The Making of Marvel Man

Marvel Man was largely unknown when he joined the Defenders for a Day. During his debut in Captain America #217, the character had introduced himself as Marvel Boy—differentiating himself from an earlier hero with that same name—only to become Marvel Man in #218.

The original Marvel Boy had appeared in comic books published in the 1950s by Atlas Comics (the immediate predecessor to Marvel Comics). The character's origin story tied to recent history. In 1934, to escape the threat of Hitler, scientist Matthew Grayson fled Earth in a spaceship, taking his infant son with him. They arrived on Uranus, where young Bob Grayson developed intuitive telepathic abilities, like the planet's peaceful inhabitants. As a young adult, Bob returned to Earth to stop crime as Marvel Boy, wearing Uranian wristbands that could generate a blinding light.

The character made a jarring return in Fantastic Four #164-165. Now calling himself Crusader, the former hero went on a rampage and then vanished, leaving behind his wristbands. From there, Anthony Stark's crew developed the wristbands worn by the new Marvel Boy/Man in Captain America #217-218.

Following the events in Defenders #62-65, Marvel Man guest-starred in The Incredible Hulk #233, with his name highlighted on the cover. Marvel Man could use his wristbands to fly and manipulate energy in various ways. His confidence plummeted, however, when a boy told him that Marvel Man was a dopey name. In #234, the hero changed his name to Quasar, distinguishing himself from other recognizable Marvel characters, including Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel.

Even More Marvel Super Heroes - 1982

To round out coverage of the Marvel Superheroes - 1982 biographies from Contest of Champions, this post reproduces the profiles of those heroes known in hindsight as Defenders for a Day. Keep in mind that, by the time of publication, Black Goliath had become the second Giant-Man, and Marvel Man had changed his name to Quasar. Also, while the profile for Tagak mentions the leopard Opar, and the profile for Falcon mentions the bird Redwing, neither of these animals accompanied the heroes as Defenders for a Day.

For good measure, I've included the profiles for Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Paladin (who, arguably weren't Defenders for a Day). Profiles for Ms. Marvel and Son of Satan link to related posts where they also appear.

CAPTAIN ULTRA
(Real name unrevealed) Would-be hero possessing flight, strength, and other powers but has a vulnerability to fire. Nationality unknown. Current whereabouts: unknown. First appearance: FANTASTIC FOUR #177.

FALCON
(Sam Wilson, social worker) American who uses an anti-gravitic suit with wings to fly, and has a nigh-telepathic link with his falcon Redwing. Former member of the Avengers. Current whereabouts: New York City. First appearance: CAPTAIN AMERICA #117.

HAVOK
(Alex Summers, archaeology student) American mutant whose body generates cosmic energy that can be siphoned off into explosions. Brother to Cyclops. Occasional member of the X-Men. Current whereabouts: Rio Diablo, New Mexico. First appearance: X-MEN #58.

HERCULES
(Uses no regular alias) Olympian born man-god possessing super-strength. Son of Zeus. Former member of the Avengers. Current whereabouts: Hollywood, California. First appearance: THOR ANNUAL #1.

IRON FIST
(Daniel Rand, investigator/bodyguard) American-born trained in the martial arts in the dimension city of K'un-Lun, master of the "iron fist" technique. Current whereabouts: New York City. First appearance: MARVEL PREMIERE #15.

JACK OF HEARTS
(Jack Hart, student) American endowed with strange energy, enabling him to fly and shoot energy rays, and computer-analyze machinery at a glance. Current whereabouts: Earth. First appearance: DEADLY HANDS OF KING-FU #22.

PALADIN
(Real name unknown) American mercenary possessing great agility and fighting prowess. Wears a bullet-proof vest and carries a gun. Current whereabouts: New York environs. First appearance: DAREDEVIL #150.

POLARIS
(Lorna Dane) American mutant with the ability to control magnetism. Current whereabouts: Rio Diablo, New Mexico. First appearance: X-MEN #49.

