Zachary Jenkins

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.

Entry 034 – Skids

Art by Marc Silvestri and Josef Rubinstein Name: Sally Blevins Code Names: Skids First Appearance: X-Factor #7 (Aug 1986) Powers: Personal Force Field Teams Affiliation: Morlocks, X-Terminators, New Mutants, Mutant Liberation Front, Acolytes, SHIELD About Community is one of the most important things in a person’s life, and I am not talking about the Dan Harmon show. That sense of belonging,…

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Entry 033 – Vulcan

Art by Billy Tan, Danny Miki, Roy Allan Martinez, and Frank D’Armata Name: Gabriel Summers Code Names: Kid Vulcan, Vulcan First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1 (Jan 2006) Powers: Energy Manipulation Teams Affiliation: X-Men About The Summers’ family tree is a mess. Centered around poor Cyclops, we have a long lost brother, a space pirate father, an…

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Entry 032 – Goldballs

Art by Valerio Schiti and Richard Isanove Name: Fabio Medina Code Names: Goldballs First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1 (Feb 2013) Powers: Shoots Gold Balls out of his body Teams Affiliation: X-Men About I was sitting at my computer getting ready to write this article and my dad asked “who are you doing this week?” I started chuckling to myself and…

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Entry 031 – Northstar

Art by Phil Noto Name: Jean-Paul Beaubier Code Names: Northstar First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #12 (April 1979) Powers: Superspeed, Weird Twin Powers Teams Affiliation: Alpha Flight, X-Men Since their inception the X-Men have constantly been an allegory for the disenfranchised. From their red scare origins in the 60’s, to the civil rights allusions of the 70’s and 80’s, Marvels mutants have…

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Entry 030 – Fantomex

Art by Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend Name: Jean-Phillipe Code Names: Fantomex, Weapon XIII, Charlie Cluster-7 First Appearance: New X-Men #128 (Aug 2002) Powers: Misdirection, External Nervous System/Flying Saucer, Nanoactive Blood, 3 Brains Teams Affiliation: Weapon Plus, X-Force About When I was young, my friends and I used to play Power Rangers. Each of us would chose a character…

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Entry 029 – Apocalypse

Art by Jim Cheung Name: En Sabah Nur Code Names: Apocalypse First Appearance: X-Factor #5 (June 1986) Powers: Total Molecular Control Teams Affiliation: The Clan Akkaba, The Horsemen, The Dark Riders About In his Principals of Biology Herbert Spencer wrote, “This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which…

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Entry 028 – Mercury

Art by Mark Brooks (Cover of New X-Men #24) Name: Cessily Kincaid Code Names: Mercury First Appearance: New Mutants #2 (August 2003) Powers: Liquid Metal Form Teams Affiliation: Hellions, New X-Men About One of the biggest challenges of being a teenager is trying to balance the person you are with the person others want you to be. Some of…

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Entry 027 – Sage

Art by FeydRautha81 Name: Unknown Code Names: Tessa, Sage First Appearance: X-Men #132 (April 1980) Powers: Telepathy, Compter-like Brain, Ability to Jump Start Mutant Powers Teams Affiliation: Hellfire Club, X-Men, Excalibur, Exiles About X-Men fans love continuity. It isn’t shocking that one of the most recommended comics podcasts is a couple just trying to X-Plain it (Jay and Miles…

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