Quasar #10 (May 1990)

For this review, I thought it would be nice to revisit an old friend of ours. Someone who maybe is not very well known to the mainstream, but who has graced this blog in the past. If you've followed this blog, you may be familiar with a Mr. Wendell Elvis Vaughn, aka Quasar. He last graced this blog in my review of Quasar #1 (October 1989). So, let's join him as he has a bit of a close encounter with a certain pair of Kree. This is Quasar #10!

The cover is a Mike Manley and Danny Bulanadi piece. I think it's really cool. It depicts Dr. Minerva preparing to cut Wendell open like a stuck pig. It has a bit of a horror vibe to it that looks really cool.

"Kree for All!"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Mike Manley
Inkers: Danny Bulanadi, Tom Morgan
Colorist: Paul Becton
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with our man Quasar in New Mexico, where he's catching a lesser-known villain from the Avengers' past.

"Blast it, Quasar! I was just sunbathing!"

Say hello to Banca Rech, aka Halflife. First appearing in West Coast Avengers #12 (September 1986), she's an alien who can decay anything with a touch. She was part of a group of supervillains called the Fundamental Forces, a group of supervillains based on the four fundamental forces of the universe. Halflife represented the "weak force". 

Her decay powers allow her to easily eat through any of Quasar's energy constructs. This is because his powers are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and her powers work outside of it. In a moment of cleverness, Wendell realizes that her costume is not affected by her powers, and uses her own boots to bind her. Smart man, Wendell.

He delivers her to The Vault, a prison designed to hold superpowered people. Unknown to the man, he's watched by a pair of figures. With his superhero work done for the day, Vaughn heads back to his civilian job: Head of Vaughn Security Consultants, whose offices are located in Four Freedoms Plaza, the then-home of the Fantastic Four.

"Remember Kayla, do not mention the whoopee cushion on his seat..."

He makes some small talk with his co-workers Ken Tanaka and Kayla Ballantine, and then he reports to his boss of sorts, Eon. He reports that Halflife has been captured, and notices that the cosmic muckamuck is rather untalkative. A bit unusual for him.

Quasar searches the Atlantic for one of the alien lifeforms that might be in the area. Six hours later, he's found zip. As such, he's gonna call it a night. As he sleeps, he's put under by an alien with a synpatic disruptor, their version of a tranquilizer gun.

He's then absconded from his home by the aliens. They take him to their ship. Who are these alien kidnappers?

Captain Atlas and Doctor Minerva! You may have met them in the MCU film Captain Marvel, portrayed by Algenis Perez Soto and Gemma Chan, respectively. Minerva wants to study the Quantum Bands, but she's having a tough time getting them off. Minerva is forced to basically cut off Wendell's arm.

No, with a laser. While he's under, Wendell Vaughn dreams he's at the beach, being buried in sand by his co-workers. He's then visited by a crab...well, Eon in the form of a crab. Eon likes wearing costumes in people's dreams. Eon's tells Wendell, "Hey, Wendell! You gotta wake up! This blue chick is gonna cut your arm off!" Wendell then uses his Nega-Bands to blast Minerva away and to free himself. The ship hits the hyperdrive.

Wendell traps Minerva in a bubble, then goes to check out who hit the proverbial gas pedal. And then he gets ambushed by Captain Atlas.

"Gaze into the fist of Att-Lass!"

Atlas tries to give Wendell a laser to the face, but the doofus ends up blowing a hole in the ship's hull and getting sucked into space. Moron.

Quasar goes back to visit Minerva, who pleads with him to let her rescue Atlas. Quasar would rather have some answers. Why did she kidnap him? It's here we learn of her history up this point. She went to Earth for the purpose of mating with Earth's first Captain Marvel, the Kree hero Mar-Vell. 

You see, the Kree are reaching an evolutionary dead end. Minerva had discovered that Mar-Vell had been exposed to various mutagens throughout his life. As such, it altered his DNA. Even though the Kree in general saw him as a traitor, Minerva believed that Mar-Vell's mutated DNA would finally allow the Kree to further evolve. Examining her own DNA, Minn-Erva noticed that her DNA and Mar-Vell's was compatible enough to produce offspring that could achieve her goals. 

