So back around the time I first started this blog, I read through several random issues of Quasar and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I don’t know why I had thought the character was lame or some sort of ’90s mort, but that had been my impression going in and thankfully, it changed.

Over the next few yeras, I picked up random issues here and there as well as the Quasar Classic trade paperback; between those and my Marvel Unlimited subscription, I had most of the series up until issue #52. Id’ thought of finishing the series, but decided to make that decision after I’d read what I already owned.

It’ll be hard to sum up this series in one blog post, especially since I read all of those Quasar issues as well as three of Marvel’s company-wide crossover events. I’ll try my best, I guess.

When it comes to the book’s main story, Quasar starts strong and I can clearly see why you can look at is a Marvel companion to DC’s Starman series that was out around the same time. Like Will Payton, Wendell Vaughn has been given tremendous cosmic power. So he’s navigating being the protector of the universe as well as being a twentysomething in New York; in true Marvel fashion, home life and superhero life often get in the way of one another.

This is my first taste of Mark Gruenwald’s writing for a prolonged run of comics. I’ve always heard good things about his Captain American run but have never read beyond an issue or two (although I will probably go check that out at some point), so I went in optimistic. Overall, I left really pleased. Gruenwald not only paces the book well and writes some great action, he builds a believable character in Wendell as well as a supporting cast that you grow to care about. The art helps, too. The book starts with solid pencils by Paul Ryan and then takes off when Greg Capullo comes on. I’d remembered how much I liked his work on X-Force back in the day, and I think I like this even better.

The book lasted 60 issues and as it goes along, becomes more and more compelling as Quasar gets involved with cosmic threats and the supporting cast starts to each face their own issues. It also gives him roles to play in Infinity Gauntlet, Operation: Galactic Storm, and Infinity War. Of those three, I’d already read the two Infinity stories, although none of the crossover issues.

Operation: Galactic Storm, though, was something I’d skipped entirely when it came out, sticking to DC’s crossovers of the time. The entire crossover is on Marvel Unlimited–although it is not grouped, so I had to rely on the Comic Book Reading Order website for reference–and it’s the story about a war between the Shi’ar Empire and the Kree Empire. The Avengers get sucked in when Rick Jones gets kidnapped in a callback to the classic Kree/Skrull war.

My feelings about superheroes in space are always mixed. The Titans are hit or miss whenever they go to Tamaran or New Chronos. The X-Men in space rarely excites me. This, however, was a lot of fun, and after watching 15 years’ worth of MCU films fits right into that particular cinematic vision. In fact, this felt like a movie and a successful one at that because it delivered on a lot of what it set up.

As for Jim Starlin’s Infinity saga, my feelings vary. I’m actually not the biggest fan of Infinity Gauntlet. Despite amazing art from both George Perez and Ron Lim, I never fully connect with it. I’ve read it twice and both times feel like I should have had much more background knowledge going in. Also, while Thanos is a great character, I find Adam Warlock boring. That being said, Infinity War is great. I think that’s because there’s a great big bad in Magus, Thanos is portrayed as an even more complex character (especially in the Warlock and the Infinity Watch issues) and there are characters whose stories are more intriguing. I mean, I’ll never tire of watching Doctor Doom and Kang scheme against one another while teaming up to stop the Magus.

Quasar has significant roles in both Galactic Storm and Infinity War and the repercussions of both crossovers are felt in his title for a number of issues, probably even beyond what you would have been seeing in other Marvel books. Plus, it’s around this time that his love interest, Kayla Ballentine, has gained the power of the Star Brand, which was a defunct New Universe title. Gruenwald had a significant hand in the New Universe and it’s interesting to see what he is bringing here.

That’s where I left the book, and I’ve decided that I’m going to do a read-through of the last year or so of the book because I not only want to simply finish it (with so few stories left), I’m really enjoying it and am excited to see where it ends.