ANGKOR
Real Name: Thommanon
Identity/Class: Human ion-powered mutate
Occupation:
Murderous seeker of vengeance on the USA
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Father Phimeanakas
Enemies: Wonder Man, Lotus' hoods, National Ballistics company, population of Los Angeles
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations:
Los Angeles, USA;
First Appearance: Wonder Man II#10 (June, 1992)
Powers/Abilities: As Brother Thommanon (or "Thom"), he had great spiritual powers beyond a normal human; these mental powers were derived from intense meditation. However, he became maddened with the devastation wrought on Cambodia. As Angkor, he stood about 9' tall, and was extremely strong and durable at levels very close to those of Wonder Man. He could also reveal fiery images of personal experiences with mass deaths and destruction, but when ionically charged, generated flame around himself. His rage augmented his power but it was also increased when in close proximity to Wonder Man..
History:
(Wonder Man II#10 (fb) - BTS) - As a Buddhist monk, Thommanon was a great teacher and yogi, but saw the worst of the mass killings in Cambodia from US military attacks that unleashed the further slaughter and madness of Pol Pot. This drove him insane, turning his beliefs away from the compassion of Buddha to what he saw as the destructive power of Shiva.
(Wonder Man II#10) - Wonder Man accompanied his love interest, Alex, to an LA suburb where Cambodian refugees lived to do research for her refugee movie proposal. They went to a Cambodian Buddhist church to see Father Phimeanakas. There they encountered Brother Thommanon in a maddened state. Enraged and speaking of seeking vengeance for the slaughter of Cambodians, he revealed visions of mass deaths and destruction familiar to the two Cambodians and Wonder Man (featuring the Supreme Intelligence in the wake of the Nega-Bomb's detonation on Hala.) These were manifested by candle flames; however this mental blast unwittingly siphoned ionic power from Wonder Man and was fueled by the hero's fear and anger. Thommanon collapsed to the floor and Phimeanakas took him to a healer. Later, Lotus sent three armed hoods to question why the monks talked to Wonder Man, but they were incinerated by Thommanon, who had just transformed into Angkor. He crushed one of the hoods' guns with his hand.
(Wonder Man II#11) - Angkor smashed his way into a busy shopping mall in L.A.'s Pico District, tearing it apart, randomly killing the terrified people, seeking to turn the parking and shopping fields into the killing fields he had endured in his native country, dedicating his kills to Shiva. Elsewhere, Spider alerted Wonder Man to Angkor's rampage and the ionic hero launched himself to stop him. The two fought in another destroyed mall, Angkor recognizing similar ionic power in his foe to his own. The two continued to fight but were fairly evenly matched with Angkor fueled by his rage.
Meanwhile, Lotus was contemplating just who Angkor actually was and sought an angle that would benefit her nefarious plans.
Back at the mall, Angkor was able to grab Wonder Man and forced him to see a vision of the pain and destruction wrought on Cambodia. Wonder Man suddenly realized that Angkor was the monk he had met earlier. The guilt that he now felt, partly as a past munitions worker, weakened Wonder Man's powers, with the Avenger recognizing that Angkor was really in pain and not in full control of his actions. However, Angkor capitalized on this weakness and pounded into Wonder Man until the hero fell unconscious. Angkor then stomped off to continue his bloody quest for vengeance. Soon after, slowly recovering, Wonder Man sought the Avengers' help but they were too busy with the Infinity War.
(Wonder Man II#12) - Wonder Man's powers returned at a heightened level and he was determined to pursue Angkor. He made his way to the Avengers West Coast compound to seek their help directly, but they declined. The Living Lightning reported that he'd been monitoring the radio and that Angkor had not been sighted for the past hour. Frustrated, Wonder Man returned to the Buddhist church in an effort to try to understand more about Thom but found the charred bones of Lotus' hoods. Phimeanakas told the hero of Thom's pain and rage, but Wonder Man instead sought to match Angkor's rage with his own.
