Skin (Marvel Comics)

This article is about the Marvel Comics mutant X-Men character. For the graphic novel, see Skin (graphic novel).

Skin (Angelo Espinosa) is a fictional character (a human mutant) appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #317 (October 1994).

Skin
Skin as depicted in Generation X #63 (May 2000). Art by Steve Pugh.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Uncanny X-Men #317 (October 1994)
Created by	Scott Lobdell (writer) Joe Madureira (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Angelo Espinosa
Species	Human mutant
Team affiliations	Generation X
Abilities	Six feet of extra, malleable skin which can be stretched or reshaped at will

Fictional character biography

Angelo Espinosa was a former gang member from the east Los Angeles area who faked his own death for numerous reasons; to make sure that his friend Tores was not blamed for murder, to hide his newly manifested mutation from his family, and 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 species. 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][2]

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 was Angelo Espinosa. Skin succeeded in defeating the vigilante, but kept his identity secret.^[3]

During Operation: Zero Tolerance, Skin and his teammates found themselves transported to his hometown by Glorian.^[4] 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.^[5]

After the Academy closed due to the machinations of Adrienne Frost, Skin returned to Los Angeles with Jubilee in tow.^[6] Some time later, Skin, Jubilee, Magma, Bedlam, and several other mutants were found crucified by the Church of Humanity, an anti-mutant organization. Archangel used his healing blood to resurrect Jubilee and Magma, but Bedlam and Skin did not survive.^[7]

In Necrosha, Skin is resurrected via 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 attacking the mutant nation of Utopia.^[8]

Years later, Skin was resurrected on Krakoa through the Five, with his resurrection pushed forward on the schedule because his former teammate Synch was needed to act as a backup for the Five and they believed the two young mutants would help each other re-adjust.^[9][10] He was seen arm in arm with Synch and standing next to Broo at a party following the first meeting of the Quiet Council of Krakoa.^[11] He was later approached by Madison Jeffries manifesting himself through the land, who explained to him that he was thrown in the Pit of Exile for trying to create a place for Danger to live, which was deemed a violation of rule three by the Council.^[12] He later told Blob about this, unsure if it really happened, Blob assures him he has seen enough weird things to believe his story and remarks there will going to be a power-vacuum soon and that "it's good to have a brotherhood.^[13]

Powers and abilities

Skin possessed approximately six feet of extra skin.^[14] He was capable of stretching, deforming, wrapping, expanding, and compressing this extra amount of epidermis.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20]} At one point, Skin learned to manipulate the melanin in his epidermis to appear normal. However, this caused him to have migraines and he soon gave up on the idea of being normal.^[18]

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of Skin from Earth-295 appears in "Age of Apocalypse". This version is a protégé of Colossus and Shadowcat who is later killed by the Core's guards.^[21]

In other media

Skin appears in Generation X, portrayed by Agustin Rodriguez.^[15] This version possesses full elasticity akin to Mister Fantastic, though using the ability causes him great pain.