Skin (Marvel Comics)

Skin is a fictional mutant in the Marvel Universe of comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #317. (1994)

Fictional character biography

Angelo Espinosa was a former gang member from the east Los Angeles area who faked his own death to leave that part of his life behind. Skin was one of four young mutants (including M, Husk, and Blink) abducted by the Phalanx, a techno-organic alien race. The reason behind the abductions was so that the Phalanx could uncover the secret behind their inability to assimilate mutants into their collective. Through their combined efforts and those of Banshee, Emma Frost, Sabretooth, Synch, and Jubilee, the four young mutants managed to escape their confines; although, Blink sacrificed herself by using her powers to destroy the Phalanx that had captured them.^[1]

Afterwards, Skin accepted an invitation to enroll in the Massachusetts Academy, a school for mutants owned by Emma Frost. As a member of Generation X, Skin was joined by Synch, Jubilee, Husk, and M (and later by Chamber, Penance, and Mondo). During his stay at the Massachusetts Academy, Skin became close friends with Chamber because neither could pass for normal humans in public, and he always found time to playfully flirt with Husk, Jubilee (whom he nicknamed Jubecita), and M. Skin was also hunted by a mutant-killing vigilante known as the X-Cutioner who believed Skin responsible for the death of Angelo Espinosa. The X-Cutioner did not know that Skin, in fact, was Angelo Espinosa. Skin and Chamber succeeded in defeating the vigilante, but kept the secret.

During Operation: Zero Tolerance, Skin and his teammates found themselves transported to his hometown by Glorian.^[2] While searching for Skin's cousin Gil, they were captured by Skin's ex-girlfriend Tores, a gang leader who wanted to kill him for making her believe he was dead. Before she got the chance, Prime Sentinels attacked both Generation X and her gang, forcing them into a reluctant temporary truce. Skin and Tores acted as bait to lead the Sentinels into an ambush, and Gil completed the trap by starting a huge explosion, allowing Generation X to escape.^[3]

After the Academy closed due to the machinations of Adrienne Frost, Skin returned to Los Angeles with Jubilee in tow. Some time later, Skin and Jubilee, along with Magma, Bedlam, and a handful of other unknown mutants were found crucified on the lawn of the X-Mansion. This action was done by the Church of Humanity, a militant, religious anti-mutant organization. Archangel used his blood's healing properties to revive Jubilee and Magma but Bedlam and Skin didn't survive.^[4]

Jubilee, Husk, and Archangel went to visit Skin's grave after Jubilee had recovered only to find that the owner of the cemetery was about to dig Angelo up and remove him because of his status as a mutant. The girls argued with the foreman, but he insisted that it was against the religious convictions of the cemetery to bury mutants. He offered to cremate Angelo's remains and give them to the girls, which he ultimately did.

Skin was later resurrected by means of the Transmode Virus to serve as part of Selene's army of deceased mutants. Under the control of Selene and Eli Bard, he takes part in the assault on the mutant nation of Utopia.^[5]

Powers and abilities

Skin possessed approximately six feet^[6] of extra skin. He was capable of stretching, deforming, wrapping, expanding, and compressing this extra amount of epidermis. When Skin is performing any of these stunts, it is only the epidermis that was manipulated; Skin's skeletal structure was the same as any normal, average person of his age and height. Skin's skin had a greyish tone and, because of the extra amount, gave him the appearance of a melted candle. At one point, along with compressing his skin tighter against his body, Skin was learning to manipulate the pigment melanin in his epidermis in order to appear normal. However, performing these two stunts together caused him to have migraines and he soon gave up on the idea of being normal.

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the alternate timeline of the Age of Apocalypse, Skin was featured in Generation Next as one of the protégés tapped by Colossus and Shadowcat to rescue Illyana Rasputin from enslavement at the Sugar Man's Core. Due to their more militant training, Skin was depicted as using his powers in a much more aggressive fashion, including impaling opponents with skin protrusions. Colossus abandoned the team to ensure Illyana's rescue, and as a result, only he, Shadowcat, and Illyana managed to escape from the Core. Skin and the rest of his teammates were overwhelmed and killed by the Core's guards.^[7]

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Skin was mentioned to receiving a beating nearly to death from humans by Sunspot.^[8]

In other media

Film

• Skin appeared in the made-for-TV Generation X film portrayed by Augustin Rodriguez. In the film, his powers were closer to true elasticity, similar to Mister Fantastic. However, it caused him pain to use this power.
• In the film X2, his name appears on a list of names Mystique scrolls through on Stryker's computer while looking for Magneto's file.

References

1. ↑ Uncanny X-Men #317, X-Men #37
2. ↑ Generation X #28
3. ↑ Generation X #29-31
4. ↑ Uncanny X-Men #423
5. ↑ X-Force (3rd Series) #22, February 2010
6. ↑ Generation X #1
7. ↑ Generation Next #4
8. ↑ Ultimate X-Men Vol 1 #48 (August, 2004)

External links

• Skin at the Marvel Universe
• Skin at UncannyXmen.net