I think I blogged one issue of this storyline twice already; but maybe we'll finish it before that Quasar figure shows up! From 1991, Quasar #24, "Maelstrom Manifest" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Greg Capullo, inks by Keith Williams.
Quasar is already dead, his corpse mutilated, and his Quantum-bands now on the wrists of Maelstrom, the "cosmic assassin" and threat Quasar had been trying to find and stop since like his second issue or so. With an Inhuman dad and Deviant mom (and surprisingly plain kid!) Maelstrom had the power to absorb and redirect kinetic energy, and had stopped the earth from spinning to give himself a massive boost. He had also stolen Eon's cosmic awareness, and next on the list? Create a black hole at the new center of the universe, and destroy all reality! That's not a quick process, though; so after telling Uatu to get lost and starting the black hole, he had time to visit the universe's big names and gloat a bit. Maelstrom stops by to see Galactus, Thanos and Mephisto during Infinity Gauntlet(!) and Arishem the Celestial, before realizing Quasar had returned.
Sort of: Maelstrom earlier calls him an "energy simulacrum," a yellow-hued, handless, quantum ghost. In the quantum realm, Quasar had met Infinity, one of the manifestations of the universe like Eternity: he tries to warn her about Maelstrom's plot, but charmingly, she had "utter confidence" that Quasar could handle it. He tries to stop the black hole, but isn't able to from the outside, and isn't sure if even his energy form could survive the inside. Maelstrom arrives in time to stop him, but tackles Quasar and knocks them both into the black hole, which doesn't quite dissipate Quasar, but squeezes Maelstrom's physical form into nothingness. But the black hole is still growing... Also this issue: Moondragon guilts the Ghost Rider into taking care of Wendell's friends, and mourns Quasar and Makkari's seeming deaths; while Dr. Strange and a ton of mystic types try to keep earth from being destroyed, but can't start it rotating again. I should've scheduled this for the solstice or something.
I actually worked extra overtime this last week (more than I usually do!) to try and justify biting the bullet and coughing up for Quasar on Mercari. Best price out there right now was still over double retail, and I don't wanna reward some scalper with that. Also, the chest emblem looked crooked, which probably did more to dissuade me...