List of Marvel Comics characters: I explained

Icarus

Icarus (Joshua "Jay" Guthrie) is a mutant superhero. He was a member of the student body at the Xavier Institute and a member of the New Mutants training squad. Jay was the son of Thomas and Lucinda Guthrie. Thomas dies early in Jay's life due to black lung, developed from working in local Kentucky coal mines. Jay's older siblings Sam (Cannonball) and Paige (Husk) are mutants as well, and both have been members of the X-Men. When he himself developed mutant powers, he hid them from his family. When performing in his band, he exposed his wings to the crowd as a 'stage gimmick'. Believed to be descended from the ancient race of Cheyarafim mutants, Icarus possesses red feathered, angel-like wings which allow flight and produce extensive regenerative enzymes allowing him to recover from normally fatal injuries. When his wings were removed, he lost his healing factor. His voice is capable of producing sonic frequency beyond the range of human capability as well as creating multiple sounds or voices at once.

After M-Day, Icarus was one of the few mutants who kept their powers but someone cut off his wings and left him bleeding at the doorsteps of the mansion. His healing factor did not cure these injuries as it was later revealed by Dr. McCoy that his healing powers came from his wings. Jay rebuffed efforts by his friend Elixir to heal his wings.

It was later revealed that Jay was actually tricked by William Stryker into giving up his wings, in exchange for his friends safety. Jay called him to inform the location of his friends, Stryker betrayed him by planting and activating a bomb to kill the students. Many of the de-powered students died in the blast. When Jay confronted William Stryker, Stryker confessed that not only was he responsible for the bombing on the bus but he was also responsible for the death of Julia Cabot, having given the other Cabots the armor. Stryker then proceeded to shoot Jay. Icarus was then shown dying with Nimrod deciding whether or not to finish him off. Nimrod left Jay alone, calculating that he was already mortally wounded. After that, Icarus was found dead by Ms. Marvel and Iron Man in Stryker's church with his hand in a position of writing, he was able to write "NIMR" plus half of the "O" with his own blood before he died.

Later, a memorial service was held for Icarus, as well as all of the other students who had died. The memorial was attended by the X-Men and Icarus's family including Husk, Aero, Cannonball and their mother Lucinda.

Following the foundation of a mutant state on Krakoa by Charles and his allies, Jay was reborn on the island thanks to The Five, a group of mutants able to combine their powers into a process of resurrection. He is shown living in the Akademos Habitat along with his siblings Sam, Paige and Melody.[1]

During the "Judgment Day" storyline, Icarus was among the mutants that were hunted by Kraven the Hunter. Before he was slain, Icarus told Kraven the Hunter that Wolverine is the best among the mutants.[2]

Other versions

In the Age of Apocalypse, Jay was believed to have died when his family home was attacked by the forces of Apocalypse.[3] However, after the fall of Apocalypse's regime, he is revealed to have survived the ordeal, yet his activities while Apocalypse was still in power remain a mystery. When he made his presence known, he was an agent of Mister Sinister and appears to had lost at some point his red wings, or at least replaced them with a pair of bionic wings. Joshua reunited with Liz and Sam and upon searching the Seattle Core where Paige was left to die, they found their sister alive and well. Paige wanted revenge against the X-Men and her siblings were more than happy to help her. While Paige posed as a new student named Xorn, Joshua, and the others attacked Washington, D.C. to distract the X-Men away from their headquarters. Retreating when Paige succeeded in taking Rogue and her son Charles hostage, Joshua, and the others battled the X-Men again; however, Magneto was uninterested in taking prisoners. After watching Sunfire incinerate Liz, the Guthrie brothers attempted to escape. They didn't make it very far as Magneto trapped them in metal and crushed them to death.

Icemaster

The Icemaster (Bradley Kroon) is a fictional supervillain created for one of a series of Hostess advertisements; his advertisement debuted in December 1979. He was the first character from the ad campaign to enter mainstream Marvel continuity when Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley included him in an incarnation of the Masters of Evil composed of obscure characters.

