Clay Quartermain

Clay Quartermain
Clay Quartermain, from Strange Tales #167 (April 1968). Art by Jim Steranko.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Strange Tales #163 (Dec. 1967)
Created by	Jim Steranko
In-story information
Alter ego	Clay Quartermain
Team affiliations	S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Paranormal Containment Unit Hulkbusters
Abilities	Trained in espionage, firearms, hand-to-hand combat

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 #163 (Dec. 1967).

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 attempts to capture and contain the Hulk.

He rebels against S.H.I.E.L.D. and assists the mutant team X-Factor in saving the Hulk from the U.S. government's plan to kill him.^{[volume & issue needed]} He then becomes a fugitive, traveling with Rick Jones and the Hulk from The Incredible Hulk #337-343 (Nov. 1987 - April 1988). In issue #341, he encounters his brother, a farmer. In the following issue, he testifies in Congress about a mass murder committed by the supervillain the Leader, who had detonated a gamma bomb in a town, obliterating it.

Once more at S.H.I.E.L.D., Quartermain, along with many other agents, is seemingly killed by a self-aware, renegade "Deltan" variety of the agency'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 after several confrontations, 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. He is then deprogrammed.^{[volume & issue needed]}

During the 2005-2006 'Howling Commandos' series, Quartermain takes over the monster/soldier squad and also the 'Area 13' they are based out of.^{[volume & issue needed]}

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 is the agent sent to inform Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) that she has 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.^[6]

Quartermain remains an ally of Jones, using her to bring down a conspiracy against the President of the United States.^[7] Quartermain later leads a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit that rescues Jones from a HYDRA recruitment attempt.^[8]

Death

At a meatpacking plant, Quartermain is purportedly found dead in a suspected Red Hulk attack. The commanding officer of the crime scene is Clay's old friend Gabe Jones.^[9] It is later revealed, however, that his actual murderer was the now-insane Doc Samson. Quartermain had inadvertently stumbled upon a plot hatched by Red Hulk and Samson, and threatened to launch a full-scale investigation.^[10]

Other versions

Ultimates

Quartermain appears in the Ultimate Marvel universe as a S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent.^[11]

In other media

Television

• Clay Quartermain appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "The Man in the Ant Hill", voiced by Troy Baker. When he discovers that Whirlwind is a mutant and informs Nick Fury of this, Clay is ordered to increase the power dampener on Whirlwind and to notify the Mutant Response Division in order to give Whirlwind to them. In the two-part episode "The Breakout," Clay is among the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that help to fight Graviton. After Graviton is defeated by Wasp, Clay informs Nick Fury that he reviewed security footage from the Raft showing that Graviton was still asleep at the time the breakouts of the four prisons was occurring. Clay's discovery caused Nick Fury to suspect that someone else had orchestrated the prison breakouts.

Film

• Quartermain appeared in the 1998 TV-movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. portrayed by Adrian Hughes.

References

1. ^ 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)
2. ^ Amazing Heroes #26 (July 1, 1983): "Fury of the Past: A Nick Fury Hero History" by Lou Mougin
3. ^ Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 (July 1988)
4. ^ Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 (Nov. 1988)
5. ^ She-Hulk vol. 2, #14 (Jan. 2007)
6. ^ She-Hulk #15 (March 2007)
7. ^ Alias #1-4 (Nov. 2001 - Feb. 2002)
8. ^ The Pulse #6-9 (2005)
9. ^ Hulk vol. 2, #4 (June 2008)
10. ^ Hulk vol. 2, #23 (June 2010)
11. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #27

External links

• The Grand Comics Database
• The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators