Wiz-Kid is a character I haven't seen nearly as much of as some of the others, but I've really enjoyed the appearances he has had. Taki almost seemed to come out of nowhere when…

Wiz-Kid is a character I haven't seen nearly as much of as some of the others, but I've really enjoyed the appearances he has had. Taki almost seemed to come out of nowhere when Artie and Leech met him at St. Simon's boarding school, and then he ended up being a major part of what happened with the X-Terminators during Inferno. His name is Takeshi Matsuya, usually called Taki. When we meet him, he's a wheelchair user who is already fascinated with computers and inventions. He's also prickly about having people around him. Artie and Leech have to get past that before the three of them really become friends. One of the things that interested me immediately was how much he reminded me of Forge. They both have that connection to technology, but there is a difference in how their powers work. Forge has an intuitive ability to invent and understand how to build things. Taki can physically reshape material into functioning technological forms. He can transform the equipment he has available instead of always having to sit down and build everything piece by piece. His wheelchair is the most obvious example. It can become a vehicle for a completely different situation, including taking to the air, and he can reshape parts of it into tools or weapons. Watching him use that is a big part of why I find him interesting. You see him work out what he needs, then change what he's using to deal with the situation. Visually, he almost feels like a cross between Forge and Professor Xavier to me. The technology side brings Forge to mind, and then you've got this character doing all of it from an increasingly versatile wheelchair. But the way Taki actually uses his power is different from either of them. He also gets involved because he cares about Artie and Leech. When they're abducted, he tries to stop it, then goes looking for the older kids who can help. He doesn't just sit there and wait for someone to decide whether his story about demons is believable. Once the X-Terminators get pulled into Inferno, his ability becomes something N'astirh wants to exploit. Taki is forced to make a computer that can process the demon's spells, with his friends' lives being used against him. He keeps trying to buy time, and once the situation gets worse, he has to find a way to undo what he's been forced to help create. That puts a lot on a kid who has only just entered this part of the story. He can make something incredibly useful, but somebody much more powerful can also see that and decide to use him. He ends up having to fight back with the same ability that made him a target in the first place. I've loved watching him on-panel, changing his equipment, figuring things out and becoming part of the group. The friendship with Artie and Leech helps too. He starts off acting like he doesn't need anybody, and before long he's putting himself in danger to get them back. For somebody with comparatively little page time in what I've read, he has already given me quite a bit to talk about.