Clash of Marvels

Marvel Boy has been freed from Eon’s pocket dimension.[1] Appointing himself as the new guardian of the universe, he goes to Avengers Headquarters to demand membership on the team. He makes his demands to Donna Maria Puentes, the Avengers secretary, but she’s not putting up with any of his nonsense. When Marvel Boy shows off his powers in a threatening manner, she calls the Avengers to deal with him. Arriving to help Donna are the Black Widow, Black Knight, Hercules, and the Vision.

At first, the Black Knight mistakes Marvel Boy for the member of the New Warriors of the same name who was recently convicted of money.[2] Marvel Boy doesn’t like being confused with a killer and decides to change his name to Quasar. When the Widow points out that they already have a Quasar on their team, the former Marvel Boy explains that Quasar died during the Infinity War and he has taken his place as guardian of the universe, hence why he has come seeking membership in the Avengers.[3] Now calling himself the Blue Marvel, the former Marvel Boy then makes his demands for membership again. Things get tense when he uses his Quantum Bands to seal the Avengers in energy spheres, but the Vision uses his phasing powers to force the Blue Marvel to stand down. The Black Widow then explains that membership in the Avengers is not easy, saying that there are background checks that need to be run. Annoyed by this bureaucracy, the Blue Marvel decides that he doesn’t need the Avengers and takes off, almost running into Thor on his way out. The Black Widow is disturbed by all this and orders the team to track down and neutralize the Blue Marvel while she tries to verify his claims.

Meanwhile, the Black Fleet’s invasion of the planet Scadam continues. Horrified by this act of genocide, the artificially created woman known as Kismet tries her best to fight back against the invaders. However, in the ensuing dog-fight she is grazed by a laser weapon. This causes her body to try and enter its cocoon state to heal the damage done. Not wanting this to happen, as it would take her out of the fight, Kismet heads to the planet surface to recuperate.

On the planet surface, Earth women Kayla Ballentine (wielder of the Star Brand) and her friend Holly Steckley are witnessing as the Chief Executioner — a massive robot created by the Scadamites — tries in vein to defend the planet from the Black Fleet. Seeing the massive robot holding its own, the two women figure that the Scadamites might not need help after all. When a stray shot puts the pair in danger, Kayla is able to evade out of the way at super-speed, making Holly wonder if there are any limits to Kayla’s powers.

Back on Earth, the Blue Marvel decides that his first order of business is to set up a civilian identity. He figures it would be best to take over the life of Quasar and heads to Vaughn Security Consultants at the Four Freedoms Plaza. There he meets with Quasar’s friend and business partner, Ken Tanaka, and tells him that Quasar is dead and he’ll be taking over things from now on. Unsure if this stranger knows Quasar’s secret identity, Ken plays dumb by making it seems like Quasar and Wendell Vaughn are two different people. The Blue Marvel has little patience for any of this and decides to do some crime fighting, telling Ken that he better have his office ready when he comes back.

Meanwhile, at Avengers Headquarters, the Black Widow looks up the records they have on Marvel Boy. She confirms that the hero was active in the 1950s and disappeared for decades. He returned to Earth in recent times and was driven mad, leading to a battle with the Fantastic Four and was incinerated when his Quantum Bands overloaded,[4] these bands were then handed over to Wendell Vaughn, who later became Quasar.[5] She wonders how Marvel Boy cheated death.[6] When the Black Knight returns after meeting with the heroes involved in the Infinity War and they all confirm that Quasar seemingly perished using the Ultimate Nullifier. This doesn’t sit well with the Widow who hopes the other Avengers find the Blue Marvel so they can get to the bottom of things.

By this time, the Blue Marvel is in New Jersey trying to stop the villain named Heat-Ray from robbing an armored car. He has been spotted by Captain Marvel, aka Monica Rambeau, who has been tailing him. When she reports in to the Black Widow, Marvel is asked to keep out of sight until back-up arrives. However, Monica is forced to act when the Blue Marvel creates a guillotine out of quantum energy in an apparent attempt to decapitate his opponent. In the ensuing battle, Captain Marvel is restrained with strands of quantum energy. She tries to explain to the Blue Marvel that she has come to tell him that the Avengers wishes to test him. However, he doesn’t buy that she is actually an Avenger. When she tries to prove it with her ID card/communicator, Quasar decides it is a fake when he can’t use it to contact the Black Widow.

Back on Scadam, Kayla and Holly’s hopes that the Grand Executioner will save the planet are dashed when the Black Fleet destroys the massive robot.

While back on Earth, the Blue Marvel decides that he is going to kill Captain Marvel when suddenly Thor, the Black Knight, and Hercules arrive on the scene and order him to stand down.

Recurring Characters

Blue Marvel, Avengers (Thor, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Hercules, Captain Marvel), Donna Maria Puentes, Kismet, Kayla Ballentine, “Holly Steckley”, Ken Tanaka, Black Feet, Heat-Ray, Chief Executioner

Continuity Notes

1. Everyone in this story believes that this is the original Marvel Boy, Robert Grayson. Who previously appeared in Marvel Boy #1-2 and Astonishing #3-6. However, this is actually an Eternal named Thelius who was slated to become a replacement for Grayson. See Agents of Atlas #3 and Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1-3.

2. This other Marvel Boy is Vance Astrovik who took on the Marvel Boy name in New Warriors #1. His father, Arnold, was abusive and regularly beat on his family. Vance accidentally killed his father in an act of self defense in New Warriors #21. Found guilty of murder, Vance ended up in the Vault prison from New Warriors #26 and will remain there until he is released in issue #43.

3. Quasar seemingly died using the Ultimate Nullifier to try and destroy the Magus during the Infinity War. See Infinity War #1-5 and Quasar #38-40.

4. The battle between Marvel Boy and the Fantastic Four was chronicled in Fantastic Four #164-165. As detailed in point #1 this was actually Thelius not Robert Grayson.

5. How Wendell Vaughn got the Quantum Bands was detailed in Quasar #1.

6. Thelius was resurrected by Thanos in Quasar #26-27.