Quasar's History
Early Life
Wendell Vaughn was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin but raised in Oshkosh. He had served in the US Army with distinction, eventually being promoted to Lieutenant. After the army, he applied to join the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. He graduated with full honors, but his records stated that he lacked the so-called "killer instinct" needed to be a field agent.
Quantum Bands
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 the criminal organization 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 AIM invasion. And ultimately, it was his lack of a killer instinct that enabled him to subdue the rampant energies he had unleashed.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agents
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. The program was dismantled when Blue Streak and the Vamp were revealed to be double agents. 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 the second time. Only days earlier, his and many other costumed adventurers' attempt to join the Defenders had quickly degenerated into a free-for-all.
Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
Wendell's S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials landed him a job as head of security at the government's experimental energy facility, Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.. Within weeks of his arrival, the project was nearly destroyed by the space-engulfing Nth Man. It took the combined forces of Thundra, Thing, 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 the decision. 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.
Protector of the Universe
Dr. Vaughn proposed his son undertake a scientific mission to learn the origin of the Quantum 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 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, an Eternal. The Stranger was away from his Lab World investigating a mystery, the sudden deaths of several Watchers throughout the galaxy. 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 in an effort to keep from violating their oath of non-interference. Wendell 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.
Against the Cosmic Assassin
Once back on Earth, Quasar encountered Unbeing and Origin, two minor but powerful cosmic entities. After overcoming Unbeing, Quasar had his costume design changed retroactively throughout time. Origin's 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, believed 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 true 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 too 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 a new bargain struck. As a part of this new pact, 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 for him.
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 as she developed her nascent cosmic awareness.
New Universe
Agreeing to help our Watcher retrieve the Living Laser from the various alternate realities to which he had fled months before, Wendell journeyed to a succession of alternate realities. In one of these realities, Quasar encountered an immensely powerful Maelstrom who blasted him thinking that he was his reality's Quasar. The blast coincided with a hasty quantum jump and 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 greatly 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.
Kree/Shi'ar War
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 Omni-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 Earth's solar system. Staying behind, Quasar spent much of this time in space safeguarding our sun by intercepting 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 attempted a diplomatic settlement with the Kree. However, 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 responsible for all the death in the Kree empire, Quasar decided to leave Earth and attempt to better protect the universe by preventing similar tragedies. Quitting the Avengers, he left Earth with Makkari and Kismet with the devastated Kree Empire as their first destination.
Infinity War
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 Star Brand 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.
Starblast
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.
The Long Goodbye
Intending to return to Earth, Quasar was confronted by enemies he had made in his adventures. The egomaniacal Presence hated Quasar for various past slights dating back to the Cosmic Assassin affair. His daughter, the super-hero Darkstar, was convinced to join her father's vendetta against Quasar after her brother Vanguard was killed on Quasar's behalf during the mission on the Strangers' Laboratory World. With his life and the lives of his family and friends being threatened by the Presence, Wendell was forced into a situation where he faked his death on Earth to bring the Presence's vengeance to a conclusion, and self-exiled himself into space.
Charged for Murder
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 peacekeeping force and calling themselves the Star Masters, the team discovered the real murderers, the war-like Axi-Tun, and cleared Quasar's name.
Morgan's Conquest
Once again answering the call of the Avengers, Wendell found himself battling alongside almost the entire membership of the team against Morgan le Fay as she used the power of various Asgardian magical objects to remake reality. With the Avengers as her personal army in this new reality, she controlled the planet. Quasar, or Star Knight in Morgan's reality, was one of a handful of Avengers able to hear the Scarlet Witch's mystical call for help to those with the most Avengers spirit. Finally breaking the spell, the team returned home, and Quasar once more returned to space.
Avengers: Infinity
Discovering a ravaged planet and Jack of Hearts near death, Wendell requested help from the reserves of the Avengers and was joined by Photon, Thor, Tigra, Starfox, and Moondragon. Together they alerted Eternity to the extradimensional danger and saved all life in the universe.
Maximum Security
While returning to Earth, the Avengers and the entire planet once again became embroiled in the machinations of the Kree Supreme Intelligence. Subtly convincing various other races that humans were too dangerous to be allowed free reign in the galaxy, Earth was turned into a prison planet. The Avengers, with other Earth heroes, exposed the Kree plot and freed the planet. The Earth was still threatened, however, by the quickly growing mass of Ego, the Living Planet. After the Silver Surfer failed to contain the mass, Wendell, home again after so many months of wandering the galaxy, used the power of the Quantum Bands to contain Ego within his body, forcing him into exile in space lest the Ego-mass within him escape.
