Earth-92130 (Quasar Lost Cosmos in Collision)
Type: Alternate Earth, Divergent Earth
Environment: Earth-like
Usual means of access: Time-travel, vibrational attunement
Dominant Life Form: Humans
Representatives: Maelstrom, Thanos, Watcher (Uatu)
First Appearance: Quasar#30 (January 1992)
History: (Quasar#30 (fb) - BTS) - Earth-Quasar Lost Cosmos in Collision apparently diverged from Earth-616 during Maelstrom's attempt to destroy the universe (Quasar#19-25). Quasar died, slain by Maelstrom, and Maelstrom continued with his plans. However, Thanos, who had the Infinity Gauntlet, had enough power to stand up to him.
(Quasar#30) - The Quasar of Earth-616, on a mission for the Earth-616 Watcher, was tracking down errant counterparts of the Living Laser. While doing so, he came to this alternate Earth. He arrived through its Watcher's portal, only to find the native Watcher dead. Then, a thermonuclear blast hit, which Quasar barely shielded himself from. Teleporting away, Quasar saw Thanos and Maelstrom fighting each other. They were millions of miles tall and playing tug-of-war with the sun. Their struggle over control of the sun caused solar flares that had destroyed the Earth and the moon.
The sun then blew up, but Thanos and Maelstrom continued their battle. However, Maelstorm detected Quasar's presence. Maelstrom sent a blast at the fleeing Quasar who attempted to escape via the Quantum Zone.
(Quasar#31) - The Watcher and Her observed Thanos and Maelstrom continued their battle. The Watcher could not find Quasar anywhere in the Multiverse. Quasar ended up in the New Universe (which stands outside of the Multiverse), eventually made his way back to Earth-616, and immediately kissed the Man-Thing.
Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald and Joe Zulueta and Pat Broderick-N-Co.
The Cosmos in Collision storyline ran in Quasar#19-25. During this storyline, Thanos made quick cameos in #19 and #24, around the time of the Infinity Gauntlet.
Quasar's going through the Watcher's portal to visit What If Worlds sprung from the events of Quasar#6 (January 1990). In that issue, Quasar chased the Living Laser to the moon. The Laser slipped into the Watcher's home, and saw the portal through which the Watcher observes alternate Earths. In this case, Uatu observed E105709-a world where the new X-Men died on their first mission, as seen in What If II#9 (January 1990). The Living Laser flew into the portal at some point after page 24 of that story.
(This indicates, by the way, that the Watcher does not observe alternate Earths in any particular order, since the above world diverged from Earth-616 in Giant Size X-Men#1, which came out in 1975. This is important, since chronologizing his What If appearances has been a pet project many have thought of pursuing over the years.)
The Living Laser inexplicably appeared in Iron Man I#258-261 with no explanation as to how he returned to Earth-616. So, in Quasar#30, the Watcher explained that the Earth-616 Living Laser encountered his E105709 counterpart, after which the Earth-616 Living Laser attempted to make his way back to Earth-616, so he went to the moon and went through the E105709 Watcher's portal.
However, the Living Laser diverged in transit through the portal. One counterpart made it back to Earth-616, while the other counterpart went astray and went somewhere else. Everytime he realized he was not home, he went through the portal again, creating more and more counterparts. The Time Keepers, observing this, threatened to have the Watcher's alternate-reality viewing privileges revoked.
(This issue explained that the Time Keepers authorized the Watcher's alternate Earth portal. A flashback showed the Time Keepers talking to the Watcher as he observed the alternate Earth where Xavier became the Juggernaut from What If II#13.)
Other Alternate Earths Seen in This Issue
Seven alternate Earths were affected by the wandering Living Laser. Quasar was dispatched to visit them to find the Living Laser. The Earths included:
1. The world where Korvac attempted to conquer the universe and unleashed the Ultimate Nullifier. This world was seen in What If I#32 and in What If I#43/2. (Quasar arrives at some point before the What If I#43/2 story, since that story took place after Korvac had used the Nullifier, when the Doctor Strange, Phoenix, and Silver Surfer of that universe, whom Korvac had banished, returned to find the remains of their universe.)
2. The world where the Avengers lost the Evolutionary War. (What If II#1)
3. The world where Captain Marvel did not die of cancer. First seen in the humor issue, in one-panel of What If I#34, then seen again in What If II#14.
