With the Fall of X challenging Marvel Comics’ X-Men like never before, the Children of the Atom need all the help they can get against Orchis. And while heroes like Iron Man and the Avengers are lending a hand to the mutants, even more mutants have taken it upon themselves to fight for their very survival. But one missing mutant – Davis Cameron aka Slipstream – could be the one hero they need to turn the tide.
First appearing in X-Treme X-Men #6 by Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca, Liquid!, and Tom Orzechowski, Slipstream is a human mutant/Shi’ar hybrid with teleportation abilities. These manifest as a “warp wave,” which pays homage to his surfer roots. An ally of the X-Treme Sanctions Executive, Davis and his sister Heather aka Lifeguard enjoyed a brief stint with the team before falling back into relative obscurity.
But in X-Men: The End by Claremont, Sean Chen, Sandu Florea, Ian Hannin, and Dave Sharpe, Slipstream takes a more prominent role than ever. And it could, in fact, make him one of Krakoa’s saving graces.
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Slipstream Contains An Ocean Of Potential
In the alternate timeline of X-Men: The End, Slipstream is controlled by Professor X’s sister, Cassandra Nova, and is seemingly at his fullest potential. With his warp waves now developed enough to traverse intergalactic distances, Davis potentially becomes one of the most powerful mutants in X-Men canon. The Slipstream of Earth-616 may not currently be at this same level of capability, but many mutant powers develop during times of stress – and there’s nothing more stressful for the X-Men than facing possible extinction.
One possible future seen in Rise of the Powers of X #1 by Kieron Gillen, R.B. Silva, David Curiel, and Clayton Cowles establishes that many of the mutants do in fact flee the Earth to escape the clutches of Orchis, and a highly powered Slipstream could be instrumental in that escape. With the capacity to traverse galaxies, it would be easy for Davis to send the X-Men to their Shi’ar allies off-world or ferry them closer to home on Arakko. He could even bring in an army of reinforcements, shifting the battle in favor of his fellow Children of the Atom.
This X-Treme X-Man Could Save the Day
Slipstream isn’t the most well-known or even a particularly respected X-Man, but the potential of his powers cannot be overlooked. With the Fall of X in full swing, the remaining mutants of Earth can’t exactly be picky about who they fight alongside, as their alliances with the Brood and even the Kingpin can attest. After all, the X-Men are currently in the fight of their lives, and Slipstream just might be exactly who they need.
