Michael Pointer (Marvel)
Michael Pointer is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Michael Pointer was a male human who by adulthood came to get a government job as a U.S. postal worker in Alaska. (New Avengers v1 #18)
After gaining his powers, he went out of control and crossed the Canadian border leading to Alpha Flight being rallied against him but he effortlessly defeated them. S.H.I.E.L.D. came to register the incident with the U.S. President ordering Director Maria Hill to dispatch the Avengers to neutralise the threat. (New Avengers v1 #16) They came to confront him where Iron Man attempted to learn who Michael was and why he was rampaging out of control but Pointer was then attacked by Carol Danvers who was unaware of the situation. (New Avengers v1 #17) She came to briefly regain her cosmic powers upon contact with Michael but he removed them just as easily with the Avengers being overpowered by him. This was until the Sentry was sent him but Michael came to see Reynolds flying into space whilst he returned back to Earth. (New Avengers v1 #18) The Avengers began to suspect that Michael Pointer was housing all of the energies from the depowered M-Day mutants. Iron Man explained that his analysis on Pointer's power was not complete but the suspicions appeared to be accurate. Iron Man's report back to the other Avengers was soon interrupted, however, when the possessed Pointer flew directly into Iron Man's line of fire. Preparing for Pointer, Iron Man used his energy analysis to devise a zero point energy field of his own that counteracted some of the mutant energy signatures housed within Pointer to repel Pointer. Just as Iron Man admitted to the other Avengers that he was not sure how long he could continue to repel Pointer since his analyses of the mutant energy signatures were not complete, Sentry returned to renew his battle against the possessed Pointer. While the Sentry fought the possessed Pointer, Iron Man proposed several theories about the mutant energy collective including the possibility that Pointer was unknowingly an energy-absorbing mutant himself, that the energy collective had nowhere else to go and the possibility that some of the mutant energy signatures were sentient and had taken control of both the other energy signatures and Pointer himself. Iron Man also proposed the possibility that the newly-dubbed Collective might not have become sentient until the energies had merged together post-M-Day to become a new life form. The Sentry continued battling the possessed Pointer when Iron Man then asked S.H.I.E.L.D. for their analysis before renewing his own attack against Michael. S.H.I.E.L.D. soon contacted Iron Man and suggested he stop attacking Pointer, noting that the Collective within Pointer seemed to be adapting its powers to face whatever challenge it was facing and it would be easier to reason with or contain the possessed Pointer if it stopped adapting. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent talking with Iron Man made the suggestion that the Collective could be trying to get to the Scarlet Witch, Iron Man pulled the Sentry from the fight and flew off, allowing the Collective/Pointer to renew its trek back to Earth. As the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. watched, the Collective/Pointer touched down in the ruins of Genosha. (New Avengers v1 #19)
Not long thereafter, the Superhuman Registration Act in America split the American super-heroes into two factions. It also had the side effect of driving super-villains from America over the border into Canada, just as Canada’s heroes had fallen in battle. America and Canada agreed that a joint task force was appropriate to deal with the rise in super-crime in Canada, with registered American heroes like U.S.Agent and Arachne joining surviving Alphans like Sasquatch and Talisman in a new Omega Flight. Michael’s involvement was a sore spot, however. CSIS worked with Reed Richards to create a suit to regulate Pointer’s energies for safe use, but they also chose to put him in the colors of Guardian, the Canadian premier hero who Michael was indirectly responsible for killing. Sasquatch, the Flight’s new field leader and sole survivor of the Collective’s massacre, was very reluctant to either fight alongside Michael or exploit his unknown powers in this way. (Civil War: The Initiative v1 #1) Feeling incredible guilt over his actions, he remained in custody where he was offered by the U.S. government to the Canadian intelligence service to act as a hero on their behalf in repentance for his past actions. Thus, he was assigned to the newly formed Omega Flight superhero team though Talisman rejected this appointment as she could not forgive his role in the destruction of her former team mates. (Omega Flight v1 #2)
