Reborn to Run

Quasar, Makkari, and the Squadron Supreme are returning to Earth after their adventure on the Stranger’s world. As they reach Earth orbit, a human shape races past the craft at super-speed and sets off the energy lattice Quasar put around the world to detect alien arrivals.[1] The only thing he can pick up is the remnants of tachyon particles.[2] Once they get on Earth, Quasar and Makkari head off to find out who find out who has come to Earth and why.

When they catch up to the speeding alien, they discover that he is the Runner, one of the Elders of the Universe. As his name implies, the Runner is obsessed with speed and races and he has come to Earth to pit his skill against the fastest beings on the planet. Impressed with how fast Makkari can move, he challenges the Eternal to a race with the other speedsters on the planet. When the Runner boasts that he can beat them all, Makkari vows to win the race and prove the Runner that he’s the fastest man alive.

Deciding to get some rest before the big race, Quasar takes Makkari back to his father’s home in Connecticut. There they find Gilbert Vaughn sitting at the kitchen table. When making introductions, Quasar takes his father’s stilted conversation as his father still being angry with him over an earlier fight. Little do either of them know that Gilbert had recently died and his body is being reanimated Eon, the cosmic entity who has made Quasar the protector of the universe.[3]

The following morning, in his civilian identity of Wendell Vaughn, Quasar takes Makkari to the security firm he runs out of the Four Freedoms Plaza. There, he introduces the Eternal to his co-workers Kayla Ballentine and Ken Tanaka, calling him “Mike Karhy” in order to maintain Wendell’s secret identity. That’s when Kayla and Ken tell Wendell that their latest employee, H.D. Steckley, insisted on working in his private office and locked herself inside.[4] Fearing that Steckley might have stumbled upon his secret identity or found Eon hiding in the pocket dimension behind his bookshelf, he rushes inside to check. However, Eon is fine and tells Wendell that he did not encounter Steckley. However, a discarded shoe would tell otherwise. Luckily Eon sees and hides it before his champion can see it as Vaughn is more concerned about the Runner. Eon assures his charge that the Runner is one of the more benign members of the Elders of the Universe and that he won’t cause much trouble.

Later that day, Makkari is running across the ocean to train for the big race against the Runner. The Elder then catches up to him and tells him that he has almost finished approaching the planet’s speedsters and tells Makkari that the winner will obtain the greatest prize in the universe. He also warns Makkari not to wear himself training and then speeds off. Makkari tries to match the Runner’s speed, but can’t keep up. He eventually has to stop on a nearby island because his leg has begun to cramp.

Meanwhile, Quasar contacts the Squadron Supreme at Project PEGASUS. He reaches Doctor Spectrum and tells him that Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four has gotten back to him and has agreed to try and return the Squadron home using the Fantastic Four’s space/time machine.[5]

A day and a half later, the gathered speedsters meet with the Runner in American Southwest. Quasar comes along to watch the proceedings to watch the race. Among the runners are Quicksilver and Captain Marvel of the Avengers, the Whizzer of the Squadron Supreme, Super Sabre of the Freedom Force, the criminal Speed Demon, and Black Racer of the Serpent Squad. The Runner then goes over the rules before using his cosmic power to create the running course, a tunnel that will take them from Earth’s surface to the moon. As the speeders go to the starting line, Makkari arrives just in time for the start of the race. The Runner then fires the starting pistol and the runners take off. It takes Makkari the first 10,000 kilometers to eventually get to the head of the pack. Outside the tunnel fly Quasar and Doctor Spectrum who are tracking the race. At about 32,000 KM, the Runner disqualifies Captain Marvel as she keeps having trouble keeping her feet on the ground due to the fact that her speed powers are flight based.

Suddenly, in the middle of race, there is a flash of light some 20,000 KM back and a strange man wearing a tattered red and yellow costume appears on the race track. He doesn’t remember who he is but feels the compulsive need to run and joins the race.[6] This new comer speeds past everyone who is lagging behind catching up to the Whizzer and Makkari, who are in the lead at the 199,000 KM mark. Makkari pushes himself as hard as he can go and eventually takes back the lead until the stranger races past him and wins the race in a blink of an eye. The Runner is most impressed and asks the stranger who he is. The man still doesn’t remember his past and says his name was something similar “Buried Alien” or something to that effect, but he can’t fully remember. Still, he won the race and the Runner decides to take give him his prize.[7]

Makkari arrives just moments after the Runner and the mysterious winner are teleported away. The Eternal is in tears that he lost the race to someone else. Quasar points out that “Buried Alien” came from another reality, making Makkari the fastest runner on this universe’s version of Earth. Makkari thanks Quasar for the kind words, telling him that he is a good friend.

