  max mercury is a fictional character, a dc comics superhero based on quality comics' quicksilver. == publication history == he first appeared in quality's national comics #5, cover dated november 1940, as quicksilver. almost nothing was revealed about that character except that he possessed super-speed and his secret identity had the first name "max." due to the character's indistinct background, decades later writer mark waid was free to reinvent the character in the flash without contradicting anything. when the character reappeared in early 1990s issues of the flash, his name had to be changed from "quicksilver" to "mercury" to avoid confusion with marvel comics' quicksilver. ==fictional character biography== in waid's origin of the character, he was originally a scout with the us cavalry in the 1830s. a friend of the local indian tribes, he was shocked and dismayed to find them massacred on the orders of his commanding officer. enchanted by a dying indian shaman, he gained super-speed. in the years that followed, he became known to the indians as ahwehota ("he who runs beyond the wind"), and to everyone else as windrunner.  mercury has repeatedly traveled through time, seeking to enter the so-called speed force. he usually bounces off and finds himself decades in the future. his first attempt left him in the 1890s, where he created a new identity for himself as whip whirlwind. later, he travelled ahead again, and was active in the 1930s and 1940s as quicksilver when he acted as a mentor to the fledgling golden age flash and johnny quick. in 1948, he had an affair with the wife of a doctor who had saved his life. when the doctor learned of this and his wife returned to her husband's side, max fled into the future once more. he then reappeared in the early 1960s, where he battled savitar and was bounce
Characters_created_by_Jack_Cole Comics_characters_introduced_in_1940 DC_Comics_characters_who_can_move_at_superhuman_speeds DC_Comics_superheroes Quality_Comics_superheroes Time_travel_comics