He later left CSIS and returned home, working to clean up and rebuild North Pole, Alaska. Presumably the other members of Omega Flight worked with Tony Stark to encourage his release from duty. He also seemed to overcome his addiction to the Guardian suit without going through fatal withdrawal. However, a new wrinkle to his power developed where Michael now uncontrollably drained energy from nearby mutants, like an aggressive and remote version of Rogue’s touch. Norman Osborn stopped by North Pole while recruiting for his officially-sponsored X-Men. He faked a terrorist attack which released aerosolized MGH into the atmosphere, making Michael a temporary danger to everyone around him. This naturally triggered Michael’s guilt and let Osborn manipulate him into joining his team. (Dark X-Men: The Beginning v1 #2)
He was then sent to recruit Snowbird onto Omega Flight but she violently rejected his offer and departed the scene. (Incredible Hercules v1 #117)
Eventually Osborn’s reign ended and so Omega and Mimic were left to their own devices. Michael and Cal remained best friends and Mimic supported Omega as he fought through the withdrawal symptoms of no longer having access to the Omega Machine. They tried to wean him off mutant energies, and Mimic offered his own artificially-copied mutant power to Omega as an alternative to the real thing, but something went wrong. Mimic’s energies made Omega’s power even more unstable, and they could not find a solution. Desperate, Cal thought to bring Michael to the real Hank McCoy, who once helped him when his powers went out of control. Unfortunately, bringing a 'detoxing' Michael into range of an entire school full of mutants was a mistake. Michael went into a manic state again until Rachel Grey telepathically calmed him down. Omega managed to find an even keel for his energies for the moment, but Beast’s tests showed he faced more severe problems. The combination of Mimic’s artificial mutant energies with the sudden influx of real mutant energy created an unstable explosive reaction in Michael’s system. He was now building towards critical mass, and neither he nor his surroundings would survive the release. Mimic and Rogue attempted to stabilize Michael by absorbing some of his power off into their bodies, but they only succeeded in creating three human bombs instead of one. Mimic and Rogue were able to short circuit the effect by turning their absorbing powers on each other, but Michael remained in danger. It was necessary to telepathically reduce Michael’s brain functions to near zero and place him in stasis until a cure could be found for his condition. At Michael’s request, Cal mimicked Rachel’s telepathy and took responsibility for putting his best friend under. (X-Men: Legacy v1 #265)
Overview
Personality and attributes
As Guardian, he wore a red and white bodysuit modeled after the Canadian flag, with a stylized maple leaf emblem across the chest and a full-face mask concealing most of his features. The suit incorporated advanced technology from Department H, designed to stabilize his energy output and enhance his physical resilience. When channeling his powers, his eyes glowed with bright energy, and his body emitted a faint aura of light, betraying the immense energy that still resided within him. (Omega Flight v1 #2)
Powers and abilities
It was believed that Pointer was unaware of the fact that he was a Mutant who had the innate power to absorb energy. (New Avengers v1 #19)
Michael came to house the displaced energy of all the Mutants that lost their powers as a result of M-Day. This energy came to be known as the Collective that was not sentient and had been attempting to merge together to become a new life form. (New Avengers v1 #19)
It was said that fighting him in this state was like fighting 50 different superpowers at once. These included abilities such as ice manipulation, force fields, magnetism and others that were derived from the Mutants of Earth. The energies wielded were said to be undefinable and he generated impossible energy fluctuations. (New Avengers v1 #18)
After being freed from the Collective, his residual mutation granted him a reduced but still considerable level of superhuman strength, durability, and flight capability. His power armor further enhanced his physical performance and provided regulation over his unstable energy field. Despite this, his abilities were prone to fluctuation, and extended use often placed extreme strain on his body and mind. (Omega Flight v1 #3)
Notes
- Michael Pointer was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven where he made his first appearance in New Avengers v1 #16 (April, 2006).
Appearances
- New Avengers v1: (2006)
- Omega Flight v1:
- Incredible Hercules v1:
- X-Men: Legacy v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