Although how he gained his powers and abilities is unknown, Bradley Kroon had plans to create the next ice age as the Icemaster. He had frozen much of New York until he encountered the Human Torch. The Human Torch defeated him by throwing Hostess Fruit Pies to him, inducing his surrender.[4]

Icemaster later appeared as a member of Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil. In the story's plot, Icemaster is defeated when Hawkeye tricks Scorcher into accidentally blasting him. Before that, Icemaster accidentally hits Man-Killer, one of his own teammates, with an ice blast.[5]

During the Fear Itself storyline, Icemaster is among the supervillains that escape from Raft after what Juggernaut in the form of Kurrth: Breaker of Stone did to it.[6] Icemaster was seen with Living Laser, Bastards of Evil members Aftershock and Ember, and Whirlwind in Stamford. When Speedball attacked them, the villains managed to defeat Speedball. Upon leaving Stamford, Living Laser ridiculed Icemaster for eating too many fruit pies.[7]

Icemaster was transferred to a prison in upstate New York. He and several other inmates stage a prison break, only to be defeated by Rogue and Mimic.[8] Icemaster is later transferred to Pace Federal Penitentiary, and is among the hundred thousand prisoners attempting to kill Gambit (who had broken into Pace Federal Penitentiary) for a reward of one million dollars. Icemaster froze Gambit only to break free of the ice just as MI-13 and the Avengers Unity Squad arrive to defeat the prisoners.[9]

Idunn

See main article: Idunn (comics).

Iguana

Iguana is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He appears in Spectacular Spider-Man #32-34 (July–September 1979), and was created by Bill Mantlo and Jim Mooney.

An accident that occurred while Dr. Curt Connors was experimenting with a bio-enervator machine upon an ordinary iguana endowed the iguana with part of Connors' lifeforce and memories, as well as the personality and powers of Connors' alter-ego, the Lizard. The Iguana became a human-sized semi-humanoid reptile with superhuman strength, hypnotic powers, and the ability to mentally control other reptiles. The Iguana hypnotized Connors to make him forget what happened. The Iguana would stalk the night, but returned to its normal form during the day and stayed in its cage.[10]

On a field trip with some Empire State University students, the Iguana caused Connors to take it into a darkened reptile house and assumed its humanoid form.[11] The Iguana encountered Spider-Man but fled when exposed to blinding light. Since Connors had regained his memories, the Iguana attempted to hold Connors' family hostage to keep Connors from destroying him.[10] Spider-Man intercepted the Iguana before he could capture Connors' family, as well as Connors who had taken on his Lizard form. However, the Lizard and the Iguana both decided that Spider-Man was a mutual enemy, and tried to destroy him. Spider-Man had retrieved the enervator device and used it on them. Connors reverted to human form, but the Iguana seemed to explode. When last seen, the Iguana had apparently been turned back into a normal iguana.[12]

Iguana later resurfaced where he fought Spider-Man in the Central Park Zoo. Spider-Man managed to defeat Iguana and web him up for the police to find.[13]

During the "Hunted" storyline, Iguana is among the animal-themed characters abducted by Taskmaster and Black Ant for Kraven the Hunter's "Great Hunt" that is sponsored by Arcade's company Arcade Industries.[14] A hunter named Bob uses a Hunter-Bot to kill Iguana.[15]

Iguana in other media

Ikaris

See main article: Ikaris.

Ikthalon

Ikthalon is a demon who has clashed with Daimon Hellstrom. Ikthalon lives in a dimension known as the Ice World of Ikthalon. Ikthalon is an embodiment of man's tendency to resist change, and thus represents frozen stagnation.

Immortus

See main article: Immortus.

Impossible Man

See main article: Impossible Man.

Ina

Ina is a leopard, along with Biri, lost their mother, Julani to a guard. at the Central Park Municipal Zoo, veterinarian Shanna O'Hara was asked to take her cubs Ina and Biri to Dahomey, Africa to release them into the wild. They are both killed when the sorcerer, Raga-Shah, transferred their life forces into the blood beast, Ghamola, which Shanna was forced to destroy.

In-Betweener

See main article: In-Betweener.

Inertia

See main article: Inertia (Marvel Comics).

