Quicksand (comics)

Quicksand is a fictional character, a supervillainess appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Quicksand, the invention of Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, first appeared in Thor #392.

Fictional character biography

A woman of Vietnamese descent, Quicksand was once a scientist working at a nuclear facility. An accident transforms her body into a sand-like substance (similar to Sandman). Pretty and selfish, she has a hard time adjusting to her transformation. She calls herself Quicksand and attacks the nuclear reactor in a rage and in hopes of revenge for the accident, hoping to force it to shut down. She was confronted by Thor but nonetheless succeeds in causing the reactor to melt down. Thor prevents disaster by using his hammer to transport the entire facility to another dimension, and Quicksand escapes.^[1]

She was later contacted by Mongoose, on behalf of Count Tagar, who desires a cell sample from Thor in order to create a race of gods. She wants nothing to do with Thor but is persuaded to battle him once Mongoose demonstrated a device which could temporarily transform her back into human form. Quicksand barely holds her own against Thor, and once Mongoose collects the tissue sample, she escapes once more.^[2]

Since then, Quicksand has apparently resigned herself to her transformation, and even, in fact, to revel in the power and profit she has enjoyed as a professional super-criminal. She serves for a time with Superia's Femizons, first appearing aboard the cruise ship to Femzonia, where she battled Anaconda.^[3] She was also among the superhuman women who fought Captain America and Paladin;^[4] the Femizons were later shut down by Captain America and Paladin. Later, Quicksand somehow came to the attention of the rogue Egyptian god Seth, who dispatches her, Bison, and Mongoose to steal a sample of Inferno-42 from the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. In the course of this mission, they battle Thunderstrike, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Alex DePaul, and hero-for-hire Luke Cage. During the battle, a conscience-stricken Bison turns on his partners, defeating Quicksand and saving the life of DePaul, who lets Bison go free in gratitude.^[5]

Around this time, she fights Sandman and Spider-Man at the same time.^[6]

At some point, she is invited to join the Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil, and she accepts, hoping to get rich through the Masters' blackmail scheme using global weather control. The team was defeated and apprehended by the Thunderbolts, and Quicksand was among those remanded to custody.^[7]

Civil War

During the Civil War storyline, Quicksand was once again seen fighting the Thunderbolts, this time in Denver, Colorado, and ended up once again defeated. When their leader, Baron Zemo, is contacted by Iron Man to hunt down villains so Stark could recruit them into his own team, Quicksand was one of those villains.^[8] After a period of dream manipulation, she was part of Thunderbolts Team B and helped arrest the U-Foes in Portland. Assisting her are Thunderbolts veterans, Joystick, Blizzard and Fixer.^[9]

Dark Reign

During the Dark Reign storyline, Quicksand is revealed as a member of the Initiative's new team for the state of Delaware, the Women Warriors.^[10]

Siege

During the Siege storyline, Quicksand and the rest of the Women Warriors take part in the assault on Asgard. Right before the battle, on hearing others worry about going into battle against gods, Quicksand mentions that she fought Thor and he "wasn't all that". Asp, however, suggested that Quicksand instead ran like "cheap mascara".^[11]

Fear Itself

During the Fear Itself storyline, Quicksand was presumably captured and sent to the Raft. When Juggernaut, transformed into Kuurth: Breaker of Stone, destroyed the Raft she escaped and was contained by Justice on Long Island and handed over to the authorities.^[12] She was later defeated by Thor Girl and Cloud 9 in Philadelphia before she could go on a mass murder, just before the two heroes were attacked by the Liberteens.^[13]

Avengers vs. X-Men

After the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, the Raft was damaged and numerous super-criminals were sent to another prison, unfit to store such individuals. A riot exploded and Quicksand was a key in the brawl, until she was defeated by both Rogue and Mimic.^[14]

Powers and abilities

Quicksand’s strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and durability have all been enhanced as a result of exposure to atomic radiation. Her altered body provides her with protection from physical and energy attacks. Quicksand has the ability to transform into a malleable sand-like substance which can be hardened, dispersed, or shaped according to her will. She can increase her size and mass to an unknown extent when in sand-form, and can manipulate it for various effects. She has used this ability to form hammers, elongate parts of her body and fire sandblasts. Although Quicksand's body is capable of transformation to human form, she does not appear to be able to initiate this change without artificial assistance.

References

External links

• Quicksand at Marvel.com