Asteroid Base
The Avengers, in an effort to take a more proactive approach to protecting humanity, contacted Wendell soon after his leaving the Earth. He created a small base in the Asteroid Belt to serve as an early warning post in the event of another alien incursion. It wasn't a solitary vigil, though, as other Avengers took shifts with him, letting him catch up with events on Earth. On a small break from monitor duty, Quasar even helped long-time friend Ben Grimm and the rest of the Fantastic Four in a battle on the Moon.
Annihilation
Quasar fought against the Annihilation Wave alongside Nova. The two fought their way across the galaxy and confronted Annihilus directly. Annihilus destroyed Wendell's body, and confiscated the Quantum Bands. Seconds before his death Wendell attempted to Quantum jump from Annihilus' clutches but only his mind managed to escape, which ended up in the Negative Zone. Rider later avenged his death by personally ripping Annihilus apart after the Quantum Bands chose Phlya-Vell as their new wielder.
Phyla vowed to carry on Wendell's legacy as Quasar. However, she had difficulties in her new position, as Annihilus had left corruption in the bands that would overtake her if she used too much energy. When she attempted to fight off the Phalanx invasion of the Kree Empire, Wendell appeared before her, caught in a spiritual battle against Annihilus. As he sealed away the influence of the evil warlord, he promised Phyla that she would make a great Quasar.
Secret Invasion
Six weeks prior to the Skrull invasion, Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. technicians probing the Negative Zone discovered an exotic form of radiation and contained it within a "Quantum Flask". When the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility was attacked by a Skrull Task Force, P.E.G.A.S.U.S. scientists Robbie Rider, and Evelyn Necker removed the Xandarian Worldmind from Nova's head and used it to open the flask, unleashing Wendell, who had become a being of pure quantum energy. Nova, the resurrected Quasar, and Darkhawk managed to repel most of the Skrull invaders before Wendell was forced to return to the flask to recharge.
Retaking the Bands
Due to years of use, Wendell's soul somehow became linked to the Quantum Bands. Using this link, he felt Phyla-Vell's death and rebirth at the hands of Maelstrom and the Dragon of the Moon, instantly teleporting from Earth to the realm of Oblivion, where he reacquired the bands from Phyla, now reborn as the new Avatar of Death.[39] After bequeathing a small fraction of the Bands' power to Phyla, he returned to Earth, where he gave the Quantum Bands to a terminally ill Richard Rider, convinced that making him the new Quasar would be enough to save his life.[40] Richard eventually relinquished possession of the bands back to Wendell.
Realm of Kings
During the tail end of the Kree/Inhumans-Shi'ar War, Black Bolt detonated a Terrigen Bomb that tore a massive hole in space and time. This hole, dubbed the Fault, threatened to expand and consume all of reality. In a joint meeting between the Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, and Director Gruenwald of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., Wendell volunteered to make the first scouting trip beyond the Fault to a universe Moondragon had referred to as a "Cancerverse", reasoning that he would be protected by his energy form. Wendell would maintain contact with his universe via a Quantum Link.
While traveling through the Fault, Wendell somehow regained his corporeal form as well as a new costume. Arriving in the Cancerverse, Wendell found himself in a twisted and dystopian version of New York City. Almost immediately Wendell was attacked by a giant monster, which initially overpowered him before the intervention of the "Avengers". During the course of the battle, Ms. Marvel and Scarlet Witch grew suspicious of Wendell, declaring him to be from "somewhere else". Captain America ordered Thor to "hammer" the monster, causing it to revert back into Bruce Banner. Captain America deemed Banner to be too dangerous and unstable to have around and ordered Iron Man to tear his heart out.
Turing their attention to Wendell, the Avengers concluded that he wasn't "their" Quasar and promptly imprisoned him. While imprisoned, the Avengers explained that their world was "filled" by the Many-Angled Ones and that they intend on using the Fault to seek out new universes for them to conquer; mentioning that their Quasar had also been sent beyond the Fault on a scouting mission. Scarlet Witch entered the room, claiming Wendell was made from "Quantum-Phasic energy", and that a distinct energy path connects him to his universe of origin. She asked the other Avengers to clear out as she needed some time to concentrate in order to plot the course to Wendell's universe in detail. Suddenly the Vision emerged from Scarlet Witch's body and freed Wendell. Vision explained that he had been hiding in his wife's body for years in an effort to find a cure for his world and that the only ones opposing the Many-Angled Ones were machines like him. Wendell flew from his prison, past Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, and Thor, and off into space where he discovered, much to his horror, that the universe itself was comprised of a single giant, organic mass. In a last ditch effort Wendell attempted to warn Director Gruenwald of the coming threat of the Many-Angled Ones. Wendell lost contact with his universe shortly thereafter.
Back on Earth, the Quasar from the Cancerverse arrived at the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility.
