History: The story of Quasar begins not with Wendell Vaughn, but
with his weapons, the Quantum-Bands, which are not only instruments of
great power, but symbols of the bearer's station as Protector of the
Universe. The origin of the Bands is unknown, but it is Eon's task to
bestow them upon his chosen champion whenever cosmic evil arises to
threaten the precarious hold that life has in the universe. Only those
worthy may wear the Quantum-Bands, and they cannot be removed until the
death of the wearer. Those unworthy to wield the Bands gradually lose
control of the power and are consumed by their energy. The only known
bearers of the Bands are Glakandra, Eon's first chosen protector also
known as the Stygian Starbender; Ree, of the long-extinct Archeopians;
Trantra the Trill, the first non-humanoid protector; Robert Grayson,
Marvel Boy; William Wesley, a S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons tester consumed by
the energy of the Bands; and, of course, Eon's last appointed protector,
Wendell Vaughn, better known as Quasar.
For hundreds of millennia the Uranian Eternals were a society of scholars and philosophers. Their goal was no less than
to understand the cosmos in its entirety. Each member of the community
dedicated his or her lengthy life span to discovering the Grand Unified
Theory of Everything. About a thousand of our years ago, one of the
Uranians did discover the equation that explains the universe. It took
several hundred more years to check his calculations and verify his
conclusions experimentally but the equation turned out to be
correct. Once they had the ultimate answer to the meaning of life,
they had no more challenges. Nothing left to live for. Yet because of
their near-immortality, it was virtually impossible for the Uranians to
terminate their existences. So, they summoned a mortal scientist from
the planet of their birth hoping that by studying him, they could make
themselves mortal again and thereby put an end to the nightmarish
boredom. They dictated to Horace Grabsheid plans to construct a
spaceship capable of making the long interplanetary flight. The
scientist built it in his own back yard. A decade later, Grabsheid and
his son arrived on Uranus and were warmly welcomed by the Uranians.
Without his knowing it, they scanned the Earth man for the mortality
factor locked in his cells. In return for giving them the key to
obsolescence, they shared with Grabsheid the secret of the universe
their greatest theoretician had found. It profoundly moved the
peace-loving scientist. The man's son, Robert Grayson, was too young to
understand, however. So, they sent him back to Earth bearing the Quantum-Bands,
which had been in their possession for some time for reasons unknown. Deathurge
learned of their abject despair and, with their most ardent blessings,
rent a tear in their life-dome. Their life-forces eviscerated, they were
able at last to die. Deathurge looked on as they all met Oblivion
with open arms and loving smiles.
Robert Grayson arrived back on Earth and used the Quantum-Bands
in his one-man crusade against crime, adopting the alias of Marvel
Boy. He used the Bands primarily for blinding his opponents, which
consisted mainly of criminals and communists. When he was unable to
contact his father, he feared that he had taken ill. Acquiring
medical supplies, Marvel Boy set forth for Uranus. When he
eventually arrived, he found he was too late. Everyone was dead. The
sight drove him mad. He once more returned to Earth. Blaming its
people for the fact that he was not on Uranus when the disaster
occurred. He went on a binge of destruction, battling the Fantastic
Four -- and, being unworthy, was consumed by the energies of the
Bands. Dr. Reed Richards, the leader of the Fantastic Four under the
alias of Mr. Fantastic, then took the Bands to his lab with the
intention of studying them. S.H.I.E.L.D.
intervened, however, and Dr. Richards was obliged to turn the Bands
over to them for international security reasons. S.H.I.E.L.D.
contacted Stark International and contracted them to study the
Quantum-Bands. Dr. Gilbert Vaughn, Wendell's father, headed the
Stark International scientific team for which S.H.I.E.L.D. would
provide security.
At this time, Wendell was attending the S.H.I.E.L.D.
spy school as an agent-in-training. His instructors praised his
technical proficiency, but criticized his lack of "killer
instinct". Assigned to routine guard duty at the Stark
International project studying the Quantum-Bands,
he watched as the Bands were field-tested by William Wesley,
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top tech-jockey, who panicked when the Bands would
not come off and disintegrated himself. Not an hour later, androids
sent by A.I.M. staged a raid. Their objective: to steal the alien energy-bands. To
protect them, Vaughn put them on -- and learned the fundamentals of
their operation under the most hazardous possible conditions. Still,
he managed to repulse the A.I.M. invasion. And ultimately, it was
his lack of a killer instinct that enabled him to subdue the rampant
energies he had unleashed.
