History
Cindy Knutz was born and raised in New Jersey, where she lived a normal, uneventful life until she began attending college. One day, while walking out of a building, she was knocked down and abandoned by her overly-friendly tutor. Looking up, she saw the enormous foot of Red Ronin and froze in fear. Seconds before death, Wonder Man zoomed in to the rescue, carrying her to safety as Red Ronin made his way down the street. With Cindy safe, Wonder Man raced off in pursuit of Red Ronin, leaving his sunglasses behind. Wanting to thank Wonder Man for rescuing her, Cindy slowly followed the robot, eventually finding an unconscious Wonder Man. Wanting to return his sunglasses and thank him, Cindy froze as he awoke, and merely mumbled a thank you, which Wonder Man accepted before once more racing off to battle, again leaving his sunglasses.[citation needed]
Developing a crush on him, Cindy hoped to run into her hero once more, hoping that this time she could tell him how she felt. Eventually, though, Wonder Man moved to Hollywood to pursue his acting career. Fearing she might never see him again, Cindy ran away from home and moved to Los Angeles. Getting a job at Starsigns and working for Hollywood agent Renaldo, Cindy had another chance at meeting her hero, but froze as she tried to come up with the words, missing her chance.
Joining the Wonderfans (Wonder Man's unofficial fan club), she became a club celebrity after telling of her run-in with Wonder Man, and showing them the sunglasses. Befriend club president Bernadette Sedaka, the two came up with what Cindy would say should she ever get her opportunity to meet her hero. And, after hearing about the breakup of the West Coast Avengers, the two figured they had run out of chances, but decided to take one last chance. Sneaking to the former headquarters of the Avengers West Coast, the two watched as Avengers Vision and Black Widow arrived, followed closely by Force Works members Scarlet Witch and their hero Wonder Man. As Cindy worked up the courage to approach him, a Kree landing craft arrived, attacking the heroes, and forcing Cindy and Bernadette back, where a wall collapsed on them, knocking them out. The two eventually regained consciousness and learned of Wonder Man's death.[citation needed]
Though both were sad, they took the news very differently. Bernadette began wearing her Wonder Man t-shirt and red opaque contacts all the time. Cindy, on the other hand, believed that he would eventually return. When the Wonderfans were eventually given two invitations to Wonder Man's funeral, the club voted on Bernadette and Cindy to represent them. Cindy agreed, and tried to convince Bernadette to come with her, believing that she was destined to bear witness to Wonder Man's resurrection at the funeral. Bernadette initially agreed, but failed to show up at the funeral, leading Cindy to worry about her. As the funeral got underway, Cindy decided that her friend was more important than Wonder Man, racing to her apartment and finding an unconscious Bernadette alongside a bottle of pills. Taking her friend to a hospital and convincing her there was a reason to live, Cindy eventually returned to the Wonder Man memorial, leaving the glasses and saying goodbye to her hero.
Much later, after Wonder Man's resurrection, Cindy got her chance to meet her hero. No longer worshiping him, she was able to properly thank him for rescuing her and was one of many that convinced him he was a hero, regardless of his past mistakes.[citation needed]Notes
- While not officially appearing, Cindy was present during the events of Avengers #198, Force Works #1, and Wonder Man's funeral, portrayed as the backup story to Force Works #10.