Gladiator, who had recently assumed control of the Shi'ar Empire, sent the Imperial Guard and the Starjammers on a scouting expedition to the Fault. After escaping the clutches of a dead bio-ship, the scouting party encountered Wendell fleeing for his life. Wendell claimed he had been running for days and warned that whatever was pursuing him was right behind him. In an attempt to reach the other side of the Fault, Oracle used Wendell's Quantum powers to carry a message back to Chandilar via the M'kraan Crystal. Gladiator received the message and arrived in the Fault with reinforcement Guardsmen. Wendell managed to escape from the Fault due to the combined efforts of himself, the Imperial Guard, the Starjammers, and Talon of the Fraternity of Raptors, who had been masquerading as Guardsman Smasher.
Almost immediately after reaching Chandilar, Wendell sent a message to Nova, detailing what he just went through, and warning him of the horrors that lay beyond the Fault. Nova concluded that the Quasar that recently arrived at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. wasn't the real Quasar and, along with Darkhawk, went to Earth to investigate.
War With the Cancerverse
During his brief time on Earth, the Quasar from the Cancerverse had constructed a "Horrorscope", a device used for locating something. Declaring that he had found what he was looking for, "Quasar" left Earth to deliver the news to his master in person. Nova went after him, and sent out an 8x8 distress signal warning everybody he could that the Fault was a top priority threat to the entire universe.[47] The real Wendell received Nova's message and joined in the pursuit. The duo chased "Quasar" to a Universal Church of Truth Templeship, merely one of hundreds amassed along the border of the Fault, where Nova demanded to know what the Cancerverse Quasar was looking for back on Earth. Suddenly Nova was attacked from behind by Adam Magus. The Xandarian Worldmind informed Nova that Magus's power greatly exceeded his own and that the best course of action was to run. Wendell tried to intervene, but was effortlessly tossed aside by Magus. Wendell noticed that, in addition to the UCT Templeships, Magus had also brought entire planets to the mouth of the Fault. With a single word Magus blew up the planets, significantly widening the tear in space and time. From out of the Fault came "Quasar" and Magus's dark master: Lord Mar-Vell.
Wendell and Nova survived the destruction of the planets and went to assist the Nova Corps in battling the creatures that emerged from the Fault. During the fight, Lord Mar-Vell sent the Revengers to kidnap the recently resurrected Namorita due to her nature as a "temporal anomaly."
Wendell and Nova continued to hold the line at the Fault when Silver Surfer, Galactus, Aegis, Tenebrous, and the Celestials joined the conflict. Wendell was present when the weaponized corpse of the Cancerverse Galactus broke through the Fault. Realizing the danger this new weapon posed, Wendell and Nova met with the Allied Council of War to discuss the next course of action. Nova suggested that the Cancerverse invasion was only to establish a foothold in their universe and that Lord Mar-Vell was planning something else. Believing Namorita and the others that the Revengers had kidnapped were important to Mar-Vell's plans, Nova proposed the formation of a small strike team to mount a rescue mission. For his team, Nova selected Wendell, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Silver Surfer, and Ronan the Accuser.
Annihilators
In an effort to prevent further galactic catastrophes, Quasar joined the Annihilators. The team protected Galador from an invasion of the Dire Wraiths and brought an end to the generations long war between the two worlds. The Annihilators learned of an attempt to revive the Magus by the Universal Church of Truth, and they prevented his resurrection with the aid of the Avengers. Quasar and the other Annihilators later confronted Thanos and Adam Warlock while the two were on a cosmic crusade, and were defeated.
Pleasant Hill
Wendell eventually started to lose control over the Quantum Bands. He bequeathed them to S.H.I.E.L.D., to keep them from falling into the wrong hands, and even his own. When S.H.I.E.L.D. created the top secret town/prison of Pleasant Hill, Wendell became one of the several operatives living among countless of reformed super villains who had had their memories and appearances tampered with by a sentient Cosmic Cube named Kobik so they could be turned into model citizens.
In a similar manner to the inmates, albeit voluntarily, Wendell was transformed into an old man and the curator of the Pleasant Hill Museum, the place where the Quantum Bands were kept, to remain there as a failsafe in case Kobik needed to be neutralized.
During a super villain uprising led by Baron Zemo, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Avril Kincaid resorted to finding the Quantum Bands. As a consequence of the upheaval, anybody who had had their true selves modified by Kobik regained their memories and true appearance, including Wendell. After regaining his memories, he gave Kincaid the Quantum Bands.
Once the conflict was resolved, Wendell began tutoring Avril on using the bands, helping her become the new Quasar.
Out of Retirement
During a Chitauri invasion while Hydra Supreme was ruling the country, Avril Kincaid sacrificed herself in order to save Earth from the Chitauri and seemingly died as a result. This led Wendell into coming out of retirement in order to take up the role of Quasar once again in her memory. He was present at Starfox's reveal of Thanos' last words but they were attacked by the Black Order and thrown into a black hole. He managed to fly his way out, but not before briefly seeing Avril, who appeared to have been trapped between space.
