Mark Gruenwald was one of those wonderful, mad, quixotic people who actually wanted the Marvel Universe to make sense. Obviously, he was aware that there were limits to this dream; in the real world, people cannot turn into solid steel simply by willing themselves to do so, or stick to walls with their bare hands because they have “spider powers”. But he wanted the fiction of the Marvel Universe to operate according to an internally consistent set of rules that applied to all its stories. It’s an impossible dream, unfortunately; the laws of drama trump the laws of physics in a fictional universe, and Gruenwald’s explanations of time travel and the structure of the Multiverse held together only as long as he was around to hold other writers to them. But the explanations he came up with were more than just a set of rules. They were a set of stories.
‘Quasar’ was the series he came up with to tell those stories, and I loved both ‘Quasar’ the series and Quasar the character. I loved the series because Gruenwald looked at the Marvel Universe, the grand patchwork creation of hundreds if not thousands of hands, and saw infinite vistas to explore. Tiny little loose ends that most other fans forgot about, like the Chief Examiner in the ‘Questprobe’ video game tie-in comics, he saw as a chance to tell a story that was waiting for someone to do it justice. Forgotten characters like the Stranger or Maelstrom were interesting and compelling when seen through his eyes, and he couldn’t wait to show you why. The endless strangeness and vast complexities of the Marvel Universe, with its gods and gods-above-gods and gods-above-gods-above-gods, he used as the backdrop to tell stories that showed that universe in all its glory.
And Wendell Vaughn, the main character of the series, was exactly who was needed for it. He wasn’t the most interesting of protagonists; he was staid, solid, dependable and calm in a crisis. He wasn’t damaged or angry or broken inside. But he was nice. He was likable. He tried to do the right thing all the time, even when it hurt him–heck, even when it killed him, which was significantly more often than you might expect from a character who carried his own series. (I think he’s died at least four times, but I might be missing a couple. For Wendell Vaughn, death is like a coffee break from being Protector of the Universe.) He was a guy who had his shit together and acted like a hero, and that’s gotten to be rare enough in comics these days that I think it’s worth celebrating in and of itself.
And the stories were great. The Watchers fell victim to a devastating meme that killed them in their hundreds. Oblivion killed the embodiment of all life, leaving Quasar to protect its successor. Quasar slipped sideways out of our universe entirely, winding up in the New Universe and meeting the possessor of the Star Brand. All sorts of weird, crazy, goofy concepts that went to the forgotten corners of the Marvel Universe and brought back all sorts of treasures to share. Mark Gruenwald put his heart into this series, and it really showed. I’m still hoping for an ‘Essential’ collection, now that they’re finally getting up into the Eighties, because I really do think of this one as essential reading for anyone who wants to feel like being a comic fan is worth something. For all that pedantry can (and does) devolve into pointless point-scoring and petty bitching over “getting it wrong”, there’s a flipside to it. There’s a way of caring about these things that’s positive, that uses the questions of how the Marvel Universe works as a springboard to inspiration. Mark Gruenwald wrote from his passions as a fan his whole career, and ‘Quasar’ showed exactly why that was something to love.
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I’d love some Essential Quasar, especially since Marvel’s only released one volume of Quasar Classic, and it’s been over a year since that. The Gru is one of my all-time favorite creators.
Quasar is the best DC title Marvel ever published.
Four real deaths and one fake death –
1) During “Cosmos In Collision,” killed by Maelstrom, issues 19-25.
2) During the Infinity Gauntlet, killed by Thanos, IG #4
3) During the Infinity War, killed when using the Ultimate Nullifier
4) Faked his own death at the end of his series, issue #60, to protect his family from The Presence
5) Much later, killed by Annihilus during Annihilation
He got better every time.
Maelstrom wasn’t some forgotten villain Gruenwald resurrected. Gruenwald created him, and giving how often he used him, I doubt he ever forgotten him (I wish he could. I find him an annoying dork, though YMMV of course).
Gruenwald did lots of good stuff, but it was balanced out by really bad stuff, usually in the service of MU consistency.
Quasar is still one of my favorite Marvel characters. I think JoeX is spot-on, calling his title a DC title – Quasar had that kind of uncompromising nobility that (until the New 52) DC characters tended to have, and few Marvel characters could match.
Absolutely a favorite to this day. I’ve also wanted a Quasar action figure forever, since to me Quasar is Gallant, and Hal Jordan Goofus…
Googum: ^This.
I was a big Quasar fan too for a long time, and I agree that it would be nice if Marvel would reprint the series in an Essentials volume.
I disagree completely with the idea that Quasar was somehow more of a DC series than a Marvel series. There are plenty of Marvel characters with “uncompromising nobility,” and plenty of morally grey DC characters.
@Oddstar – we’ll have to agree to disagree. Marvel characters tend to get bogged down about whiny day to day crap and make compromised “lesser of two evils” choices all the time, whereas DC characters are more likely to say “Screw the lesser of two evils, I’m going to find a third way where I don’t have to compromise.”
Marvel Characters who have that kind of unflinching nobility are pretty rare in my experience, because Marvel likes “realism”. Quasar, Captain America, Hercules.. I would have included Spider-Man before One More Day, and the Fantastic Four before Civil War.. but that’s about it.
