Graymalkin is a fictional character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. He is a member of the

Young X-Men ''Young X-Men'' was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It lasted for 12 issues, from April 2008 through March 2009. The series was written by Marc Guggenheim. Plot summary Final Genesis (Issues 1–5) Blindfold has a vision of a ...

and is named after the address of the

Xavier Institute X-Mansion and Xavier Institute are the common names for a mansion and research institute appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The mansion is depicted as the private estate of Charles Francis Xavier and serves as the bas ...

. His super-human strength varies on how much light he is exposed to and was discovered after his father buried him alive for finding him sexually experimenting with another boy.

Publication history

Graymalkin first appeared in Marvel Comics' 2008 series ''Young X-Men'' #1 during a prophetic vision by X-Men character

Blindfold A blindfold (from Middle English ') is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. While a properly fitted blindfold prevents sight even if the eyes are open, a poorly tied or trick blindfo ...

. His first full appearance was in ''Young X-Men'' #3. His previously unknown background was explored in '' X-Men: Manifest Destiny'' #3. While featured primarily in the ongoing ''Young X-Men'' series, Graymalkin has appeared as a background character in various other Marvel X-Men titles, including ''

Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book fictional crossover, crossover storyline written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, that ran through a self-titled eight-issue Limited series (comics), limited series and several ti ...

: X-Men'' and ''

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

and

Power Pack Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four young siblings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman, they first appeared in their own series in 1984, which las ...

.''''

: X-Men'' #3 (December 2008)''

and

'' #2 (February 2009)

Fictional character biography

Origin

Jonas Graymalkin was the only child born to Charles and Marcia Graymalkin over two centuries ago, on the land where the Xavier Institute would eventually be built. After discovering that he was gay, Charles beat Jonas unconscious and buried him alive. This activated his mutant powers and caused him to enter a 200-year-long state of suspended animation.'' X-Men: Manifest Destiny'' #3 (January 2009)

Divided We Stand

After the events of '' X-Men: Messiah Complex'', Jonas is awakened from his hibernation and discovered by Cypher. He takes to observing the Young X-Men from the shadows, watching them leave to confront Sunspot's Brotherhood of Mutants. After Blindfold is captured, Graymalkin decides he must rescue her, kill "the Cyclops" and makes unexplained references to

Cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...

while rambling to himself.''Young X-Men'' #3 (August 2008) He later confronts Cyclops and reveals not only his mutant powers—super-strength when in darkness—but that Cyclops is a disguised

Donald Pierce Donald Pierce is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a cyborg and is commonly an enemy of the X-Men. Donald Pierce appears in the 2017 film '' Logan'', portrayed by Boyd Holbr ...

. Later, despite her defeating Pierce, Graymalkin is distrusting of

Magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

, who earlier used her powers to solidify an attacking

Dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

into glass. She later convinces him to trust her by transforming Dust back to her normal form. He demonstrates an antiquated understanding of mutant abilities, calling Magma a "witch" and referring to her powers as "witchcraft". Later, Magma gives him a uniform which he finds unusual and they go confront Pierce.

Young X-Men

After the team dealt with Pierce,

Beast Beast most often refers to: * Animal, a multicellular, eukaryotic organism in the biological kingdom Animalia * The Beast (Revelation), one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation * Monster, a type of creature found in fiction, folklo ...

announced that an analysis of Graymalkin's DNA revealed he is not only a mutant, but related to Charles Xavier. Beast also discovers that Jonas' powers activated when he was buried alive, which also extended his lifespan. Emma Frost explains some terms used in the X-Men, like "telepathy", to Jonas. She asks Graymalkin if she has permission to look in his mind, though he emphatically refuses. Graymalkin then officially joins the Young X-Men team. He later talks with

Anole Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles (singular anole ) and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat ...

, another young gay mutant about his past, with Anole assuring him that he will be safe with the X-Men. Jonas also offers his friendship to teammate

Ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...

, sensing his isolation from the other members of the team. He does so, stating that he too knows what it is like to be ostracized.

Secret Invasion & Utopia

Graymalkin is seen fighting alongside the other X-Men in San Francisco during the

Skrull The Skrulls () are a race of List of fictional extraterrestrials, extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They first appeared in ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' #2 and were crea ...

invasion. When anti-mutant protesters led by Simon Trask march in San Francisco in support of Proposition X, Graymalkin and a number of other mutants are part of a pro-mutant rights mob and attempt to stall their demonstration. When Hellion taunts the protesters, Trask incites a riot and Graymalkin is seen fighting them off alongside Anole and Beast.

Powers and abilities

Graymalkin has a number of abilities that vary with exposure to light. His powers appear to strengthen with a lack of light, and he is weaker with exposure to light, though he is not powerless. Beast discovered Jonas' powers activated when he was buried alive and he went into suspended animation for over 200 years. His primary ability is super-human strength. He possesses night vision allowing him to see clearly in total darkness. Beast lists invulnerability and longevity as additional abilities, which allow him to survive the pressure and cold extremes of being buried alive.

Other versions

In a dystopic future depicted in the final two issues of "Young X-Men", an adult Graymalkin is one of only four remaining mutants on "Xaviera", a former mutant safe-haven independent state and utopia, before being killed by Dust.''Young X-Men'' #12 (May 2009)

Reception

Lyle Masaki of ''

AfterElton.com TheBacklot.com (TheBacklot), founded in January 2005 as AfterElton (AfterElton.com), was a culture website that focused on the portrayal of gay and bisexual men in the media, and was the companion site of the lesbian-focused AfterEllen (AfterElle ...

'' expressed interest in the vignette wherein Graymalkin and fellow gay teammate Anole discuss Graymalkin's sexual identity and the consequences of being discovered by his father. Masaki praised the seemingly platonic interaction between the two stating that, " th the small number of gay superheroes out there, camaraderie between gay characters is as rare as same-sex couples".

References

{{X-Men characters Characters created by Marc Guggenheim Comics characters introduced in 2008 Fictional gay men Gay superheroes Marvel Comics characters with superhuman senses Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics LGBTQ superheroes Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics mutants X-Men members