She would end up stranded on Earth. She would learn of Mar-Vell's death, and with that, her hopes for the Kree race seemingly died. Until she learned of a Kree gadget left on Earth called the "Psyche-Magnetron". This device allowed her to unlock her own genetic potential, transforming her into a superhuman. Well, a superKree.

With this, Minerva herself could now become the genetic savior of her race. She was able to signal the Kree Empire, and they sent Captain Atlas to pick her up. She found herself taking a liking to the green fin-domed captain. Likely the mustache. They were about to leave when they saw broadcast images of of Quasar and his Nega-Bands.

Atlas had noted that the bands looked like artifacts called the "Power Bands of Rinn". They figured "Hey, if we get those as well, people will hear out Minerva's eugenics program!" 

She reveals that they sent AIM to go after the bands back in the first issue. With that, Wendell agrees to help rescue Atlas on one condition: that Minerva and Atlas never set foot on Earth again. Minerva agrees and they go save Atlas. With that, the two Kree go on their way. After he heads back to Earth, he is told at the office that a woman came by looking for work. 

He visits Eon and goes to thank him for saving his life, and suggests that maybe the Quantum Bands have some sort of anti-tampering system put in. Eon agrees to it. Wendell is left thinking he has a lot to learn as the Protector of the Universe.

I did enjoy this issue, but the ending did leave me a bit...meh. Not the part with Minerva and Atlas, the last scene with Quasar and Eon. You'd think they'd have already put in some kind of anti-tampering thing going on. It gave me the vibe that Eon isn't really being a very good mentor to Quasar. Yeah, he did save Quasar from becoming an amputee, but it gave me the vibe that he basically just tends to leave Quasar to his own devices in the bad way. I like Mike Manley's art. It has that old-school feel to it.

If you want to read this comic for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback Quasar: Cosmos in Collision. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Avengers Forever #11

It's that time again! It's time for a monthly look at a comic from a twelve-issue maxiseries. In this year's case, it's Avengers Forever! Last time, our heroes finally learned why Immortus wanted to take out Rick Jones, and it turned out it was just a prelude to something much more horrifying: The Time-Keepers planning to wipe out humanity by culling the Multiverse. And then Kang, Rick Jones, and the Kree Supreme Intelligence makes one heck of an entrance. So, what happens next? Let's find out in Avengers Forever #11!

The cover is a Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, Steve Oliff, Tony Kelly, and John Roshell piece. My God, that's a lot of names credited to one cover. 

Anyway, the cover is pretty neat. It depicts the Avengers of the present day and the 

"The Destiny War!"
Writers: Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern
Penciler: Carlos Pacheco
Inker: Jesus Merino
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins straight from the ending of the last issue, with Kang and Rick Jones charging in on the...Supreme Intelligencemobile.

(Page 1, Panel 1) "Supreme Intelligencemobile AWAY!"

Both the temporal conqueror and the former sidekick are ready, locked, and loaded for a big ol' fight.

The Avengers charge in alongside them, and Libra watches. It's here that we learn there was a point to these particular Avengers from these points in time being brought together:

- Captain America: At the point in time he was brought from, he was demoralized from witnessing Number One's suicide at the end of the original Secret Empire storyline. At this time, he can't take command of the team, forcing them to be a bit more loose and improvisational.

- Yellowjacket: Here, Yellowjacket was arguably at his worst. He was Hank Pym as an arrogant jerk, arrogant enough to betray his fellow Avengers. However, that betrayal would put the Avengers in a position to stop the Time-Keepers.

- Wasp: The Wasp of the "present" was someone who could lead the team while allowing flexibility and improvisation.

- Giant-Man: The Hank Pym of the "present" would be the stable "backbone" of the team, and would help push Yellowjacket towards betraying them.

