Comic Book Questions Answered – where I answer whatever questions you folks might have about comic books (feel free to e-mail questions to me at brianc@cbr.com).

Reader Drew wrote in to ask:

I am hoping you can solve an argument between my friend and I.

Domino's first appearance was in New Mutants #98 (Which was overshadowed by the first appearance of a character whose name escapes me). Then, in X-Force #11, we learn that the Domino from New Mutants #98 was actually Copycat as the real Domino is revealed for the first time. So this issue is widely regarded as the 1st appearance of the true Domino. However, I maintain that the Domino in the flashback segment of X-Force #8 is the real Domino before she was kidnapped making X-Force #8 her first appearance. So my question is, which one is the first appearance of the real Domino?

Interesting stuff, Drew. To refresh our readers' memories, Domino first showed up in New Mutants #98 (by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza), which also had the debut of the most popular new character of 1990, Gideon...

New Mutants was relaunched as X-Force following New Mutants #100. Domino then served with X-Force with distinction as Cable's second-in-command until X-Force #11, when Deadpool fought against Domino, but he kept calling her a different name...

And we learned the reason why, which was that the REAL Domino had been locked up all of this time and ever since New Mutants #98, an impersonator had taken her place with X-Force!

Okay, now first off, I personally still believe that Domino's first appearance is New Mutants #98. For instance, Misty Knight debuted in Marvel Premiere #21...

A few years later, Chris Claremont and John Byrne revealed that this lady from Marvel Team-Up #1 (which came out a couple of years before Marvel Premiere #21)....

was Misty Knight. That does not retroactively make Marvel Team-Up #1 Misty Knight's first appearance.

So I still count New Mutants #98 as the official first appearance of Domino.

However, yes, if you want to note when we first met the "real" Domino, then Drew is correct and the first appearance of the "real" Domino came in X-Force #8, which was a flashback to Cable's mercenary days alongside Domino and others...

Since it is a flashback to before she was replaced by Copycat, that is the real Domino and the first time in the series that we saw the "real" Domino.

You can even take it further and note that Mike Mignola somehow was the first person to draw the "real" Domino inside of a Marvel comic book (Rob Liefeld drew the cover of that issue, though, which also was the "real" Domino).

So I'm on your side, Drew, in this particular debate!

If anyone ELSE has a question they'd like to see me address, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!