Quasar (comics)

Character Biography

Quasar's father, Gilbert Vaughn, was originally a scientist working with the government agency SHIELD. When SHIELD came into possession of the alien Quantum Bands that had been worn by the deceased 1950s superhero Marvel Boy, Wendell Vaughn had just graduated from SHIELD Academy and was assigned to security at his father's project. He donned the bands to prevent their theft by the criminal scientists AIM. Using the bands' power to generate solid energy constructs (not unlike those of Green Lantern), he became a superhero, using the codename Marvel Boy in his first appearance alongside SHIELD's superhuman Super-Agents; he later became Marvel Man and finally settled on the nom du guerre of Quasar.

As Quasar, Wendell Vaughn journeyed to Uranus, the planet from whence the original Marvel Boy had received the bands, and had the bands' true nature and origins revealed to him by the cosmic entity called Eon. Eon revealed that the bands were intended to be worn by his agent, the Protector of the Universe, a role which had previously belonged to Captain Mar-Vell. Quasar was offered the role and accepted, his mind was opened to the true exent of the bands power, including how to use the bands to teleport via a dimension called the Quantum Zone. He returned to Earth thusly, resuming superheroing and shortly thereafter joining the Avengers. He went on to encounter a number of highly obscure Marvel characters both in guest appearances and in his own series.

Quasar's solo career in his own series was rocky; after a falling-out with both his estranged father and Eon, he quit from his role as Protector of the Universe, during which time Maelstrom, the "Cosmic Assassin" whose threat had prompted Eon to make Vaughn the Protector, killed Quasar and then Eon. Quasar was recreated in energy form by the cosmic being Infinity and battled Maelstrom in the heart of a black hole. Maelstrom was destroyed by the Quantum-bands; Quasar resurrected himself, complete with a new costume. Eon was later revealed to have survived its death in the form of its newborn offspring, Epoch.

Later, during the Infinity War crossover, Quasar attempted to use the near-omnipotent Ultimate Nullifier against the godlike Magus. Magus used the Infinity Gauntlet to turn the weapon against Quasar, wiping him from existence. Quasar thus found himself in the realm of Oblivion, where he was apparently destroyed. However, he was able to resurrect himself through means of the Star Brand, which he had acquired during a trip to the New Universe prior to the Infinity War. The Star Brand's presence in the Marvel Universe precipitated the Starblast crossover, which was intended to stir up interest in Quasar's solo series or a propective cosmic team series starring Quasar, but it failed to do so. Quasar was soon cancelled at issue #60, in which he was exiled into space when the radioactive Soviet expatriate called the Presence threatened to kill his loved ones.

Quasar has since been seen only sporadically, usually in the context of Avengers stories. In the "Maximum Security" crossover, Quasar absorbed the essence of Ego the Living Planet and again exiled himself into space, but he has since been seen in the company of the Avengers once more.

Recent stories in the Avengers as well as the Fantastic Four have depicted Quasar on Earth again, causing speculation that he has somehow gotten rid of Ego behind-the-scenes.