Manic Monday Triple Overtime--When Quicksilver Was A Totally Evil Asshole!

When I was a younger comic reader, a lot of readers disliked Quicksilver because Marvel writers--particularly Steve Englehart--made him an asshole who strongly opposed the relationship between his sister and The Vision.

It wasn't just being an over-protective big brother, either, as he spewed a lot of anti-android invective that made him sound like Hulk Hogan.

Well, eventually he got over it (or writers stopped pushing it), he married Crystal, was an Avenger on and off again, and all was well with the world.

Until Steve Englehart got a hold of him again.

During his the second The Vision And The Scarlet Witch mini-series, it was revealed that Pietro's ass-hattery had ruined their marriage, driving Crystal into another man's arms.

He snapped, trying to destroy the East and West Coast Avengers (they tried to later retcon this to say it was because Maximus The Mad was messing with his mind. Yeah, right.)

And then he showed up in the Fantastic Four, because Englehart was incapable of leaving any plotline behind. He kidnapped Alicia and vowing vengeance on everyone for, well something. The FF stopped him, and Crystal came to visit...and he's totally barking mad:

Well, a fight breaks out, and Crystal kicks his ass pretty hard...

"Scarlet woman"? "Seduced my purity"? "Sink of iniquity"?? Geez, Pietro, no wonder Marvel was willing to let Fox keep you for the movies!

Quicksilver went on to fight the West Coast Avengers again under Englehart. Then Englehart left, and very quickly Pietro was "cured" of his madness and restored to hero-dom by other writers.

And yes, he was still a jerk, because that's Pietro. But he was no longer the racist uncle you're embarrassed by every Thanksgiving, or the raving lunatic going on about errors of the flesh and purity and the like.

And through all that, Pietro still hasn't been abused as a character as badly as Wanda has...

From Fantastic Four #305 (1987)