Mimic (comics)

Mimic
Mimic
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men #19 (April 1966)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Werner Roth (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Calvin Montgomery Rankin
Species	Human Mutate
Team affiliations	Brotherhood of Mutants Dark X-Men Jean Grey School X-Men
Abilities	Power mimicry Permanently possesses the original powers of the original five X-Men: Angel's flight Beast's animalistic physical traits Cyclops's optic force blasts Xavier's and Jean Grey's psychic powers Iceman's ice control and manipulation

Mimic
The cover to Exiles #45 depicting Mimic. Art by Mizuki Sakakibara.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Exiles #1
Created by	Judd Winick Mike McKone
In-story information
Alter ego	Calvin Montgomery Rankin
Species	Human Mutant
Abilities	Permanent power mimicry limited to five people at half strength

Mimic (Calvin Montgomery Rankin) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was briefly a member of the X-Men in the 1960s, and was the first character to be added to the team after the original line-up and the first X-Man who was not a mutant.

An alternate reality version of Mimic became a popular member of the Exiles, the reality-hopping team.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Werner Roth, he first appeared in X-Men vol. 1 #19 (April 1966) as a villain.

Calvin Rankin was born in Passaic, New Jersey. After an accidental mixup of chemicals from his father Ronald's experiments, he gained the ability to temporarily copy the skills, physical traits, knowledge, and superpowers of any person within close range (approximately ten feet), which led people to fear him. When his father found out about this, he retreated with Calvin into a mine where he worked on a machine which, as he claimed, would make the abilities his son absorbed permanent. However, his experiments with the device caused several power outages in the vicinity; in order to hold off the mob which was tracking these disturbances, Ronald Rankin blasted the mine entrance, but he was accidentally caught and killed in the explosion, and his device sealed deep inside the mine.

Rankin first encountered the X-Men when he got into a fight with members Beast and Iceman in their civilian identities and duplicated their powers to defeat them. He later came across Marvel Girl, realizing who she was after gaining telekinetic power. Rankin decided to seek out the X-Men in a plot to get to the machine and make their powers his permanently. Taking the costumed identity "Mimic", he went to their mansion and battled the X-Men. He then escaped them, taking Marvel Girl hostage. He drove her to a cave, knowing the rest would follow. As the others came near, he regained their abilities, and he used the optic power of Cyclops to break through the rubble to the machine. The other members freed Marvel Girl and battled Mimic. Initially, he gained the upper hand and activated the machine after using Professor X's power to understand how the machine worked, but his powers were removed by Ronald Rankin's device, as Professor X had expected. Xavier then wiped his memory and let him go.