While doing some goofing around on the ol’ Internet, I came across Doug Ramsey. Here is another character, this time largely due to Magik, that I own so many of his appearances but have not committed to owning all of his. There was a time, when both he and Illyana were dead; that whenever one of them was mentioned or referenced (are they two different concepts?) the other was also regarded. Then Doug came back, shortly after Illyana did and joined New Mutants in their third volume. Then Illyana got promoted to Cyclops’ Extinction Team (Uncanny Vol 2) – as she totally deserves to be on the main team – and I had no reason to keep reading New Mutants Volume Three. From what Brian and Rob said over on Uncanny X-Cast, that series quickly took a nosedive.
Though I do enjoy Doug, and he has a fascinating power, that forces the creative team to come up with great ways to use him. Though usually they just forget about him or make him the crucial part of the plan. The Aquaman Effect, if you would. Either unnecessary or crucial. Luckily, once he came back from the dead, they aged him to the age of the current team, and gave him a bit of a power upgrade. Now he can understand body language with the same skill he could verbal and written communication. Thus, he is now an awesome fighter.
I am not even sure what his current status is, is he going around doing hero business, is he getting a college degree, what is he up to? Issue 50 is on my wishlist and I’m sure that one day I will know. Cannonball and Sunspot have joined the Avengers, Magik is on Cyclops’ new Uncanny Team, Wolfsbane is over on X-Factor (as long as that lasted), Karma is over on Astonishing (as long as that lasts) , not sure what Warlock is up too these days or Magma. I heard he may be at the Jean Grey School but have yet to see that confirmed.
Ultimate Doug was cool, he wasn’t a mutant, he was extremely smart and “gifted” but with all of Doug’s powers. A Jeopardy winner, and he died during Ultimatum.
He was super cool in New Mutants Forever, seem to be Claremont’s whole purpose of that title was to make Doug cool. He also made him a Junior Red Skull, so a sequel to that miniseries would be very interesting.
I bet I own like 90 percent of his stories, it isn’t much. He started off in New Mutants, but showed up in Uncanny plenty of time as Kitty’s new big friend and fellow dance partner. He even got Colossus to be jealous, as Doug was a better match for Kitty, as they are both great with computers and very smart. We never did get Doug’s reaction to that jealousy.
Doug is another character that never got to reunite with Kitty as she was in deep space when he was back and I am not even sure if those two even know they are both back on the planet.
. . .
I did the math! Of Doug’s 144 appearances, I am missing 40 of them, making my percentage 72%.
What hurts me is that Magik was depowered shortly before his death, so he has a few extra appearances in New Mutants than she does. She also wasn’t involved in the initial Legion storyline. Illyana was also in Uncanny X-Men while Doug had a short stint in the second volume of X-Men in 2010. Then of course, there was New Mutants volume three, where Magik had the good sense to jump out and join the big leagues and he stuck around for 26 through 50. I only own 28, 29 and 30 of that title after the initial 25. Thus, he was part of the crossover with Journey into Mystery that I heard wonderful things about.
On my wishlist, I got New Mutants 32, 47, and 50, which will raise my percentage just a tad. Also X-Men (2010) 7 and 11 – and these two, I just want the variants so it isn’t even about Doug. And Journey into Mystery 637.
The percentage will not rise that much but of the 40, I am willing to get six of those.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 