| Quantum | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | West Coast Avengers, Volume 2, #12 (September 1986) |
| Created by | Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | unrevealed |
| Species | Dakkamite |
| Team affiliations | The Elite of Dakkam, Dakkamite military, The Elect |
| Partnerships | Graviton, Halflife, Zzaax |
| Abilities | Self-duplication Flight Invulnerability Enhanced strength |
Quantum is a fictional character, an alien supervillain appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in West Coast Avengers, Volume 2, #12 (Sep. 1986).
Quantum is an alien soldier from the planet Dakkam, one of the platoon of superpowered Dakkamite troops known as The Elect. The scientists of his race noted that exposure to earth's sun had given one Dakkamite renegade superpowers - they sought to exploit this by placing a platoon of soldiers inside specially designed 'incubator capsules', which were then located close to the sun. Quantum awoke at the end of this treatment to discover that his powers had manifested - but that the rest of The Elect had already gone.
Searching for his comrades, he was summoned to earth, becoming part of a supervillain team assembled by Graviton to resemble the Unified Field Theory. Halflife represented the weak force, Quantum represented the strong force, while Zzzax represented electromagnetism. Graviton himself represented gravity, and promised Quantum that he would help to locate the missing soldiers. Graviton and his allies were defeated by the West Coast Avengers. Quantum, no longer believing Graviton's promises, fell from Graviton's high-altitude headquarters during a disagreement with Halflife and Graviton; Quantum abandoned the team and went his own way.[1]
Although he didn't locate the other members of Elect, Quantum did find one other superpowered Dakkamite on earth — the Aquarian, the now-pacifist whose powers had originally inspired the plan to enhance Dakkamite soldiers. Quantum considered the Aquarian, the son of a renegade, to be a traitor to the fatherworld, so Quantum attempted to kill him. However, Quasar intervened, saving the Aquarian, and used his abilities to distort Quantum's powers, trapping him as a trio of intangible duplicates.[2] The whereabouts of his fellow members of the Elect, imprisoned on the Stranger's laboratory world, were later revealed.[3]
Quantum reappears as one of the beings who have been subtly drawn to the planet Godthab Omega by the manipulations of Glorian. This is only a cameo appearance - Quantum does not speak and does not play a major role in the story, although he no longer appears to be trapped in an intangible form. The planet is later assaulted by the Annihilation Wave, killing many of the inhabitants. It is unclear whether or not Quantum survived.[4]
Quantum possesses enhanced strength and is highly resistant to harm, far tougher than a normal human being. He can fly at high speed and it appears that he can survive indefinitely without food, air, or water - after he first gained his powers, he was able to fly to earth under his own power. Quantum has also stated that he has flown through the sun itself without harm. Quantum has the ability to generate a sheath of flames about his body.
He may also possess some form of enhanced senses, as he was able to detect gravity waves (emitted by Graviton) - and was still far from earth at the time.
Quantum can also seemingly create 'copies' of himself - this is done by constantly shifting (teleporting) his form between several nearby locations several times per second at incredibly high speed, so that he appears to be a dozen or more duplicates. He has used this ability to bypass solid barriers and escape from confinement, by appearing on the other side of the barrier and then vanishing from his original position.
Hawkeye believed that Quantum's powers relied on the radiation of the closest star and was able to render him unconscious by obscuring the sunlight with a cloud of smoke. When Quasar later encountered Quantum, he stated that this theory was incorrect - but was unable to explain why the smoke had been so effective.
Quantum was trained as a professional soldier in the fighting arts of the planet Dakkam.