So when we last left Cypher - Hunt For Wolverine - Weapon Lost #3

[icon_uk]

Since we last saw Doug Ramsey before this miniseries started, he had, in no particular order

• Started some sort of information brokerage service (Which actually seemed like a cool idea)
• Become a completely isolated internet junkie during a bizarre project to try and "translate the internet... all of it" which led to him forgetting to bathe, sleep or eat.
• Had changed from "good looking twink", to "dishevelled, forty year old looking hobo with a terribkly unfortunate line in facial hair"
• Been hired by Misty Knight to assist Daredevil in locating Wolverine
• Had his throat slit by someone who looked a lot like Wolverine.

This is not his best day... but given he's died twice already, maybe not his worst one either... I guess



Well, that;s good, i don't need to declare blood feud with a Marvel creator, that rarely ends well...



So they do manage to get him to the medical bay, despite the skycharger being stalked by the villain of the piece (and, more importantly, attempted omniglot murderer)

Turns out that it's actually an old robot Wolverine built by Donald Pierce back in the ealry 90's during Wolverine's solo series, and who is hunting for his partner, the little girl androind/bomb called Elsie Dee.

After a lot of fighting (Albert IS a fairly formidable opponent) he's taken out and they head on to their next mission, with a little bit more detail about Doug's status quo.



I bloody CALLED it, so Doug survives but he may have permanently lost his ability to talk,

See, they did that because his power is speaking lanaguges so it's not trite*, it's ironic!

* It's totally trite

We also get his "addiction" reiterated, because that's apparently the root cause of the attack on him





Doug has managed to identify someone who reported a Wolverine sighting and who then basically dropped off the net, which suggests something happened to him, but the implications will be explored in the next, and I think final, issue.

On the one hand I suppose I should be happy my favourite mutant came out the other side still breathing, but I do genuinely hope this whole thing gets ignored the next time Doug shows up because... wow. that was NOT fun.

Comments

[starwolf_oakley]

For a character introduced as being "better" for Kitty Pryde than Colossus (convince me I'm wrong) and then Poor Dead Doug as a reason Magneto went bad again (on panel canon explanation) Doug Ramsey has come a long way.

[icon_uk]

This is definitely a new low for him, lifestyle wise, possibly including the period he was dead and decomposing.

In fairness, finding characters who are better for Kitty than Piotr is NOT a challenging task.

I think Doug was created to be a deliberate counterpoint to Colossus, the all-American kid-next-door without the mutant angst (at that point at any rate) and with a penchant for the same things Kitty liked (video games, computers, girls ahem...). If it hadn't been for Secret Wars being used to have Piotr break up with Kitty, I wonder how that plotline might have played out.

[mastermahan]

There was also that weird early romance between Doug and Psylocke, so he and Kitty also had the same tendency of getting involved with people who are clearly, clearly too old for them.

[featheredserpent]

I'll always ship Doug/Rahne over either of those.

[icon_uk]

Rahne and Doug was cute, but seemed a little contrived when it was introduced, though I'd be fascinated to see them interact again now (Well, post-hobo phase at least).

But as for Doug's REAL life partner, well...

I think

Warlock and Cypher - A different sort of battlesuit

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we all know

thINKgazer - Cypher and Warlock - A Holiday Hug

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who that is! :D

Marc Laming - Warlock and Cypher - New Mutants - "Protection Mode Engaged"

Click Here to visit my Art Gallery on comicartfans.com!

[thanekos]

I too hope that shared universe work-for-hire writers, instead of gamely working with what came immediately before them, arbitrarily reset things to the way I like.

[icon_uk]

Hey, I can be small and petty in my desires if I want to :P

(I don't do it too often, but I have my limits)

[megaspork]

While the crazed hoboness I don't like... I'm not sure I can agree the damaged voice cords was a bad thing. Look, Cypher were stupid level all powerful when he came back. Like they were breaking all levels of credibility with how his translation powers work and what he was able to do just by talking.
He's still stupid powerful in what he can do with the web and what he can learn... but there needed to be a counterpoint to the stupid powerful. That someone didn't mess him up sooner like this is what stretches credibility.

[icon_uk]

I completely agree his over-enhanced and irirtatingly vague, expanded powers are an issue, but I don't think losing the power of speech addresses that, especially not as a throwaway plotpoint in a story that's not even about him, since weirdly the number of times Doug has to speak a foreign/alien language are very small.

A horrible thought is that a much more debilitating issue for him would be blindness or deafness, since he reads and listens a lot more than he speaks, and how that might impact on his ability to communicat, and might even be said to have had a resonance with Daredevil being blind too (and even Bestsy once upon a time), but not talking seems a bit arbitrary.

[wizardru]

A really good writer would take this and make it semi-irrelevant, but I don't see that happening here. I would find it interesting the have Cypher become like Black Bolt, but with everyone.

Kitty: My god, what do these aliens want?
[Shot of Doug, gesturing vaguely, raised eyebrow)
Bobby: Of course, it makes sense.
Kitty: Good thinking, Doug.
Kurt: But...but he didn't say anything!
[shot of Doug looking at Kurt, tapping forehead]
Kurt: Ach. That DOES make sense!

I mean, making him like Groot or Chewbacca is hardly that much of a stretch...it's his power set already.

[beyondthefringe]

I'll take any number of explanations which might handwave away this drastically out-of-character depiction of Doug. Time travelers, aliens, clones, extra-dimensional counterparts, alternate timelines, Hypertime, Mojo...

It's just extremely hard to go from point A) Doug as last seen in PAD's last X-Factor run to point B) this series in any way consistent with his depiction, history, or nature. I don't blame all 6 long-time fans of the character for wanting this particular instance to never be spoken of again.

[zylly]

Actually, I, ah, may have given that scenario some thought.

The next time Doug shows up and is normal...

Roberto: Ah, Doug? Not to be rude, but I heard you went crazy?

Doug: Yeah, I picked up a psychic virus hidden in the data of the internet. I'm better now.

And then you move on.

[jlbarnett]

who the hell is Matt Murdock to judge crazy or not.

[icon_uk]

Someone with an unusual degree of experience?

[cainofdreaming]

Yeah, Matt Murdock and crazy used to date.

[laughing_tree]

When a change you like is undone, the people responsible against it are the toxic fans-turned-pros drowning in nostalgia who want everything in stasis and attitudes like that are why the company is going down the toilet.

When a change you dislike is done, the people responsible are clearly primadonnas more concerned with headlines and territory-marking than in respecting the characters and attitudes like that are why the company is going down the toilet.

[crimsonmoonmist]

As long as he's still alive and kicking, I'm sure some writer'll ask to use him and perform damage control eventually. I mean, look at how messed up Ben Reilly was when Dan Slott brought him back and he turned out just fine when PAD got his hands on the character.