Anole (Victor Borkowski) is a mutant superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis and first appeared in issue #2 of New Mutants vol. 2 (August 2003). He was a student at the Xavier Institute and junior member of the X-Men. His reptilian mutation grants him superhuman abilities including wallcrawling, superhuman strength, a prehensile tongue, and adaptive camouflage.
Initially a supporting character in New Mutants vol. 2 and its relaunched title, New X-Men: Academy X, Weir and DeFilippis intended for the character to commit suicide early in the series after coming out as gay and finding himself rejected by his family and friends. According to the writers, the story was to serve as a message about intolerance. Marvel editors scrapped the story due to concerns about the controversy it might generate. The storyline was rewritten and the character survived. He has since became a fan favorite and began to be featured regularly throughout the series and as a main character in subsequent X-Men-related titles, including New X-Men and the short-lived Young X-Men.
During the Krakoan Age, Anole – now a young adult – becomes the co-owner and bartender of the tiki bar Green Lagoon on Krakoa. Following the X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch, Anole is one of the main characters of the second volume of NYX in July 2024, where he is now a bartender in New York City.
Publication history Victor Borkowski first appears in New Mutants vol. 2 #2 in August 2003. Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis originally wrote a storyline for New Mutants that was to take place between issues 8 and 10. The plot involved Victor committing suicide after coming out as gay and being rejected by his parents and his friends, serving as "a powerful message about what intolerance can do to people." Due to the controversial subject matter, the storyline was dropped, with Victor coming from an accepting family and hometown.
Despite only rare initial appearances as a supporting character, Victor developed a fan following. Victor was given the codename "Anole" ( ), a kind of lizard frequently and incorrectly known as an American chameleon, after it was suggested to Weir and DeFilippis by a fan via a post on their forum.Nunzio DeFilippis. ComixFan Forum - "New X-Men Q & A 2005 Part 2", p.11, http://www.comixfan.com/ X-World Comics Presents...Comixfan, the #1 Online Comics Resource! May 17, 2005. Accessed November 3, 2008. He continued to make numerous appearances during Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost's run on New X-Men, having a more active role in the plots than most of the other background characters.
Anole was featured as a main character beginning in New X-Men vol. 2 #37, illustrated by comic book artist Skottie Young. He was later added to the New X-Men as a teammate. Anole was a "pretty early pick" for new additions to the team, according to Yost, who felt that Anole had a decent set of abilities and represented "a kind of level-headed, good, normal kid." Additionally, Yost and Kyle felt adding Anole and the character Pixie to the New X-Men team gave the roster "tonal balance" and the opportunity to slightly "twist and warp" the characters through darker events to come in the series. While alluded to since his first main appearances in the franchise and confirmed off-panel during their run by DiFilippis and Weir and in Marvel character profiles, it was during this series in New X-Men (2nd Series) #43 that Anole's gay identity was stated and dealt with explicitly on-panel for the first time.
When the series ended, Anole was featured in a vignette entitled "Blend In" written and illustrated by Young in X-Men: Divided We Stand #1. The story explored the effects of the darker events in Yost and Kyle's run on younger characters such as Anole, Young feeling that younger characters were often improperly characterized like mature adults in how they dealt with large, traumatic events in comic series. He described his decision to illustrate and write about Anole as "a natural choice" and that he wanted to flesh out his previously unknown backstory, claiming that drawing Anole for a year during his time on New X-Men allowed him to understand the character. In developing Anole's backstory, Young also established the character's hometown as his own—Fairbury, Illinois. Young added that he chose to write Anole's divestment from the X-Men at the conclusion of the story in a way that would allow him to explore more of the character's future decisions and experiences at another time. Anole would later reappear as a team member in the main cast of Young X-Men as of Young X-Men #6 and as a supporting character in X-Men franchise crossover events such as X-Men: Manifest Destiny, Secret Invasion: X-Men, and X-Men: Nation X.
Anole was featured in the story "Good Judy", published as part of the 2021 issue Marvel's Voices: Pride. In an interview with AIPT, writer Terry Blas compared Anole's struggle with his appearance and self-image to those faced by gay people, who may be harmed by trying to live up to a certain body type.
