Quasar #16
Journey into Mystery Part Four: Germ of an Idea
In the hopes of saving the Squadron Supreme from the mental control of the Overmind, Quasar has convinced the Stranger to return to his home world to confront his old foe. However, upon their arrival, the Stranger is stunned by a powerful mental bolt from the Overmind. As the Stranger literally shrinks in size from the pain, Quasar demands to know why he has animosity toward his enemy.
The Overmind explains that his people were the Eternals of the planet Eyung. They were a powerful warrior race that forged an empire that was greater than the ones now ruled by the Kree or the Shi’ar. Those worlds that did not bow down to them were wiped out. The only opposition they faced were from the people of Gigantus. With mutually assured destruction between two worlds about to happen, the Eyungians transferred the the consciousness of every member of their race into a single body, which became the Overmind. They managed to launch Overmind in a stasis capsule into space moments before the destruction of their world. Overmind eventually awoke on Earth where he clashed with the Fantastic Four. That batlte came to an end when the Stranger arrived and claimed to be the combined consciousness of the people of Gigantus and banished him to another dimension.[1]
This other dimension was the home of the Squadron Supreme and Overmind took control of their world. He was the absolute ruler until the Defenders from his native reality came and liberated that world from the Overmind’s domination. Overmind was then possessed by the minds six earthly telepaths.[2] For a time they controlled the Overmind until the Squadron Supreme arrived in this reality and freed him from domination, from there, the Overmind enthralled the Squadron again and resumed his quest for revenge against the Stranger.[3]
While all of this is being explained, the Stranger recovers and locks in battle with Overmind. Before Quasar can lend a hand, the enthralled member of the Squadron Supreme arrive with an army of alien beings that the Stranger has captured for study. They include the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Gorr, the Bi-Beast, Fusion, Stardust, Nygorn, Mercurio, Dragonfly, and Threkker.[4] When Quasar tires to stop them from entering the battle, he is swarmed by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Meanwhile, the possessed Squadroners offer the other captives freedom if they help destroy the Stranger, something they have no qualms about signing up for. Although they manage to cause the Stranger pain by attacking en mass, he easily swats them away with a bolt of cosmic energy.
Meanwhile, Makkari arrives on the scene but, before he can help Quasar, he finds himself racing against the Squadron’s resident speedster the Whizzer. Hyperion also arrives on the scene and, unaware that his friends are mind controlled slaves, is sucker punched by Power Princess. By this time, Quasar has defeated the Four Horsemen and returns his attention to the battle between the Stranger and the Overmind, which is deadlocked. Quasar then suggests to the Overmind that he could have more power if he released the Squadron Supreme from his control. The Stranger is angered by this, but Quasar points out he doesn’t really know who is the villain in this battle. Still, his words convince the Overmind to let the Squadron free from his control. This is just as Doctor Spectrum was arriving with more prisoners including Diamondhead, Megaman, Ten-For, Sky-Walker, and Meru the Mindbender.[5] Dumping the latest group of escapees he joins the rest of the Squadron Supreme in rounding up those who have already joined the battle.
As the escapees are being contained, the Stranger still holds up resistance against the Overmind’s mental barrage. Here, the Stranger reveals the truth: He is not the amalgam of the Gigantians after all. Years ago, he encountered the embryo where the Gigantian gestalt was gestating and accidentally killed the being inside while trying to examine it. Learning its purpose, the Stranger learned of the menace posed by the Overmind and vowed to end it on behalf of the Gigantians. Regardless of the truth, the Overmind still intends to kill the Stranger.
This battle has drawn a group of Watchers who have come in the hopes that the Stranger can save their people from a rash of philosophically motivated suicides that have been plaguing their people. However, this leads to a debate over violating their vow of non-interference with one half of the group wanting to get involved and the other vowing to use violence to stop their brothers from interfering.[6] However, when the Overmind becomes aware of the Watchers, is momentarily distracted because there are far too many for him to overpower. This momentary lapse in concentration allows the Stranger to finally strike down his foe, ending the battle.
However, the Overmind’s defeat has only stood to prove the theory that has led many of their people to suicide: That the mere act of observation affects those that they watch. Even as they make this revelation, four more Watchers will themselves to death to stop themselves from interfering. The Stranger’s only solution is that the Watchers abandon their vow of non-interference. Unfortuantely, they cannot bring themselves to do this any more than they can stop observing, explaining that they are gathering the universes accumulated knowledge so the next universe can learn from their mistakes. Hearing all this, Quasar manages to come up with a solution however the Watchers refuse to listen to him, nor will the Stranger convince them to do so. In order to finally get their attention, Wendell flies into space and channels as much energy as his Quantum Bands can project in a show of power. This convinces the Watchers to listen to finally listen to him.
Vaughn points out that death still has an effect on those they observe, pointing out how the Stranger began investigating the Watcher suicides, leaving him open to attack from the Overmind. He suggests that rather than an all-or-nothing approach, the Watchers should accept that they will affect those they observe and that killing themselves off will have a greater impact than their observations ever will. This is sound reasoning to the Watchers and Quasar is surprised when the dead will themselves back to life and depart with their brethren. With the battle over, the Stranger decides to make the Overmind another one of his prisoners. When Quasar tries to protest his continued imprisonment of others, the Stranger reminds him that he has no authority and orders him and his allies to leave.
Soon, Quasar, the Squadron Supreme, and Makkari are flying back to Earth in their ship. On the way home, Power Princess finally notices that Hyperion is no longer wearing his goggles and asks how he managed to heal his damaged vision. He tells her that Makkari realized that Hyperion is a member of their reality’s Eternals and taught him how to use his untapped powers to heal his eye sight.[7] Quasar is also looking forward to returning home so he can tell both is father and Eon about everything that has happened since he was away.
