Queer Comic Book Characters: Jonas Graymalkin (Oct 17th)

The majority of Jonas Graymalkin’s time in Marvel’s Young X-Men was spent in the closet. This is no surprise considering Jonas was born over 200 years ago when attitudes about being gay were very different.

Jonas Graymalkin

Jonas Greymalkin

During an attack on the X-Mansion, the ground splits apart and Jonas appears. He’s found by Cipher and joins the Young X-Men. Though since his powers are attached to being in darkness, he tends to keep to the shadows. He’s very protective of the Young X-Men, but many of them don’t even realize he’s there.

When Beast analyzes Jonas’s DNA, he discovers that Jonas’ not just a mutant, but he’s also one of Charles Xavier’s relatives. He discovers that Jonas’ powers were activated when he was buried alive.

At this point, the writers reveal that Jonas was buried alive by his homophobic father. When Jonas’ father finds him with another boy, he beats his son and buries his unconscious body. Unbeknownst to his father, this activates Jonas’ superpowers which are longevity, night vision, super strength, enhanced agility, and invulnerability when in darkness. Basically, the perfect powers to stay alive while buried alive.

Jonas does not let Emma Frost read his mind due to fear of homophobia. Jonas only truly relaxes after Victor Borkowski (Anole) comes out to Jonas and assures him that the X-Men will be supportive of him.

Jonas and Anole come out to each other
Jonas and Anole come out to each other.

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