Marvel: Who is Multiple Man and why you should be excited he’s back
By Mark Lynch
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
Marvel Comics has brought Multiple Man back, but who is this comic book character?
During the Marvel series Death of X there was the first mutant death due to the Terrigan Mist let out during Infinity. The Multiple Man Jamie Madrox and all of his duplicates were found dead by Cyclops and his team on Muir Island. What was shocking was the visual of multiple (pun intended) duplicates of Madrox looking sick and disfigured as some laid there dead and some dying.
On February 26, it was announced that Multiple Man would be coming back to Marvel comic in a mini series by Matthew Rosenberg (Phoenix Resurrection: The Return Of Jean). In a recent interview, he told Marvel a couple of things that should make fans of Multiple Man very happy.
When you head into your local comic shop this week, do us a favor and let them know if you want a copy (or 50) of MULTIPLE MAN #1. Books like this tend to fly under a lot of people's radar, but I'm really proud of it. It's very fun and weird. pic.twitter.com/QBTgqtwS7u
— Matthew Rosenberg (@AshcanPress) May 30, 2018
"“Well I’ve always been a Multiple Man fan. From FALLEN ANGELS up through Peter David‘s brilliant X-FACTOR, he’s always been a character that speaks to me. He at once feels very alien, more like a sci-fi story than a super hero story, and yet he is so human and relatable.” He also said, that he, “…really wanted to explore this idea that Jamie Madrox can be all things. He is a savior and killer, a hero, and a villain.”"
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Madrox made his first appearance in Giant Size Fantastic Four issue 4. Since then, Madrox has been a member of the X-Men and the government. Before his death, he was the leader of X-Factor Investigations. A team dedicated to solving the cases too weird for the police or detectives. He left the team and the superhero side after he found out his wife Layla Miller was pregnant. In comic books, no one ever stays dead. Madrox is a random character to bring back, but comic book fans should be excited about his return and here’s why.
Multiple personalities
Madrox’s powers to create multiple people would be boring if not for one major thing. Each one of his duplicates (or dupes as he calls them) represents a different part of his personality. There are even parts of him that come out that he didn’t even know existed. Because of this, Madrox has to be careful of which personality comes out.
For example, when Rictor was going to kill himself, Madrox sent a duplicate to talk him out of it. After the dupe helped talk Rictor off the ledge (literally), he said, “Jamie has a really perverse side of him. That’s me. I’m the part that compels him to do the unexpected.” then pushed Rictor of the roof.
Having these multiple personalities leaves him and the reader guessing what was going to happen next. Would his dupes cooperate or would they argue things to death? One thing was for certain, when things got really hairy or his friends were hurt, his dupes were all on the same page. When someone hurt Theresa (Siryn) they all agreed on sending a message and got along for the common goal. Having these various personalities is important. It keeps Madrox fresh and interesting.