His strong showing earned him a place in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s
fledgling super-agent program. Along with Blue Streak, The Vamp, and
the Texas Twister, he underwent special training. But, when Blue
Streak and the Vamp turned out to be double agents, the program was
dismantled. Working alongside the legendary Captain America, he not
only helped S.H.I.E.L.D. learn who sent the infiltrators, he also
got a chance to pit his power against the might of the raging Hulk
for a second time. Only days earlier, his and many other costumed
adventurers' attempt to join the Defenders had quickly degenerated
into a free-for-all.
His S.H.I.E.L.D.
credentials landed him a job as head of security at the government's
experimental energy facility, Project:
Pegasus. Within weeks of his arrival, the project was nearly
destroyed by the space-engulfing Nth Man. It took the combined
forces of Thundra, the Thing, the Aquarian, and himself to avert
catastrophe. Vowing never to allow any situation to get out of hand
again, he nevertheless fell prey to the will-numbing serpent crown,
which had taken over the rest of the project's workers. Although a
major disaster was again prevented due to outside intervention,
Quasar felt that it was negligence on his part that enabled the
crisis to occur.
Despondent, he tendered his resignation as head of security to the
project's director, Myron Wilburn, and would not let himself be
talked out of it. Putting away his costume, he spent the next few
weeks at his mother's home in Wisconsin. Sitting in his old bedroom,
strumming his guitar, lifting weights, and avoiding life. At her
wit's end, his mother finally called her ex-husband to come to try
to draw their son out from beneath his veil of depression.
Dr. Vaughn proposed his son undertake a scientific mission to learn
the origin of his alien energy-bands. Attracted to the prospect of
spending time alone in the void of space, Quasar agreed. And, after
weeks of exhaustive preparation, the equipment-laden adventurer
penetrated the envelope of atmosphere surrounding his home planet
for the first time -- and promptly went to sleep.
Four years and nearly 3 billion kilometers later, he woke up.
Discovering the remains of the Uranian Eternals
life-dome, Quasar encountered Deathurge
who related the story of the Uranians and his role in their deaths
to him. Deathurge then attempted to convince Wendell that he had
journeyed all those billions of kilometers hoping that something
would end his failed life. He nearly succumbed to Deathurge's
"help", but was transported to subspace where Eon
was waiting.
Here Eon
explained that Wendell Vaughn of Earth possessed all of the
necessary attributes: intelligence, courage, and resourcefulness,
and was to become the new Protector of the Universe, a position most
recently filled by the late Captain
Marvel. Eon appointed him the Captain's successor with his
mission to safeguard the universe from the greatest threat that he
had ever perceived. Of this threat, only three things were known:
1)the threat would come from space, 2)it would manifest itself on
Earth, and 3)it would try to slay Eon to gain the secret of cosmic
awareness. After performing the Metamorphic Rite of Passage, Eon
transported Quasar back to normal space, where he easily defeated Deathurge.
However, he uttered a brief prophecy, "When we meet again, you
will beg me to kill you . . . and I will refuse," as he slowly
faded away.
Wendell convinced Eon
to accompany him back to Earth to better protect him against this
threat. Now aware of the full capabilities of the Bands, he
quantum-jumped back to Earth with Eon, reducing the four-year
journey to fifteen seconds.
Back on Earth, Quasar set up a security consulting firm to serve as
both an income and cover for his "cosmic activities". Once
Vaughn Security Systems was established, he began a systematic
location and identification of every extraterrestrial on Earth.
During this period, members of the other-dimensional super-hero
team, the Squadron
Supreme arrived on our Earth, refugees from their dimension.
They were taken in by Project:
Pegasus until return to their Earth was possible. During a
nation-wide villain uprising, Quasar chased the Living Laser into
the Watcher's
home on the moon. Here the Living Laser accidentally passed through
a portal into an alternate dimension. Thinking him lost, Wendell
returned to Earth to assist the Avengers
during the crisis.
