James Power
Encyclopedia
Dr. James "Jim" Power is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe
. He is the husband of Margaret Power
, and with her the father of Alex
, Julie
, Jack
, and Katie Power
.
Dr. Power's discovery came to the attention of a Kymellian
scholar named Aelfyre Whitemane
, who realized that a similar device had inadverntently destroyed his own home planet. Another race of aliens, called the Snarks
, discovered Whitemane's plans and capture Dr. Power and his wife to force him to reveal the formula for his matter/anti-matter converter to use as a weapon. Whitemane granted each of the Powers' four children an aspect of his powers to manipulate energy, mass, density, and speed, in a desperate bid to help them save their parents. With their new powers and the help of the Kymellian smartship Friday
, the children were able to destroy the converter and rescue their parents. In the process, they were spotted by Carmody. From that point on, he considered the entire Power family to be personal enemies.
Following their return to Earth, the Power family relocated to Manhattan, where James was hired as a professor at Columbia University
and Margaret obtained a new agent and continued her art career. The Power children formed a superhero team called Power Pack
. They went to great lengths to conceal the existence of their superhuman abilities, and their team, from their parents.
During the Inferno
storyline, a demonized Carmody told Margaret and James about Power Pack's existence. The revelation caused them both to have nervous breakdowns (and the covers hinted that the kids would go to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters); the situation was not ameliorated until Mirage
& Gosamyr
of the New Mutants
stepped in to convince the Power parents that their children were actually completely normal (a move which was highly criticised in the readers' letters column
).
The bout of madness was explained later in the series, when Lord Yrik revealed that he had placed mental blocks on both the Power parents, in order to help the children hide their superhero identities. The blocks caused James and Maggie to accept any suggestions and deny any evidence of Power Pack's existence. However, they also caused the parents to go mad when confronted with indisputable proof of Power Pack's existence. The members of Power Pack were understandably upset when they discovered the blocks placed on their parents' minds and requested that they be removed, however, Yrik was unable to do so.
Later in the series, James inexplicably developed super powers during the time that Alex was gradually turning into a Kymellian. At some point, the Technocrat switched James, Maggie, and Alex with protoplasm duplicates. The protoplasm started to revert to its original state, causing the duplicates to manifest the breakdown in odd ways (Maggie lapsing into catatonia, Alex to change into a Kymellian, and James to develop super powers). Eventually, the protoplasm completely broke down. Power Pack rescued their parents from the clutches of the Technocrat and Snark Queen Maraud.
During Alex's time with the New Warriors
{in which he used his siblings' powers during the Warriors' missions}; it's been hinted {but not confirmed during the Warriors' first series} that Alex eventually revealed to his parents the truth about Power Pack, since the 2000 Power Pack miniseries has both James and Margaret calmly seeing them using their powers, but warning them to be cautious.
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. He is the husband of Margaret Power
Margaret Power
Margaret Power is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.She is the wife of Dr. James Power, and with him the mother of Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie Power, members of Power Pack.-Publication history:...
, and with her the father of Alex
Alex Power
Alexander "Alex" Power is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. He first appeared in Power Pack #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.-Publication history:...
, Julie
Julie Power
Julie Power is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Power Pack #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.-Publication history:...
, Jack
Jack Power
Jonathan "Jack" Power, currently known as Mass Master, formerly Counterweight and Destroyer, is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe. He first appeared in Power Pack #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.-Publication history:Jack was a founding member of the superhero...
, and Katie Power
Katie Power
Energizer , is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe. She first appeared in Power Pack #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.-Publication history:...
.
Fictional character biography
James Power was a physicist working at a Research and Development facility in Virginia, researching into developing a new means of delivering large quantities of energy inexpensively for peaceful purposes. In the course of his research, Dr. Power developed a machine he called a matter/anti-matter converter. While Dr. Power intended to use his invention for peaceful means, his boss, Mr. Carmody, had secret plans to use it for military purposes.Dr. Power's discovery came to the attention of a Kymellian
Kymellian
The Kymellians are a fictional extraterrestrial race that have appeared in many Marvel Comics. They were introduced in Power Pack #1 .-Fictional biography:...
scholar named Aelfyre Whitemane
Aelfyre Whitemane
Aelfyre Whitemane was a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. His first and only appearance was in Power Pack #1 in 1984.Aelfyre Whitemane, commonly referred to as Whitey, was a Kymellian xenologist with a love of Earth culture and books...