- Hawkeye: Clint Barton is one of those stalwart members, a hero with a long association with the Avengers, both as a member and as a leader. He also was known for being a bit of a hotheaded livewire, which would also further irritate Yellowjacket.

- Songbird: This version of Melissa Gold was from a future in which she became an Avenger proper, and this future version of her had connections to Wasp, Hawkeye (thanks to their time in the Thunderbolts together), and Captain Marvel.

- Captain Marvel: Genis-Vell, like Songbird, is from the future. He was in a relationship with Songbird, which affected his decision-making. And he's tied into the destiny of Rick Jones.

So yeah, these six Avengers were not random. The group manage to make their way through the Time-Keepers' defenses, but they decide "yeah, we're gonna leave now" and they take Immortus with them.

Luckily, Yellowjacket had planted some limbo bugs on Immortus, so he can be tracked. Which leads to this funny panel.

Page 6, Panel 5

The Avengers take the Supreme Cycle (what Rick calls their little vehicle) and follow Immortus to the end of time. Songbird worries that they won't be able to stop the Time-Keepers. However, the Supreme Intelligence points out that they are not gods, just artificial beings. Powerful artificial beings, but technological creations none the less. Meanwhile, the Time-Keepers are preparing a nasty little weapon.

Page 9, Panel 1

This chrono-cannon, clearly created by the fine folks at Kirby Industries, is going to reorder time to their whim. All they need is the Forever Crystal, so their efforts don't create a mess of alternate timelines. Remember, the Forever Crystal allows the user to actually alter the time-stream, having been used by Immortus to allow the Vision and the original Human Torch to be separate beings. Kang and the Avengers manage to follow the Time-Keepers and attack them again.

The Keepers demand that Immortus use the Forever Crystal to eliminate the Avengers. Immortus...refuses.

You see, Immortus has grown rather fond of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. He's shepherded the group's existence throughout this point, and he believes there's another way to end this without killing them. The Time-Keepers...disagree.

Page 11, Panel 3

So long, Immortus. We...yeah, whatever. The Time-Keepers then summon versions of Avengers from timelines that went wrong to battle our heroes. 

The Avengers engage in battle with these dark counterparts, despite this being a battle they likely can't win. Libra jumps in and unlocks the Destiny Force within Rick Jones, supercharging the heroic Avengers. However, the Time-Keepers catch Libra and use him to freeze the heroic Avengers in their tracks. They then attack and torture Kang. However, the Keepers forget one little detail: Captain Marvel is Kree, not human. As such, Genis-Vell cannot access the Destiny Force. He's able to clink his Nega-Bands together, revealing...

Page 21, Panel 1

...Another Rick Jones. I wonder how this Rick got Superman's cape and Batman's utility belt. This frees the Avengers, but they can't access the Destiny Force anymore. Meanwhile, the Time-Keepers try to force Kang's evolution into Immortus. However, the two Rick Joneses not only are able to get the Avengers their access back...

But also summon some epic backup: alternate Avengers from timelines in which things did not go bad, the timelines in which the Avengers maintained the heroic ideals they were founded on. Epic battle incoming...

This comic was enjoyable. It's basically one big ol' fight scene, but we also start to see some things finally coming together. What's really cool is that it's explained why this ragtag Avengers team was brought together. Every member seems to have a point...well, except for Songbird, seemingly. It only felt like she was brought on board because of her connection to other characters, not anything of her own. It's strange. This is one of the issues that I really wish George Perez could have drawn. Nothing against Pacheco, but a story like this was made for Perez. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer #2, My Thoughts

The mighty Marvel Cinematic universe is marching on! Back in August, I looked at the teaser trailer for the MCU's upcoming 27th film, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Yeah, the MCU has almost gotten 30 films under its belt. Incredible. Well anyway, a new trailer is out! Let's take a look!

"I watched it all fall away...like spiders in the rain."

That was...a bit unnecessarily risky, Pete.

Nice work, Pete. This is your fault, man.

Well, he is technically a Peter Parker, Doc. So...close enough?

