During the early 1990s, there were a number of stories in
The Avengers which featured the man we eventually came to know as
Quasar, who as Wendell Vaughn actually dates back to the late '70s but who had gone through a refit or two by the time he joined the Assemblers. I was admittedly on auto-pilot when reading the book during that period--its
300th issue having not quite capped a sudden spiral downward in quality and direction following
the departure of writer Roger Stern, while its story, despite its forced appearance of affirmation, conveyed an impression of the book and its team as being rudderless. And so I could be forgiven for accepting Quasar in the Avengers lineup at face value, as new
Avengers stories from that point on were rifled through fairly quickly, rather than being read with interest and anticipation on my part.
(Remember the times when we were eager to sit down with a new comics story?) That being the case, it's not surprising that I've found myself going over in my mind Quasar's beginnings as the informal successor (if that's even the right word) to Marvel Boy, and wondering: When exactly did this man join the Avengers? Yet as we'll see, "joined" may be a misnomer in the sense of how we've come to regard new members being inducted into and being presented as part of the Avengers lineup.
Continued »»»
