is for Quasar.
Wendell Vaughn was just your ordinary, run of the mill, 'everyman'...who just happened to graduate from the S.H.I.E.L.D academy. Recognized as a good man, Vaughn never made field agent due to his lack of that 'killer instinct'. Relegated to security details, one of his first jobs was at a facility where scientists were running tests on a pair of "Quantum Bands"...weapons used by the now deceased hero, The Crusader.
The test pilot wearing the bands was able to use them quite well but, after a while, the quantum energy reached critical mass and fried him to death. Still studying them, the facility was attacked by the scientific terrorist group, A.I.M (Advanced Idea Mechanics) in a bid to steal the weapons. With little choice, Vaughn puts on the Quantum Bands and was quite successful in defeating the A.I.M. goons. As the power began to rise, ready to fry him, he decided to relax and 'go with the flow'. He had figured out that having a more flexible mind was the key to using the bands, not the rigid thinking that people with 'killer instincts' had.
Of course, with such powerful weapons, Wendell decides to become a superhero. Calling himself "Marvel Boy", then "Marvel Man", then settling on "Quasar".
Debuting back in Captain America #217 (January 1978) as Marvel Man, the character then went on to guest star in quite a few issues of Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, and Marvel Two-in-One.
Wendell Vaughn has no inborn powers, but has been trained in many forms of hand to hand combat as well as basic espionage skills.
His power stem from the Quantum Bands that are, now, affixed permanently to his wrists. The bands tap energy from the 'Quantum Zone' for various effects:
- Energy blasts
- Energy constructs
- Bending light to make things invisible
- Siphon, absorb, and redirect various types of energy
- Traveling through the Quantum Zone as a form of teleportation
Quasar has always been the 'go to' hero when it came to stories involving space spanning, cosmic, themes in the Marvel Universe.
Tune in tomorrow for one of Marvel Comics.....odder...heroes...
