| Clay Quartermain | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
Clay Quartermain is a fictional character, a secret agent in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-artist Jim Steranko, he first appeared in Strange Tales Vol. 1, #163 (Dec. 1967).
Contents |
Publication history
Clay Quartermain appears as an agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning in the feature "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." in Marvel Comics' Strange Tales in 1967, and continuing into the subsequent series Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1968. He became the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to General "Thunderbolt" Ross' "Hulkbusters" military program, and a supporting character in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, beginning with issue #187 (May 1975).[1] A Life Model Decoy (LMD) replica of Quartermain was a featured character in the 1988 miniseries Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.. Quartermain has since had guest appearances in issues of Alias, Cable, The Defenders, Marvel Team-Up, The Pulse, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack, and the miniseries Secret War; in the "Nick Fury" feature in the omnibus Marvel Holiday Special (Jan. 1994); and in the "Elite Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." feature in the one-shot Captain America 2000 (Nov. 2000). He also led the S.H.I.E.L.D. Paranormal Containment Unit in the 2005-2006 series Nick Fury's Howling Commandos.
Fictional character biography
Clay Quartermain is a high-ranking agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., a "blond-haired, fast-talking, grinning Burt Lancaster" sort[2] who first works with that organization's storied executive director, Nick Fury, during S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first conflict with would-be world tyrant the Yellow Claw, later revealed to have been a robot simulacrum of that Chinese-national mandarin. Quartermain later becomes part of the U.S. military's "Hulkbusters" operation, which attempted to capture and contain the Hulk. Quartermain, along with many other agents, is seemingly killed by a self-aware, renegade "Deltan" variety of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s artificial-human "Life Model Decoys", and replaced by one such LMD.[3] The most advanced of the Deltite LMDs, it rebels upon learning it is not human, and perishes.[4] The real Quartermain is later found alive in cold storage in S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, brainwashed by a faction of the terrorist organization HYDRA, then is deprogrammed. Retconned as a former romantic interest of Jessica Jones, Quartermain later becomes leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Paranormal Containment Unit. He was the agent sent to inform Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) that she had been pressed into service as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.[5] He next leads a new incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Hulkbusters" unit, here She-Hulk, Agent Crimson, and Agent Cheesecake. Quartermain remains an ally of Jessica Jones, both using each other to gain information for their respective needs. Clay uses Jones to bring down a conspiracy against the President of the United States. She later contacts him when the superhero Mattie Franklin makes a mysterious appearance in her apartment.
In other media
Television
Quartermain was played by actor Adrian Hughes in the 1998 TV-movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Footnotes
- ^ Quartermain appeared in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #187-188, 192-200, 206-207, 209-210, 212-216, 219, 224, 226-228, 230-231, 233, 237-240, 243, 315, 322-327, 329-332, 334, 336-346, spanning May 1975 to August 1988 cover-dates, plus The Incredible Hulk Annual #15 (Oct. 1986)
- ^ Amazing Heroes #26 (July 1, 1983): "Fury of the Past: A Nick Fury Hero History" by Lou Mougin
- ^ Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 (July 1988)
- ^ Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 (Nov. 1988)
- ^ She-Hulk vol. 2, #14 (Jan. 2007)