The arrival of the Squadron
Supreme triggered the re-emergence of the Over-Mind, the sole
survivor of an ancient race of conquerors endowed with the entire
psychic power of that race. By now, Wendell had learned how to
program the Bands to keep his mind safe from mental takeover, but
the Squadron wasn't as lucky. Over-Mind possessed them, commandeered
their ship, and set course for the Stranger's Laboratory World,
believing him to be the last survivor of the race responsible for
his people's destruction. Quasar followed with Hyperion of the
Squadron and his friend Makkari the Eternal. The Stranger
was away from his Lab World investigating a mystery, several Watchers
throughout the galaxy had been found dead. Unable to confront the
Over-Mind directly, Wendell located the Stranger who returned and
ultimately defeated Over-Mind. Several Watchers appeared during the
battle, hoping to receive some form of assistance from the Stranger,
whose judgment they all valued. An information plague, the Oblivion
Virus, had been causing Watchers all over the universe to will
themselves out of existence to keep from violating their oath of
non-interference. Quasar reasoned that their deaths affect the
universe just as much, if not more than their passive observation.
This idea revived all Watchers as it spread telepathically
throughout the universe.
Once back on Earth, Quasar encountered Unbeing and Origin, two minor
but powerful cosmic entities. After overcoming Unbeing, Origin
changed his costume design retroactively throughout time. This
simple act proved vital in his struggle against the Cosmic Assassin.
The Presence and Starlight, newly escaped from the Stranger's Lab
World reached Earth, intent on destroying Eon,
believing him to be an evil menace to the universe, due to a well
placed lie from the assassin. Quasar thwarted their attack and
believed that he had vanquished his appointed menace . . . just as
the assassin wanted him to believe. Immediately after this, he
discovered that his father had died months earlier and been animated
since then by Eon. Abdicating his position as Protector of the
Universe, he cut off all contact with his former mentor.
During this time of emotional upheaval, the Cosmic Assassin revealed
himself . . . Maelstrom.
Having assumed the power and station of the cosmic entity Anomaly
after being hyper-enlarged in a battle with the Avengers,
he cut off Quasar's arms and suspended him in his mansion, but the
Bands remained even on his severed arms, unable to be removed. To
enable him to harness the energy of the Bands, Maelstrom finally
killed Wendell and donned the Quantum-Bands.
Although his body lay dead in Maelstrom's
mansion, Quasar suddenly found himself composed of pure energy. Not
knowing how he had survived, he tried to protect Eon
from Maelstrom. To keep him from gaining the secret of cosmic
awareness, Quasar killed his eight billion-year-old mentor and
suddenly found himself in possession of Eon's cosmic awareness. But,
the fatal blow came to late, Maelstrom also acquired it. He then set
out to collapse the universe into a single anomalous point where he,
being the personification of Anomaly, would reign supreme.
As the universal collapse accelerated, Maelstrom,
as the avatar of Oblivion,
battled Quasar, acting as the avatar of Infinity,
his mysterious benefactor. In the ensuing battle, Quasar triumphed
due to the fact that he existed as a time paradox because of
Origin's retroactive change of his costume. This caused him to be a
more anomalous being than Maelstrom, thereby diminishing his power
and breaking his concentration enough to allow the energy of the Quantum-Bands
to consume him . Infinity, having triumphed demanded new terms from
Oblivion. Death
and Eternity
were summoned, and new terms reached. As a part of these new terms,
Quasar and Makkari
were returned to life, while Death
and Oblivion kept Eon
and Maelstrom. When healing his body, Quasar created a new version
of his costume, combining various elements from his S.H.I.E.L.D.
issued costume and the version Eon created.
Immediately upon saving the universe from his appointed threat, he
served Eon
one final time by delivering Epoch, Eon's daughter, from an egg
within Eon's vast remains. Where Eon was his mentor, Epoch became
his god-daughter, and he her mentor and protector has she developed
her nascent cosmic awareness.
Agreeing to help our Watcher
retrieve the Living Laser from the various alternate realities to
which he had fled months before, Quasar was struck while quantum
jumping by a blast from Maelstrom
who was battling Thanos for control of that alternate universe. The
blast knocked him out of the known multiverse into the greater
omniverse where there were no Watchers to help him return. Dubbed
the "New Universe", its physical laws differed from those
of his home universe. Cut off from the Quantum Zone, Quasar only had
the energy he happened to have stored in his Quantum-Bands. Meeting
some "paranormals" from that Earth, he was able to find
the Starbrand,
that universe's most powerful energy source. With its power he was
able to muster enough energy to return to his universe.