Heh heh, now that you think about it, Otto Octavius is a funny name. Although to be fair, "Octavius" is an actual name in Latin.

Wait...is that Spidey suit based on the silver Spider-Armor?

If it is, that's AWESOME!

What do you want them to do, Strange? Rip the villain's mask off and reveal it was the land developer?

That makes sense...almost. In Spider-Man 2, Doctor Octopus sacrificed his life to stop his machine because Spider-Man got...through to his humanity...ah. But I can see him being the most willing to help MCU Spidey based on this. And I don't think Sandman died at the end of Spider-Man 3.

Don't try to steal Strange's box, Pete. He's mastered the Soul Punch.

I like that Electro looks like Electro. Even pays a nod to his star-shaped mask!

I get the impression that a major battle will take place at the Statue of Liberty.

...The Night MJ Died?

Strange's statement could mean anything. It might mean Peter may get some help...

Wong is so going to kill Strange for this.

Well, I was already excited for this movie, but this trailer has only gotten me more hyped. I have to admit, it is a clever way to give Spider-Man a battle with the Sinister Six, using the Multiverse that has been popping up in MCU stuff lately, like in Loki and the upcoming Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Having Strange involved here does make sense here. I can imagine there are some surprises this film still has for us, and they're being kept close to the vest. That's a good thing. I want to be surprised. 

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!

Impulse #1 (April 1995)

Two of the big themes of the Flash mythos are legacy and family. Over the decades, numerous people have taken up the mantle of the Flash, from Jay Garrick, to Barry Allen, to Wally West, to the character that we're going to meet here: Bart Allen.

But before he was the fourth Flash (at least, before DC canon became the mess it is now), Bart Allen was once a teenage hero with a tendency to run without thinking, a kid who operated...on Impulse. Created by Mark Waid and the late Mike Weiringo, Bart's first full appearance was The Flash #92 (July 1994), making a cameo in the previous issue. He would go on to be a member of Young Justice and the Teen Titans.

But before all that, he had his own series as Impulse. This series lasted from 1995-2002. The first issue of it is the comic we will look at here. So, let's look at Impulse #1!

The cover is a Humberto Ramos and Wayne Faucher piece. It's pretty neat, depicting our hero outrunning a missile. It gives the vibe that Impulse is a bit devil-may-care, which fit his character at the time.

"The Single Synapse Theory"
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciler: Humberto Ramos
Inker: Wayne Faucher
Colorist: Tom McCraw
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulous
Editors: Ruben Diaz, Brian Augustyn
Executive Editor: Jennette Khan

The story begins at what appears to be a military base. They're testing a brand-new missile. But someone ends up invading the test.

Say hello to Bart Allen, aka Impulse. Due to his...unique upbringing, Bart has a bit of trouble when it comes to discerning fantasy from reality. His speed attracts the missile, making it pursue him. Bart thinks that's awesome. He causes the missile to hit its intended target. The people administer the test are left confused by what had just happened. Bart briefly appears to them, then zips off. 

We next switch scenes to a high school in Manchester, Alabama. 

In a bit of contrast to the seemingly ultra-confident Impulse, Bart Allen is quiet and what appears to be somewhat shy. We also see that he's actually pretty observant.

The teacher gives the class a little assignment: write about your own personal history. I can imagine that this would be a nightmare for a superhero in the DCU, as its history constantly changes.

But it's here that we get a basic idea of Bart's history up to this point. He's the grandson of the second Flash, Barry Allen. A short time before his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry had moved to the 30th century with his wife Iris. They had two children, twins named Don and Dawn Allen, who became known as the Tornado Twins. Don would be the father of Bart. Bart was born with a hyper-fast metabolism...that was causing him to age at an accelerated rate. 

As an attempt to help keep Bart sane, he was plugged into a virtual reality world. However, it wasn't fixing his hyper-fast aging problem, so Iris sent him back to the "present day" to see if the then-current Flash, Wally West (who is Bart's first cousin once removed), could help him. Wally was able to fix that problem, but Bart's, well...impulsiveness proved a bit hard to handle.

