| Posted: 23 August 2025 at 3:07pm | IP Logged | 1
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I was reading over some Google entries on the status of mutants at Marvel these days(the pain… the pain) and I found myself quickly realizing the single word that encompasses most of what’s gone wrong: AND.So many descriptions of mutants contain “and”. So-and-so’s mutant powers are blah AND blah. Long way from Stan’s description of AN extra power. Not sure how far back this goes. The originals—Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, Iceman—fit Stan’s bill. Later Jean would add telepathy to her telekinesis, but that was explained as something given to her by Xavier. (The Mimic had multiple powers, but they were manifestations of his single ability.) The first time it might be said to seriously fall apart was Nightcrawler, who was not originally conceived as a mutant. He was blue and furry with glowing eyes and fangs, AND he had malformed hands and feet, AND could cling to any surface, AND had a prehensile tail, AND (the big one) could teleport. Invisiblity in shadow was added later. Taking it all in, my advice to anyone creating mutants is AVOID “AND”. If your character can’t be described in a single clause, rethink. And spare me the lazy writing of “secondary mutations”.
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