Why Quasar?

One question that I get whenever I tell anyone that one of my favorite comic book characters is Quasar (after "Who's Quasar?") is "Why?" Well, here's my in depth answer to something that's pretty simple.

First of all, I discovered Quasar when his own series came out in 1989, which means that I was 13. This is when my tastes were solidifying, so what I was into then is what pretty much set my tastes for the rest of my life. That means that Superman, Batman, Quasar, Captain America, Thor, etc were all destined to be among my favorites. It also helped that my buddy Adam Worth was also reading about Wendell Vaughn, so we could talk about what was going on.

The major reason that Quasar has stuck with me, though, is that he's "us." Wendell is a geek and a superhero groupie. He wasn't able to be a field agent for SHIELD because he didn't have that "killed instinct" that most of us also lack. Whenever he's around Captain America he becomes flustered and either trips over his words or just falls into "Yes, sir" or "No, sir".

Something else that I like about the character, but I also admit can get a bit grating, is his self doubt. This is a guy who just fell into the job of being "Protector of the Universe." He's not fearless, doesn't have invulnerability, and isn't a master strategist. No, he's just Wendell. He's doing the best job he can, but he often wonders if he can do better or if he's made the wrong decision. Which one of us hasn't had doubts like that?

Adam and I make fun of some of the business stuff, or other "adult" things, on the podcast, but we genuinely love the character. More than any other character in DC or Marvel, Quasar is the one that is most like the reader, and that means a lot.

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Why The Quantum Bands Are Better

Image courtesy of Hero Machine

Those of you that know me are aware that one of my favorite comic book characters is Quasar, Marvel's Protector of the Universe. Quasar has often been compared to Green Lantern in that he has jewelry that makes whatever he can think of. That's part of it, but not the whole story. I'm here to tell you why, in the grand scheme of things, the Quantum Bands are superior to Green Lantern's Power Ring.*

Let's look at them side by side. **

Allows User to fly?                                                                         Yes                                                               Yes

Allows User to Survive in Space?                                                   Yes                                                               Yes

Allows User to Warp Jump?                                                            Yes                                                               Yes

Gives User Superhuman Strength?                                                  Yes                                                               Yes

Protection of User (via Force Field, etc)?                                        Yes                                                              Yes

Allows User to Phase through Walls?                                             No                                                                Yes

Can it Render the User Invisible?                                                    No                                                               Yes

Can Create "Solid Light" Objects?                                                  Yes                                                               Yes

Do Constructs Require Concentration?                                            Yes                                                              Yes

What happens when Concentration Stops?                 It remains until the user dissolves it                         It goes away

Needs to be recharged?                                            No (Connected to The Quantum Zone)                    Yes (every 24 hours)

Can Absorb/Control Energy?                                      Yes (after analysis of the energy)                      Absorb but not Control

Allows User to Travel through Time?                                               No                                                               Yes

Can Scan the Electro-Magnetic Spectrum?                                       Yes                                                               Yes

Acts as a Galactic Encyclopedia?                                        Yes (via Eon or Epoch)                                             Yes

Can Act as a Universal Translator?                                                   Yes                                                               Yes

Can be Programmed for Various Situations?                                     Yes                                                               Yes

Weaknesses?                                                                                    Magic                                                   The Color Yellow
                                                                                             Extradimensional Energy                                 Red Power Rings
                                                                                                    Kinetic Energy                                  Mental Instability of User
                                                                                                    Psionic Energy                                    Vibrational Interference

I think that it's pretty clear that in everything that matters, the Quantum Bands are the better weapon. No, you can't time travel with them (but, as Barry Allen has proven, you shouldn't anyway) or phase through walls, but they're good against all the colors of the rainbow. Plus in a straight-up fight, the Quantum Energy is Yellow, which means the GL ring can't do anything against it.

* Part of this topic was discussed on the most recent episode of The Quantum Cast.

** Information provided by The Quantum Zone and the DC Wikia
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Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

The Podcast in 2015

The other day I went over to the Two True Freaks website and checked out the download numbers of the podcasts that I'm involved in. When I looked at the compiled numbers, I was floored. Just in 2015, the episodes of my shows were downloaded over 9,000 times! (9,127 to be exact.)

