Quarrel (Jessica Taggart)

### Relatives

Mack Taggart (father); Arla Taggart (mother); Toby Taggart (brother); Little Mack Taggart (brother); Dickie Taggart (brother); Johnny (last name unknown, cousin)

## Publication

### First appearance

*Astro City* #1 (1995)

 *Cuttin' it a bit **fine**, eh, big red? We were gettin' ready t'start **without** ya!*
--**Quarrel**[src]

## History

Born in 1967 in Kentucky, Jessica worshiped her dad, Mack Taggart, believing that he was a hard-working mail man whose long absences from his family were because he worked a large route. It was only later, when he got arrested, that she learned that he was the small-time supervillain called Quarrel. With her father away, and her mother sinking into alcoholism, Jess found herself responsible for her three younger brothers.

Desperate to provide for them, Jess moved to Astro City in 1984, the year she became old enough to become a licensed bounty hunter, using her father's spare Quarrel gear to give herself an edge. Thanks to a time-travel mishap, she spent some time in the year 1988, where she trained with future partner Street Angel, hunting down criminals like the Steel Devil and co-founding the Omega Rangers before returning to her own time. She sent money to an old schoolteacher back home, who in turn gave it to Toby so that her mother would not get her hands on it.

In 1987, she happened to stumble across the Ion Empire while they were attempting to subdue the Samaritan. Despite being unsure if she could stand a chance against enemies who'd already defeated the Honor Guard, she intervened, and managed to disable the Ion Empire long enough for Honor Guard to break free. Grateful for her assistance, the Honor Guard offered her membership, and a grant so that she could devote her time to superheroics. Shortly after, Toby joined the army, Little Mack got a scholarship to Cornell University, and Dickie was headed to law school, and thus Jess decided that she could afford to do some time in Honor Guard.

In 1994, while chasing the Techsperts, Jess first encountered Crackerjack, and thus began a long-lasting and extremely turbulent relationship between the two of them.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Acrobatics**: Quarrel swings from building to building from a zip line projected from her launcher. She was agile enough to keep up with Crackerjack as well as use her athletics in combat.
* **Marksmanship**: Quarrel is a sharpshooter and is extremely proficient with her projectile launcher.

## Equipment

* **Quarrel Armor**: N.R.Gistics, Inc. created a performance enhancing suit of armor that not only protects Quarrel from bullets and damage but enables her better control over her ability to run, jump and fire.
* **Projectile Launcher**: Quarrel wears a wrist-mounted blaster which fires various "quarrels" of different kinds such as knockout gas, acid and weighted impact arrows.

## Trivia

* Jessica Taggart is dating Crackerjack.
* Jessica Taggart once won the Astro City lottery for twenty seven million dollars.

## Appearances

*This list is incomplete*.

* *Astro City* #1
* *Astro City* #5
* *Astro City* #6
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #1
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #4
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #5
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #6
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #7
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #9
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #15
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #19
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #22
* *Astro City* Local Heroes #1
* *Astro City* A Visitors Guide #1
* *Astro City* Beautie #1
* *Astro City* The Dark Age (Book Three) #1
* *Astro City* The Dark Age (Book Three) #4
* *Astro City* The Dark Age (Book Four) #3
* *Astro City* The Dark Age (Book Four) #4
* Astro City (Volume 3) #2
* Astro City (Volume 3) #3
* Astro City (Volume 3) #12
* Astro City (Volume 3) #17
* Astro City (Volume 3) #18
* Astro City (Volume 3) #19
* Astro City (Volume 3) #20
* Astro City (Volume 3) #21