Of course I'm being extreme, and a character that does not resort to violence as the only way to solve a problem might be intresting, but action is a huge part of comics, and such a passive stance really doesn't seem like a good idea for me.

I am not a huge fan of the pacifist thing, but I don't hate it as a lot of other fans seem to. The problem is that some writers have been able to use it better than others. Simon's pacifist perspective doesn't have to take him out of the action entirely--just because he's not going around punching bad guys in the face has not stopped him from smashing their weapons and equipment to pieces, for example. He's used his own invulnerability to cause attackers to knock themselves out while trying to attack him (or attack someone else, and he throws himself in the way).

Simon wanting to be non-violent forces the writers to be a bit more creative about how to have him participate, and some of them have risen to the challenge better than others.

Interesting. I only read the main Empyre mini, and skipped the 475 tie-ins, so if Simon appeared I missed it.

EMPYRE actually ended up not having very many tie-ins, for an event of that nature. The publishing shutdown that lasted for a couple of months caused by the pandemic led to about half of the planned EMPYRE tie-ins getting cancelled.

Did Slott also write the Avengers tie-in? Just curious because at least that would account for whether or not they'd reversed the pacifist thing, or if it's just Slott being Slott.

No, it was written by Jim Zub (who also wrote Simon in the UNCANNY AVENGERS series), and Simon was still referring to himself as a pacifist.

I wish we'd get some sort of on-panel confirmation if Simon has indeed reversed his stance, considering it's been his defining characteristic for years... *eyeroll*

The EMPYRE: AVENGERS mini would be his last proper appearance (apart from the non-speaking MODOK cameo) and he was still calling himself a pacifist there so I don't think he's reversed it as of yet.

[Snoop Dogg]

Pacifist Simon is great, but he needs to actually be in a book. Journey Into Mystery was fantastic, so obviously Marvel didn't keep that talent.