Quasar #27
From Here to Maternity
Learning that his eternal foe Eon is dead, Thanos has used the power of the Infinity Gauntlet to flood the Earth with Eon’s decaying body matter.[1] One of the portals exists inside Wendell Vaughn’s security consulting firm inside the Four Freedoms Plaza. As a result, tons of Eon’s biomatter is squeezed out of this doorway and begins flooding the city.
Inside Eon’s pocket dimension, Quasar is unaware of this threat as he has has to face four former protectors of the universe that Thanos has resurrected to fight him. They include the Stagyian Starbender, the Archeopean birdman known as Ree, the Trillian Tantra, and Marvel Boy, Quasar’s predecessor.[2] Quasar tries to convince the former guardians that there is no need to fight. Unfortuantely, they are all under the influence of Thanos and begin attacking him all at once. Although adept at wielding the Quantum Bands, Quasar finds himself on the defensive as his foes are equally as skillful as he is.
Meanwhile, several million miles from Earth, Moondragon’s ship comes upon a humanoid mass floating in space. This is the ally she has been seeking to help her convince Quasar to become her mate.[3] Using a tractor beam to pull the mass into her ship, Moondragon then frees the man trapped inside. This turns out to be Jack of Hearts and once he is restored she provides him with a new costume to regulate the unstable zero energy inside his body.[4]
Back in the Eonverse, Quasar is still on the defensive, wishing he still had the power of Infinity to fight off these new foes.[5] That’s when he hears a voice similar to Eon’s crying for help as the body that surrounds this dimension is beginning to decay. This distracts him enough that the other Quantum Band users are able to trap him in between two slabs of quantum energy. As he struggles to get free, he Wendell is about to give up when he hears the voice cry out for help once again.
While on Earth, Her has returned to Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum in yet another attempt to contact her chosen mate, Adam Warlock after hearing that he had recently been restored to life.[6] Unfortunately, she discovers that Adam Warlock is not interested in copulating with a female version of himself and tells her that he is in the midst of something that will have consequences for the entire universe. When Warlock walks away, Her almost attacks him but stops herself. Having been rebuffed by the man she thought would give her a child, she is now confused as to what to do with herself next.
Back in the pocket dimension, Quasar manages to get free from his trap and then lures his attackers into the Quantum Zone, the dimension where his Quantum Bands get their power. Only Ree, Trantra, and the Stygian Starbender follow him through. There, Quasar uses his own powers to overcharge the trio, causing their Quantum Bands to overload and disintegrate them. With his foes vanquished, Quasar gets another distress call from the mysterious voice and zips back to the Eon dimension to find its source.
In New York City, the streets are being flooded with Eon’s decaying mass. This prompts a response to the few heroes that are still in the city including the Squadron Supreme, and newcomers Deathlok, Darkhawk, and Sleepwalker. The fight is soon joined by Her, who decides to lend a hand. Also arriving on the scene is Makkari who pairs his speed power with those of the Squadron’s Whizzer. As this is going on, Moondragon’s ship returns to Earth where she drops Jack of Hearts off to assist in the rescue efforts as well.
While at the center of the Eonverse, the dead cosmic being’s biomass is starting to swirl into oblivion. Quasar tracks the voice calling out for help and finds a strange pod is the source. As it turns out, this is the spawn of Eon. Before Quasar can rescue the pod, he is suddenly ambushed by Marvel Boy, however Quasar quickly dispatches him. He rescues the pod, which then hatches the a newborn being that calls itself Epoch. Quasar is surprised to learn that Eon was female this whole time but is happy that he helped her only daughter get to safety.
With the birth of Epoch, the expanse of Eon’s dead bio-mass onto Earth suddenly stops and a massive clean-up operation is underway.
Epoch then reveals a final message for Quasar from Eon. His former mentor tells Wendell that he has proven himself worthy of the title of protector of the universe and asks that he continue carrying on the title while also protecting her daughter. Quasar agrees to do so, and thanks Eon for everything he has done for him.
