Thursday 28 June 2012

Super-Copycats. When imitation may not be flattering but it can at least be flattening

Rogue from the X-Men flies towards us
Being a well-known Sophisticate, you're probably aware I have an incredible gift for mimicry.

For instance, people gasp when they hear my impression of John Shuttleworth.  “How can it be?” they demand, “How can it be you so effortlessly pass yourself off as a middle-aged man from Sheffield?”

“It isn't easy,” I tell them. It takes decades of practise - and a willingness to live in Sheffield for forty-odd years.”

But I'm sometimes reminded I'm not alone in this talent. For, numerous are the super-beings who can copy the powers of others. There's the Absorbing Man, the Super-Adaptoid, the Mimic, Rogue from the X-Men, and no doubt a whole bucketful more that I've either forgotten about or never knew existed in the first place.

Thanks to the nature of their ability, I've always been vexed by the issue of just who'd win a fight between such characters. And so, today's question is this; “Which character with the ability to copy the powers of others is your favourite? And, if they all had a scrap between them, just who'd come out on top?”

Personally, I've always had a soft spot for the Absorbing Man. Then again, I've always had a soft spot for Rogue. To be honest, I've never had a soft spot for the Super-Adaptoid or the Mimic. As for who'd win a punch-up between them all, I have yet to make up my mind.

You, though, may have another viewpoint - and this is where you can share it with the world.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Technically, the Super Adaptoid was the plain garden variety Adaptoid when he made his debut in Tales of Suspense #82. He became the Super Adaptoid two issues later after he gained the combined powers of the Avengers. He was still Super enough to make a nuisance of himself in Avengers #45. But then, the cover blurb and title for Suspense #82 called him the "Inconceivable" Adaptoid. So he was Inconceivable before he was Super. But if the character was inconceivable, how did the script writer conceive of him in the first place?

Dougie said...

I've been a fan of the Mimic since Fantastic in 1967, before I could read the words that went with the pictures.

I've always liked the Composite Superman, who had the powers of all the Legionnaires. Never cared much for that weird-looking android Amazo, however. The stripey green Victorian bathing-costume was actually made worse by colour-blind seamstress Black Canary.

Boston Bill said...

I'll always put the Super Skrull first. Yes, I know he only only copied the powers of the FF. But it showed how the powers of the FF covered a lot of ground. Super-Adaptoid and Mimic were, in fact, mimics of SS!

La Belle Esplanade said...

The Super Adaptoid would, of course, adapt, and come out on top of the heap.