Infectia

Infectia was a mutant in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in X-Factor #28, published May 1988, and was created by Louise and Walt Simonson.[17] Her mutant power allowed her to induce lethally unstable mutations in humans. She served as a minor adversary of the X-Force until she died of the Legacy Virus in X-Men (vol. 2) #27 (December 1993).

She reappeared in the Krakoan era as a refugee in the "Embassy of Limbo" in New York in Dark X-Men (vol. 2) #1 (August 2023).

Inferno

See main article: Inferno (Dante Pertuz).

Infinity

Infinity is a cosmic entity associated with the concept of Space.

Ink

Character Name:Ink
Real Name:Eric Gitter
Species:Human
Publisher:Marvel Comics
Debut:Young X-Men #1 (April 2008)
Creators:Marc Guggenheim (writer)
Yanick Paquette (artist)
Alliances:X-Men-In-Training
Young X-Men
Powers:Iconic tattoos on his body grant him several abilities.[18]

Ink (Eric Gitter) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Marc Guggenheim and Yanick Paquette. As a member of the Young X-Men, the character is depicted as a normal human being who gained superpowers after being tattooed by a mutant. Each of his tattoos gives him a different power.

Fictional character biography

Ink is one of the founding members of the Young X-Men team that believed themselves to have been organized by Cyclops. He is a loud-mouthed and rude teenager with a criminal past. He is introduced when two police officers attempt to arrest him in a tattoo parlor. He fights back using his newly acquired ability to make others violently ill with a touch by utilizing a new tattoo on his hand of a biohazard symbol, making the police officer instantly very sick. Despite this, he is arrested anyway.[19] While Ink waits in jail, a prison guard releases him, in the process revealing himself to be Cyclops, leader of the X-Men. In short order, Eric is recruited into Cyclops' junior X-Men team. The teens are assembled in the Danger Cave, a training facility where they train for their first mission: assassinating the original members of the New Mutants who have gone rogue.[19]

Cyclops sends Ink and a fellow recruit, Blindfold, to attack Dani Moonstar. On their way to Moonstar's cabin, they had a conversation where Blindfold implied Ink was not a mutant. They were successful in their mission, and just after Blindfold knocks Moonstar unconscious, Ink betrays her and knocked out Blindfold, warning her that she should have seen that coming.[20] Ink was paid to deliver both Blindfold and Moonstar to Donald Pierce, which he did, though he refused to kill them. He delivers the two women to Pierce, who refers to him as a mercenary.[21] "Cyclops" is later revealed to be Pierce in disguise, whose goal is to manipulate the Young X-Men into killing the former New Mutants. Upon learning this, Ink appears to suffer a crisis of conscience and leads the Young X-Men and New Mutants to Pierce's hideout. They subdue Pierce, but not before Wolf Cub is killed, leaving Ink to deal with his own feelings of guilt over his involvement.[22]

Later, it is revealed that Ink is actually a normal human being, and that his tattoo artist, Leon Nunez is a mutant. Presumably, the tattoos he draws gave Ink his powers because Ink explains the desired functions of each tattoo prior to getting them to Nunez. Emma Frost runs a scan on him at Dani Moonstar's request that confirmed him as a baseline human, and Pierce knew this before he recruited him.[23] Ink takes the knowledge hard and quits the team, feeling unwelcome already for his involvement with Pierce.[18] While wandering San Francisco drunk, he is attacked by the Hellfire Cult, a mutant-hating gang. Ink easily defeats them, telling them that he's not a mutant and they wasted their time. Then a girl named Cipher appears and tells him he's still an X-Man and his friends are being attacked by the Y-Men, a group of gang members similarly empowered like Ink by his tattoo artist.[24] Together they go to Nunez and force him to give Ink two new tattoos, a caduceus symbol on his left palm and the Phoenix Force symbol over his eye, much like Phoenix-hosts Jean Grey and Rachel Summers. They then go save the Young X-Men from the Y-Men. Ink saves and heals Dani Moonstar with the caduceus tattoo and defeats the Y-Men with his Phoenix powers, explaining that he believed the Phoenix Force to be omnipotent, thus granting him the ability to remove the Y-Men's tattooed powers.[25]

