Author notes

PLAYING WITH FIRE, Page 21

alschroeder

on April 20, 2013

One of the fun things about this title is that in many ways it's a group title—with a mixture of superbeings in the Next Level—and I'd like to explore some superpowers that have rarely been seen in comics before.  Just like I made Flickerflame a shapechanger bound by conservation of mass-energy.  I want to give the feeling that any strip, someone new might show up, with powers you've never seen before.  Ageless can control the aging process, turning someone extremely old or extremely young, or as we'll see in the next update, even stopping the aging process.  That's a power seen in neither the X-Men (any variation thereof) or the Legion. The only example I can think of is a one-time villain of the Creeper's called Mr. Wrinkles.  I made her Sage's sister, because she has to be as old as the oldest Next Leveller…otherwise how would they stay alive?
Flickerflame, conceivably, may not need her.  In theory, he could transform himself into younger versions of himself.  But that doesn't protect him if she ages him, rapidly, when he's startled, especially if senility or Alzheimer's sets in—he might be able to transform to a younger version, but would he have the mental acuteness to do so?
I'm not sure if Ageless could turn someone back to a baby. If you turn a 160-pound man into an eight-pound baby, what happens to the other 152 pounds? But she can certainly make someone younger.
On another note—you get the idea that the Next Level rarely expects visitors in their own headquarters, don't you? A rather exclusive club….