Who is on the cover of...

Again Bobby Zero is correct. Read that issue 194 and it matches the cover.

On a side note: Nightmask is correct when he says that comic book covers will sometimes NOT accuratly depict the inside continuity story or capabilities ( or even realism - sometimes it's just a whacy cool cover to sell comics ) of characters or actions events.

But in this case ( at least in the 1980's ) Rogue did do this.

Did she look like she does on the cover of the Ultimate Powers Book?

It figures that she could not partially transform part of her skin in to steel, but otherwise is that how she looked?

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

No, she just had the overall armored look Colossus has but otherwise appeared as herself, no strange finger count or tail or anything else non-human from Nightcrawler. It's really closer to the encounter in Belasco's Limbo with the spell transformation that gave out briefly the same powers as it included a full physical transformation of selected parts.

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With the Mimic, does he have the ability to choose to keep templates of certain peoples Powers?

All the write ups mention that he has the Powers at half the potency, and that he is limited to five templates at a time. But there is no mention of how long he can keep them. Another write up I read said that he automatically mimics the Powers of the people around him and that he does not have a choice. It seems that he may be one of those characters that changes with the wind.

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

The confusion you're getting is because there are two Mimic's regularly spoken of nowadays, the original Earth-616 Criminal Mimic that served briefly with the X-men and the heroic Mimic that served with the Exiles. The original Mimic is the criminal one introduce decades ago and he was capable of copying the powers of anyone that came within 10' of him at the same level of power as the original (that's him on the cover btw, not the heroic one who came along over a decade after the UPB ). After he copied them he retained them as long as he was within something like a mile of them, they later mutated his character several times, including removing his potentially lethal limitation of draining gamma radiation from the Hulk and even making him into a composite of Wolverine and the Hulk. Last I saw of him he's permanently acquired the powers of the original X-men (much like my character Seraphim), who he originally copied, but can still temporarily add in the powers of others.

The Exiles Mimic can selectively copy the power template of up to five different super-powered beings at half-potency and may retain those powers indefinitely (he held the powers of most of the mutants he started the Exiles comics with for over five years by his own declaration). He can get some idea of the powers and ranks of someone with powers just by being within range of them (looks to be 10' like the evil version) and seems to be required to select based on a specific attribute (Wolverine for Regeneration, Northstar for Flight, Beast for Agility, etc.), and can't copy someone with similar or basically identical powers to a template he's already got (so can't copy Polaris if he's already copied Magneto, and was shown to be unable to copy the more heroic Sabertooth because his powers were too similar to Wolverine's powers that he already had). He'll also die of gamma radiation poisoning if he's around the Hulk for too long, as his power to mimic siphons it off into his body and it'll also make him physically ill and weaken him just from being nearby. His having Wolverine's healing factor doesn't do more than delay death and ensure he recovers quickly once out of range.

I've done write-ups (with some cleaning up as I've ferreted out more accurate information) of both the Criminal and Exiles Mimic in the Let's Talk Stats section. One just for the Exiles Mimic with the original write-up a comparison showing both versions, heading was something like 'Criminal Mimic Vs Heroic Mimic'. The write-up on here last I looked was incorrect as it shows the history for the criminal Mimic with the powers and templates of the Heroic Mimic, mostly. The Heroic Mimic never was shown having copied the powers of Professor X and I had to correct my own mistake later that his residual telepathy comes from copying Jean Grey and not Professor X.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2008 02:53AM by Nightmask.

Thank you. While I knew that there was two Mimic's, I did not know that their Powers were different. That helps.

So the Exiles Mimic has the better version of the Power then. Seems like he can do more with it. I'd like to read about him.

How are the stories and art for the Exiles?

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

Well I'm not sure how much better the Exiles Mimic has it, since he only gets the powers at half potency. He could find someone with a nice power but cutting it in half renders it not worth the power slot used up to get it. The selectability and indefinite duration on the copies is a plus though, he was just a bit on the lazy side as someone who'd been adventuring for years he could and should have copied heroes and villains that would have provided considerably more benefit saving the day. I think the writers could have done better by him in that regard.

The stories and art are both pretty good for the Exiles, nice and complex and what they have to do to save the day is often make difficult choices because of how often fixing a damaged timeline requires some kind of painful sacrifice. I know I used to think of all the old What-If? comics that I just hated the terrible endings that they had and wished someone could come along and change them and then Marvel finally came out with a title doing just that, going into realities and what-ifs and making them better.

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Very cool concept for a story line. I'll have to check it out.

What I like about the Exiles Mimic is that he can keep the Powers he gains for longer. If he was playing it right he be vastly powerful. Even if he only could copy half of the Sentry's potency, that is still better than all of........somebody of a lower level.

That is only true in some cases though. Like for Strength it would be better to have all of Colossus then half of the Sentry. But when you are talking about the whole package.....take the powerhouse.