It is decided later that Ink will stay with the X-Men and train, Cyclops not wanting someone to run around with Phoenix-like powers unwatched. Moonstar and Sunspot explain that inking powered tattoos saps Nunez's willpower and that adding the Phoenix Force tattoo to Ink pushed him too hard, leaving Nunez comatose. In this state, he is barely conscious enough to maintain Ink's powers, though if he ever wakes up, Ink will revert to a normal tattooed human. Graymalkin later offers his friendship to Ink, noting that he too understands what it feels like to be different and ostracized.[25] When Dust begins to die from a hidden health condition, Ink attempts to heal her with his caduceus tattoo, but fails. Her death upsets him, causing the others to realize that he now cares about the team. He later speaks to her prepared body, stating that she is the last person to deserve death and he is the first. Knowing that his Phoenix tattoo is untested, he uses it to revive her. He is successful, but the strain leaves him comatose, Beast stating that his mind has activity, but is subdued, "as if it's been overcharged". Beast also postulates that his current state is because his tattoo could only approximate the powers of the Phoenix and that he never actually contained the true energies associated with the Phoenix Force, making his actions an incredible strain. His actions may have ramifications for the future, with the last two issues of Young X-Men depicting a dystopian future and a villainous and powerful Dust seeking to kill all mutants and Ink in particular for "killing her soul" by reviving her.[26]

He appears in unexplained full recovery containing the San Francisco riots, as well as later in the fight against the Dark Avengers, alongside other X-Men in the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia storyline.[27] [28]

Powers and abilities

Ink has no powers of his own. Instead, he had access to a mutant tattoo artist, Leon Nunez, with the power of granting superpowers to other beings by tattooing iconic "power symbols" on them, evocative of the power he wants to bestow. The downside to this is that it takes away a little bit of Nunez's will every time he does it.[18] Nunez made Ink believe that his powers were his own, purposely misleading him into believing he was a mutant. Since granting Ink his last tattoo—the omnipotent Phoenix Force symbol around his eye—Leon Nunez has been in a catatonic state. If he were to wake up, it is thought that Ink's power would disappear, leaving him a normal boy.[25] This was not the case however as Eric was able to get more body art after his phoenix tattoo was removed and he had obtained new body art.[29]

Other versions

Young X-Men "End of Days"

In a dystopic future depicted in the final two issues of "Young X-Men", a disproportionately aged, wheelchair-using, heavily tattooed, and seemingly brain dead Ink lives on "Xaviera", a former mutant safe-haven independent state and utopia along with adult versions of Anole and Graymalkin and an aged Emma Frost (now calling herself "Diamondheart"), and Wolverine, the only four remaining mutants on Xaviera. Emma constantly hopes that he will awaken and speak, though Wolverine states that he never does.[30] Dust suddenly appears, now greatly changed in her appearance and persona with altered powers. She quickly confronts and kills the others and finds Ink. It is then that Ink speaks, acknowledging her presence. They discuss Sooraya's resentment of mutants "allowing her to die" and how Ink "killed" and "corrupted" her soul and making her what she is now by reviving her. Ink states that he was trying to do the opposite and asks her if she recognizes the gravity of her actions. Understanding that she does not, he tells her to get it over with and she kills him, stating that she is sorry as she knows that his heart was in the right place.

In other media

Film

Shola Inkosi

See main article: Shola Inkosi.

Interloper

See main article: List of Eternals.

Invisible Gorilla

Invisible Gorilla is an anthropomorphic gorilla and animal version of Invisible Woman.

Invisible Woman

See main article: Invisible Woman.

Ion

See main article: Ion (Marvel Comics).

Jason Ionello

Jason Ionello is a fictional character in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe, first appeared in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1 (September 1995).

