- Name: Eric Gitter
- Code Names: Ink
- First Appearance: Young X-Men #1 (June ’08)
- Powers: Causes sickness, super strength, telepathy, flight, causes explosions, healing, tap into Phoenix-like energies
- Teams Affiliation: X-Men
About
There is power in a symbol. It’s a concept that’s at the center of almost every Big 2 superhero story. Criminals, being the cowardly and superstitious lot that they are, learn to fear the idea of the Bat even when the light isn’t shining. A red exclamation point warns someone of potential danger. In recent months, a simple safety pin has become iconic with tolerance and support. These images mean something, the effect someone deeper than just words on a page. There is a guttural impact to seeing them and they can transcend borders and languages. Writer Mark Guggenheim tapped into that concept with his Young X-Men and turned the symbolic power quite literal.
Portrayed by Gregg Lowe in X-Men: Days of Future Past
Eric Gitter was a punk in SoCal, he jacked cars and forgot the consequences. He was getting fresh ink from his boy Leon when those consequences caught up to him. Two officers walked in and began reading him his Miranda Rights, but Eric had different ideas. He reached out with his right palm, tatted up with a biohazard symbol and one of the officers fell to his knees, spreading his lunch on the dirty floor of the tattoo parlor. Eric gloated but his face quickly met the same floor when the other officer took him down. He sat in his cell when an offer came his way. Cyclops made bail for the kid and had a plan. In the wake of the Messiah CompleX he needed new X-Men and Ink was exactly what he was looking for.
Art by Yanick Paquette, Ray Snyder, and Rob Schwager
Sunspot had used his position as Lord Cardinal of the Hellfire Club to form a new Brotherhood with his former New Mutants teammates, and Cyclops wasn’t willing to see that happen. He had Ink train alongside the other young X-Men and they showed promise. When it came time for the initial assault, Ink was paired up with the precognitive Blindfold and the two succeeded in taking down Dani Moonstar, but the surprises didn’t end there. Ink betrayed his partner and knocked Blindfold out cold.
Art by Yanick Paquette, Ray Snyder, and Rob Schwager
Ink shuffled the unconscious women to the X-Jet and dropped them off to his mysterious benefactor. The man, obscured in shadows save his petticoat, commended Ink on a job well done, but the thug shrugged it off. He wasn’t going to become a killer, but he didn’t have any love for the mutant cause. He reported back to Cyclops saying Dani was too much for them and took Blindfold hostage. To stay undercover, Eric needed more fire power and returned to his buddy Leon for some new ink. Leon took his inspiration right off a copy of X-Men #27 and Eric gained the abilities of telepathy and flight. He returned to train undercover and participated on the assault of the Hellfire Club. Sunspot and Cannonball held off the kids until the mutant Graymalkin broke up the fight with disturbing news. The Cyclops they thought they knew was actual the cyborg Donald Pierce in disguise. The teams joined forces to stop Pierce and Ink had a change of heart and led the mutants to him.
Art by Yanick Paquette, Ray Snyder, and Rob Schwager
The former New Mutants confronted Eric for his role in the conspiracy and he owned up to his involvement. Roberto wanted blood but Sam held him back, after all it was the same thing that happened to Canonball. Rockslide was less willing to forgive him and threatened to keep him in line. Still, getting a second chance was enough for Ink to want to change. He apologized to Blindfold and dedicated himself to training with the X-Men.
Art by Ben Oliver and Jose Villarrubia
Ink knew there was still a witch hunt when Rockslide dedicated himself to figuring out which of the young X-Men was not a mutant. On a mission battling a Krakoa, the truth came out about, Eric Gitter was one hundred percent human. His powers came from Leon, his mutant tattoo artist, and the revelation was enough for him to leave the team. Drunk and shuffling through the city, Ink was attacked by anti-mutant bigots and the irony was not lost on him. What was lost on him was the concept that he wasn’t Leon’s only client. The secret X-Man that no one knew about, Cipher (who, yes, is different from Cypher and somehow infinitely worse) made him aware of the fact and recruited him to fight the tattoo powered gangbangers that had started calling themselves the Y-Men. Ink held Leon up and made him explain what had happened, and after that made him tat up the supercharge Eric needed.
Art by Rafa Sandoval, Roger Martinez, and Jose Villarrubia
Surprising everyone, Eric had a plan. On his left palm, he got The Caduceus, the symbol of healing, and over his right eye the Phoenix raptor. He and Cipher rushed to the X-Men’s side and quickly turned the tide in the battle. Using an approximation of the powers of the Phoenix, Eric depowered the Y-Men and saved the young X-Men. He had proved his worth and rejoined the students in San Francisco. Ink hasn’t been around much after that, he participated in the riots during Utopia and he followed the X-Men back to Westchester after the Schism but was rarely even used as wallpaper. He is still around, I guess, and with Mark Guggenheim writing X-Men: Gold this Spring I bet we see him sooner rather than later.
Art by Rafa Sandoval, Roger Martinez, and Jose Villarrubia
Must Read
Ink has been in twelve issues of Young X-Men and a cameo in Guggie’s adjectiveless arc, ain’t none of those a must read. It is a series with a lot great ideas that are poorly executed. It also suffered from being a very different book after the first arc and not really finding good footing after that. So instead let’s just all watch this clip from X-Men: Days of Future Past where you just get Ink’s whole deal in a second. It actually highlights one of the strengths of the X-Men films, the willingness to combine fan service with unique action pieces. So let’s enjoy all the best seconds of Ink in existence.
Ranking
If it didn’t come through in my writing, I am not Ink’s biggest fan. He is a character with a fabulous high concept but without a strong characterization to hold himself up. He is an intentionally unlikable character who never gets a chance to win the audience over. This isn’t helped by giving him Phoenix adjacent abilities without the good will from fans to properly wield them (see also Korvus). I think the right writer could turn him into a really unique character, but they would have an uphill battle ahead of them. He drops below the dreaded Northstar line, the divider between characters I don’t care about and characters I actively dislike. As I start to look down this list, he meets some stiff competition in Squid-Boy, the last character I refused to recommend an actual comic for, but Sammy has a better arc. I think a one-note nothing villain like The X-Cutioner is probably worse than him but, as much as it pains me to say this, I’d rather see X-Man again. That’s why Ink will be the new number 56 in the Xavier Files.
Ink was requested by /u/kaidumo and /u/TheSnooinhiver from Reddit. Thanks for the request and sorry that I am not a fan! If you have a request just submit it at the bottom of this article and I will add it to the list that currently stretches into July 2018! If you want to cut to the front of the line, like our new backer Scott, we have a Patreon if you want to support it and get a line cutting reward for just a $1 pledge. We just hit our 2nd goal and now I guess I am reviewing X-Books so that will be coming soon. Oh and we also have exclusive physical items so check those out!
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Next week I say the words I dread the most. We are doing Cable! See you then!
Zachary Jenkins runs ComicsXF and is a co-host on the podcast “Battle of the Atom.” Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside of all this.
