Art by James Calafiore
- Name: Clarice Ferguson
- Code Names: Blink
- First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #317 (Oct ’94)
- Powers: Can teleport objects
- Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Exiles
About
It is darn near impossible to predict what will be popular. Sure I could tell you that a female clone of Wolverine would probably have some fans but why would people latch onto Anole? Companies so often don’t realize a popular idea until it is too late. Stephanie Brown, the first female Robin in continuity, really resonated with fans but DC killed her off before she ever had a chance to shine in the role. Shows like Firefly weren’t even given a chance to gain popularity before being canceled. If they are lucky, fans will get some sort of catharsis in the form of the companies revisiting the concept later. Stephanie Brown fans eventually got her as Batgirl and Spoiler, and Firefly fans got Serenity. In 1994 Scott Lobdell, Chris Bachalo, and Joe Madureira (who this site recently profiled) decided to create the next generation of mutants. They made the characters who would become Generation X, as well as someone else. Someone who they never imagined would be the breakout star.
Portrayed by Fan Bingbing in X-Men: Days of Future Past
Clarice Ferguson was born in the Bahamas and she was terrified of her powers. She struggled to control her ability to create and maintain a teleportation field, anything that went through it was destroyed. She tried to keep a low profile, though her pink skin made it difficult to blend into the Bahamas. Charles Xavier became aware of her and added her to his list of the next generation of mutants as he planned to recruit her to the Institute. Unfortunately, the alien race known as the Phalanx acquired the list first and intended to use it as a step towards their assimilation of Earth. The Phalanx captured Clarice as well as Monet St. Croix, Angelo Espinosa, Paige Guthrie, and Gregor, and after failing to convert them into their hive mind, locked them in a holding cell on the tanker they converted into a base.
Art by Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend, and Steve Buccellato
Clarice was terrified and confused, she had lived a mundane life until now, she wasn’t equipped to deal with an alien invasion. When a large Phalanx soldier named Harvest entered the prison though, Clarice jumped into action. Using her teleportation powers she tried to blink Harvest away, and it was actually working until Gregor pushed her away from her target. Monet took advantage of the situation and jammed a device she had been working on into Gregor revealing that he was a Phalanx spy all along. The teens escaped their cell and faced off against their former captors.
Unknown to them, Banshee, Emma Frost, Sabertooth, and Jubliee were on the trail of the Phalanx (having previously rescued a young Everett Thomas) and came to the rescue of the teens. As they battled the Phalanx and the newly reformed Harvest, the group made headway and it looked like they might make it out alive. The group was working well together and even Sabertooth was fighting valiantly, however the techno-organic Phalanx continued to reform themselves and meld into Harvest as the ragtag mutants were wearing thin. Clarice realized what needed to be done, she forced Banshee to lead a retreat and she faced the Phalanx alone. Clarice had struggled with her mutant curse since she first discovered it but that lack of control would be her greatest asset. She attacked Harvest and BLINK!, he was no more. In another world Clarice Ferguson could have been the leader of Generation X, she could have been remembered in the annals of the great mutants in history, instead she sacrificed herself to save the next generation of the mutants.
Art by Andy Kubert, Matt Ryan, and Kevin Somers
Soon after the X-Men entered the Age of Apocalypse, an alternate reality ruled by the brutal Apocalypse (and you can read about him and his age here). There the X-Men were, well, different. They were darker, had worse hair and more extreme costumes. Most noticeable was the different roster which included Sabertooth and Clarice Ferguson, now going by Blink. Apocalypse’s culling’s had killed Blink’s parents and forced her into the slave pens where she lived into her teens. The X-Man Sabertooth lead a breakout in the pens and Clarice found common ground with her savior. Creed would welcome Clarice into the X-Men and raise her like his own daughter. Her teleportation skills were essential to the team’s success and Blink became more and more comfortable with her powers as she found a place to belong. She even went rogue and single handedly stopped Blastaar of the Negative Zone from destroying the earth.
Art by Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend, Al Milgrom, and Steve Buccellato
As the age drew to an end, Blink joined the X-Men in a battle against Holocaust as the son of Apocalypse attempted the cull the city of Chicago for his father. She fought viciously, even killing a Prelate of Apocalypse, but something in the girl broke when she saw Sabertooth near deaths door, courtesy of Holocaust. She stood alone against a mutant who was second only to Apocalypse himself, she was brave, confident, and dangerous. Blink kept Holocaust at bay until the X-Men could arrive to help turn the tide in the fight. They soon set towards an assault on the Citadel of Apocalypse as the Human High Council decided the east coast of the United States was a lost cause. As Apocalypse fell, so did the nuclear bombs. Blink closed her eyes and faced her death with honor.
