Quasar #49
Women on the Verge
Having recovered his lost Quantum Bands, Quasar has returned home to Earth after weeks in space. He catches up with Epoch to tell her everything that has gone down in recently. She is particularly interested in hearing about the Star Brand, a powerful energy source from a distant universe. Quasar is certain that the power burned itself out, but Epoch is concerned about an power source not indigenous to this multiverse, as it could upset the balance of power in the cosmos.[1] With explanations out of the way, Epoch tells Quasar that she wishes to remain on Rus for a few more weeks. Quasar asks if she can help him locate where his lost girlfriend Kayla Ballentine is.[2] Epoch promises to do her best, explaining that she has access to the Cosmic Consciousness, the universe is a big place.
Quasar begins getting down on himself because he believes he has been a lousy protector of the universe. Particularly since he not only lost track of Kayla, but his friends Makkari and Kismet.[3] Wondering who he can talk to, Quasar realizes that he hasn’t seen his mother in some time and decides to pay her a visit.
Meanwhile, Kayla Ballentine returns to her family home after spending a month in space. However, her alcoholic father is angry that she would have the nerve to come back after moving out. When he tries to throw her out, Kayla tosses him aside forgetting her strength has been enhanced by the Star Brand. This is another painful reminder that the Star Brand is too powerful and Kayla wants to be rid of it. Sympathetic for her friends plight, Holly Steckley promises Kayla they’ll figure something out.
Elsewhere, Quasar arrives in Oshkosh to visit his mother. However, when she doesn’t appear to be home, Wendell goes inside to wait for her to come home. A few hours passes and he begins to get worried. Calling a neighbor to see if they know where his mother is, Wendell is shocked to learn that she is in the hospital. Racing to the hospital, Wendell gets to see his mother and learns that she has just undergone a radical procedure for cancer. While the surgery was a success, Lisa Vaughn is not out of the woods just yet. Left alone with his mother, Wendell cries by her bedside, blaming himself for being a lousy son. He feels like he is failing his mother just like he did his father, and decides not to let her die.[4] Using his Quantum Bands, Wendell creates a protective bubble around himself so he can teleport across the universe in the hopes of finding a cure for her cancer.
As Quasar leaves Earth, Kismet returns home after her extended trip from space in the hopes of finding him. However, the moment she arrives home she senses the powerful energy source she experienced back on Scadam. She follows the source to the apartment shared by Kayla Ballentine and Holly Steckley. She is shocked to discover that Kayla is the source of this power and demands to know where she got it.[5] Tired of being harassed by people who want the power of the Star Brand, Kayla punches Kismet so hard she is knocked out of the apartment. Following after Kismet, the two women get into a fight in the sky over New York City.
Meanwhile, Quasar arrives on the planet Rus where Epoch is giving a lecture to her fellow students. Wendell explains that he has come to in the hopes that someone might have a cure for cancer. Unfortunately, nobody can provide an answer, particularly an expert in xenopathology who tells Quasar that potential treatments are not as successful when tried on other species. Annoyed that he is getting nowhere, Quasar teleports to the where Origin’s cosmic fetus is growing and asks the Elder of the Universe known as the Caregiver for help. However, she refuses to lend assistance since Quasar’s mother is not cosmically significant. He makes one last trip, this time to the Dimension of Manifestation where he confronts Death and warns it to stay away from his mother. He stops himself when he realizes that he can’t just threaten Death and leaves. When Wendell returns to Earth, his mother is just waking up and is happy to see him. He promises her that he’ll keep better contact with her in the future.
Meanwhile, Kayla Ballentine’s temper gets the better of her during the battle with Kismet. She unleashes a powerful enough blast that causes Kismet to fall into Jamaica Bay and enter her restorative cocoon form. Believing that she has killed Kismet, Kayla is horrified and races back to her apartment to ask Holly for help. Holly suggests that Kayla transfer the Star Brand over to her. When Kayla does just that, Holly suddenly transforms into a winged woman with ghost white skin. She reveals that she is actually a Deviant named Erishkigal and with the power of the Star Brand she will become the master of the multiverse.
Recurring Characters
Quasar, Ereshkigal, Death, Epoch, Kayla Ballentine, Her, Lisa Vaughn, Caregiver
Continuity Notes
Lots going on off the top. The details:
Some time ago, Quasar found himself stranded in the New Universe and had to use the Star Brand to get back home. This happened in Quasar #31.
Quasar last saw Epoch when he left her on the planet Rus to educate herself with all the accumulated knowledge in the universe in Quasar #39.
In the following issue, Quasar accidentally nullified himself using the Ultimate Nullifier while trying to destroy the Magus.
From issues #41-43, Quasar resurrected himself thanks to the Star Brand, which he didn’t realize he still had.
He then went looking for his missing Quantum Bands, finally recovering them in issues #47-48.
It’s interesting that Epoch is concerned about the Star Brand, as Earth-616 will get its own version of the Brand circa Avengers (vol. 5) #7. However, later events show that the Star Brand has existed on Earth-616 since the age of dinosaurs, as seen in Avengers (vol. 8) #26. How can these contradictions exist? I have a theory here.
Kayla Ballentine inadvertedly had a portion of the Star Brand transferred to her by Quasar back in issue #31. Since then, she was abducted by the people of Scadam back in issue #36 in order to use the Brand to fend off an invasion of the Black Fleet. They finally got back home Quasar #47.
Quasar left Makkari and Kismet with the Mourners back in Quasar #37. Makkari ended up going to the planet Grosgumbeekian to master ultimate speed in issue #47. Kismet was caught up in Kayla’s battle with the Black Fleet and began heading back to Earth last issue.
Gilbert Vaughn suffered from a fatal brain aneurism back in Quasar #12.
Kayla recalls meeting Kismet before. That was in Quasar #30.
Topical References
Wendell’s mother is depicted as having a CRT television in her home. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
This story specifically states that Lisa Vaughn had received a mastectomy for breast cancer. This story presents breast cancer as a serious illness that has a low survival rate. While it is still a serious illness, advancements in screening and treatment have advanced so much that survival rates are now 80-90% survival rate. It’s not quite the death sentence it was back in 1993 when this comic was first published. With any real-life illness, advances in medical science may make the diagnosis topical.
The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as they were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.