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A Personal Reminder That Some of My Favorite Obscure X-Men Are Alive and Being Treated Well
I’ve been in a sour comic-reading mood for a couple weeks now because I’m pretty sure the Mimic is going to die. He’s one of my all-time favorite comic book characters and I don’t want him to die. The very minor hope that maybe, when he’s alive, he’ll show up in the background somewhere and have a nice scene or two is a strong hope.
Right now, he’s showing up in Extermination, which continues to tease his potentially imminent demise.
Likewise, my all-time favorite comic book character — Multiple Man — is in some weird revival limbo, and might end up being some kind of villain in the new Uncanny X-Men? That is also up in the air, enhancing my sour feelings.
I’m sure we’ve all been there, that we all have a favorite obscure X-character or two. Characters like Wolverine, Storm and Nightcrawler are great, but we all love us a Mimic or Multiple Man or two.
Fortunately, another comic this week had a short story that let me know that some of my other favorite obscure X-Men are alive and well, and if they’re not well, at least they’re getting solid character treatment.
That issue is Domino Annual #1, written by Gail Simone and a bunch of others in an anthology of short stories. One of the stories, written by Leah Williams, with art by Michael Shelfer, features Nightcrawler and Domino starting up a support group for odd-looking mutants. That is a wonderful idea, and I hope Gail Simone keeps the idea going in the regular series.
Among the dozen or so obscure X-characters featured in the support group, we find out that Maggott is not only alive again, but he’s been turned into a hipster.
I love Maggott! He’s great! Maggott is a perfect example that your mutant isn’t always going to be something as wonderful as a healing factor or all-powerful telepathy. Sometimes your digestive system is turned into a pair of slugs that can eat anything, then transfer the power to you.
It’s good to know Maggott is currently alive in continuity.
We also get a great scene featuring Stacy X, another favorite of mine. She still doesn’t have her powers following M-Day (even though most mutants have gotten their powers back), and that is really torturing Stacy.
It sucks that she’s feeling suicidal, but that is still some great character growth. And Gail Simone, if you want me to start really loving your Domino comic, which I already kind of enjoy? Feature more Stacy X struggling with depression, caused by the loss of her powers! And maybe give her her powers back? Beak is featured in this issue too, and he lost his powers the same way as Stacy X, but he has them back.
Basically, what I’m saying is: bring back Stacy X!
And don’t kill the Mimic!
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So The Mimic is Probably Going to Die Soon
This is my life as a fan of obscure comic book characters. Marvel killed one of my all-time favorite comic book characters earlier this year — Phil Urich — shortly after announcing a Multiple Man comic book, resurrecting another of my all-time favorite comic book characters. This past week or so, there were hints that the one, true Jamie Madrox was coming back from the dead for real…so of course that has to be met with Mimic showing up in the X-Men Extermination mini-series.
This is a preview for issue #2, which comes out this week.
Obviously, Calvin Rankin isn’t dead in those pages, he’s just subdued and will likely show up later to serve some purpose.
But c’mon, we all know how this ends. You don’t bring the Mimic out of comic book limbo like this if you’re not going to kill him somehow. That’s how comics work, and more importantly, that’s how my luck works.
(For example, this week also features the final issue of the New Mutants mini-series, where we’ll learn the final fate of Strong Guy. Considering he wasn’t part of that big Uncanny X-Men group shot, it’s not looking too good for him either.)
For those who aren’t paying attention, Extermination is the final story featuring the time-displaced teen X-Men. That guy up there shooting Mimic is a younger version of Cable, who has traveled back in time to kill people. He’s already killed adult Cable (a character who definitely won’t stay dead for long) and Bloodstorm, that alternate reality Storm who is a vampire, and who has randomly been a part of the teen X-Men comics for awhile. I dunno.
Suffice to say, however Extermination uses Mimic, I’m pretty much resigned to the fact that he’s probably going to die by the end.
There’s almost no point in getting excited for when my favorite comic book characters show up anymore…It’s far more likely that they’re going to be killed than it is for them to do something awesome. How messed up is that?!
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My 6 Favorite Villains Turned Heroes
I talk a lot on here about one of my favorite tropes in fiction: the Heel-to-Face Turn. Or, to drop the wrestling parlance, when a bad guy becomes a good guy. I just dig it for some reason. I like the idea that these villains, albeit bad people who do bad things, are still reasonable people who are capable of more than just playing their villainous role. When the chips are down, or when doing the right thing is on the line, these baddies turn out to be alright folk.
The granddaddy of them all!
For counter example, I don’t particularly like the Joker. I know he’s probably the most popular super-villain in all of comics, and people adore this guy, but I just don’t really like him. I don’t like his straight crazy villainy. There’s little complexity to the character. He’s just crazy and he does crazy things; clever crazy things, sure, but still just crazy things. Count me out.
Give me a morally complex figure who can recognize the error of their ways or recognize the need to do the right thing in a given situation. Join me after the jump for my favorite Heel-to-Face Turns in all of fiction!
The 6 Best Comic Book Characters with ALL THE POWERS (of one specific team)!
Forgive the all-CAPS shouting in the headline, but what better way to describe this list of characters? This is a list of comic book villains who combine all the powers of a specific super team. I’m not just talking about power mimics or power thieves, either. I’m not talking about your Rogues or your Peter Petrellis or your Synchs or your Absorbency Lads.
These are characters who, for whatever reason, limit themselves to copying the super-powers of just one group.
ALL THE SUPERHEROES!
Maybe they were built by a mad scientist to oppose a specific super team. Maybe they have a magical power and just decided to focus on one group. Maybe they’ve got a super weapon that combines the powers of all the other super weapons in the comic. Whatever the case may be, these guys have one specific power set in their battles against one specific super group. It’s kind of a pigeon-holed role, but everybody needs a gimmick.
So join me after the jump for six comic book characters who possess all the powers of one specific super team! Dazzle in the specificity!
A Completely Biased Review: Mimic and the X-Men #6
Rejoice brothers and sisters, for the gods of comicdom have heard our cries! At long last, the next issue of Mimic and the X-Men has come out. Mimic and the X-Men #6 dropped this week, finally giving us hale and hearty Mimic fans some overdue closure. It’s been, like, a year and a half since the last issue. What the heck did Marvel expect us to do? Read Hawkeye? Well I have read each and every issue of Hawkeye, and I haven’t seen a single Mimic appearance.
Whoa, brainstorm: Mimic and the X-Men #7 by Matt Fraction and David Aja. Fraction has written Mimic before! Heck, Fraction brought Mimic into the modern day! It would be an instant bestseller! But until then, we’ll have to settle for this issue, which might just be the greatest comic book in the history of medium.
Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great!
That’s the Mimic, baby! The coolest, most underrated, and probably handsomest X-Man to ever ‘X’ a man! He makes his glorious return to comic books this week, and it is the sweetest of nectars. We have writer extraordinaire Christos Gage to thank once again for giving our boy Mimic some much-needed love. The dude clearly is thinking at a higher level than most other comic book writers. He sees the value in Mimic, loves that cool new blue and white costume as much as the rest of us, and generally has some all around good stories in mind. This is the comic that every Mimic fan (and by that I mean, every comic book fan) dreams of reading.
But hold on, if I could be especially serious for a moment (not that I wasn’t before), this really is a great issue. And Mimic love aside, Mimic and the X-Men #6 introduces a new character who might have just become my favorite X-Man of all time.
Whoever had the genius idea for ForgetMeNot deserves some kind of medal. My heart’s breaking over here!
Henchman-4-Hire 