This cover comes about as a result of a conversation by regular STF visitor Isaac, among others. I enjoyed the mentor-student relationship that Max Mercury had with Bart Allen in Impulse. I would have liked to have seen him have more interaction with Jay Garrick though - I'm sure those two Golden Age speedsters would have had plenty to discuss.
It's really amazing what Mark Waid did with Max Mercury. There really was very little there there. I really enjoyed Impulse. I'm not sure I liked the change he went through and became Kid Flash...
ReplyDeleteThe interactions between Max & Impulse were a lot of fun to read, yes.
ReplyDelete^_^
If we go by canon then Max wins this race: he can draw on the Speed Force, whereas Pietro (according to the JLA/Avengers crossover) can't do so & is therefore slower than speedsters who can.
As a kid, my uncle gave me an old giant Flash issue that had Barry, Wally, Jay, Thawne, and Johnny Quick on the cover. I thought the idea of a whole family of speedsters was one of the coolest things in the world. Nice cover!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading about Quicksilver in WHO'S WHO and was interested by the character. Then they brought him back, but renamed him Max Mercury, and was annoyed. Who is it at DC Inc. who keeps insisting they bend over for Marvel whenever there's a similarity in characters' names? It's starting to be a miracle they haven't renamed Superman and Wonder Woman because of Super-Skrull and Wonder Man.
ReplyDeletejrp04f- The Golden Age Quicksilver wasn't a DC character- he was a Quality character. DC collected him along with the other Quality characters later. And the reason DC changed the character name was that Marvel's Quicksilver was more prominent- just as Marvel changed the name of their Huntress character to Mockingbird because DC had a more prominent Huntress. It works both ways.
ReplyDeleteAlaric's got it right -- DC changed Max' name mostly to avoid confusion, and as a courtesy.
ReplyDeleteSimreeve also has a good point about Quicksilver not tapping into the Speed Force -- though if memory serves he kept begging the Flash to teach him how. I suspect this story would have Max winning the race but agreeing to teach Pietro how to tap into the Speed Force, which Pietro finds is too troublesome (energy requirements, disorientation or whatever) to do except in an emergency. He becomes such a good student with it -- even helping to deal with Professor Zoom -- that Max decides to let him keep the Quicksilver name, and use it with honor.
As a courtesy or to avoid TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT? The Golden Age Quicksilver, just like the original Daredevil, fell into disuse and Marvel grabbed up the names and trademarks. DC can have characters with the same names but can't trademark them so they are better off using different names they can trademark.
DeleteWow Ross, keep up the good work. This is why I love this page. Always figured they should battle it out for the name. Now if you can can get Marvel's Killgrave in a rap battle with Vertigo's Preacher you just might top this one. Or better yet, Clive Barker's best known creation in in a running battle with Vertigo's Constantine (the really good version) . Hellblazer vs Hellraiser anyone? I'd buy that for a dollar!!!!
ReplyDeleteIIRC, Wally West had no speed in the Marvel Universe, because the MU simply had no Speed Force to draw upon.
ReplyDeleteIn the STFTLI Universe, I would assume the Speed Force does exist, since that univrese has the Flashes, Max, and Johnny Quick. So, I would guess that the Quicksilver of that universe could draw upon it as well.
I like Bob Greenwade's idea of Max winning, but then teaching Pietro as Max taught so many other speedsters. As Mark Waid wrote him, that was really Max's biggest role in the DCU.
*sigh* I meant "universe", not "univrese". :P
ReplyDeleteHey! Does anyone else remember that issue of Quasar where "Buried Alien" outran ALL of the Marvel speeders?
ReplyDeleteSonofjack Well said...
ReplyDelete"Hey! Does anyone else remember that issue of Quasar where "Buried Alien" outran ALL of the Marvel speeders?"
Didn't read it first time around, but chanced upon the key section of it online quite recently: A delightful story.
Yes, indeed, Simreeve.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Ross? Thank you for finally bringing these two, together. :-)