Elsewhere, Angkor made his way to a factory of National Ballistics that had manufactured the bombs and napalm used to destroy Cambodia. The killer sought to detonate the lethal chemicals still kept there in an effort to destroy Southern California to match the devastation he had witnessed and smashed his way inside. Wonder Man quickly caught up to the Cambodian and the two resumed their fighting. Just as Angkor tried to once more disorient Wonder Man by showing him images of destruction, but Wonder Man fought back, his rage making him stronger yet also fueling Angkor's power so that he was surrounded in golden flames. Phimeanakas watched from a distance as Wonder man kept brutally pounding away at Angkor, almost overpowering him until Angkor surrounded him with flame and images of death that he felt guilt over. Wonder Man focused again on his own anger and kept smashing at Angkor until he exploded, thereby killing the Cambodian.
(Avengers III#14) - Wonder Man recalled his battle with Angkor and how he lost control while engaging the foe in battle.
Comments: Created by Gerard Jones (writer), Jeff Johnson (pencils) and Dan Panosian (inks).
The monk was initially called Thommanom in WM II#10 but Thommanon in WM II#12. I've stuck with the latter as it relates more directly to Cambodia's heritage.
Cambodia was savagely bombed by the USA in its efforts to destroy North Vietnamese supply lines. The bombings, initially undertaken in secret and authorized by President Nixon, occurred between March 1969 to August 1973, killing about 100,000 Cambodians indiscriminately, despite the US not being officially at war with Cambodia, and focused on the eastern half of the nation. So this is likely where Thommanon saw the slaughter. The destruction of the infrastructure of Cambodian cities by US bombers immediately preceded the despotic and murderous reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, both compounded by starvation.
Angkor is the ancient and former capital of Cambodia, translating literally to "city." At its peak, it had over 1 million citizens at a time when London only had about 50,000. Thommanon and Phimeanakas are actually Hindu temples in the Angkor Thom temple complex, built around the same time as Angkor Wat, and is just one section of ancient Angkor. Here are some pics plus a map of this huge site. "Thom" translates to "large" in Khmer.
The Hindu concept of the three primary aspects of the divine in Hinduism, known collectively as the Trimurti, identifies Shiva as the destructive element.
The Marvel Atlas entry on Cambodia does not mention the US bombings that triggered Angkor's insane quest for vengeance.
Thanks to the Wonder Man fan site for identifying the Avengers flashback.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Angkor has no known connections to:
Father Phimeanakas headed a Cambodian Buddhist church and sought to hold the local refugees together in the country that had dropped bombs on them in the first place. He took care of Thommanon when he was deeply enraged with Cambodian deaths and his desire for retribution. Phimeanakas told Wonder Man of Angkor's rage-fueled power. He unsuccessfully sought to divert Thommanon's meditation from rage to peace. He later witnessed the fight between Angkor and Wonder Man at the munitions factory and was disappointed by Thom's rage. Phimeanakas sought to tend to Wonder Man after the brutal fight but was instead thrown aside by the angry Wonder Man.
--Wonder Man II#10 (Wonder Man II#12
images:
(without ads)
Wonder Man II#12, p7, pan5 (main image)
Wonder Man II#12, front cover (head)
Wonder Man II#10, p13 (overwhelmed by death)
Wonder Man II#12, p16 (aflame)
Wonder Man II#12, p21, pan4 (Phimeanakas)
Appearances:
Wonder-Man II#10 (June, 1992) - Gerard Jones (writer), Jeff Johnson
(pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Fabian Nicieza (editor)
Wonder-Man II#11 (July, 1992) - Gerard Jones (writer), Mike Parobeck
(pencils), Andrew Pepoy (inks), Fabian Nicieza
(editor)
Wonder-Man II#12 (August, 1992) - Gerard Jones (writer), Gordon Purcell
(pencils), Andrew Pepoy (inks),
Fabian Nicieza (editor)
Avengers III#14 (March, 1999) - Kurt Busiek (plot), George Perez
(pencils), Al Vey (inks), Tom Brevoort (Editor)
Last updated: 12/14/07
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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