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

Well with the powers of Colossus one apparently loses some limitations while transformed, like not suffering endurance losses for potentially lethal damage while armored up due to the fact you can frag his internal organs in armored form because he doesn't really require them like that BUT turning back he's in deadly danger. He just can't remain transformed indefinitely and his half of Wolverine's Healing Factor generally just slows him dying while transformed once he crosses a certain threshold.

While he naturally couldn't from a story viewpoint keep the powers of the Phoenix even at half level (same reason that they killed off the son of Magneto and Rogue in their first adventure, he was around Shift Y to Shift Z rank power levels) he should have had sense enough to copy Spider-man's powers when he had the opportunity. I mean even at half-power he'd have superior agility to the Beast Agility he copied, plus superhuman strength and endurance in his normal human form that'd add to his Colossus Strength and Endurance, as well as a danger sense and wall-crawling. Or if one considers Reed Richards to have at least some of his genius and inventive talent due to the cosmic ray exposure he'd have been a very reasonable choice to copy for his unique physiology and that inventive genius. I don't btw, I feel Reed had that genius before his transformation else he'd never have been such a challenge and rival to Doom in college, but some do (and the occasional writer's treated it as if some of his genius is due to his transformation).

Choices I think that would have worked well with someone like Mimic would have to be Wolverine (that healing factor alone makes him a prime choice), Forge, Madison Jeffries, Magneto, and Professor X. Mind you that's for a more cerebral and technological way of dealing with problems, whereas the Exiles Mimic preferred the more physical aspects of combat to deal with a situation. For the more physical look on things Wolverine (Again healing factor), Diamond Lil (durability), Colossus (boosts durability and grants extra strength and endurance), Havok (Devastating ranged attack), and Cannonball for his flight powers and protective force field. Each version is well balanced without exceeding what looks like the threshold for what most GMs seem to favor.

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I'm with you on the Reed Richards thing. He was a genius before he gained his Powers. Perhaps the radiation just boosted it +1CS.

Spider Man would be a cool Power template to include. So much to gain from his Power set.

What about Taskmaster or Maya Lopez? One of them might be cool too. Not as cool as Spider Man but still pretty sweet.

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

I think Reed Richards always had an Amazing Reason, just like Doom, else he'd have never been able to infuriate Doom so quickly in solving that equation for Doom's machine to check on his mother at a glance. It'd be more believable and make more sense if you feel Reed should lose intelligence when he loses his powers (which I don't think should happen) by saying that because of the changes the cosmic rays made to his body and their influence on his brain if they're negated he loses some of his original intelligence in the process. That preserves this being Doom's rival before gaining his powers and explain why at times he's been showing losing intelligence when his powers were negated (something that's not been consistently depicted).

Well with Taskmaster he'd have some benefits from it but it's something that'd take work to fully utilize. Remember those photographic reflexes are nice but he actually has to see something first to copy it. We only see Taskmaster after he's already spent years reviewing thousands of hours of video on every hero and villain with skills he could copy, not as he was starting out where his ranks and talent pool were much lower. The same would apply to Mimic with half of Taskmaster's ability to copy physical talents; namely that he'd need time and archival material or direct conflict to learn those maneuvers. He'd just get a leg up on everyone else by only needing to see it once and not require karma expenditures to increase his Fighting or Agility or learn those physical talents.

Who's Maya Lopez? Afraid I haven't heard of her before. Someone with superhuman agility or mimicing powers like Taskmaster?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2008 06:06AM by Nightmask.

That explanation works for me. I'm a fan of his Reason being genius level before his radiation exposure as well.

Yeah, that's right about Taskmaster's Power. Plus if I remember correctly Mimic does not like to duplicate Powers that require practice.

Maya is the Avenger named Echo. She also went by Ronin for a while. She mimics movements similar to what Taskmaster does.

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

Correct, everything I've read of the Exiles (and I've read every issue), including some direct statements by Mimic leaves one with the belief that he prefers powers that are on/off or always functioning rather than require practice. Probably the only power he had that required practice was Angel's wings to fly, and there might be enough instinct that comes along with that to negate the concern for serious practice with that as well. When he first shows up though he's got three automatically functioning powers (wings, regeneration, agility) and two on/off (optic blasts, armored form), and after losing the wings goes with a simple flight power rather than learn the more expansive teleportation powers of Blink that would have required some practice or the flame and flight powers of Sunfire, because as he put it 'teleportation and fire powers aren't for sightseeing and require practice'. Of course that makes little sense considering it's not like either Blink or Sunfire had a choice and learned to control them just fine. It also made little sense when he had access to several versions of Hyperion for him to not use that opportunity to mimic one of them for the enhanced strength and durability, especially the evil one. Not like he didn't have the chance while they were sitting around talking.

Oh, Ronin, I remember seeing that character. So that was a woman masquerading as a man, much like I went with for Psion when I created her?

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Yes, but now Clint Barton is running as Ronin and is using her costume. I'm not sure if that will last after they rescue her from where she is being held in Japan. It would be cool if he kept the Ronin uniform but I would like to see a return of Hawkeye too. Time will tell.