As such, Wally sent him to live with an elder speedster called Max Mercury, the self-proclaimed Zen Master of Speed. Max is unimpressed with Bart's attempt to write about his life. After all, Bart has to maintain his secret identity, much to his chagrin. The young speedster is struggling with living in 1990s Alabama. It's too quiet, peaceful, and primitive for him. Impulse's new mentor then shows him a newspaper article about his's little misadventure.

The elder hero notes the oddness of this, as the plant that produced the tank that the missile was being tested on was produced at a plant east of town. Its test range was there, too. Meanwhile, the people at the plant are preparing defenses for Impulse. And being the type to just jump into things, Impulse races towards the plant. He gets ambushed, but the speedster is able to overcome his foes. Bart then eyes a room, and just...walks in. He ends up falling into a dark void, and the story ends with our hero finding himself at...a whole lot of gunpoint. Nice work, Bart. 

This issue was pretty good. It does what a good first issue should do, in my opinion. It introduces us to Bart Allen, and gives us a bit of an idea of who he is and what he is about, character-wise. I do like that Bart is shown to notice little details. It helps show off his potential, that he is smarter than people give him credit for. Humberto Ramos's art has a bit of a...cartoony vibe to it, for lack of better words. It certainly fits Bart and his personality. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Flash/Impulse: Runs in the Family. Thanks for reading this blog entry! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!

Veterans' Day

Today is Veterans' Day.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has ever served or is serving now. You are appreciated and loved. Thank you very much.

Book of Boba Fett Trailer, My Thoughts

 Let's look at the trailer!

I imagine if that spider bit a person, you wouldn't get spider powers, you'd just turn into a monster.

"Welp, gotta go be awesome."

I get the feeling that Temuera Morrison is just really enjoying himself doing this.

Those Tusken Raiders are going to be screaming a lot, aren't they?

Miss Shand's got a point, cat-face. Jabba was never one to listen to anybody unless it was complimentary.

Hey, Fett's turning out to be a better boss than Jabba already!

This looks like it will be a fun show! I can't wait to watch it!

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #125 (April 1987)

Superheroes are known more often than not for fighting. Fighting all day long. Punching, kicking, throwing superpowers around, etc. Superheroes fighting supervillains is one of the most exciting and fun parts of superhero comics. But occasionally, superheroes get into fights with other superheroes. Let's look at Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #125!

The story begins a week earlier at the offices of the Daily Bugle. J. Jonah Jameson is in a happy mood as usual.

Page 1, Panel 3

See? Livin' up to the nickname "Jolly Jonah"! Jameson is none too happy about the fact that there's a brand new Spider-Woman running around. This is the Julia Carpenter one, who first debuted during the original Secret Wars story. Naturally, Jonah is calling upon the man who's name headlines this comic, a Mr. Peter Parker, to get some pics of her. He's going to go on a trip to Denver, Colorado, where she was last seen. He thinks Julia and Spider-Man are criminals in cahoots, and he wants pictorial proof. Peter takes the assignment, as it allows him to kill two birds with one stone. He gets some money, and he can find out what's really going on with Julia.

As Peter swings off as Spider-Man, wearing his black costume at the time, he recalls he barely knows Julia. Since returning to Earth after the Secret Wars, she's seemingly become a criminal (Jameson did mention she worked with the Brotherhood of Mutants, but at that time, they had become a government task force known as Freedom Force). 

So, what is Julia up to? Well, she has snuck her way into a storage area full of computer discs. A man named Clemson has given her the task of finding a particular disk. The arachnid-lady is searching for the right one, when some trouble erupts.

Page 5, Panel 1

Yup, it's the Wrecking Crew! They themselves are after the disk, presumably the same one that Spider-Woman is after. Thunderball finds the disk, but Julia is all alike, "I'll be having that, thank you!" 

Page 6, Panel 4 "Yoink!"

