Today, we look at how Mark Gruenwald managed to find a way to use continuity to actually save the Marvel Universe in a Quasar storyline involving a retconned costume change.
This is a feature called “Nothing is Better,” where I spotlight aspects of classic comic books that have particularly impressed me.
As I’ve mentioned a number of times, before he was ever working as a comic book professional editor and writer, Mark Gruenwald was already one of the most thoughtful and observant writer in the world of comic book fanzines. Gruenwald edited, designed and did much of the writing for his own fanzine, Omniverse, which was dedicated to the exploration of continuity in comic books.
Continuity clearly was something that appealed to Gruenwald in a big way, and it had a major impact upon many of his stories. However, an instance that particularly impressed me was how he used continuity as a tool to, in effect, save the entire Marvel Universe in a Quasar storyline!
HOW DID QUASAR GAIN A NEW COSTUME IN THE 1990S?
In 1989, Gruenwald launched Quasar with his DP7 art team of Paul Ryan and Danny Bulanadi. Quasar kept his then-current SHIELD-assigned costume…
That changed in Quasar #18 (by Mark Gruenwald, Greg Capullo and Keith Williams), which was the first issue of Capullo’s run on the series as the book’s artist and right away, Capullo did a hell of a job on the book. The issue sees Wendell Vaughan back at home in the Midwest, visiting his mother and sister. However, a curious thing keeps popping up. Wendell doesn’t know how he got there and he is confused as to why he did not bring any suitcase with him. When he dreams, he dreams of himself flying along with some fancy bands on his wrists. A local neighbor of the family has a ten-year old son who is a big superhero fan, just like Wendell, and he would love to talk with Wendell about living in New York City, where so many superheroes live (Wendell curiously even finds himself referring to Captain America as the oddly informal “Cap”).
Anyhow, Wendell goes to talk to the little boy, but is shocked when the kid has a drawing of all of the superheroes that he created, including one named Quasar. Wendell recognizes the character, but doesn’t know how. That’s when the boy drops a bombshell, he’s not REALLY a boy, he’s a cosmic being known as Origin, who has created all of the superheroes in the Marvel Universe! Including Quasar! He explains that he sets ups scenarios that will create superheroes and then plants names and costumes in their minds. He knows that Wendell is Quasar since he created him!
Wendell obviously doesn’t believe him, but the boy goes on to explain that he is in pitched cosmic battle against another cosmic being known as The Unbeing, who keeps trying to UN-create superheroes. “Origin” shows Wendell a pile of unfamiliar superheroes who the boy claims that The Unbeing erased from existence. He notes that the Unbeing’s powers are weakening, as it is in the body of the boy’s grandmother, and as a result, its influence is now only about 500 miles, which is why that there are no superheroes in the Midwest! However, the Unbeing’s powers are even weakening there, as well, as the introduction of the Great Lakes Avengers made clear. “Origin” wants Wendell’s help to destroy The Unbeing. Wendell agrees.
The plan was for “Origin” to reverse Wendell’s superhero background’s erasure and so that Wendell can become Quasar again, just in time to destroy the Unbeing’s host body. Wendell goes along with the plan, but at the last moment (after Wendell has been turned into Quasar again), as the Origin compels him to destroy the Unbeing, Quasar calls an audible and decides to blast “Origin” instead and sure enough, “Origin” was really the Unbeing itself!!
Generally speaking, Gruenwald wrote Quasar as having one of the strictest senses of justice in the Avengers (Gruenwald wrote him very similarly to Captain America) and in the end, Quasar just couldn’t imagine a being who was all about creation being so desperate to destroy another being. So he blasted the kid instead. The real Origin was grateful, as a lot of what the kid told Quasar was true, just with the roles reversed. Origin was, in fact, a cosmic being that had created all of the superheroes in the Marvel Universe, and it was now about to be reincarnated into a new host body.
Before Origin parted ways with Quasar, as a thank you to Quasar for saving it and attacking The Unbeing, Origin gave Quasar a brand-new costume that was a lot more like Captain Marvel’s costume, noting that it should have thought of a better costume for Quasar in the first place, and due to its powers, it retroactively BECAME Quasar’s costume from the beginning!
Yes, the costume itself was a retcon! The earlier costume technically never existed. Now, how could that come in handy, I wonder?
WHY DID QUASRA’S COSTUME CHANGE SAVE THE MARVEL UNIVERSE?
The villainous Maelstrom killed the cosmic entity known as Anomaly, who was basically a symbol for the concept of anomalies in of themselves, things that shouldn’t exist. Maelstrom had been serving the cosmic entity known as Oblivion, who, of course, sought the destruction of the entire universe. Maelstrom’s plan was to use Anomaly’s powers to defeat Oblivion, take wer and then destroy the entire universe. Maelstrom even killed Quasar and stole his quantum bands. Luckily, the cosmic being known as Infinity saved Quasar’s, well, I guess his soul, and sent him back with enough of her power to be able to take on Maelstorm in Quasar #25 (by Gruenwald, Capullo and Williams).
During the fight, Maelstrom bragged about being the ultimate anomaly in the universe, which he could tell, since his new powers gave him cosmic awareness. However, Quasar then revealed his original costume to Maelstrom, asking if he recognized it and since he didn’t, Quasar insisted that that made QUASAR the ultimate anomaly, since he had something that not even Maelstrom could conceive of, even with his cosmic awareness…
The realization that Quasar was correct was too much for Maelstrom to handle and he lost control of his stolen quantum bands, which basically wiped him out of existence…
Quasar regained the bands and, in an amusing twist, he then gave himself his OWN costume, the first one designed BY him and not somebody like SHIELD or Origin and this costume, of course, has become THE Quasar costume…
In any event, how cool is that that Mark Gruenwald used a point of continuity to save the Marvel Universe?
Okay, folks, this is a feature that is a BIT less conducive to suggestions (as it really is about stuff that speaks to me, ya know?), but hey, feel free to still send suggestions for future installments, to [email protected]! Maybe you and I have the same take on things and I’ll use your idea!
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