Quantum Theory Made Easy

Running late for work at his new security consultation business, Quasar uses his Quantum Bands to arrive at his office located within the Four Freedoms Plaza. As he gets changed in his private bathroom, he worries about his secret identity being compromised and decides to come up with a better way of getting into work. He then checks on Eon, using a portal behind his office’s bookshelf to access the pocket dimension he is hiding out in. Eon has no new clues as to the identity of the galactic threat, but does sense the arrival of Kayla Ballentine, Wendell’s newly hired administrative assistant.

Wendel goes out to greet her and show her around the office, but admits that they don’t have any clients just yet. When showing Kayla his office, she inquires about the photo of his mother and sister that he has on his desk. After she leaves or the night, Vaughn to wonder if she was curious about his family or perhaps checking to see if he was married or not. With his business done for the day, Wendell changes into Quasar and heads out to check the various aliens that live on Earth and determine if they are the threat that Eon has been warning him about. To assist his champion on this quest, Eon creates a projection of Earth that marks where each alien can be found.[1] As he leaves the Four Freedoms Plaza and heads west, Quasar wonders why Eon didn’t provide him with a map of all of Earth’s alien visitors until after he brought up the idea, but puts it aside for now.

Arriving in California, Quasar begins asking the locals if they have seen an alien being around recently. When this doesn’t work, he decides to scan the area for any unearthly energy signatures. Little does he know that the alien known as Quantum has spotted him and has decided to follow after him.

Quasar picks up a signal and it leads him to his old friend the Aquarian who has become a new age guru who is teaching his meditation techniques to his followers.[2] As Quasar approaches the Aquarian, he gets too close to the alien’s null-field, cutting off the power of his Quantum Bands and causing him to fall out o the sky. Aquarian saves him and welcomes Quasar and introduces him to his followers.

Quantum arrives and watches them from afar and senses that Aquarian is one of his people. He then rushes both Quasar and Aquarian, using his powers to create quantum duplicates of himself. Quasar tries to defend them, but has to get Aquarian to turn off his null-field in order to do so. He erects an energy sphere to protect them, but the duplicates of Quantum give it a real pounding. A pacifist, Aquarian decides to find out what this new comer wants and expands his null-field, shutting off both Quasar and Quantum’s powers. When questioning their attacker, Aquarian is shocked to discover he speaks an alien language known to him. However, before he can find out more, Quantum grabs Aquarian in a arm lock and chokes him into unconsciousness.

This leaves Quasar alone to fight Quantum and he contacts Eon to get any information the cosmic entity might know about his attacker. Quasar learns that Quantum previously fought the Avengers and that they were able to stop him by cutting off he source powering him, the sun’s rays.[3] Unfortunately, Quantum and his duplicates are able to neutralize the threat posed by the Quantum Bands and quickly overpower Quasar.

However, before Quantum can dispose of his opponent, he is confronted by Aquarian who has figured out that Quantum is a Dakkamite, just like he is. Quantum wants to know if Aquarian is one of the Elect. However, Aquarian doesn’t know since he has no memory of his people or its civilization.[4] Quantum explains that the rulers of their home world discovered that the unique properties of Earth’s son gives their people phenomenal strength and decided to use this to create an invincible army. Quantum was among a group of soldiers selected to be dumped in stasis pods near the sun to suck up as much power as possible. Supercharged by the proximity to the sun, Quantum broke free from his stasis pod and discovered that his fellow soldiers were all gone and that he had amazing powers.[5] He then entered the sun and waited there until he was summoned to Earth by Graviton and battled the Avengers.

This story convinces Aquarian that he is not one of the Elect that Quantum is looking for. That’s when Quantum realizes that Aquarian is the son of Zeneg the renegade and tries to kill him. Quasar hasn’t been able to understand what they have been talking about, but comes to the Aquarian’s aid. By this time, Wendell has figured out that Quantum’s abilities aren’t creating duplicates of himself, but being able to alter his quantum field so he can by in multiple places at once. Using his Quantum Bands, Quasar alters Quantum’s energy field making him an immaterial wraith. Aquarian isn’t certain if this is the most humane thing to do and uses his null field to restore Quantum to normal. He offers his Dekkamite brother a place by his side and to learn his pacifist ways. However, Quantum wants nothing to do with the son of Zeneg and would rather return to space as an immaterial being than have any dealings with him.

Quasar says that there is no way for him to reverse what he did to Quantum, leaving Aquarian to believe that he’ll be back.[6] Quasar decides it is time to head back now that he can scratch two aliens off his list of potential threats, but he wonders what became of Quantum’s fellow soldiers and if he’ll ever encounter them in the future.

Recurring Characters

Quasar, Eon, Aquarian, Quantum, Kayla Ballentine

Continuity Notes

1. Quasar is surprised to see so many aliens on Earth, prompting Eon to comment that it used to be much larger when the planet was infested with Dire Wraiths a few years earlier. The Dire Wraiths attempted to conquer Earth but were driven off planet by ROM the Spaceknight and many of Earth’s heroes. See ROM #1-75, Avengers #244-245, Uncanny X-Men #184-188, and Fantastic Four #276-277.

2. Quasar remembers Aquarian from his days as head of security at Project PEGASUS. Quasar worked there from Marvel Two-In-One #53 until Marvel Team-Up Annual #5. Aquarian was turned over to the Project in Marvel Two-In-One #42, he remained there until issue #58.

3. Quantum previously fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #12-13.

4. Wundarr was basically like DC Comic’s Superman, sent to Earth by his parents, blah blah blah. Except with Wundarr he crashed on Earth but remained in his ship until he aged to maturity and emerged with the mental awareness of a toddler, as seen in Fear #17. He didn’t gain an adult level intellect until after he was exposed to the power of the Cosmic Cube in Marvel Two-In-One #58.

5. The fate of Quantum’s colleagues is revealed in Quasar #14, where it is revealed that they had been captured and imprisoned by the Stranger.

6. Quantum will ultimately free himself by the time he appears again in Avengers West Coast #97.

Topical References

• While scanning radio airwaves, Quasar picks up a radio transmission of “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys. This wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference because he could have been picking up this broadcast from a classic music station.

• When Quasar asks if a pair of joggers have seen any aliens yet, one of them quips that she doesn’t even watch Alf. Alf was a popular American sitcom that aired around the time this comic was first published. It followed a furry alien named Gordon Shumway — aka Alf — who ended up living with a human family after being stranded on Earth. The series ran from 1986 through 1990.