VIEW

Real Name: Winston Frankowski

Identity/Class: Human mutant (depowered)

Occupation: Student

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Xavier Institute students: Flood (Eugene Walker), Quill (Maxwell Jordan), X-Men (Beast/Henry McCoy, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Gambit/Remy LeBeau, Marvel Girl/Rachel Summers, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Rogue/Anne-Marie, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Storm/Ororo Munroe)

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Westchester County, New York

First Appearance: Gambit IV#10 (July, 2005)

Powers/Abilities: View possessed the mutant ability to see ultraviolet light (the electromagnetic rays that fall outside of the human spectrum) and infrared (invisible radiant energy).

Height: 5'6" (by approximation)
Weight: 135 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Red

History:

(Gambit IV#10 - BTS) - After manifesting his mutant abilities, Winston Frankowski enrolled at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters where he befriended fellow students Flood and Quill.

(Gambit IV#10 (fb) - BTS) - Winston and his friends Eugene and Maxwell tried to break into the headmaster's study to steal a copy of the upcoming computer science test but were caught by Kitty Pryde.

(Gambit IV#10) - To punish the students while also hoping to give them a role model of sorts, Pryde assigned Frankowski and the others to the X-Men's resident thief Gambit for the day. Gambit figured the one thing he could teach his young charges was showing them how to become a skilled thief. He had View and his friends accompany him while he tried to steal a disc containing a sex tape of LeBeau with an ex-girlfriend that had been sent to Rogue by an unknown party before she saw it. During their quest View and his friends met numerous X-Men but before they could complete their mission Gambit was called away to help the team fight off a group of creatures tearing up Manhattan.

(Gambit IV#10 (fb) - BTS) - In Gambit's absence, View and his friends were determined to retrieve the disc anyway. They managed to hack into the school's computer and broke the algorithmic code protecting the security system. They then planted a self-replicating virus that caused it to default to manual override mode. After memorizing the mansion's blueprints, they snuck into the heating ducts until they reached Rogue's room. They picked the locks before successfully locating and retrieving the disc.

(Gambit IV#10) - When Gambit returned from his mission, View and the others handed him the disc and explained how they pulled their caper off. As a thank you, Gambit passed the boys a copy of the computer science makeup test Kitty Pryde had prepared for them, along with the answers to their next three pop quizzes he had swiped off Pryde's desk. LeBeau reasoned they had put in much more work in getting the disc than if they had simply studied while learning some valuable skills in the process. Watching Gambit drive off with Rogue, View was convinced he now wanted to become an X-Man and a thief upon graduation.

(House of M#8 - BTS) - When millions of homo superior lost their powers when a reality altering spell cast by the Scarlet Witch reduced the number of gene active mutants to a mere 300 worldwide, View was one of the mutants who was depowered.

(New X-Men II#20) - View was seen among the students when most students realized that they had lost their powers following M-Day.

Comments: Created by John Layman (writer), Georges Jeanty (pencils), Don Hillsman (inks).

The mutant ability to see into the infrared spectrum, often used to invisibly protect valuable exhibits, might serve View well in his imagined career as a thief.

View was part of the Xavier's Institute entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe HC#13. His full name, codename and powers were first revealed there.

Though his hair was miscolored blond in New X-Men II#20 the kid seen in the issue had the same build, same baseball cap worn the same way and same kind of clothes as View. Another one of these students was Pinocchio. To say it in Loki's words: In a world (or school) where virtually everyone is a perfect physical specimen (even those who are non-human are shapely non-human), being visibly a bit overweight is distinctive. Thank you to Loki for pointing out this additional appearance.

Profile by MarvellousLuke

CLARIFICATIONS:
View has no known connections to

• Viewpoint, (Violet) TV talk show @ Iron Man IV#17
• or any other "View" characters

images: (without ads)
Gambit IV#10, p11, pan4 (main image)
Gambit IV#10, p7, pan4 (closeup)
Gambit IV#10, p21, pan4 (future plans)