Posted: 26 June 2016 at 5:53am | IP Logged | 10
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Originally, Quicksilver and the Silver Age Flash represented two different kinds of speedsters.Barry Allen got his powers from a "scientific accident." To borrow a term coined by Roy Thomas in X-MEN, Barry was a "non-mutant variant." To put that in perspective, Spider-Man and the FF would also be non-mutant variants. Pietro, on the other hand, was born with his powers, albeit in a latent state. This was in the days when mutant powers manifested with puberty. The difference between these two, then, is that the Flash's powers are on a molecular level, while Quicksilver's powers are on a cellular level. (Technically, it is incorrect to refer to Quicksilver's "powers" since, unlike the Flash, he is "only" fast.) Because his powers manifest on a molecular, or even atomic level, the Flash is able to do things that should be impossible for Quicksilver. The "time in a bottle" scene is, in fact, a perfect Flash scene, since it shows him "stopping" (as when he deflects the bullets) while still functioning at super speed. His molecules are still vibrating at super spped -- the same thing that allows him to run thru walls. Quicksilver, correctly handled, should not be able to do that. He can run at any speed up to his top speed, and he can even manipulate objects at super speed, but not at the level seen in the "time in a bottle" scene. Unfortunately, there have been several decades now of mutants being incorrectly portrayed at Marvel, resulting in a blurring of both the meaning of the term and what mutants should be capable of doing. This blurring is most distinctly seen in the character Apocalypse, the "first mutant." Under Stan and Jack, who laid the groundwork, mutants were intended to be specific products of the Atomic Age. They did not exist before we started messing with atom bombs.* ___________________ * In the first issue of X-MEN, Professor X tells Jean Gray that his parents worked on the first atom bomb project. This is meant to explain where his powers came from, but it also would make him about 20 years old! Whether Stan intended that to actually be the case, with Xavier only a few years older that his students, is moot, as it was quickly forgotten. We would later see young Charles serving in Korea. This also begins the blurring of just what time frame mutations of this kind are supposed to exist within.
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