Monday, December 9, 2013

DC Comics Obscurity: Jason's Quest

Clipped from Cosmic Teams:
In 1969, thanks to his successful revamp of WONDER WOMAN, Mike Sekowsky was a hot commodity at DC and he was given a free hand to develop new features for SHOWCASE. Thus was born "Jason's Quest", described as "the unusual story of a boy ... his bike ... his search." 
SHOWCASE #88 set up the situation: Late in 1969, Jason Davis' father was mortally wounded in a shooting. Summoned to his deathbed, the blonde young man listened to a stunning series of revelations. His real name was Jason Grant, Jr. and his natural father had been murdered when he was an infant. The killer was a mobster named Tuborg, who sought the elder Grant's latest invention. As Tuborg's killers combed the house for witnesses, Grant's servant, Davis, rushed to the nursery, commanding the housekeeper to take Jason's twin sister into hiding while he did the same with young Jason. Over the next nineteen years, Davis moved himself and Jason constantly, always trying to stay one step ahead of Tuborg.

 In preparation for the day Jason would take over the fight, Davis drilled commando training into the boy's head. With his final breath, he gasped, "Your sister ... somehow your father secreted on her person evidence that will end Tuborg and his evil empire. In the fireplace at home ... the box your father gave me — it has your papers ... money ... and — and ... I'm ... I'm ... sor —"
Unknown to Jason, Tuborg had planted a bug in the hospital room and heard every word. Finding Jason's sister was now their number one priority. What followed was a race between Jason and Tuborg to get to her first. In London, Jason found a picture of his sister but failed to recognize her in a chance encounter. She was wearing a black wig and calling herself GeeGee. 
After evading Tuborg's assassins for days, armed with nothing but his wits and his motorcycle, Jason crossed paths with GeeGee again in #90. This time he recognized her. Unfortunately, Tuborg's men were everwhere and Jason was forced to flee — dragging his sister along. Constantly on his guard, Jason never had a moment to explain to GeeGee just why he was so desperate to talk to her. They were finally forced to split up but Jason asked her to meet him at a prearranged location the next day.
Watching him ride away to safety, she commented that "if he expects me to meet him tomorrow — he's off his chump! If I EVER see that crazy man again — I'll take off in the OPPOSITE direction as FAST as I can go! Goodbye — and good riddance!" And that's as far as "Jason's Quest" ever got. 
In the mid-1980s, long before he was a bankable name, Kurt Busiek cited the series as a dream project in a COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE interview. Wonder if he's still interested.
Dork Note: Many thanks to Cosmic Teams for a great write up on such an obscure character in the DC-Verse.

1 comment:

Amazon Prince 89 said...

Now that you mention WONDER WOMAN-mythmaker Mike Sekowsky's involvement, this brings to mind what one of the most disliked Wonder Woman runs of the last volume (James Dale Robinson's run in WW vol. 5) did to tie into this obscure bit of DC lore.

Robinson used JASON OF THEMYSCIRA, the son of Hippolyta and Diana's brother in the Rebirth canon, with a story element that never got popular nor resolved and the character is quickly forgotten (and I am guessing wiped away by the latest reality-altering events at DC).

But James Dale Robinson spoke how he had plans for this iteration of the son of an Amazon and Zeus, particularly how it would have been called "Jason's Quest" in a future book (interview at DC: https://www.dc.com/blog/2018/07/13/leaving-themyscira-james-robinson-says-goodbye-to-wonder-woman ).

Could Jason of Themyscira actually be Jason Davis of this old pre-Crisis continuity? It would certainly add another layer of trivia to the mystery surrounding his father (so now it would be revealed to be Zeus all along).

Needless to say it never got anywhere. But my old editor at JusticeBulletin.com where we used to write CBM reviews was also called Jason Davis and I haven't had a chance to get in touch with him in AGES haha.

Thanks for writing this post!