QUASAR
(Wendell Vaughn, security chief) American wielding a pair of power-bands from Uranus, capable of tapping any power source and transforming that energy into solid objects or force-beams. Also enables him to fly. First appearance (as Marvel Man): CAPTAIN AMERICA #217. First appearance (as Quasar): HULK #234.

SON OF SATAN
(Daimon Hellstrom, occult expert) American whose father is an arch-demon. Possesses supernatural strength and wields a trident and rides a chariot driven by fiery horses. Occasional member of the Defenders. Current whereabouts: New York City. First appearance: MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #12.

STINGRAY
(Dr. Walter Newell, oceanographer) American who uses special deep-sea suit, enabling him to breathe underwater, withstand the ocean's pressure, swim with great speed, and glide through the air for short distances. Also uses an electrical sting-blast. Current whereabouts: Hydrobase, Atlantic. First appearance: SUB-MARINER #19.

TAGAK THE LEOPARD LORD
(No other name known) Extra-dimensional humanoid with great athletic ability and fighting prowess. Though blind, he is able to see by telepathic link to his pet leopard, Opar. Current whereabouts: his home dimension. First appearance: DAREDEVIL #72.

TORPEDO
(Brock Jones, ex-football player, ex-insurance agent, high school coach) American who wears strength-enhancing suit enabling him to fly at great speeds. Current whereabouts: Clairton, Virginia. First appearance: DAREDEVIL #126.

INACTIVE

GIANT-MAN II
(Bill Foster, physicist) Black American who could mentally stimulate growth in height and mass up to about twenty-five feet. First appearance (as Bill Foster): AVENGERS #32. First appearance (as Black Goliath): POWER MAN #24. First appearance (as Giant-Man): MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #55. Reason for retirement: radiation poisoning weakened body.

MS. MARVEL
(Carol Danvers, ex-security agent, freelance writer) American who possessed ability to fly, super-strength, heightened reflexes, and a precognitive Seventh Sense. Former member of the Avengers. First appearance: MS. MARVEL #1. Reason for retirement: loss of powers.

NOVA
(Richard Ryder, student) American who possessed super-strength and the ability to fly. First appearance: NOVA #1. Reason for retirement: loss of powers.

PROWLER
(Hobie Brown, window washer) Black American who used various gimmicks to fight crime. First appearance: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #78. Reason for retirement: voluntarily gave up costumed identity to devote time to civilian life.

WHITE TIGER
(Hector Ayala, student) Puerto Rican who used mystic amulets to grant heightened strength, speed, agility, and fighting ability. First appearance: DEADLY HANDS OF KING-FU #22. Reason fore retirement: loss of amulets granting power.

DECEASED

CAPTAIN MARVEL
(Mar-vell, captain in Kree militia) Alien humanoid of the Kree Empire who had superhuman strength and fighting skills, photonic powers enabling him to fly, and a zen-like "cosmic awareness" which enabled him to perceive things extrasensorily. First appearance: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12. Died from cancer in THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL graphic novel.

This panel from Contest of Champions #1 spotlights the three founding members of the Defenders: Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Dr. Strange. The background features Human Torch, Thing, and Quasar (formerly Marvel Man).

Lawful Neutral: Project PEGASUS

In the world of Marvel Comics, Project PEGASUS (Potential Energy Group/Alternate Sources/United States) was a sizable research center operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. Quasar was the first costumed crimefighter hired to protect the facility, where scientific inquiry included the study of super-criminals with energy powers. Even with heroes and villains involved, research was the guiding objective. As such, Project PEGASUS would qualify as Lawful Neutral under the alignment structure of Dungeons & Dragons.

Lawful Good	Neutral Good	Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral	True Neutral	Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil

Quasar gives Thing a tour of Project PEGASUS in this panel from Marvel-Two-In-One #53. The supervillain Silas King (also known as Solarr) went into custody at the research station following his appearances in Defenders #42-43. Project PEGASUS had no connection to Valkyrie's horse Aragorn or other winged horses.

The Return of Over-Mind

Upon the destruction of their homeworld (a.k.a. Earth-S), the surviving members of the Squadron Supreme escaped to the dimension where most of Marvel's superhero comics take place.

