- Name: Victor Borkowski
- Code Names: Anole
- First Appearance: New X-Men #2 (Aug ‘03)
- Powers: Lizard boy
- Teams Affiliation: X-Men
About
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best thing about the New X-Men kids is their design. They all look unique and they all have great, simple, personality traits that can be applied to a multitude of situations. They can jump in and out of stories and add a little flavor if a writer needs it. If you want someone to have a bad attitude, give Hellion a scene. You need someone to crack an innocent little joke, pull in Pixie. It is surprising that so many of these characters evolved from a line of dialog here and there into fan favorites that people are excited to see. And if we are talking about New X-Men kids I’m excited to see, Anole shoots up near the top of that list.
Victor Borkowski got lucky, all things considered. He was a lizard looking mutant, sure, but his parents loved him and his community didn’t seem to mind. Still, they decided that Xavier’s was going to be the best place for him long term, and off he went. He started out under Wolverine, but they didn’t gel so he requested to be transferred to Karma’s mentorship and took the codename Anole. However, when the students were sorted into Squads, Anole shifted over to the care of Northstar and an important mentorship was formed.
Northstar was famously the first out gay Marvel superhero and Anole was still closeted. In fact, had there not been high-level editorial interference, Anole’s story would have gone much differently. Writers Nunzio Defilippis and Christina Weir created Anole for a very specific role, to help turn Elixir into a likable character. During a Parent’s Day at the school, Vic’s parents were to make homophobic comments, to which Victor would respond by coming out as gay. Feeling hated by his parents, he would turn to his friends Hellion and Elixir for support. They would then bully him about his sexuality, causing him to kill himself that night. All that would lead to a heel turn for Elixir who would realize how much his hate could hurt someone, but it wasn’t to be. After the first issue in the two-part story went to print, Marvel decided to cancel the story and destroy all copies.
In the end, it is probably for the best that we never saw the intended story. It had unfortunate implications due to its treatment of gay characters and would make two already unlikable characters nearly irredeemable. Worse, it would have taken away from all the fantastic Anole stories we have gotten since.
Anole was happy to work under an openly gay superhero, and that relationship helped Anole come out to his friend. However, their mentorship was cut short when Northstar was killed by a possessed Wolverine. Still, Victor progressed at the school, even though M-Day. He wasn’t one of the students to lose their mutant gifts, however, he wasn’t selected to be an X-Man in training either. He spent his time training and making friends, and that affability would serve him well. Northstar returned from the dead, though controlled by the Children of the Vault, and Vic’s friendship was enough to brink their hold on him, even if it was only for a moment.
His time to shine came when the students of the X-Mansion were whisked away into Limbo. Victor wanted to let the better trained students take the lead, but was soon left with no choice. He had to fight. For that bravery, Victor lost his arm. Being a lizard dude it grew back, only more reptilian. With it, grew confidence, and Anole began training to be an X-Man. He stood with his fellow students against the demons of Limbo, the Purifiers, and the Reavers. He had finally become a hero.
Though he was unsure if he wanted to join the X-Men after their relocation to California, Anole soon joined the new Young X-Men squad. Victor matured on that team, helping support a fellow gay mutant named Greymalkin. He also grew closer with Rockslide and the two became practically inseparable. They decided to patrol San Francisco as the X-Dudes (not their real team name) in hockey masks and fake moustaches. The Spider-Man villain Mister Negative caught wind of this and tried to stop them by controlling Rockslide’s mind. Anole was able to snap him out of it and the two best friends saved the day.
After the Schism, Anole decided to continue his studies at the Jean Grey School. There he excelled in his studies and friendship, so much so that Angel named him chairman of the board of Worthington Industries before he even graduated. Even after graduation, Anole followed the X-Men. He joined them in Limbo during the M-Pox crisis and assisted the main team on several occasions. On one such mission, Anole was thrown into the future with Glob Herman, No-Girl, and Ernst. They had to spend a year surviving in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by Apocalypse (so I guess just an Apocalyptic wasteland then). It wasn’t a great time, but Vic did get swole. Unfortunately, he stopped working out after coming back to the present and lost of his gains, but none of his heart. He still spends time with the X-Men, looking for his next chance to step up to the big leagues.
Must Read
My feelings about New X-Men are well known, though I do think the book gets much better when Anole joins the main cast, so I am not going to suggest one from there. That said New X-Men co-writer Chris Yost does a great Anole & Rockslide jam in X-Men: To Serve And Protect. They go around San Fran trying to be goofy superheroes and it is stories like this that make me want more attention on these kids. It is on dat app or you can pick it up on ComiXology.
Ranking
Anole is kinda great. Of all the New X-Men kids he might have the most realized potential. He is a fun character who fills a role on any team. He could show up on an A-Team and I wouldn’t blink an eye. He edges out his buddy Rockslide in my book (which is the book that matters) but he isn’t as good as The Stepford Cuckoos. He is probably better than Baily Hoskins and a better X-Men character than Molly Hayes, but Rachel Summers has more umph to her (don’t you love my very standardized rubrics). That puts Anole in as the new number 46 in the Xavier Files.
Anole was requested by Patreon supporter Michael Wentz. Thank you for your support!
Make sure you check out my podcast BATTLE OF THE ATOM. It’s where Bish & Jubez creator Adam Reck and I talk about every single X-Men story that ever existed and rank them from best to worst. Episode 50 is up and we talk with X-MEN BLUE writer Cullen Bunn. Make sure you subscribe to any of the following platforms (or others, I’m not picky) Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS.
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Next time, we talk about Mimic!
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
