The Savage Sword of Salvation

The Blue Marvel is seeking to take Quasar’s place as guardian of the universe. Learning that Quasar is about to be resurrected, the Marvel shows up in the purgatory called the White Room to prevent this from happening.[1] The Blue Marvel blasts his precadessor away with a massive cannon made out of quantum energy, seemingly destroying him in the process. This leaves behind a flaming sword left for Quasar by the supposed Angel of Vengeance. However, when the Blue Marvel tries picking it up it causes him great pain. He then turns to the Stygian Starbender, another former guardian, and demands answers he is caught off guard when Quasar — brought back to full life — appears and attacks with the sword of vengeance. Blasting the Blue Marvel aside, Quasar doesn’t know how he was restored or what happened to his Quantum Bands, but decides it is time to leave. He is able to open a portal to normal space, putting the White Room behind him.

Meanwhile, on the planet Scadam, Kayla Ballentine has just used the power of the Star Brand to wipe out the invading Black Fleet. With the chaos now over, she and her friend Holly Steckley begin searching the planet for a way to get back home to Earth.[2] Elsewhere on the planet, Kismet wakes up fully healed from her injuries sustained in battle and discovers that something has wiped out the invaders and decides to search for the cause of this victory.

Back in the White Room, Quasar decides to return to deal with the Blue Marvel. His flaming sword is able to cut through all of the Marvel’s quantum constructs. However, the Blue Marvel eventually knocks Quasar out by clapping two massive hands created from his Quantum Bands.

At that moment, Kismet has flown up into the orbit of Scadam and detects that a powerful energy source was responsible for vanquishing the Black Fleet. She decides to check back in on her friend Makkari, who is still aboard the massive world ship of the Mourners. Makkari is surprised to learn that Kismet was not responsible for destroying the invaders, leaving them both to wonder what on the planet’s surface could have had such power to defeat them. While on the planet surface, Kayla and Holly wind a portal similar to the one that first brought them to Scadam. However, Kayla doesn’t entirely trust it will work and they agree to find another way and only use the portal as a last resort.

In the White Room, Quasar reveals that he was playing possum in order to get closer to his enemy. Seeing the tide of battle turning, the Blue Marvel then quantum jumps back to regular space. Quasar wonders how he can track his foe down without his Quantum Bands. That’s when the Angel of Vengeance appears before him and tells the hero that he has the power to pursue his foe. That’s when Wendell takes a closer look at his wrist and sees that he still has the Star Brand and uses it to go after the Blue Marvel. Resuming their battle in space, the Blue Marvel manages to wrest the flaming sword out of Quasar’s hands and impale him on it. However, this has no effect on Vaughn, who grabs hold of one of Marvel’s Quantum Bands and forces it to teleport them some place else.

Back aboard the Mourning Star, Kismet decides to go back down to Scadam and search for the mysterious energy source. However, Makkari won’t be accompanying her. He wishes to train for a galactic marathon he was previously disqualified from after hearing about a planet full of speedsters. He hopes to increase his own super-speed abilities and finally prove that he is the fastest runner in the universe. Kismet understands and wishes him the best of luck on his mission.[3]

Meanwhile, Quasar returns to the White Room and dumps the Blue Marvel in the chair he once sat in. The other former guardians have so many questions about how Quasar was able to resurrect himself. He figures he was able to cheat death this time because of the Star Brand, which had the power to restore him to life. He thought he had burned it out when he escaped the universe it came from, but apparently it was still part of him and he didn’t know it because the brand was hidden from him under his Quantum Bands. With that mystery out of the way, Quasar then confronts Eon and demands answers as to what the White Room is and why it exists. Eon reveals that it is an extension of his body and that the people trapped here are the essences of those who served as guardian of the universe before him. As it turned out, Eon was testing Quasar in order to learn more about his character. Quasar forgives Eon for his trickery. Using the Star Brand to teleport back to normal space, Quasar then heads off to find out how the Infinity War turned out without him.[4]

Back on Earth, the villain known as Quagmire is drinking his worries away at a New Hampshire bar when some of the patrons decide to try and pick a fight with him. That’s when the Antibody that has bonded with him jumps out and knocks the two men out. Paying no mind to this, Quagmire keeps drinking shots as though nothing happened.

Recurring Characters

Quasar, Blue Marvel, Kayla Ballentine, “Holly Steckley”, Kismet, Makkari, Antibody, Quagmire, Stygian Starbender, Andwella, Eon

Continuity Notes

1. Going to get all the Blue Marvel/Quasar shenanigans out of the way:

   • 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.

   • Thelius had previously died in Fantastic Four #164-165 and his Quantum Bands went to Wendell Vaughn who became Quasar, as detailed in Quasar #1.

   • Since then, Thelius was resurrected by Thanos in Quasar #26-27. He was trapped in Eon’s pocket dimension until issue #40.

   • During this time, Quasar is believed to have died after attempting to use the Ultimate Nullifier against the Magus during the Infinity War. In reality, Quasar had been nullified and exists as a wraith. See Infinity War #1-5 and Quasar #38-40.

2. Kayla was accidentally given the Star Brand by Quasar in Quasar #31. She and Holly were then kidnapped and brought to Scadam in issue #36-37.

3. Makkari entered a race with Earth’s other super-speedsters that was put on by the Runner. He ended up losing the race to an other dimensional entity who is probably DC Comics Flash. See Quasar #17.

4. The Infinity War was triggered by the Magus who was trying to conquer the universe. An assemblage of Earths heroes managed to defeat him. See Infinity War #1-6.