The Squadron's arrival had an unusual effect on Over-Mind, who had once enslaved the team (Defenders #113).

Although six psychics collectively known as the Chorus had subdued Over-Mind, he returned to his original personality of the warlord Grom and soon regained mental control of the Squadron Supreme (Quasar #13-14).

The mysterious Stranger, a former enemy of Over-Mind, intervened to stop the powerful foe yet again. Numerous members of the Watchers witnessed the battle, as did the admittedly outclassed hero called Quasar (#15-16).

Mark Gruenwald wrote Quasar #13-16 (August-November 1990). Mike Manley penciled those issues.

Continued in Quasar

Quasar may have been a Defender for only a day (back when he was still called Marvel Man), but several story lines from the original run of the Defenders continued in Quasar's solo series, which took the hero into the far reaches of the cosmos.

Quasar #19, for example, unexpectedly brought back Gargoyle—one of several heroes who appeared to die in New Defenders #152 but later returned.

Quasar #19-20 also featured Red Guardian and Presence, who left Earth in Defenders #56 and were last seen in The Incredible Hulk #258-59.

Mark Gruenwald wrote Quasar #19-20 (February-March 1991). Greg Capullo penciled both issues.

Symptoms

Feeling uncharacteristically under the weather, Spider-Man dropped by the home of Dr. Strange for a magical check-up. The master of the mystic arts diagnosed that Spider-Man's dizzy spells and upset stomach were signs of fowl play connected to the reptile cult they faced in Marvel Team-up #111.

In their investigation, Dr. Strange and Spider-Man joined forces with Scarlet Witch and Thing to overthrow at plot at Project: PEGASUS (Potential Energy Group/Alternate Sources/United States), where the metaphysical Serpent Crown had seized control of the hero Quasar and the entire research facility.

Marvel Team-Up Annual. Vol. 1. No. 5. 1982. "Serpent Rising." Mark Gruenwald (script), Jim Mooney (embellishment), Diana Albers (letters), Bob Sharen (colors), Tom DeFalco (editor), Jim Sooter (editor-in-chief).

Defenders for a Day

The day after a TV documentary promoted the Defenders' loose membership policy, more than a dozen heroes arrived at Nighthawk's ranch ready to join the team. Instead of welcoming the prospective members, Nighthawk was enraged.

It's no wonder that the new members' first line of business was to get someone else in charge. Putting it to a vote, they elected Hercules as their leader, but only after Captain Mar-vell said he didn't want the job (Defenders #62).

In a highly strategic move, Valkyrie proposed that the crowd of heroes would work best if they divided into three smaller teams. Nighthawk and Hercules concurred.

Picking his team first, the Son of Zeus chose Black Goliath, Captain Ultra, Havok, Hellcat, Iron Fist, and White Tiger.

Valkyrie then selected Falcon, Jack of Hearts, Prowler, Stingray, and Torpedo. This set a precedent for Valkyrie's later stance (in #121, #126) that the Defenders did not need an official leader, unless of course it was her.

That left Nighthawk leading Marvel Man (Quasar), Nova, Polaris, Tagak, and Daimon Hellstrom ("Son of Satan"), who questioned Nighthawk's leadership skills from the get-go

Although all of the heroes who joined in issue #62 left by the end of #65, Hellstrom later became a regular member of the team. As an aside, there were no signs that Hellstrom and future-spouse Hellcat even noticed one another when he was a Defender for a Day.

As for Captain Mar-vell, the Kree warrior decided he didn't want to join the Defenders at all.

Ms. Marvel, who guest starred in #57, basically returned here to brag that she was now booked up as an Avenger.

And Paladin, who also arrived at the ranch that day, declined to join the team because he worked only for pay.

The Hulk, meanwhile, lept away after many of the one-shot Defenders tried to capture him.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 63. September 1978. "Deadlier by the Dozen!" David Kraft (story), Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney (artwork), J. Costanza (letters), R. Slifer (colors), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).