Quasar #17-18

Quasar #17-18

Originally released in 1990

Written by Mark Gruenwald

Art by Mike Manley (#17), Greg Capullo (#18)

I don't know anything about Quasar, but my brother recommended that I should read this issue. (It was a pleasant surprise to see that Mark Gruenwald wrote this; I liked his Squadron Supreme series and what little I've read of his Captain America run) Funnily enough, this issue has very little to do with Quasar himself, as it's a race to determine the fastest person on Earth, and Quasar doesn't qualify.

Instead, the focus is on the member of the Eternals known as Makkari, who is humiliated by the one who set up the race (the Elder Of The Universe known as The Runner - apparently, there are more Elders Of The Universe than I thought, as I figured it was just the six who were entrusted with the Infinity Gems) and is eager (almost desperate) to prove himself.

I wasn't familiar with most of the other competitors - I knew Monica Rambeau, who was Captain Marvel at the time, along with Quicksilver and the Whizzer (the Squadron Supreme, or what's left of them after their miniseries, is stuck in the main Marvel universe until Reed Richards and Dr. Strange can send them home), but the rest were unfamiliar to me. (I'm not sure if Speed Demon is the same one from The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, or a different person taking up the mantle)

I figured this would be a one-sided race, as Monica can turn into, and move at the speed of, light, but as it's a foot race, her feet have to touch the ground every so often, limiting how fast she can go.

Quasar is drawn away from the race because of a sudden appearance of a foreign being on the race track that stretches from Earth to the moon.  This turns out to be a man - a blond man wearing a tattered red and yellow uniform who has amnesia.

As soon as this guy showed up, I had a rough idea who he'd be a lawyer-friendly reference to, though they REALLY stretch the lawyer-friendly nature of it when he effortlessly beats the other competitors despite them having a head start.

Going into this, I figured Quasar wouldn't win (even though it was his book), but I figured he'd come in second.  Not only did he not compete (I wasn't aware that he didn't have super speed), but I definitely wasn't expecting an amnesiac Barry Allen from shortly after his apparent death in Crisis On Infinite Earths to win the whole thing.

Earlier in the comic, shortly after Quasar returned to Earth, he checked on Eon, a cosmic entity that he's sworn to protect. (Eon had ties to the Mar-Vell incarnation of Captain Marvel) Eon definitely seems to have ulterior motives - unbeknownst to Quasar, Eon seem to be possessing (draining?) Quasar's father, and has apparently eaten Quasar's coworker Miss Steckley who stumbled through the portal that Quasar uses to reach Eon.

I was curious where this plot would go, even if I'm guessing it won't be resolved for a while, so I decided to read the next issue.  It opens up with Wendell Vaughn (Quasar's secret identity) in his hometown with no memory of arriving there.

It turns out that Wendell's amnesia is more thorough than that, as he doesn't remember that he's Quasar and thinks that his memories of flying are a dream.  A neighbour's kid, Billy, is a big fan of superheroes, and he's eager to show Wendell drawings that he made.  This becomes a little eerie when Billy claims to have created Mister Fantastic.

Billy says that he's been on Earth for at least five thousand years, fighting his nemesis, and he's the one who planted the idea of code names and costumes into the heads of various heroes, along with manipulating events to give them their powers.  I'm guessing this was ignored for most characters, or later revealed to be the entity that's possessing Billy exaggerating or making things up.  Meanwhile, his enemy can "uncreate" things, effectively serving as an in-universe retcon, to make it so Wendell is no longer Quasar.

This is all an elaborate excuse to explain why there aren't any superheroes in certain parts of America, such as Wisconsin.  Billy calls himself The Origin, while his nemesis (posing as Billy's grandmother) is The Unbeing. (the Origin's drawings include heroes who were retconned out of existence along with present day Marvel heroes; I'm guessing there are some Easter Eggs in there, like a few DC characters)  The Origin tries to convince Wendell that he needs to kill an old lady before she can retcon him out of existence again.

However, Wendell has some doubts about the story, not seeing himself as the type to kill, and the mention of Billy's grandmother being quite the artist herself raises some doubts when it comes to who's who.  Even if the situation is reversed (with the grandmother being The Origin and Billy being The Unbeing), it would mean that Wendell would have to kill a child, so I'm guessing he'll force them to reconcile or collaborate rather than killing anyone. (Billy, at least, is definitely some sort of cosmic entity, as he demonstrates his incomprehensible true form to Wendell)

Rather than taking the peaceful way out, Quasar shoots a small child in the head. (or rather, he destroys the disguise, revealing some sort of translucent parasite)  As it turns out, this story (aside from being an elaborate way to justify the absence of superheroes in some parts of the country) is also an elaborate way to give Quasar a new costume inspired by Captain Marvel. (Mar-Vell, not Billy Batson)

When the Origin dies of natural causes and reincarnates, Quasar and everyone else involved will have no memory of what happened.  This series does a good job with exploring the surreal cosmic side of Marvel if these two issues are any indication, getting into fourth-wall breaking (or at least leaning on the fourth wall) on several levels and presenting both heroic and villainous cosmic entities as incomprehensible monstrosities, with Wendell Vaughn stuck in the middle.