Biography - page 3
Wonder Man was undeniably part of the team after that, accepted by the Avengers as if he were one of their own. Perhaps because of Iron Man's distracted and haphazard chairmanship at the time, however, Simon was never officially nominated for membership and inducted into the team. As a prolonged "guest" at the mansion, his lack of official security clearance was one of the sticking points Henry Peter Gyrich threw at the Avengers during his dressing down of their security protocols. [Avengers (1st series) #168]
Still, Simon found himself more and more comfortable among the Avengers. He and Vision began to bond over their affection for chess, and played several games against each other. [Avengers (1st series) #170] He proved to be a valued ally against the likes of Ultron, Tyrak and Michael 
Korvac over several weeks, even when his fear of death kept him hesitating before entering battle. He seemingly conquered this fear for good when facing the invincible Michael, embracing his nigh-indestructible nature to fight on even when the other Avengers had fallen. [Avengers (1st series) #177] Simon's years in stasis affected his social life, though, particularly in the emerging area of women's lib. He was particularly confused when dealing with the Avengers' new ally, Ms. Marvel. Her aggressive fighting style intimidated Simon, while his instinct was still to step forward and defend damsels in distress. They shared a mutual attraction for a time, but crossed signals kept the duo from pursuing anything further. [Avengers (1st series) #172,175]
Simon's career as an almost-Avenger came to an end when Gyrich announced his conditions for reinstating the team's security clearance. Among his strict new regulations, the Avengers' 
government liaison dictated the size and membership of the team's roster, and Wonder Man was not chosen. Simon decided to take advantage of the situation and establish a life for himself again outside of the mansion. After watching some films with Beast, Simon thought he'd try and make a career in acting. As he departed, Wonder Man promised to stay in touch with Beast and exchanged a meaningful handshake with Vision, putting all their past behind him. [Avengers (1st series) #181]
Wondy stayed true to his word and, in-between Broadway audiences, served as a stand-by Avenger, on call to supplement the active roster when significant threats arose. He was called into action against the likes of Chthon, the Elements of Doom and Arsenal. [Avengers (1st series) #187-188, Annual #9] After Gyrich's Congressional hearings against the Avengers backfired, his 
influence into their everyday business was reduced and they were free to increase their roster again. Beast quickly suggested Wonder Man for full status, and the other Avengers agreed. Simon underwent full security clearance for the first time and was back with the Avengers mere weeks after he left. [Avengers (1st series) #192-194]
[Note: The exact point where Wonder Man became an Avenger is debatable. Avengers (1st series) #150 and other sources occasionally claim he received full status with the Avengers before his first death. At different times, the Handbooks have claimed he must have received provisional member status around #158, when he started accompanying the team on missions, or an official reservist status in #181 before departing. On-panel, Wonder Man was not inducted into the Avengers until #194, but by then he had stated several times that he was an Avenger coming back to the team, not joining it for the first time.]
Wonder Man joined the Avengers at the perfect time because his acting career had begun to stumble. His Broadway play was almost universally panned by critics, leading to an early closing. To continue work, Simon ended up getting a job as "Mr. Muscles," strongman and sidekick to Uncle Elmer's children's variety show, a gig that often involved getting pied in the face on network television. The embarrassment only increased when Beast happened to find his show while channel surfing. [Avengers (1st series) #194] Unfortunately for his career but mercifully for his self-esteem, Simon was eventually fired from the kids' show after being blamed for a child pulling off Uncle Elmer's toupee. [Avengers (1st series) #201]
