What if? Manikin was still in AF/OF

[evenflow]

I loved Manikin. I thought his powers were completely unique and interesting. One of the best characters in AF imo.

I was never a fan of the mainstream comic book characters and I tend to like the street level or the bizaare characters. I have a full run of Terror Inc. and Sleepwalker comics. Not many people can say that proudly.

[Flightpath07]

Welcome Manikin!

i always thought that Manikin (dislike that name, too "stiff" sounding, like a department store dummy) and Scramble were two fo the better things that Mantlo ever did in this (oops - i Mean Alpha Flight) series.

Mind you, i am not a believer in evolution, so i had to suspend my disbelief in order ot enjoy him, but hey! it's a comic book, right?!

I wouldn't mind seeing him return, both behind the scenes (could be some interesting scenes involving him being a medic for the alien BRBill) and eventually helping the team at times.

[Manikin]

Mind you, i am not a believer in evolution, so i had to suspend my disbelief in order ot enjoy him, but hey! it's a comic book, right?!

Nor am I, but I have to agree with Evenflow. I always enjoyed the odd superpowers more than the typical super strength or lasers shooting from body parts.

Thanks for all the warm welcomes, btw

[DMK]

I always liked Whit. Thought it was a shame when they modified his powers so that he changes into one of his dupes... but it does make it a little easier... time travel based super-powers are nothing but trouble.

Case in point: Flashback. His powers made Absolutely No Sense Whatsoever! OK, they established that all the Flashback dupes are from some point in his future... and in the "core" timeline at that.

Now, if the dupes aren't mindless... and Alpha Flight v1 #27 would strongly suggest they are not... why in the world wouldn't one of the dupes take one look around at the West Edmonton Mall, scream "Get your stupid carcass out of here you moron! You're going to get yourself killed!" and hustle out of there?

Then there's the timing question. A Flashback dupe is summoned from the future. We'll ignore the costume issue for the time being. How long does he stay away from his "present"?

If it's the same length of time as he stays in the past, it's a disaster. What if he was driving a car? What if he was crossing the street? When he vanished, sure he had a crosswalk light... but what about when he reappears?

And if he only vanishes for an instant... does that mean that he's speeding up his own aging by using his powers? He summons 20 dupes, keeps them in the past for a battle for 5 minutes... does that mean the "oldest" dupe is now 100 minutes older?

I hated Flashback's powers. Lobdell should have left him dead.[/b]

[Flightpath07]

I always liked Whit. Thought it was a shame when they modified his powers so that he changes into one of his dupes... but it does make it a little easier... time travel based super-powers are nothing but trouble.

Case in point: Flashback. His powers made Absolutely No Sense Whatsoever! OK, they established that all the Flashback dupes are from some point in his future... and in the "core" timeline at that.

Now, if the dupes aren't mindless... and Alpha Flight v1 #27 would strongly suggest they are not... why in the world wouldn't one of the dupes take one look around at the West Edmonton Mall, scream "Get your stupid carcass out of here you moron! You're going to get yourself killed!" and hustle out of there?

Then there's the timing question. A Flashback dupe is summoned from the future. We'll ignore the costume issue for the time being. How long does he stay away from his "present"?

If it's the same length of time as he stays in the past, it's a disaster. What if he was driving a car? What if he was crossing the street? When he vanished, sure he had a crosswalk light... but what about when he reappears?

And if he only vanishes for an instant... does that mean that he's speeding up his own aging by using his powers? He summons 20 dupes, keeps them in the past for a battle for 5 minutes... does that mean the "oldest" dupe is now 100 minutes older?

I hated Flashback's powers. Lobdell should have left him dead.[/b]

Those are great arguments about why Flashback is improbable. Very seriously well thought out.
But I still like him, and his powers. And, we come back to the fact that comics are fiction, really none of them make sense at all in a real-world light.
So, what do we do, we either enjoy them or we do not enjoy them, or we enjoy some parts of them and not others. To each his/her own!

[cmdrkoenig67]

I always thought it seemed more probable that Flashback's dupes were of a negative or opposite nature (hence the costume color reversal) than temporal. I agree with FP about this being fiction/comics and we're not supposed to put everything under the microscope...It's just entertainment.

Dana

[Le Messor]

Those are great arguments about why Flashback is improbable. Very seriously well thought out.

I've had some of those questions myself for some time. But to me, they don't really make him improbable, they just add to the intrigue of the character.

As far as I can tell, the future doubles are mute.

- Le Messor
"All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand."

[SmurfInABlender]

yeah.. those powers are improbable.. but flying, shooting lazers out of your eyes, turning into a furry beast, summoning the spirits...all THOSE are completely 100% probable.. everyone knows that

[Michael Connell]

Manikin was always a childhood favorite of mine.

A childhood favorite?!?........God, I'm old.

[jay042]

They've said Whit's powers were time travel related, but I've always thought they might actually be more of a projection of his conciousness. Apeman and Highbrow could easily be associated with his ego/id.

[DMK]

Those are great arguments about why Flashback is improbable. Very seriously well thought out.

I've had some of those questions myself for some time. But to me, they don't really make him improbable, they just add to the intrigue of the character.

As far as I can tell, the future doubles are mute.

In AF v1 #12, they don't speak. I think the captions even mention how eerie the silence is. But in #27 they do. Mind you, each of the three dupes who speak speak one sentence of an ongoing conversation, so maybe they just share the "present" Flashback's mind.

I know there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief for all super-powers. I accepted that long ago. But I like having some internal consistency... and Flashback's powers lack that.

Getting back on-topic: Whit's relationship with Kara is one of the few things I like from Mantlo's run when I look back on it, even if it was extremely inappropriate.

[evenflow]

Do you think Byrne would do a Manikin custom?

How much you think it would cost me?

[kozzi24]

This theory's now toast due to developments in AFv3 and the Great Lakes minis, but I had a working plan that Flashback had become Mr. Immortal after his death in #27. He hadn't been absent because he was dead, but because he's assumed a new identity with the knowledge his "death" had revealed. The characters were linked by creator and not too far off geographically, so it always worked at the time.