Skin

FIRST APPEARANCE: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #317 (October 1994)

Angelo Espinosa was born in the barrio in South Central Los Angeles. His girlfriend Tores became a gang member, straining their relationship because Angelo refused to fly colors, mostly for his mother's sake. One night, Tores and some of her friends picked Angelo up to cruise, but it turned into a drive-by shooting. The stress of the incident caused Angelo's powers to manifest, and he passed out. He woke up with the car on fire, Tores' friend Gordo dead, and Tores gone. A homeless man was trying to steal Angelo's wallet while he was sleeping, and as Angelo fled the burning car it exploded, killing the man. With his wallet found on the unidentifiable corpse of the homeless man, Angelo Espinosa was declared legally dead. None of his friends or family were aware of this and many truly believed him to be dead. Angelo left town to keep his mutation secret, and because he believed he was protecting Tores from a murder rap.

Angelo was one of the young mutants targeted by the Phalanx. He joined Generation X when it opened and soon showed himself to be fun-loving, despite his resentment for his powers. Initially, he was quite secretive and wasn't keen on having authority figures tell him what to do. As he became more comfortable with his powers and teammates, his attitude changed.

During his time with Generation X, Angelo was targeted by the X-Cutioner. The X-Cutioner assumed he had murdered the 'real' Angelo Espinosa and was using his name. After escaping, Angelo went home with Chamber accompanying him. They visited Angelo's 'grave' and encountered Tores, his ex-girlfriend. They also observed Angelo's mother, though she did not see them. Angelo was heartbroken as his mother spat at Tores for being a mutant; it was clear that she had no respect for mutants.

As a member of Generation X, Angelo performed fairly well, and increased his skill with his powers to the point where he could even rearrange his face. He used his skin both offensively and defensively, although he was sometimes reckless. Throughout his tenure, he seemed to have feelings for Jubilee, but he never capitalized on any opportunities with her. When the school closed, Skin went with Jubilee to L.A., where they shared an apartment while she tried to become an actress. Angelo soon realized that the agents and directors were exploiting Jubilee, and he cautioned her against accepting more roles. Eventually he was proven correct, and they apparently split up, as Jubilee ended up in the X-Corps.

What happened to Skin afterwards is a mystery, but someone must have deduced his connection to the Xavier Institute, and he was found crucified on the Mansion's grounds, along with other mutants. Unfortunately, though Archangel's new healing factor managed to save some of the mutants' lives, Skin did not respond to the treatment and was pronounced dead. Even worse, when the cemetery where his family buried him found out that Angelo was a mutant, they attempted to have him exhumed and cremated on the grounds that mutancy conflicted with the cemetery organization's religious beliefs. Jubilee and Husk happened to be there, and tried to stop the move, in the process revealing one of the cemetery workers as a mutant and costing him his job. Husk and Jubilee were able to acquire his ashes.

Skin was 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 took part in the assault on the mutant nation of Utopia. Skin's fate was uncertain as it was unknown if he was among the mutants teleported to Genosha by Blink to serve as a sacrifice to the goddess-like Selene or if he was among the mutants that managed to escape Utopia.

Years later, Skin resurfaced in the newly-founded mutant nation of Krakoa, having been reborn by the hand of The Five, a group of mutants capable of combining their powers into a process of resurrection, brought together by Charles Xavier as part of his plans for mutant ascension. His resurrection was pushed forward on the schedule because his circumstances were similar to Synch and they believed they would help each over re-adjust. He was seen arm in arm with Synch and standing next to Broo at a party following the first meeting of the Quiet Council.