While back on Earth, at Vaughn Security Consultants, new hire H.D. Steckley has uncovered the portal to the pocket dimension where Eon has been hiding out since coming to Earth. Eon knows exactly who she is and why she came and yanks her inside as he has been expecting her.[8]
Recurring Characters
Quasar, Squadron Supreme (Hyperion, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, Whizzer, Skylark, Shape, Haywire), Makkari, Overmind, Stranger, Bi-Beast, Dragonfly, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (War, Death, Famine, Pestilence), Fusion, Gorr, Sphinxor, Stardust, Diamondhead, Megaman, Ten-For, Mercurio, Nygorn, Threkker, Sky-Walker, Meru the Mindbender, Ocam, Einu, “H.D. Steckley”, Eon
Continuity Notes
Overmind’s origins, the Stranger’s original claims, and the battle against the Fantastic Four took place in Fantastic Four #113-116.
Overmind’s conquest of the Squadron Earth and his downfall was chronicled in Defenders #111-115. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1, the Squaron’s world exists in Reality-712.
The Squadron ended up struck on Earth-616 following the events of Squadron Supreme: The Death of a Universe #1. They were enslaved by Overmind again in Quasar #13.
Another bunch of long forgotten Marvel characters on display here. They are:
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who were last seen in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3. These are not the Biblical Four Horsement, but members of the Axi-Tun race as per the Alien Appendix in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5. Following their appearance here, they have not been seen again as of this writing (March, 2022)
Stardust: An alien named T’urin G’ar who was last seen in ROM Annual #1 where he had his ass handed to him by the titular Spaceknight and tossed into space. Another guy who is not seen again after this story.
The Captive, aka Threkker, who was banished from Earth in Captain America Annual #3. He will next be part of the Starblast even, appearing in Starblast #1-3 and Quasar #55.
Dragonfly: A short-lived member of Count Nefaria’s Ani-Men in X-Men #94-95. She was last reported to have escaped from Muir Island in X-Men #104. She will be among the Strangerworld escapees seen in Quasar #20.
Mercurio the Thermoptic-Man: Was a pain in the ass to both Thor and Captain Marvel. See Thor #204-205, 214-216, and Captain Marvel #51. A time displayed Mercurio (from prior to his capture) appears in Thor #440. Chronologically, he won’t appear again until Captain America (vol. 3) #36.
The Bi-Beast: A two-headed android created by the Avians on Earth. Frequently clashed with the Hulk. See Incredible Hulk #169, 214-216, and Thor #315-316. From here, Bi-Beast will pop-up on Earth again in Incredible Hulk #412-413.
Fusion: Twin-brothers Hubert and Pinky Fusser were merged together into this unique entity in Amazing Spider-Man #208. Fusion is another escapee that is seen returning to Earth in Quasar #20.
Gorr: One of the High Evolutionary’s New Men who enlisted the aid of the Fantastic Four to help defend Counter-Earth from Galactus. See Fantastic Four #171-175. Gorr is not seen again after this story.
Nygorn is the last surviving member of a trio of aliens who called themselves the Monitors. They were all last seen in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #3. He will appear next in the Starblast event, notably Starblast #1 & 3, and Quasar #55-56.
And we have yet more long lost Marvel characters on display:
Diamondhead: A recurring enemy of Nova and later one of the defenders of Xandar. See Nova #3, 6-8, 10, 22-25, Fantastic Four #206, 208-209, and ROM #24. Presumably, he was captured after the rest of the Champions of Xandar were killed by Nebula in Avengers #260. He is another escapee seen in Quasar #20.
Sphinxor: An agent of the Beyonders who later took Counter-Earth and placed it in a cosmic museum. See Strange Tales #178, Marvel Two-In-One #63, and Avengers Annual #17. After his appearance here he won’t be seen until Spider-Woman (vol. 7) #6.
Megaman: Another recurring Nova foe who appeared in Nova #3, 6, 8-9. Megaman does not appear again after this story.
Ten-For was a recurring foe of Machine Man, appearing in Machine Man #3-6. He will not be seen again after this story.
Sky-Walker: Only made one appearance prior to this in Daredevil #128. He hasn’t been seen since.
Maru the Mindbender: Appeared in Marvel Team-Up #115-116. His fate following this story is also unknown.
The Watchers made a vow of non-interference after they inadvertadely wiped out an entire race after sharing the secrets of atomic energy with them, as seen in Tales of Suspense #53 and Original Sin #0. Since last issue, it was discovered that Watchers had been committing suicide because they came to believe that even observing other worlds was a form of interference. It’s later revealed that this idea was put into their head by Maelstrom who is attempting to collapse the universe and wanted to prevent the Watchers from informing anyone of his plans, as revealed in Quasar #22.
Hyperion damaged his vision battling an evil version of himself in Squadron Supreme #8, requiring him to wear specially made goggles in order to see. Makkari taught Hyperion of his true origins and taught him how to heal his vision behind the scenes in Quasar #13.
H.D. Steckley is actually Heather Douglas, aka Moondragon, in disguise. She came to work for the company in the hopes of forming a romantic relationship with Quasar as she sees him as the ideal mate. This will be revealed over the ocurse of Quasar #21-25. Although it appears as though Eon has eaten Steckley, she’s fine and will turn up again in issue #19.
Topical References
Quasar makes a passing mention of Bruce Lee when creating nunchucks out of quantum energy. This wouldn’t necessarily be a topical reference since Bruce Lee had been dead for 17 years when this story was first published. His name still remains ubiquitous when referring to masters of the martial arts.
He also makes a reference to Readers Digest. Which would be topical as that is a real world publication.