This leads to a fight between Julia and the Crew. The supposedly-former heroine puts up a good fight, but the Wrecking Crew overpower her and have the numbers advantage. Four of them and only one Spider-Woman, after all. The Wrecker plans to finish her off, but Thunderball convinces him doing so would only create more problems for them...and mess with Thunderball's own plans. Yeah, he's been plotting against Wrecker here. 

Julia wakes up, but this isn't something she's too happy with. Evidently, this Clemson fellow had her over a barrel for some reason, and she needed to get him that disk so she could live a normal life. She returns home, and gets some Riot Act from the baby sitter and her ex-husband over her not being around for her daughter Rachel very much due to her Spider-Woman work (although they don't know that).

It's here that we get a real idea of what happened to her after the Secret Wars. In Uncanny X-Men #206, she joined the Freedom Force because the pay was good...even though she never felt like she fit in with them. After all, they were all villains who only worked for the government to get out of jail time. In Avengers Annual #15, Freedom Force brought down both the East Coast and West Coast-based Avengers teams and brought them to the superhuman prison known as The Vault. Julia realized Freedom Force's actions were in the wrong, and helped break Earth's Mightiest out. This labeled her as a fugitive.

This is where the mysterious "Clemson" steps in. He's Mike Clemson, Julia's government handler. Julia had turned herself in, and had started doing clandestine missions for him. Publicly, she's still a wanted woman. 

Yeah, I get it. It's a lot. The next day, Peter wakes up to hammering at his door. Turns out he's a bit behind on his rent. As in, four months behind on his rent. His landlady wants the money, or he's out.

At a hunting lodge, the Wrecking Crew are laying low, and it's here that we learn what this disk contains: plans for a super-bomb. Yes, a super-bomb. As in, it can make one massive kablooie.

We also get a bit of a prelude to the Avengers storyline Under Siege as the Crew discuss joining up with Baron Zemo's newest Masters of Evil to take on the Avengers in New York. We also get a small moment of humanization for the Wrecker as he is talking to his dying mother.

Page 12, Panels 5-6

Awww. Thunderball is doing a bit of plotting. You see, in Amazing Spider-Man #246-247, Thunderball got to have a bit of a taste of the power that the Wrecker can access with his enchanted crowbar. Combine that with the power he already has as part of the Wrecking Crew? Yeah, he can do some real damage.

That was three days ago. Since then, the Siege of Avengers Mansion has happened. This is a big disaster for Julia.

She should have taken the plane. Now, with the Crew under lock and key, she has no leads to finding the disc. She reports this to Clemson, who is actually thrilled. He can use this to keep Julia under his thumb for a little while longer. He tells her that the Wrecker is still free, which means he likely has it. She spots the Wrecker in Astoria, hiding on a roof near his mother's house. The house is under police guard, as they think he'll come by to visit her. 

The Wrecker sneaks his way into a hotel. Julia follows him and spots the disc.

Page 16, Panel 5

Now, Julia could easily shoot one of her psi-webs to grab the disc quick and get the heck out, but nah. She decides to play Kool-Aid Man.

Naturally, this leads to them brawling. Spider-Woman puts up a good fight, but Wrecker is just tto strong. Peter Parker hears about this on a cab's radio, and swings into action. Spidey engages Spider-Woman, and manages to defeat her. The Wrecker then shows up and picks a fight with Spidey. Man, just fights upon fights here.

(fight fight fight)

Both of the Spiders are weakened, so Wrecker is able to beat them. He's about to finish them off, but then he hears the police. As such, he figures that escaping is more prudent. Peter gets Julia out, figuring he owes her for saving his life from the Wrecker. They talk a bit as they recover some blocks away. Julia tries to get Peter to see that she's not really a criminal. Peter wants to believe her as she sounds sincere. And he gets people thinking that he's the bad guy. He pulls out his camera and exposes some of the film, mainly his taking a photo of her unmasked. It's then that the Wrecker busts in. Turns out that in the fracas, the disk got, well...wrecked.

Page 19, Panel 5

Oops.