History
Michael Nowlan and his wife Susan were both heroin addicts before he was drafted into the Vietnam Conflict in his late teens. His mutant powers first surfaced during the war, but became fully apparent only after his detox in a military rehab center. When he met a fellow veteran—who would later become Timeshadow—Nowlan’s ability triggered the manifestation of the man's temporal duplication power. Word of Nowlan’s unique power to boost mutant abilities quickly spread, and other mutants began seeking him out, often by force. Addicted to the sensation, they repeatedly coerced him into enhancing their powers. To stop this, Nowlan remained under the influence of heroin, which dulled his mutant output—but doing so cost him his job, his health, and his marriage to Susan, who had cleaned up and moved on.[citation needed]
Eventually, Nowlan was found by Apocalypse, who made him a pawn in his plans. Apocalypse constructed a device that could manage Nowlan’s addiction and manipulate his powers. With this setup, Nowlan was used to amplify the strength of Apocalypse’s minions, the Alliance of Evil.[citation needed]
Nowlan eventually escaped and sought help from his ex-wife, Susan. She refused to be drawn back into his destructive life, but contacted X-Factor—who at the time were posing as mutant hunters to locate and protect mutants. Susan’s attempt to leave town was interrupted when the Alliance captured her to force Nowlan’s cooperation.[citation needed]
X-Factor found Nowlan and stabilized him after a near-fatal overdose. They planned to support his recovery, but the Alliance returned, threatening Susan to make Nowlan boost their powers. He complied, allowing them to overpower X-Factor and bring both him and Susan back to Apocalypse’s base.[citation needed]
At the base, Nowlan was once more connected to the machine and used to augment the Alliance’s powers again. When X-Factor returned to stop them, Stinger accidentally killed Susan during the chaos. Devastated, Nowlan absorbed all the enhanced energy back into himself, giving X-Factor the edge they needed to win. However, the energy overload proved too much for him, and he died believing the world would be better off without him.[citation needed]
Michael was later resurrected by the Five on Krakoa, but refused to work for their government because unlike him Susan could not be resurrected because she was human.[1]Attributes
Powers
Weaknesses
See Also
- 2 appearance(s) of Michael Nowlan (Earth-616)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Michael Nowlan (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) of Michael Nowlan (Earth-616)
- 2 image(s) of Michael Nowlan (Earth-616)