, who realized that a similar device had inadverntently destroyed his own home planet. Another race of aliens, called the Snarks
Zn'rx
The Zn'rx are a fictional extraterrestrial race who have appeared in many Marvel Comics. Unpronounceable by human tongues, the Zn'rx are known better as "Snarks" among Earth's superheroes because they were nicknamed that way by a Kymellian called Whitey, who named them after the monster in Lewis...
, discovered Whitemane's plans and capture Dr. Power and his wife to force him to reveal the formula for his matter/anti-matter converter to use as a weapon. Whitemane granted each of the Powers' four children an aspect of his powers to manipulate energy, mass, density, and speed, in a desperate bid to help them save their parents. With their new powers and the help of the Kymellian smartship Friday
Smartship Friday
Smartship Friday is a fictional starship in the Marvel Universe. It first appeared in Power Pack #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.-Fictional history:...
, the children were able to destroy the converter and rescue their parents. In the process, they were spotted by Carmody. From that point on, he considered the entire Power family to be personal enemies.
Following their return to Earth, the Power family relocated to Manhattan, where James was hired as a professor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and Margaret obtained a new agent and continued her art career. The Power children formed a superhero team called Power Pack
Power Pack
Power Pack is a fictional team of comic book superheroes consisting of four young siblings who appear in books published by Marvel Comics. They were created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman and first appeared in their own series in 1984. The series lasted 62 issues...
. They went to great lengths to conceal the existence of their superhuman abilities, and their team, from their parents.
During the Inferno
Inferno (Marvel Comics)
Inferno was a Marvel Comics company-wide crossover in 1989 that mainly involved the mutant titles, namely The Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Terminators, Excalibur, and The New Mutants...
storyline, a demonized Carmody told Margaret and James about Power Pack's existence. The revelation caused them both to have nervous breakdowns (and the covers hinted that the kids would go to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters); the situation was not ameliorated until Mirage
Danielle Moonstar
Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, originally codenamed Psyche and later Mirage, is a fictional Marvel Comics superheroine associated with the X-Men....
& Gosamyr
Gosamyr
Gosamyr is a fictional character, a superhero from Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Gosamyr first appeared in New Mutants #66 , and was created by Louise Simonson and Bret Blevins....
of the New Mutants
New Mutants
The New Mutants are a group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training published by Marvel Comics. They have been the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise....
stepped in to convince the Power parents that their children were actually completely normal (a move which was highly criticised in the readers' letters column
Comic book letter column
A comic book letter column is a section of a comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns , letter pages, letters of comment , or simply letters to the editor...
).
The bout of madness was explained later in the series, when Lord Yrik revealed that he had placed mental blocks on both the Power parents, in order to help the children hide their superhero identities. The blocks caused James and Maggie to accept any suggestions and deny any evidence of Power Pack's existence. However, they also caused the parents to go mad when confronted with indisputable proof of Power Pack's existence. The members of Power Pack were understandably upset when they discovered the blocks placed on their parents' minds and requested that they be removed, however, Yrik was unable to do so.
Later in the series, James inexplicably developed super powers during the time that Alex was gradually turning into a Kymellian. At some point, the Technocrat switched James, Maggie, and Alex with protoplasm duplicates. The protoplasm started to revert to its original state, causing the duplicates to manifest the breakdown in odd ways (Maggie lapsing into catatonia, Alex to change into a Kymellian, and James to develop super powers). Eventually, the protoplasm completely broke down. Power Pack rescued their parents from the clutches of the Technocrat and Snark Queen Maraud.
During Alex's time with the New Warriors
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a Marvel Comics superhero team, traditionally consisting of young adult heroes. They first appeared in The Mighty Thor #411 .-General publication history:...
{in which he used his siblings' powers during the Warriors' missions}; it's been hinted {but not confirmed during the Warriors' first series} that Alex eventually revealed to his parents the truth about Power Pack, since the 2000 Power Pack miniseries has both James and Margaret calmly seeing them using their powers, but warning them to be cautious.