Unfortunately, he burnt-out the Starbrand in the process...or so he
believed.
The Kree and Shi'ar, two star-spanning races were accelerating
toward war. Both utilized a pair of normally closed stargates in
close proximity to our sun, using its energy to power the gates.
Using the stargates this close to the sun caused widespread
increases in sunspot activity and threatened to destroy the sun and
Earth, unless the stargates were sealed.
The Shi'ar, in an attempt to construct a doomsday weapon, stole the
Psyche-Magnetron and eventually acquired the Nega-Bands, worn by the
late Captain
Marvel. These objects when combined with the Kree Onmi Wave
Projector, formed a powerful bomb, the Nega-Bomb, capable of killing
billions in the Kree Empire.
Making use of Quasar's quantum jumping ability two envoys composed
of Avengers
left for the Kree and Shi'ar homeworlds, hoping to convince their
leaders to keep their war out of our system. Staying behind, Quasar
spent much of this time in space safeguarding our sun by attempting
to intercept various Kree and Shi'ar ships as they plunged through
the stargates.
Convinced by the Avengers,
Empress Lilandra of the Shi'ar decided not to use the bomb, and to
attempt a diplomatic settlement with the Kree. The Skrulls, ancient
enemies of the Kree, stole the bomb and successfully detonated it in
the Kree Empire, killing over 90% of the populations of thousands of
worlds.
Upon reaching Hala, the Kree homeworld, the Avengers
discovered that the decimation of the Kree Empire had been planned
from the beginning by the Kree leader, the Supreme Intelligence.
Divided on how to deal with him, a group of Avengers led by Iron Man
went to kill him. The other group led by Captain America, and
including Quasar, could not condone the murder.
Feeling a bit responsible for all the death in the Kree empire,
Quasar decided to leave Earth and attempt to better protect the
universe by keeping tragedies such as it from occurring again.
Quitting the Avengers,
he left Earth with Makkari
and Kismet with the devastated Kree Empire as their first
destination.
Embroiled once again in the various battles that have surrounded the
all-powerful weapon known as the Infinity Gauntlet, Quasar was
apparently killed by the Ultimate Nullifier. The fraction of the Starbrand
still left to him from his journey to the New Universe kept him from
being destroyed, however. He used the last of its energy to once
again reclaim his Quantum-Bands.
The Stranger,
sensing the anomalous energy of the Starbrand,
dispatched a group of mercenaries to retrieve Kayla
from Earth for study. Wendell had unwittingly given her a fraction
of the Starbrand upon returning from the "New Universe".
Attaching a large thruster on the moon in an attempt to cause a
collision with Earth, the mercenaries used it as a distraction while
kidnapping Kayla. Quasar assembled a team to confront the menace on
the moon, disabled the thruster and, with help, returned the moon to
its correct orbit. Finding Kayla gone, he and his team tracked the
mercenaries to the Stranger's Lab World. The Stranger then assumed
the power of the Starbrand, an event which led to the movement of
the Earth of the "New Universe" to this universe. With the
"New Universe" Earth in orbit around the Stranger's Lab
World, the Living
Tribunal intervened and forever sealed the anomalous Earth from
this universe, trapping Kayla there. Presented with the option of
forfeiting his position as Protector of the Universe and joining
Kayla, Wendell declined and once more set about wandering the
universe.
While establishing various listening posts with his Quantum-Bands
throughout the universe, Wendell received an urgent message from his
mother, using a special homing beacon he had given her. Racing home,
he discovered that the Charter, a peaceful galactic federation had
invited Earth to join. Resting aboard the Charter's enormous
satellite, Quasar awoke to find its 3 million inhabitants dead. The
prime suspect, Wendell was forced to battle the Charter's
peace-keeping force while he, with the help of Beta Ray Bill and the
Silver Surfer, stopped a giant meteor from destroying the Earth.
Joined by two members of the peace keeping force and calling
themselves the Starmasters, the team discovered the real murderers,
the war-like Axi-Tun, and cleared Quasar's name.