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

Hawkeye was a good character, was depressing that they killed him off even briefly before House of M, and whatever issues he's got afterwards with what he remembers of what happened.

Would be nice to see the original Vision return instead of the 'OS in futuristic power armor' version we've got now. Some things are just classic and good for having around.

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Dude, I read a bunch of the Exiles last night on X-Man Al's website. Awesome. There are a few missing from his on-line collection that I will have to get my hands on. Good writing, and the combination of characters on the team is great. All around great concept.

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

Glad you found the Exiles as enjoyable as I do and I hope the switch to the New Exiles will carry the same quality of writing and characters we've seen to date. 100 issues to the original run and hopefully a good 100 more for the new run. I hope for some of the awful What-ifs we've seen from Marvel in the past could end up retconned as damaged timelines that need repaired and the bad endings made good. Too bad 'One More Day' can't be wiped out as an Exiles-grade damaged timeline to undo.

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Yeah, there are so many things that would be cool to see the Exiles try and repair. I'd also like to see a What If? involving the Exiles, where Uatu (or whoever) could comment on the different ways some of the Exiles missions could have gone.

Dude I loved the fight between Mimic and the Skrull World Captain America. He is wicked when he cuts loose.

The Last Duskblade
Q-Class Forever!!!

Hmmm, not sure if you can actually DO what-ifs with the Exiles, considering their entire point of doing things to fix broken realities would tend to preclude the idea of a reality branching off that was basically 'What if the Exiles failed in this reality?'. After all the Crystal Palace/Panopticon is technically set up similar to True Limbo where Immortus hangs out and does his own 'pruning' of the branches of time so as a singular thing those linked to it would likely be protected from spawning alternative timelines. It might even be similar to how they would 'unhinge' someone from their native timeline, causing them to become anomalies so that they wouldn't cause more damage by spawning other damaged timelines.

Oh I agree, that was quite wicked of Mimic to hold off on his Optic Blast to do a quick humiliating defeat of that timeline's Captain America. Considering how all the Exiles who were turned into gladiators survived against so many well-trained warriors you have to wonder if they all weren't running at an Incredible rank or better for their Fighting, and I couldn't help but think Mimic wasted a great opportunity to 'trade-up' for better powers during their time in that reality. I mean as a hero he should look for powers that'd increase his effectiveness as a champion of good and is unlike nearly any other hero able to change out powers with others who might provide better after meeting them.

I wouldn't mind having a character like Mimic, minus his half-power limitation. Getting to swap-out powers and copy up to five different super-beings at one time would be a fabulous advantage, especially with villains who expect you to have certain powers but you no longer have them and have unexpected powers instead. Of course it'd be almost impossible to find a GM to let someone run such a character in a campaign since he'd have to deal with the problem that any super-villain he tossed at the group of the hero copying his heavy-hitter meant to threaten the group and just increasing the group's power in the process. Much like tossing Magneto and Apocolypse at the group and now the group's Mimic has the combined powers of Magneto AND Apocolypse on their side.

Heck even I'd be leery having someone like that meet up with various characters of mine. Run across Nightstalker, Seraphim, and Black Velvet for even the Exiles version of Mimic and he'd have at half-power the combined powers of nearly all the major X-men and the original FF, and the overlap would in places leave him at full power compared to the originals. Just those three with Colossus and Wolverine would let him enjoy those two's powers at full strength and enjoy half-power on everyone else's powers. Plus it'd be difficult to even keep track of all those powers to use them effectively.

Get the Trade Paperback bound volumes for the Exiles when you have the opportunity; great way to get them and enjoy them in hard copy rather than just using scanned versions of the original. Scans are okay but nothing beats the Hard copy. I just hope with the New Exiles that they keep the momentum going as well as they've managed for the first run. I know Quesada about killed Thunderbolts with that 'Fightbolts' attempt and I'm not enjoying how it's just another Hero Hunt Team as it goes completely against the intent of the title of villains seeking redemption and turning their lives around. It's just villains being villains and enjoying hunting heroes and few characters true to the original concept that made me love it.

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There are a few things that I wondered about so far with the story. I'm not all the way through them yet but it would be interesting to know What If? Sabertooth would have tried to kill Mimic when the Talus said that was the next mission. What if he was able to pull it off. What if he failed and Mimic killed him? Or what if they had killed the Richards' kid instead of Sabertooth staying behind to raise him? There are so many things that story got me thinking about because with one wrong move they can get further from finishing their mission.

Other than he is not into powers that require practice.....why do you think Mimic didn't try to copy the powers of Proteus?

Don't spoil what happens with that because I have not finished the part of the story. I'm at the point where Mimic just died and they are chasing Proteus.

I'll pick up the trade for this if I can. Seems like it would be worth it for sure.

Having Mimic's power would be pretty cool. I agree that he could have grabbed some more useful stuff in the story but his power set is pretty cool. It was cool when he lost Angel's wings. Didn't really like those. Northstar is a better choice.

The Last Duskblade
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