Brothers in Arms

Quasar has accepted an invitation from Starfox to visit the home of the Eternals on the Saturnian moon of Titan.[1] There, Quasar gets to know more about Starfox — how his real name is Eros — and how he previously joined the Avengers out of a sense of wonderlust.[2]

After showing Quasar around for a bit, Eros asks if he would join him on an errand in space. Eros takes Quasar to a baren world where he is meeting with his brother, the Mad Titan known as Thanos. However, Starfox hasn’t come to fight his brother. In fact, this is the time of year the two brothers call “The Truce”, a day when the pair put aside their differences and acknowledge that they are blood relatives by exchanging gifts. This is because, regardless of all the atrocities Thanos has committed, he and Eros are still brothers.

Quasar isn’t quite sure he can fully trust Thanos and wonders if he still holds a grudge after their past conflicts, but Thanos assures Quasar that all past animosities are behind now that he has no more dreams less and suggests that Quasar should accept this as a blessing.[3]

With that out of the way the gift exchange occurs. Eros gives Thanos old photographs of himself as a child. Thanos, on the other hand, has a grander gift for his brother. The so-called Destiny Crystal, which allows the wearer to see facets of their future.

However, before he can hand it over, the aliens Thanos stole the Destiny Crystal from come to reclaim their artifact. This leads to an attack on the trio and in the confusion the leader of the aliens gets the crystal back. When Thanos goes into a fit of rage and tries to kill the aliens, Quasar gets in his way, refusing to allow the Mad Titan to take any lives. At first, Thanos prepares to strike Quasar, but when the hero doesn’t flinch, Thanos stops fighting because he is so impressed by Quasar’s courage.

By this point, Starfox has calmed the aliens down by using his power to trigger the pleasure centers of their brains and now that they have the Destiny Crystal back they agree to leave without further incident. With that, “The Truce” is over for another year and the two brothers agree to meet again in another year. After Eros and Quasar take off, Thanos waits until they are out of sight before examining the Destiny Crystal — which he pocketed in the fight — in order to see what the future has in store for him.

Recurring Characters

Quasar, Stafox, Thanos

Continuity Notes

1. This story is a filler issue. According to the chronology, it actually takes place after the events of Quasar #60.

2. Eros talks about his time on the Avengers. He quips that his codename “Starfox” was not his idea. Eros got bored of life on Titan in Avengers #230 and officially joined the group in issue #232. When he joined it was recommended that he go by Starfox since his real name was could potentially be considered obscene to the general public on Earth. Kind of a stupid reason if you ask me, but whatever. He was a mainstay on the team until he went off to investigate Nebula’s claims that she is the granddaughter of Thanos in Avengers #260 and has maintained a reserve status on the team ever since.

3. Thanos previously clashed with Quasar in Infinity Gauntlet #4 and Quasar #26-27.