Simon had chosen not to look into his past as an executive when he came back from the dead. Williams Innovations had been sold off long ago, and he wasn't proud of his time as a businessman in the first place. Still, after learning the criminal Maggia had moved into one of his old Pittsburgh plants, [Avengers (1st series) #193] Simon felt the need to check up on the main Brooklyn branch as well. After discovering Williams Manufacturing no longer manufactured anything yet was still a bustling business, Simon looked up Madison Dash, his old vice-president. Dash had fallen on hard times, blackballed in the industry for speaking out against the "legitimate businessmen" who took over Williams Manufacturing. Near destitute and his wife and children having left him, he was now stuck running a novelty shop in one of the poorer neighborhoods in New York. When Simon mentioned going back to the plant, Madison insisted on coming along. At the plant, Wondy and Madison uncovered an illegal arms shipment passing through the abandoned plant. Madison held off the Maggia with their own weapons while Wonder Man confronted the director and her Dreadnought bodyguard. Although Simon survived the fight, the director triggered a series of explosives inside the manufacturing plant, bringing down all the evidence of the Maggia's presence. Madison Dash died of injuries sustained in the gunfight and blast, but he told Simon he was at peace after stopping the people who ruined his life. [Marvel Premiere #55]
Wonder Man continued trying to develop his career as an actor, even getting a small role in a spaghetti western called "Guns of the Gunman," but was unable to balance his career with his Avengers duties. [Avengers (1st series) #207] When a membership upset led to Captain America winnowing the roster down to six, Simon volunteered to step aside as an Avenger to concentrate on his acting. He met Hercules at the membership drive, who promised to introduce Simon to producers and directors he had encountered in his own California adventures. [Avengers (1st series) #211]
Simon's acting career did not take off, however. He scored a short-lived role on the soap opera "Secret Hospital" before getting fired, and worked on a live-action show called "Monster Man," ripping-off Ben Grimm before a quick and merciful cancellation. To make ends meet, he often took work for his muscles such as a troubleshooter for CordCo or a live test subject for Steyr Security Systems. [Wonder Man Special #1, Marvel Team-Up (1st series) #136, Marvel Two-In-One 
#78] On one occasion, Simon's agent booked him on the Letterman Show, then promised at the last minute Wonder Man would be bringing the Avengers with him. This led to a delightful farce where Simon got a bunch of reservists to appear since the main team was occupied, and they were attacked live on set by Fabian Stankiewicz the Mechano-Marauder, only for David Letterman himself to render the criminal unconscious with a giant novelty doorknob. [Avengers (1st series) #239]
The Letterman Show appearance was a surprising turning point in Simon's career. The broadcast was pre-empted by an emergency in New York, but aired on the west coast. As a result, a Hollywood talent scout saw Simon in action and thought he would work perfectly as a stuntman. Relocating to Los Angeles, Wonder Man began getting steady work at top studios interested in an indestructible stuntman for whom safety wasn't a concern. Although it wasn't acting per se, Simon began to truly enjoy his new career, and constantly cheating death in stunts went a long way towards boosting his confidence and getting him past his fear of mortality.
After a few months in California, Wonder Man got a call on set from the Vision, who was the Avengers' new chairman. Asked to rendezvous with Hawkeye at a ritzy address, Simon learned 
the Avengers were expanding their operations to include a west coast franchise. Along with Tigra, the current Iron Man, Hawkeye and his new bride Mockingbird, Wonder Man became a founding member of the West Coast Avengers. [West Coast Avengers (1st series) #1]
Wonder Man was far more dedicated to his role in the Avengers for this tour of duty. In fact, he was almost over-eager to prove himself now that his hesitant early days were behind him. Simon 
beat himself up over letting a low-level super-crook called the Blank escape from him during a robbery, and he convinced Tigra not to call in the other Avengers while searching for the Blank together. As a result, they were seriously outclassed after finding the Blank in the employ of Graviton. The master of the fundamental force proved Wonder Man didn't need to breathe anymore in the worst way possible, by holding him underwater in a swimming pool for hours using hyper-gravity. Fortunately, Tigra escaped and summoned the rest of the West Coast Avengers, and their distraction gave Simon the chance to free himself from the pool. He joined his teammates in a coordinated effort that finally succeeded in bringing down the villain who once defeated twice as many Avengers on his own. [West Coast Avengers (1st series) #2-4]
Simon was briefly drawn back to the East Coast branch when Vision suffered a nervous breakdown and attempted to take control of the world by infiltrating their computer systems. Simon and the other Avengers managed to convince Vision he was acting irrationally, and he reversed his influence on the world's computer networks. In the process, Vision removed the disruptive element in his own cerebral circuitry, a side effect being that he was now more "human" in his behavior than previously. Simon and Vizh began bonding even more than ever before. [Avengers (1st series) #254-255]