Here's the breakdown by show and by episode:

The Hammer Podcasts!
Episode 1 - Star Trek - 174
Episode 2 - Comic Books - 164
Episode 3 - Mythology - 189
Episode 4 - Feedback - 185
Episode 5 - Changes - 196
Episode 6 - The Greek Gods - 210
Episode 7 - Role-Playing Games - 216
Episode 8 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 261
Episode 9 - A Christmas Carol - 270
Episode 10 - Son of Feedback - 327
Episode 11 - Star Wars Rebels - 343
Episode 12 - Conway's Corner - 354
Episode 13 - Norse Mythology - 291
Episode 14 - Zorro, The Gay Blade - 273
Episode 15 - Cartoon TV Themes - 262
Episode 16 - The Muppets - 174

Legends of the Superheroes
Swamp Thing - 172
Batman - 197
The Incredible Hulk - 66
Green Lantern - 271
The Crow - 274
Reb Brown - 296

The Quantum Cast
Episode 1 - Quasar #1 & #2 - 303
Episode 2 - Marvel 2-in-1 #73 - 295
Episode 3 - Quasar #3 - 298
Episode 4 - Quasar #4 - 273
Episode 5 - Quasar #5 - 237
Episode 6 - Quasar #6 - 220

Comic Book Fight Club
Galactus vs Unicron - 308  (These people can be forgiven, since they didn't know what they were getting into)
Hulk vs Doomsday - 286 (Everyone from here down is a horrible person for knowing what they were listening to and coming back anyway)
Suicide Squad vs A-Team - 226
TMNT vs Thundercats - 141

Anime Freaks
Episode 1 - Star Blazers Monthly Monday - 150
Episode 2 - Nova Stalkers - 122
Episode 3 - Star Blazers: In Character - 117
Episode 4  - Pluto Destruction Directive- 50
Episode 5 - We Will Be Regular! - 129
Episode 6 - Project Spata-Ro - 136
Episode 7 - Skype Wants Nothing To Do With This - 180
Episode 8 - Creeeepy Robot - 156
Episode 9 - he's Not Heavy, He's My Sandor - 115
Episode 10 - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me! - 109
Episode 11 - You're Going To Put That Where?!?! - 111

So the point of all this is for me to say a huge "Thank You!" to everyone who has listened to my ramblings on the internet. Stay tuned, there's more stuff on the way, including a new series that's in the works.

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Like what I'm doing here on the blog and podcast? Why not check out my Patreon Page to see how you can help me do more? http://www.patreon.com/TheHammerStrikes

Podcast Update

I've had a busy week, so this post will just be an update on what I've been busy doing.

First off, there was the long anticipated return of The Quantum Cast! Jif and I worked out a time to get together and record, and the magic was still there. In fact, we were both so jazzed about this episode that we already have most of the next episode recorded.

You can listen to it here: The Quantum Cast - Episode 3

Next up we have the mid-season break of Anime Freaks, where we took a look at the movie "Ninja Scroll" This one is definitely NOT family or work friendly, so make sure you listen to this on your headphones.

The episode can be found here: Anime Freaks - Episode 7

The movie can be viewed here: Ninja Scroll on Hulu

Finally, I was joined by Matt and Chris from NeoZAZ to talk about the Disney XD show, Star Wars: Rebels. We had a great time recording this and I think we were both insightful and entertaining. I highly recommend all the shows over on their network.

You can listen to our discussion here: The Hammer Podcasts! - Episode 11

Here we go again

I seem to have lost my marbles yet again, either that or the one that has been rolling around in my head finally got in the correct slot, but I have started up another blog.  "What's left to blog about?" you ask?  I know, this blog covers pretty much everything on my mind minus religion and politics, and I have Hold Your Hammer High to deal with those, so what else is there?  It turns out, I'm missing one of the time honored traditions of our little geeky community and that is a character specific blog!

I'm not talking about another Superman, Batman, Captain America or Spider-Man blog, either.  Nope, I'm going for one of the favorites from my childhood.  Quasar!  ... You know, the guy with the Quantum Bands. ... Former SHIELD Agent? ... Protector of the Universe? ... Aw, heck, this guy:

Still drawing a blank, huh?  Well. then why don't you check out Quantum Bands, my new project all about Quasar.