4. The world where Wolverine became Lord of the Vampires from What If II#24 (note: a variation of this Earth appeared in What If II#37)
5. The world where Spider-Man was not freed until too late from his alien costume from What If II#4.
6. An Earth, which was shown in one panel of page 22 which involved the Phoenix, but not much else was given to identify it; however, since on the cover of the issue, the Phoenix appears in the form of Jean Grey, one could guess that it was the world seen in What If I#27, as well as in one panel of the humor issue What If I#34, and since Quasar comments "Is it my imagination, or is every single reality the Laser propragated himself into on the verge of destruction?", this also fits this world (since that Earth was destroyed by its Phoenix). (The world where Conan fought Wolverine from What If II#16 was also destroyed by the Phoenix, and could also be this Earth.)
7. The world where Set came to Earth and conquered it from What If II#25. This was described as the last of the seven alternate Earths the Watcher told him to locate a renegade Laser.
8. Finally, Quasar goes to Earth-Quasar Lost Cosmos in Collision. This was never shown in any issue of What If, by the way. In fact, Quasar never got his own issue of What If, and even comments while passing through Earths that he never seemed to encounter a world where he played an important role!
Earth-616 Natives Encountering What If World Natives
Before these issues of Quasar, it was hypothetically possible for an Earth-616 character to travel to a What If world, but it seems no story had ever shown this happening. (The Official Handbook Deluxe Edition's entry for What If Worlds under Other Dimensions stated that there was at least one case; a world where Reed Richards became the Thing. This sounds as if they were talking about Earth-A. If they were, Earth-A was not introduced in a What If story, but it may have been mentioned by the Watcher in a framing sequence for a What If story, which would make it technically a What If world, since Uatu had been shown to observe it.) Since then, a few other stories have had What If world characters interact with Earth-616 characters.
1. What If II#39 had the Earth-616 Watcher interact with Reed Richards Rocket Group, who first appeared in What If I#36. (Reed Richards Rocket Group is a non-superhuman version of the Fantastic Four.)
2. Avengers Forever#3-4 had members of the Earth-616 Avengers interact with Avengers from a world similar to What If I#9, a world where a version of the Avengers existed in the 1950's. (Note: The story in What If I#9 was apparently not narrated by the Watcher, but rather had a framing sequence in which the Earth-616 Avengers were using a time-viewing device devised by Iron Man. Iron Man noted that he could not be sure whether they were seeing an event from Earth-616's past or from an alternate Earth's past. The 1950's Avengers disband at the end of this story in What If I#9.) Kurt Busiek has stated that the events of What If I#9 could have taken place on Earth-616, but if so, the team did not continue on under the name the Avengers, but as the G-Men.
3. Spider-Girl was introduced in What If II#105, and travelled to Earth-616 in Spider-Girl#10-11.
4. Avengers Forever#11-12 saw members of the Earth-616 Avengers interact with Avengers from various alternate Earths and timelines, including two seen earlier in What If stories; the Armored Avengers from What If I#3 (a world where Iron Man built suits of armor for the other Avengers to battle the Hulk and Sub-Mariner), and the Avengers from What If II#114. (What If II#114 diverged from the Secret Wars, since here the warriors stayed on Battleworld and intermarried. After 25 years, their children returned to Earth-to find that the Sentinels conquered it.) Also, some Spider-Girl characters appeared in Avengers Forever#11-12.
5. The Reed Richards of Reed Richards Rocket Group apparently communicated with his Earth-616 counterpart in Fantastic Four III#58.
I should mention that in What If II#1, the Watcher was shown observing, en passant, Earth-S, the home of the Squadron Supreme. This would technically make it a What If world, but crossings between Earth-S and Earth-616 are much too frequent to list. (The Watcher also observed an unidentified Axis Victory in World War II world.) Apparently, an issue of the original What If also showed the Watcher observing Earth-A.
Quasar ended up in the New Universe. Upon returning to Earth-616, he kissed the Man-Thing.
People have often wondered if the Watcher's appearances as a narrator in What If should be considered canonical, since he seems to be breaking the fourth wall by talking to the camera. However, this presents no problem, since what he is apparently doing is recording his narration. In fact, in Quasar#47, Quasar actually walks in on the Watcher during his recording session! (The Watcher was about to begin to relate a tale of an alternate Earth where he became a rogue). In an alternate future, the Guardians of the Galaxy also saw some of their alternate counterparts in the Watcher's viewscreens (Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1, Korvac Saga).
Profile by Per Degaton
Clarifications: Not to be confused with:
Appearances:
Quasar#30 (January, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Joel Zulueta, Pat Broderick & Co. (pencils), Fred Fredericks (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)
Quasar#31 (February, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Last Updated: 06/08/04
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