{{Infobox comics character , debut =

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

#8 (Mar. 1993) , image = DarkHorseX1.jpg , caption = Cover of ''X'' #1
Art by

Rick Leonardi Rick Leonardi (born August 9, 1957) is an American comics artist who has worked on various series for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including ''Cloak and Dagger'', ''The Uncanny X-Men'', ''The New Mutants'', ''Spider-Man 2099'', ''Nightwing'', ''B ...

and James Palmiotti , character_name = X , creators = Mike Richardson

Chris Warner Christopher Alexander Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' who has been portrayed by Michael Galvin since the show's first episode, making him the longest running original character. Galvin quit the ...

, aliases = John Doe, John Smith, The X-Killer, Lord Alamout,

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

, powers = Expert

swordsman Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

and

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than-u ...

Skilled

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...

ant
Regenerative healing factor ''X'' is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

who starred in his own self-titled series published by

for their Comics Greatest World

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

. He is a dark

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

with little true feeling and a strong tendency to kill. After the character debuted in ''Dark Horse Comics'' #8, his own self-titled series began with a

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

of February, 1994, ending with issue #25 in April 1996. Dark Horse re-launched the title with issue #0 in April 2013, and a new creative team of Duane Swierczynski and Eric Nguyen.

Publication

Series Creative Staff Information Below is a list of those who worked on the book. When repeated, only last names are used. *1-5:

Steven Grant Steven Grant (born October 22, 1953) is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series ''The Punisher'' with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper. Biography Comic books Grant has ...

, writer ,

Doug Mahnke Douglas Mahnke () is an American comic book artist, known for his work and penciller, penciling books including ''The Mask (comics), The Mask'', ''JLA (comic book), JLA'', ''Batman (comic book), Batman'', ''Final Crisis'', and ''Green Lantern (com ...

, pencils ,

Jimmy Palmiotti James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film. Early life Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Career Palmiotti star ...

, inks. *6: Grant, writer ,

Ron Wagner Ron J. Wagner is an American comics artist who has drawn for titles such as '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', ''The Punisher'', '' Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja'', and '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight''. He is also an animation storyboard ...

and

P. Craig Russell Philip Craig Russell (born October 30, 1951) is an American comics artist, writer, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Biography ...

, pencils , Palmiotti, inks. *7: Grant, writer , Wagner &

Frank Fosco Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

, pencils , Palmiotti, inks. *8: Grant, writer ,

Matt Haley Matt Haley (born June 10, 1970) is an American film director, art director and book illustrator artist. He was the art director of Morgan Spurlock's ''Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope'' feature documentary, which debuted at the 2010 Toronto Inte ...

, pencils , Tom Simmons, inks. *9: Grant, writer , Mahnke, pencils , Palmiotti, inks. *10-12: Grant, writer ,

, pencils ,

Tim Bradstreet Tim Bradstreet (born on February 16, 1967)is an American artist and illustrator, best known for his work on comic books, book covers, movie posters, roleplaying games and trading cards. Early life Tim Bradstreet was born February 16, 1967, in C ...

, inks. *13-15: Grant, writer ,

Javier Saltares Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game '' Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier Colon, known ...

, art. *16-17: Grant, writer , Saltares, pencils , Andrew Pepoy, inks. *18: Grant, writer , Alex Renaud, pencils , Pepoy, inks. *19-22: Grant, writer , Saltares, pencils , Pepoy, inks. *23: Grant, writer , Saltares, pencils , Bradstreet, inks. *24-25: Grant, writer , Saltares, pencils , Pepoy, inks. 2013 Re-launch *0-(on going):

Duane Swierczynski Duane Louis Swierczynski (born February 22, 1972) is an American crime writer known for his work in non-fiction books, novels and comic books. Early life Duane Swierczynski was born and raised in Frankford, a neighborhood in lower Northeast Phi ...

, writer ,

Eric Nguyen Eric Michael Nguyen (January 2, 1978 – September 9, 2007) was an American professional storm chaser, meteorologist, and photographer from Keller, Texas, United States. In 2008, Nguyen released his first book of photography titled ''Adventures in ...

, pencils.

Plot

X, whose law is that one mark means a warning, the second one death, takes on a collection of business, law, mob, assassins and politics. This includes characters such as Mayor Teal and Police Commissioner Anderson as well as the Llewellyn brothers, their hired assassin named Gamble, Mob boss Carmine Tango and highly connected army officials. *1-15: The first section of the series involves a series of political hits performed by X, sometimes in tandem with a woman named Diana Gorreti, who wanted to take over Arcadia from mobster Carmine Tango. It is eventually revealed that X used Goretti to remove Tango and put pliable people in positions of power within the city. To this end, a "War" was fought between X and the mob, during which X was briefly thought killed by a mysterious mind controlling villain named Lord Alamout. *16-20: X travels to Washington D.C. to let the government know that he is in control of Arcadia and to try to extend his influence. During the trip to D.C., X encounters a general who seems to know something about X's early past. It is also revealed that X arrived in Arcadia as a young man, rapidly recovering from burns that covered much of his body and with no clear memories. He fell in love with his case worker who was involved with another man, Carmine Tango. X tried to kill Tango which amused him, so he took X in and pushed the case worker out of both of their lives. *21-25: Gamble, the only man X failed to kill after marking, returned and drew X into the open by inviting a rash of killers into Arcadia. Assistant D.A. Elizabeth Treaty spends some time building a case against X. Coffin returns just as X busts up Gamble's operations, saves Christie and marks McCone, one of the killers. The General explains that as a young military officer, he was sent in to search the area of a bombed scientist's lab and his arm was infected. The arm was amputated, but would not die and was eventually stolen. X finally recalls how he lost faith in everything he grew up believing, the day his father and mother were killed in front of him by men from the government. His father, before dying, injected him with a serum from an arm in a tank. As X recovers from a wound, the General realizes that the key to X's invulnerability is that his blood analyzes and repairs itself. Coffin arrives and rips the general in two, before being defeated by X, who also kills Gamble. At the end of the series, Treaty grants X full immunity.