Recurring Characters

Quasar, Makkari, Runner, Gilbert Vaughn (corpse), Ken Tanaka, Kayla Ballentine, Eon, Doctor Spectrum, Whizzer, Captain Marvel, Quicksilver, Speed Demon, Super Sabre, Black Racer, “Buried Alien”, Squadron Supreme (Hyperion, Power Princess, Moonglow, Skylark, Shape, Haywire), Scarlet Witch

Continuity Notes

1. Quasar erected this barrier around the Earth in Quasar #12.

2. Here, Quasar recounts how his mission to space from Quasar #13-16 was the longest since the time he traveled to Uranus in issue #3.

3. What Wendell doesn’t know is that his father actually suffered a deadly stroke in issue #12 and that Eon is using his power to re-animate Gilbert’s corpse. Quasar will remain oblivious to this due to his strained relationship with his father until he learns the truth in issue #20. Eon decided to reanimate Gilbert Vaughn so Wendell wouldn’t have to deal with the loss of his father on top of everything else. This decision is not received very well when the truth comes out. It’s later revealed in Quasar #24, that Maelstrom (the threat Quasar has been selected to stop) was responsible for his father’s stroke.

4. 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.

5. The Squadron Supreme hale from Reality-712, per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1. They have been stranded on Earth following Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe #1 and have been hanging out with Quasar since Quasar #13. They will actually remain stranded on Earth-616 (the Prime Marvel Universe) until Avengers Annual 1998.

6. This character is intended to be DC Comics speedster character, the Flash, who at the time of this story was dead after sacrificing his life in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8. See below for more details.

7. “Buried Alien” and the Runner will return in Quasar #58 for another race where Makkari matches his speed against the fastest beings in the universe.

Is “Buried Alien” Really the Flash?

Reading this story, it becomes clear that writer Mark Gruenwald intended “Buried Alien” to be the Barry Allen, the second Flash over at DC Comics. The Barry Allen Flash appeared in Showcase #4 and was part of DC’s Earth-One continuity, the Prime universe of the DC Multiverse. The character notably died in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 when he tried to stop the Anti-Monitor from destroying the DC Multiverse. That even ended with DC having their multiverse condensed to a lone universe for some time. Barry Allen became part of the Speed Force, the source of all speedsters power in that universe.

Quasar #17 was published during the period where Barry was considered dead/merged with the speed force. “Buried Alien” would remain on Marvel’s Earth-616 long enough for one more appearance in Quasar #58 where he has a rematch from Makkari.

Since then, the DC Universe has gone through a series of reboots and restarts. Barry would appear form time-to-time either as a spirit or emerging briefly from the Speed Force in times of Crisis. He was ultimately resurrected back to life during the events of Final Crisis.

While the “Buried Alien” story is not an officially sanctioned crossover, could one consider this to be the DC Comics Flash? I suppose it is entirely up to the reader, the most any resource will provide is a vague allusions like the story above does.

It is not impossible, at any rate, as later stories have shown that the Marvel and DC Universes can crossover into one another, notably in the series DC Versus Marvel #1-4, DC/Marvel Access #1-4, Unlimited Access #1-4, and JLA/Avengers #1-4, just to name the major ones. These crossovers not only demonstrated present day versions of the two universes meeting and interacting, but for past and future iterations were able to do so.

One could assume that Barry Allen ended up briefly stuck in the Marvel Universe following his sacrifice in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Which raises the question: How did “Buried Alien” get back to his native reality? The answer can be found in JLA/Avengers. In that story, Barry’s successor — Wally West — discovers that the Speed Force does not exist in the Marvel Universe and he could only sustain his powers by the residual energies in his body before he would be shunted back to his native reality. One could assume that perhaps the same happened to “Buried Alien”, that after his arrival on Marvel’s Earth-616 his powers began to fade, which would probably explain why he later loses the race in Quasar #58. After that appearance he’s never seen or heard from again, so it’s not impossible to assume that he was shunted back to his native reality when nobody was looking.

But again, it’s all conjecture since nobody is going to give you a straight answer, just a nod and a wink, so your milage might vary.