@candidgamera: I’m not really all that interested in arguing the point, but I’ll just reiterate that there are plenty of DC heroes who are quite morally grey: Captain Atom, spy masquerading as hero to spy on other superheroes for secret government conspiracy; Booster Gold, crook who stole the equipment that gives him his powers, which he uses primarily to get wealth and fame; Huntress, (borderline?) psychopathic kiler; et cetera, et cetera. Also, DC characters make “lesser of two evils” choices all the time. Even Superman, when he executed the Phantom Zone Criminals, has done that.
I agree entirely about Quasar being Marvel’s best DC book. As a DC kid I seldom examined an issue, but I took to Wendell right away for the reason stated: an unambiguously nice, even slightly bland protagonist. I suspect a highly cosmic book benefits from this in particular. And, of course, there was that time he met Barry Allen, which everyone here knows about …
Oddstar, I don’t think most of your examples are in continuity any more which is just one of many frustrating things about trying to discuss DC’s characters.
DC used to be the company where most of their characters, other than a few notable exceptions like Bat Lash and (arguably) Booster Gold were pretty solid in terms of their morals and ethics. Ever since the Nineties, that has not really been the case.
People really got into the idea of Batman doing stuff that made no sense for him to be doing, such as illegally spying on other superheroes, developing “protocols” so he could kill other members of the Justice League if they turned evil, turning a blind eye to whatever Catwoman was doing, allowing Huntress to operate in Gotham City even though she killed a bunch of dudes (at least some of those killings were apparently removed from continuity later, but still… Chuck Dixon had her whacking guys with her throwing knives and crossbow like a less efficient version of the Punisher) committing felonies all over the place and generally being more of a supervillain than some supervillains.
Devin Grayson had Starfire give Adelaide Wilson a “mercy killing.” Wonder Woman killed Max Lord because it was supposedly the only way to stop him. Geoff Johns somehow got some fans to love the idea of Black Adam going around killing disposable supervillains with his bare hands even though he was allegedly a good guy at the time and had joined the JSA. More recently, there was all that stupid crap with Arsenal becoming a killer with a drug problem and some weird sexual hangups.
Those examples aren’t in continuity any more either, but hopefully they help illustrate how there was a long stretch there where the “hot” writers at DC started coming up with ways to make characters seem more “bad ass” to their fans on the DC message boards that often translated into having good guys act more like bad guys. Oracle even started stealing money from criminals and this was supposed to be cool because they used the euphemism “seizing assets” like she was in the FBI or something.
DC characters who would find a third option started becoming kind of rare as more and more characters started acting like they were in The Authority. Winick, Rucka, Johns and all those guys Dan DiDio kept giving all the high profile gigs were more into situational ethics than figuring out how to have the good guys act like good guys.
The “nu 52” seems like more of the same, only Starfire is a nympho now. DC hasn’t had the moral high ground for a long time now.
“And Wendell Vaughn, the main character of the series, was exactly who was needed for it. He wasn’t the most interesting of protagonists; he was staid, solid, dependable and calm in a crisis. He wasn’t damaged or angry or broken inside. But he was nice. He was likable. He tried to do the right thing all the time, even when it hurt him–heck, even when it killed him…”
This is why I love Barry Allen as the Flash since he is very similar. Before Nu52, decent guy gets powers and doesn’t turn into giant asshole. Nu52 Flash apparently was missing “angsty orphan” in his background. Damn you Johns.
To be fair to that reboot, Barry became an angsty orphan in Flash Rebirth (still written by Johns, and indirectly causing the New52). I’m a Wally man.
Quasar was and still is my favorite character in comics. He is vastly underrated by the general populous of comic fans.
I have to agree that “Quasar” was the best DC comic published by Marvel. Sadly, Marvel still treats the character as such. Marvel’s own editorial staff laughs about the character derisively in interview after interview. The last writing team to treat the character with a modicum of respect was DnA.
You would think that Marvel could treat the favorite creation of their own “Patron Saint of Marveldom” with a little more respect. Quasar was scripted to help out Genis-Vell in #25 in (one of) his own series, but was knocked down to a single page spread in the back of the issue effectively insulting himself and by extension anyone who cared about the character. Quesada has gone on record saying that he just doesn’t get idea of a superhero with a lack of killer-instinct. Whenever Marvel’s editorial staff gets a Quasar question over the last few years, they just laugh it off.
Marvel can’t even treat their own characters with respect, and at times it barely seems they have any respect for their fans.
I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve come to expect the worst out of Marvel because I’m tired of being disappointed by them.
Quasar has always been one of my fav Marvel characters. In the 90’s when everyone else tried to go gritty, he was the nice guy. He had manners. He respected other heroes (like idolizing Cap). This was both refreshing and unique for the time. His sci-fi powers and stories were also great fun during days when most super groups did nothing but argue and angst eachother to death. His stories were BIGGER, like the mentioned Watcher plot, or hanging with the Squadron Supreme and finding the Stranger’s lab world. Remember when he met the “creator” of all heroes, the old woman? Just awesome stuff. Marvel keeps trying to kill him, but he doesn’t stay dead. I’d love a good Quasar figure, but instead they’ll release the 600th Spider-Man or some other minor character. Like Puck from Alpha Flight, how did he get one before Wendell Elvis Vaughn?