Jason Ionello was a popular student at Midtown High School who would often pick on Peter Parker along with Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Sally Avril and Tiny McKeever. Ironically, they all idolized Spider-Man, not knowing that was actually Peter. He eventually attempted to learn Spider-Man's identity to earn a $1000 reward.[32] He enlisted Sally's help in this endeavor, but became jealous when she flirted with Spider-Man.[33] Later, Jason ran a red light while trying to catch Spider-Man, but collided with another vehicle. Sally was killed, and Jason suffered mild head trauma.[34] Jason was left feeling bitter and soon turned on Flash and his friends.[35] Later, Peter throws a party for Jason and Tiny, but Jason refuses to accept Peter as a friend.[36] He later saves Liz during a fight between Spider-Man and the Headsman.[37] Jason becomes depressed and attempts suicide, but is stopped by the Vulture who convinces him to blame Spider-Man for his problems.[38] Jason disguises himself as Spider-Man and starts committing vandalism and brandishing a gun in an attempt to damage Spider-Man's reputation. Liz and Flash discover his exploits and talk him out of it.[39] Jason was last seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #622 (February 2010) attending a party for Flash.[40]

Jason Ionello in other media

Iron Cross

See main article: Iron Cross (Marvel Comics).

Clare Gruler

Iron Fist

See main article: Iron Fist (comics).

Iron Lad

See main article: Iron Lad.

Iron Man

See main article: Iron Man, Iron Man (Ultimate Marvel character) and Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe).

Iron Man 2020

See main article: Iron Man 2020.

Iron Monger

See main article: Iron Monger.

Iron Mouse

Iron Mouse is an anthropomorphic mouse and animal version of Iron Man from Earth-8311.

Iron Patriot

See main article: Iron Patriot.

Norman Osborn

See main article: Norman Osborn.

Dr. Toni Ho

See main article: Toni Ho.

James Rhodes

See main article: War Machine (comics) and James Rhodes (Marvel Cinematic Universe).

ISAAC

See main article: ISAAC (comics).

Isbisa

See main article: Isbisa.

Iso

Iso is an Inhuman character, created by Charles Soule and Ryan Stegman, who first appeared in Inhuman #4. Originally named Xiaoyi Chen, Iso was transformed into an Inhuman by a bioweapon. She possesses the ability to manipulate air pressure around her and is a skilled medical technician.

In other media

Iso appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced by Tania Gunadi.[41]

It! The Living Colossus

See main article: It! The Living Colossus.

Notes and References

  1. X-Men (vol. 5) #7. Marvel Comics.
  2. X-Force (vol. 6) #32. Marvel Comics.
  3. Tales From the Age of Apocalypse #1. Marvel Comics.
  4. Hostess Pie Advertisement in The Avengers #191
  5. Thunderbolts #25
  6. Thunderbolts #158
  7. Fear Itself: The Home Front #2
  8. X-Men Legacy #275
  9. Gambit (vol. 5) #17
  10. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #33
  11. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #32
  12. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #34
  13. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #15
  14. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #17
  15. Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #18
  16. Web site: The Amazing Spider-Man Video Game Releases a New Trailer. 13 March 2012. 14 March 2012.
  17. Book: Brevoort . Tom . DeFalco . Tom . Manning . Matthew K. . Sanderson . Peter . Wiacek . Win . Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History . 2017 . DK Publishing . 978-1465455505 . 328.
  18. Young X-Men #7
  19. Young X-Men #1
  20. Young X-Men #2
  21. Web site: Exclusive Preview : Young X-Men #3. Marvel.com. 2008-05-29. 2008-05-30.
  22. Young X-Men #3–5
  23. Young X-Men #6
  24. Young X-Men #8
  25. Young X-Men #9
  26. Young X-Men #12
  27. Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia # 1
  28. Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus
  29. X-Men Gold v2 #18
  30. Young X-Men #11
  31. Web site: Bryan Singer Answers Fans' Questions About X-Men: Days of Future Past. October 28, 2013. October 29, 2013.
  32. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #5
  33. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #6–7
  34. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #13
  35. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #15
  36. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #16
  37. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #17
  38. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #19–20
  39. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #23–24
  40. The Amazing Spider-Man #622
  41. Civil War, Part 2: The Mighty Avengers. Avengers Assemble. Disney XD. 3. 24. January 28, 2017.