Recurring Characters
Quasar, Moondragon, Eon (corpse), Epoch, Her, Adam Warlock, Jack of Hearts, Stygian Starbender, Marvel Boy, Ree, Trantra, Squadron Supreme (Hyperion, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum. Whizzer, Moonglow, Haywire, Shape, Skylark), Darkhawk, Sleepwalker, Deathlok, Moon Knight, Makkari
Continuity Notes
Shit is crazy right off the top. The facts:
In the past, Eon selected Captain Marvel to become his champion of the universe and stop one of Thanos’ mad schemes. See Captain Marvel #25-33 and Avengers #125.
In more recent history, Eon died when his current protector, Quasar, was saving the universe from the threat of Maelstrom. See Quasar #19-25.
At the time of this story, Thanos is wielding the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. See Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 for the main story.
Marvel Boy’s appearance here is complicated. Everyone believes this to be Robert Grayson however it is not. The details:
The original Marvel Boy was Robert Grayson, an Earth man who grew up on an Eternal colony on Uranus. Given the Quantum Bands he fought crime on Earth in the 1950s. See Marvel Boy #1-2 and Astonishing #3-6.
What nobody here seems to know is that in the late 50s, the Eternals attempted to replace Grayson with one of their own, a man named Thelius. This angered the native Uranians who made a pact with the Eternals. The Uranians killed the Eternals and took Marvel Boy in and made him one of their own and, at the time of this Quasar story, is still on Uranus. See Agents of Atlas #3 and Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1-3.
Thelius eventually got loose and thinking he was the original Marvel Boy, went to Earth to avenge his people leading to a battle with the Fantastic Four. In the ensuing conflict, the Quantum Bands overloaded and incinerated his body. See Fantastic Four #164-165.
The Quantum Bands ended up in SHIELD custody and given to Wendell Vaughn, who was recruited into their Super-Agent program, as detailed in Quasar #1.
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7 has a profile on Marvel Boy that confirms that Thanos didn’t resurrect Grayson (since he wasn’t dead).
As explained over the course of Quasar #21-25, Moondragon has been trying to convince Quasar to be her mate since issue #11. Wendell rejected her last issue and so she went into space to find an ally to force Quasar into loving her.
Jack of Hearts has been in space since his containment suit was breached by the Presence back in Quasar #20.
Quasar was given the power of Infinity to fight off Maelstrom back in Quasar #25.
Lots of exposition going on here all at once. Allow me to explain:
Adam Warlock, originally named Him, was created by the rogue scientists known as the Enclave as the perfect artificial man, as seen in Fantastic Four #66-67.
Years later, the Enclave tried to recreate this experiment in Incredible Hulk Annual #6, creating a male entity called Paragon. Paragon eventually transformed into a female form and sought out Adam Warlock to be her mate in Marvel Two-In-One #61-63.
This quest reached a dead end due to the fact that, at the time, Warlock was dead after sacrificing his life to stop Thanos in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2. More recently, Warlock eventually resurrected himself in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #46.
Warlock is disinterested here because he has just joined the Infinity Watch, a group charged with protecting the Infinity Gems. See Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1.
Infinity Gauntlet Reading Order
Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #34-38, Thanos Quest #1-2, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #40-45, Cloak and Dagger (vol. 3) #17-18, Spider-Man #17, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #46-50, Infinity Gauntlet #1, Sleepwalker #6, Quasar #26-27, Doctor Stranger Sorcerer Supreme #31, Incredible Hulk #383, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #51-52, Infinity Gauntlet #2, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #32, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #53-54, Infinity Gauntlet #3, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #33, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #55-56, Infinity Gauntlet #4, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #34, Incredible Hulk #384, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #35, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #57-58, Infinity Gauntlet #5, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #59, Infinity Gauntlet #6, Incredible Hulk #385, Sleepwalker #7, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #60, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #36, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1