Other appearances

*''

Will to Power The will to power (german: der Wille zur Macht) is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans. However, the concept was never systematic ...

'' #1-3, Script by

Jerry Prosser Jerry Prosser is an American comic book writer and editor, best known for his work with Dark Horse Comics. Prosser was part of Dark Horse Comics from its early days, and was one of five creators, who as ''Team CGW'' created the Comics' Greatest ...

, art by Mike Manley (& Ande Parkes, #3) *''Dark Horse Comics'' #19 & 20: "Welcome to the Jungle", Written by

Eric Luke Eric Luke (born October 31, 1962 in Salem, Massachusetts) is an American writer. Career Film Eric Luke began his career in film writing. Previous film work included: ''Explorers'' for Paramount Pictures, numerous screenplays for MGM and others, ...

, art by Nghia Lam *''X'' (''

Hero Illustrated ''Hero Illustrated'' was a comic book-themed magazine published in the early to mid-1990s in the United States. Columnists included Andy Mangels, and Frank Kurtz (director), Frank Kurtz was at one time a managing editor. The journal won the 1995 Ei ...

Special'') # 1 & 2: Written by Steven Grant, art by Vince Giarrano, # 1, Corky Lehmkuhl &

Jordi Ensign Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: *Sant Jordi – patron sa ...

, # 2. (Introduces Challenge) *''Ghost Special'': Written by

, pencils by

, inks by Tom Simmons *''X'': "One Shot to the Head". (originally in Dark Horse Comics # 8-10) Script by

, pencils by N. Steven Harris, Inks by Dan Davis. Also, this issue collects the first five pages of "X" from Arcadia week one, which had pencils by

and Inks by

. Cover is by

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...

. *''Comics Greatest World: Arcadia'', weeks 1-4: X (pencils by

, inks by

), Pit Bulls (pencils by

Joe Phillips Joe Phillips is an American artist, known for his gay-themed illustration, erotic animation, and his earlier work on superhero comic books. Early life Phillips was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1960s. He attended Northside School of the Arts ...

, inks by John Dell),

(pencils by

Adam Hughes Adam Hughes (born May 5, 1967) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known to American comic book readers for his renderings of pinup-style female characters, and his cover work on titles such as ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Catwoman''. H ...

, inks by

Mark Farmer Mark Farmer (born 1957 in Birmingham) is a British comic book artist. He is best known as an inker, often working with Alan Davis. Career Farmer got his start in the UK comics industry before becoming part of the British Invasion, the wave of ...

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

(pencils by Derek Thompson, inks by

Ande Parks Ande Parks (born October 1, 1964) is an American professional comic book artist, known for his work as an inker and writer in the industry. His best known work has come from his stint with fellow artist Phil Hester (comics), Phil Hester on DC Comi ...

). All were written by

. *''Ghost'' : Issue #9, #15, #'s 20-27, #32. Written by

Characters

While it is debatable if X ever truly aligns with anyone else, he does team up with or use another person in order to benefit from them. Essentially, X either kills you or he does not, mostly disregarding any prior use.

Allies

*Mickey D (First appears in # 1) *Kingston (First appears in # 1) *Monster (First appears in CGW: Arcadia)

Villains

*Carmine Tango (First appears in #1) *Ziggurat/Coffin (First appears in #2) *Lord Alamout (First appears in #6) *Willie McCone (First appears in #21) *Gamble (First appears in #1) *Chaos Riders (First appear in #3) *Judgement Knights (First appear in #9) *Headhunter (First appears in #16) *One-Shot (First appears in #16) *The General (First appears in #20)

Others

These people may be antagonistic or beneficial (sometimes both) to X. Because of this and other characteristics, they do not qualify as a villain or ally: *Christie (First appears in #1) *The Kid (First appears in #5) *Mose Hughes (First appears in #10) *Kossy (First appears in #10) *Elizabeth Treaty (First appears in #21) *Vargas (First appears in #8) *Congressman DeMarco (First Appears in CGW: Arcadia) *Mayor Teal (First Appears in CGW: Arcadia) *Commissioner Anderson (First appears in CGW: Arcadia) *Diana Goretti (First appears in #5) *Gretchen (First appears in #1) *Challenge (Real name-Tommy Kafka. First appears in Hero Illustrated X Special #1) *Briggs *Detective Lewis *Detective Timothy *Peter Lwellyn (First appears in #1) *The Nurse (First appears in #5) *Ghost (First appears in CGW: Arcadia) *The Mask (First appears in: The Mask World tour #3)

External links

Grand Comics Database ProjectWriteups.orgComic Book DB
Characters created by Chris Warner Comics' Greatest World Dark Horse Comics titles Comics characters with accelerated healing Fictional swordfighters in comics Vigilante characters in comics