Art by Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend, Al Milgrom, and Steve Buccellato
Those eyes opened in the desert with a furry blue woman staring at her. She was Talia Wagner, the daughter of Nightcrawler from a different Earth and they were in a world beyond time and space. She soon found a being known as the Timebroker, he had brought her and others from different worlds onto his plane of reality as their universes had become unhinged. He offered them an opportunity to fix problems for him and he would send them back to their worlds. Blink, Talia and the assembled others became a reality hopping group known as the Exiles. Here Blink found a place where she belonged. While other members of the team came and went, she was the rock of the group. I will pull back the curtain and admit, I have read all of one issue of Exiles because there are over one hundred and I just don’t have the time. If you want great coverage of the book check out the podcast MultiversalQ, they love the series and can give you way more X-Pertise than I ever could.
Art by James Calafiore, Mark McKenna, and Tom Chu
Back in the 616, the psychic vampire Selene was bent on achieving godhood and enlisted her own inner circle of mutants to do so. Selene traveled out to sea and pulled something, someone, out of the air around her. It appeared that Clarice Ferguson was not as dead as they had been lead to believe. Selene told the girl that she had trapped herself in the space between worlds but she wasn’t to worry any more. Selene would take care of her even when pitiful Emma Frost left her for dead. Like her Age of Apocalypse counterpart had done with Sabertooth, Blink imprinted on Selene and became a loyal assassin for her.
Art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta
Blink’s teleportation powers became a huge asset in the next steps of Selene’s plans. Selene raised many dead mutants and Blink teleported them to the X-Men’s base on Utopia to raise hell. When it looked like the living might defeat the dead, Blink and her other Inner Circle members entered the fray and began to turn the tide. She faced the deadly Archangel and used her abilities to shatter his metal wings. The Inner Circle captured the X-Man Warpath and teleported back to their leader’s side in the ruins of Genosha. When Eli Bard attempted to betray Selene for more power, Blink didn’t hesitate to turn him into Selene. However, X-Force was able to take Selene down and Blink wasn’t willing to die for her new master as she teleported away.
Art by Clayton Crain
Sensing that Blink was still alive Emma Frost (always one to feel guilty about her lost students) lead a team, including Dr. Strange for some reason, to find the poor Clarice. Blink was trying to resurrect Selene, and Emma tried to assure Blink that this wasn’t her fault that she was manipulated. Strange used his magic to remove the spell Selene used and Blink was horrified when she realized what she had done. Emma offered her a place with the X-Men but Blink teleported away to places unknown.
Art by Dalibor Talajic and Wil Quintana
Those unknown places ended up being following a band on tour for some catharsis. After a series of mishaps lead the New Mutants to her, Blink finally accepted help and enrolled in the Jean Grey School for Higher learning. She became close with the New Mutants in San Francisco and often tagged along on their adventures. It took twenty-five years, and it wasn’t even the right generation, but Blink finally became part of a team.
Must Read
If all we are going off is stuff I have read, then this is another thumbs up for Age of Apocalypse. However, everyone who likes Blink likes her because of Exiles so that is going to have to be my recommendation. If you like alternate realities, universe hopping, and loads of fun, Exiles is the book for you. It always has a new twist on old favorites and shines a light on characters most people would never give the time of day. The series is available on Marvel Unlimited and in a bunch of trades.
Art by Mike McKone
Ranking
What’s hard about this section is when the stuff I enjoy doesn’t align with what the mainstream enjoys. There are people that I know live and die for Blink, but I am not one of them. Yes, it can be blamed on having not read Exiles but none of her other appearances have done anything for me. Even in Age of Apocalypse she was just different and really worked more as a symbol for the change in Sabertooth than anything else. I realize that I am the odd one out here and that she was a staple of fans ever since the days of Wizard. I just don’t really care for her. Lucky for Blink, her movie version had some amazing action sequences, even if there was a weird bit of race bending there. That is enough to slot her between Armor and Elixir as the new number 19 in the Xavier Files.
Blink was requested by /u/Prooffrea3r and /u/Shaggyforeman on reddit and Nicholas from the Patreon. Thanks for the request guys! If you want to cut to the front of the line like Nicholas, we just started a Patreon if you want to support it and get a line cutting reward for just a $1 pledge. Our first goal is only $15 and it gets rid of those ads and makes the hosting for Xavier Files entirely reader supported.
Xavier Files is opening itself up for guest articles. If you have something you would like to pitch send an email to Zachary.Jenkins@Xavierfiles.com and we will be in touch. So far this has generated us hosting an amazing web comic called Bish & Jubez, a profile on JoeMad, and the best new readers guide out there.
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Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
