Just like that, Quasar rendered himself unemployable.

Although, I haven't had a job interview in a while, on either side of the questioning; but are facial tattoos still the kiss of death, or are they mainstream now? I don't exactly have my finger on the pulse of youth culture. Not since that restraining order, anyway.

Recently, I picked up the Fantastic Four DVD-Rom, A House Divided, which collects a hundred issues, including several annuals. As with almost any hundred straight issues of any comic, with a few exceptions, there are stretches of both good and terrible in there; but if you pick something like this up on the cheap, it does ameliorate a lot of the low points. I have another of those DVD-Roms from a few years back coming, that we'll go into more later, but I still have to finish reading the FF one; I think it has the entirety of both Chris Claremont and Mark Waid's runs, as well as good stuff from Adam Warren, Alan Davis, Karl Kesel, and more.

Why do I bring it up during a post on Quasar? Since I would love to have the sixty issues of the series collected cheaply, perhaps in a couple Essential black-and-white volumes or a DVD-Rom or something.

Three things I realized looking at these two issues the other day: as a series, Quasar always built off what had happened before in new and curious ways. For example: Quasar has a chance encounter with the Living Laser in #6, during Acts of Vengeance. The Living Laser gets zapped into alternate realities after crashing the Watcher's house; and in #30 the Watcher asks Quasar to stop LL from mucking around in What If's. Quasar then ends up in the New Universe in #31, where he gets the Star Brand so he can get home. Which brings us to #44 above ("Muck Amok," written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Andy Smith, inks by Ralph Cabrera.) where a recently returned to life Quasar finds he didn't burn out the Star Brand as he had thought, and he has to fight an Antibody escaped from the New Universe and villain Quagmire from the Squadron Supreme universe...!

Second: Quasar died, a lot. But he was also in a ton of crossovers, from Acts of Vengeance, to Infinity Gauntlet and War, to the terrible Starblast. Especially in the Infinity War issues, like #39, "To Be or Not to Be" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Steve Lightle, inks by Candlelario and McKenna. Featuring Wolverine prominently, for some reason.

A scene that's about three panels in the proper Infinity War limited series--Thanos gives Quasar the Ultimate Nullifier to try to take out the Magus, and Quasar himself is apparently wiped out of existence--is expanded for seven issues or so, from Quasar's point of view. Smartly, Quasar spends an issue doing his homework on the Nullifier, rather than just cowboying it.

Nice art on these two issues as well. Wouldn't mind at all if I had them all together to read, though. Or a Quasar action figure. With Ultimate Nullifier accessory...