Quasar #3
Angles Not Found in Nature
Quasar, aka Wendell Vaughn, has been selected by Eon to become the next guardian of the universe in order to combat some impending cosmic threat. In order to keep Eon safe, Quasar has brought the cosmic entity back to the Vaughn home in Fairfield, Connecticut. Wendell stashes Eon in the garage before announcing to his father that he is back from his trip to Uranus. Gilbert Vaughn is shocked to see his son back as he was expected to be in space for quite some time. Going inside, Quasar tells his father of his trip to Uranus, his battle with Deathurge, and how Eon chose Wendell to be the protector of the universe and unlocked the full potential of his Quantum Bands.[1]
Wendell then explains that he has returned to Earth to set it up as his base of operations, having decided to start up a security consultant firm in New York City. Gilbert finds all of this astonishing and Wendell is just getting started, telling him to brace himself to meet the alien he’s got stashed in the garage.
The next morning, Quasar flies to New York City and is surprised by how much it has changed in his absence, particularly the fact that the Fantastic Four’s headquarters the Baxter Building has been replaced by the new Four Freedoms Plaza.[2] Seeing that the Plaza is seeking new tenants, he thinks this would be the perfect place to start up his new business. It’s when he is taking down the number he hears some commotion the next block over and decides to check it out. Quasar is surprised to see the Human Torch locked in battle with the villain known as Magma. However, he decides to hang back and watch since the Torch seems to have everything under control. Sure enough, Johnny Storm is more than a match for Magma’s lava based weaponry, prompting Quasar to leave.
Changing into some civilian clothes, Wendell checks out on the offices up for rent in the Four Freedoms Plaza and finds it perfect for his needs and signs a rental agreement. Taking the elevator out, Wendell notices that one of the other passengers is a crying woman and he can’t help but ask her what’s wrong. The woman turned out to be Kayla Ballentine and she was turned down for an administrative assistant’s job due to the fact that she wears provocative outfits. Wendell likes how she dresses and decides to offer her a job as his personal assistant. However, as he is writing down her contact number his Quantum Bands begin to tingle. He then notices a partially invisible man in a green and purple angular costume sneaking into the Four Freedoms Plaza. Deciding to check things out, Vaughn abruptly tells her to give him a call and accidentally leaves her with his lease agreement as he runs off.
Back inside the building, Wendell just misses seeing the villain slip away in the Fantastic Four’s private elevator. Ducking into the public elevator, Wendell uses his Quantum Bands to change into his Quasar costume in a flash of light and follows after the intruder. The intruder, whom Quasar dubs the Angler, is trying to break into Reed Richard’s lab. Wendell discovers that the man speaks in a mish-mash of English and an alien language based on geometry. Not only that, but he can use his powers to side-step out of any traps Quasar makes with his Quantum Bands and phase through walls.
Meanwhile, down below, Kayla Ballentine has realized that she has Wendell’s lease agreement and has come back inside to return it to him. As she waits for the elevator, she admits that she thought Vaughn was cute, but reminds herself that she’s looking for a job, not a new boyfriend. When the Fantastic Four’s private elevator suddenly opens in the lobby, she enters it without giving it a second thought.
Back upstairs, Quasar fails to stop the Angler from getting into the Fantastic Four’s lab. That’s when the Human Torch arrives and, thinking that Quasar is the intruder, begins attacking him. Wendell tries to get the Torch to remember that they’ve met before, but Johnny is too worked up to listen.[3] While the two are busy fighting, the Angler manages to steal what he had come for, the Nth Projector. When he emerges from Reed’s lab, Johnny realizes that Quasar was telling the truth. Wendell instantly recognizes the device and tells Johnny that it is dangerous in the wrong hands.[4] They then pursue the fleeing Angler, who bumps into Kayla and tries to use her as a hostage.
However, this proves to be the Angler’s mistake, as Quasar is able to use his Quantum Bands to finally restrain the villain. This allows Kayla to get free and the Torch to use his flame powers to melt the Nth Projector. Johnny then recognizes the Nth Projector as a device that was almost used to banish the Fantastic Four to another dimension.[5] When Quasar tries to question the Angler, he can’t make any sense out of his hybrid language and theorizes that the villain might have been merged with an alien entity somehow.[6] Leaving the Angler in the Torch’s custody, Quasar leaves to see Kayla home.
Later that evening, Wendell returns home to tell his father and Eon everything that happened today. He finds the pair talking to each other in the garage. Gilbert has been excited to speak with a cosmically aware entity such as Eon and has now taken up recording his knowledge of alien races. Seeing Eon and his father hitting it off makes Wendell decide that what he has to say isn’t quite as interesting.
Recurring Characters
Quasar, Angler, Human Torch, Magma, Kayla Ballentine, Gilbert Vaughn, Eon
Continuity Notes
This is a recap of events that happened last issue.
While Quasar was off on his space mission, the Fantastic Four’s original headquarters, the Baxter Building, was destroyed by Kristoff Vernard in Fantastic Four #278. The Four Freedoms Plaza started construction in issue #289 and was completed issue #299 of that series.
Specifically, Wendell mentions how they once met at one of the Fantastic Four’s Christmas Parties. This was back in Marvel Two-In-One #74.
Quasar would know just how dangerous the Nth Projector is, since it was once used to destroy Project PEGASUS back when he was their head of security. See Marvel Two-In-One #54-58. He also encountered it again in issue #73 of that series when he and the Thing prevented Roxxon from it to exploit the energy resources of a parallel dimension.
This was Roxxon again, who was trying to use the Nth Projector to banish Earth’s heroes so they could take over the world, an event that would have caused the future where the original Deathlok was created. See Captain America #289 for the deets.
Quasar’s guess isn’t far off. In Quasar #51-52 it is revealed that the Angler was part of Roxxon’s Nth Command. While on a mission for the notorious energy company, he encountered an extra-dimensional being named Geometer who transformed him into the Angler. TL;DR version is that Geometer had a huge boner for altering reality to fit his ideas of geometric perfection.
Topical References
Quasar makes a reference to how it looks like they recently cleaned the Statue of Liberty. At the time of this story, the world famous statue had just recently underwent a restoration process that took four years to complete from 1982 through 1986. This should be considered a topical reference.
