Issue(s): Marvel Premiere #55
Cover Date: Aug 80
Title: "A force of two"
Credits:
David Michelinie - Script
David Michelinie & Bob Layton - Plot
Ron Wilson - Penciler
Joe Sinnott - Inker
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
The Iron Man writing team handle a Wonder Man solo story for Marvel Premiere that plays on the same kind of corporate settings that makes their Iron Man interesting. The story starts from the fact that Wonder Man recently found (in another story by Michelinie) that one of his factories had been taken over by the Maggia while he was "dead", and now he's finding out if that's true of the entire company. He's doing so reluctantly, since "ever since I was brought back to life, I've avoided any confrontation with my past, figuring it would be too painful". It's often an effort to remember that Simon Williams used to be the head of a tech company that was a competitor to Stark Industries due to the fact that since his return his civilian scenes have focused on his acting career. Or, i should say, attempted acting career; a boy identifies him as Mr. Muscles in an attempt at black slang gone horribly wrong.

Wonder Man bluffs his way into his old headquarters and finds that it's being run by a mysterious female Director, who employs cartoonish Mafia thugs.

Failing to learn anything more that way, Simon seeks out a former employee of his, and learns that he was indeed forced out by the Maggia. The employee was then blacklisted and forced to find employment as a novelty gift store owner. His wife and kids have left him.

Simon decides that's enough to go back to the factory and smash it up (evidence, schmevidence). The novelty store guy goes with him, and brings whoopee cushions.

Inside the factory, Wonder Man encounters the Director and has to fight a Dreadnought.

Wonder Man handles the Dreadnought with ease, but hey, he's Wonder Man.

The Director escapes and the factory is blown up. The novelty store owner is killed in the explosion.

A little cutesy is some ways, but this could easily have been an issue of Michelinie & Layton's Iron Man that just happened to not feature Iron Man.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Has to take place after Avengers #193, since that's where Wonder Man first learns that his former company has possibly been taken over by the Maggia. This story is followed up on in Iron Man #138-139 and needs to take place prior to that. I've placed this between Wonder Man's appearance in Avengers #200 and Iron Man #138. The Director here is almost certainly meant to be Madame Masque (or rather, her Bio-Duplicate, as with all her appearances at this time), but the MCP doesn't list her as appearing here. The MCP also places this story before Avengers #192-193, so i suspect a detailed analysis of this issue just wasn't done there (not meant as a knock, at all. Just justifying my deviation from them).

References:

• Wonder Man discovered in Avengers #192-193 that his Pittsburg factory was being used as a money laundering facility for the Maggia.
  
• Wonder Man heard from Iron Man that someone called "the Director" - same phrase used here to describe the Maggia head - used a Dreadnought in Iron Man #129, and concludes that the Maggia must have bought or stolen Dreadnought designs from Hydra.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The MCP took its placement from Murray Ward's Avengers Index 4. (I don't know why Ward put it where he did.)

The title refers to the Chuck Norris film "A Force of One".

This reminds of the Wonder Man one-shot. Decent, but disappointing, in that the story isn't all the good, the art doesn't stand out and it really doesn't do much which Simon's character. Wonder Man was so great in the Avengers with Beast and they just couldn't figure out what to do with him other than that.