He's BACK baby!!

[icon_uk]

Preview for two X-titles at Newsarama here, including New Mutant #9 (Which we've seen unlettered pages for before). (The other preview is Nation X, and it's PAD penned, so is a no-no here)

Just in case though - Spoilers under the cut

Doug and Warlock are being checked out post Necrosha and it would appear that Doug has managed to recover completely from being A) dead and B) a Necroshan zombie thing.

Doug is fine, but Warlock is operating at low power and will take a long time to regenerate since he appears to have switched to a vegan diet... or the T-O equivalent thereof.

Danger is fascinated by Warlock, but as Doug quickly notices....



Doug appears to have aged whilst he was dead since he was only about 16 then and seems older here. He's a cute li'l dickens just the same though.


tag suggestions

preview
title: new mutants
char: cyclops/scott summers
char: cypher/doug ramsey
char: white queen/emma frost
char: warlock
creator: zeb wells
creator: paul davidson

Comments

Question

[roguefankc]

So body language can count as a language Doug can decipher? (according to the mention of the doctor's body language in the first scan)

Because then can't it be used as reading an attacker's moves during hand-to-hand combat and being able to counter with exactly the required attack you need? I'm not sure if this was alluded to before in the past or not.

If that's the case, then wow, you're right. Language powers CAN be God-like.

[box_in_the_box]

Yes to all of the above.

Doug just became the next Taskmaster.

[icon_uk]

Not necessarily, Taskmasters power let him mimic any non-meta power move he see's at the speed he sees it happening at.

Doug's power is passive observation, not reaction, so is closer to this guys.

Re: Question

[icon_uk]

Doug was developing the ability to read body language back in the 80's. We never saw him do it for more than winning at poker, seriously, you do NOT want to try and bluff Doug with a weak hand of cards.

And as I've said before, just because you can READ body language doesn't mean you're in a position to do anything about it. Doug was never that skilled, or eager, a combatant, and I don't think I want to see him become one.

Re: Question

[q99]

Cassandra Cain without the physical ability or combat intuition.

Re: Question

[icon_uk]

Basically yes.

Re: Question

[q99]

It'd be fun to see them hold a conversation... no fighting, just 'talking' :)

Re: Question

[cmdr_zoom]

Motto.

Re: Question

[lieut_kettch]

But at least both can be acquired with training. Granted, he won't be as good as someone with Cass' natural talents, but it'd still make him at least as formidable as Prodigy in hand-to-hand combat.

Re: Question

[jarodrussell]

Or that pesky second X chromosome.

Re: Question

[q99]

Nothing pesky about it.

Re: Question

[long_silence]

You did read the scene where Doug took down the majority of the New Mutants in about 10 seconds right?

Even now that's he's been freed of the T/O infection I doubt that Wells will stop using him as an uber martial artist.

Re: Question

[icon_uk]

Actually no I haven't, I haven't been able to find a LCS which has it in stock... yet.

Re: Question

[jarodrussell]

Except he's a programmer, which means he doesn't just read languages, he knows how to recombine them into functional tools.

Re: Question

[icon_uk]

Which is fine for languages, but not necessarily any help at getting his body to go along with what he can intuit in combat

Re: Question

[jlbarnett]

Doug isn't slow or clumsy. He's just not highly trained. He's always been shown in good shape physically so I bet he could learn no problem.

Re: Question

[icon_uk]

Except he always had access to that training at Xaviers and never took them up on it.

His OHOTMU entry goes to some lengths to point out that whilst fit, Doug hasn't had the same combat training as the other NM's.

Re: Question

[jlbarnett]

that was when he thought he was useless for combat. Now that he kicked New Mutant ass he probably knows better. Plus he wouldn't want to die again.

Re: Question

[icon_uk]

Fair point.

I recall in a fanfic (set in a universe where Doug was eventually restored through the TO virus) where he's challenged on his decision to leave Xaviers to go to college in California. "Don't you question my commitment to Xaviers cause. I died for that cause... twice! After the second time I began to think there HAD to be a better way of doing things"

Re: Question

[joasakura]

he kicks ass in NM 06 by reading all of their body languages

Re: Question

[bruinsfan]

You'd still need to be able to interpret it quickly enough to know what moves were being set up as they happened, and have reflexes fast enough and applicable hand-to-hand skills to do something about it. I don't think that applies to Doug.

It would theoretically make him a great negotiator though.

Re: Question

[megaspork]

Isn't he part techno-organic now though? They say it's in remission, but it's still what's reanimating him as well. So he could have the processing power nowadays. :)