In April 2024, it was announced that Anole would have a starring role in the second volume of NYX (vol. 2), set for a July 2024 release as part of the "X-Men: From the Ashes" relaunch. It is written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing with art by Francesco Mortarino. The new ongoing series centers on Anole and several other mutant young adults – Kamala Khan, Laura Kinney, Sophie Cuckoo, and Prodigy – attempting to adapt to life in New York City in the post-Krakoan Age when mutants are hated and feared even more due to the actions of Orchis.
Fictional character biography
Early life and arrival at Xavier's Victor Borkowski is a sixteen-year-old mutant born and raised in Fairbury, Illinois, a small, typical American town in which he lives a normal life despite his reptilian features. The close-knit community accepts him until anti-mutant sentiment begins to spread. For his own safety, his parents send him to the Xavier Institute, where he excels academically.
When the advisor system is set up at the Xavier Institute, Victor chooses Karma as his advisor and is given the code name Anole. During the formation of training squads throughout the school, he is reassigned to Northstar's Alpha Squadron where he serves as the squad leader. At first, he is depicted as close friends with fellow student Julian Keller and the other students in the Hellions, but he later becomes closer to his teammates. He is especially close to his mentor Northstar, who helps him to come to terms with his sexuality. Anole is deeply affected by Northstar's death, stating that Northstar understood him and was important as a figure he could confide in.
Post M-Day Anole is one of only 27 students at the Institute who does not lose his mutant powers in the aftermath of "House of M" (also known as Decimation or M-Day). The squad system is dissolved and the remaining students are merged into one group. Shortly afterward, Emma Frost sets up an all-out brawl amongst the remaining students to determine who will become the new team of X-Men trainees (dubbed the New X-Men); Victor is not selected for the squad, but remains at the school. When Northstar returns with his sister Aurora and attacks the Institute, Anole finds him and is able to temporarily snap him out of the mind control set in place by the Children of the Vault. Anole's joy at seeing his former mentor is short-lived, as Northstar returns to his mind-controlled status and knocks him out. The school is later attacked by William Stryker and his army of mutant-exterminating Purifiers, killing many of the students.
Joining the New X-Men During the New X-Men story arc "The Quest for Magik," Anole and his classmates are sucked into the dimension of Limbo by the demon Belasco. They are soon attacked by a large group of demons, and Anole takes charge, rallying the students around the defenseless Blindfold, only to have his right arm cut off by a demon. Later he is trapped in stone by the machinations of Darkchilde as she attempts to create a Soulsword from Pixie's soul. Anole manages to break himself free and stop Darkchilde from completing the process, saving Pixie. Anole then finds that he has generated a larger and stronger reptilian arm replacing the one he lost, a previously unknown aspect of his mutation. After helping to defeat Belasco, Anole and Pixie are made members of the New X-Men squad on recommendation of Rockslide, who threatens to quit if they are not appointed to the team.
Rockslide and X-23 later try to convince Anole to cut off his other arm in order to generate a stronger replacement. When he refuses, Rockslide calls him a sissy, which Anole finds offensive enough for him to reveal his sexual identity to Rockslide and attack him. Rockslide apologizes, swearing that he did not know. Later, in a misguided attempt at group bonding, Rockslide voices his acceptance of Anole's sexuality, outing him to some of the other students, though Loa states that she was already aware and that everyone already knew.
As a member of the New X-Men, Anole takes part in various missions with the team, including the events leading up to X-Men: Messiah Complex and through to its conclusion when Cyclops officially closes the school and disbands the X-Men. With the school closed, Anole returns to his family in Fairbury, Illinois.
Divided We Stand
A vignette in the two-part series Divided We Stand explored the after-effects of Anole's numerous traumatic experiences at the Xavier Institute during his return to his hometown. Northstar, now rehabilitated, is contacted by Cyclops to find Anole, who goes into hiding after accidentally attacking his own father due to posttraumatic stress disorder from his experiences at the Xavier Institute. Northstar discovers Anole at his tree house, unhappy to see his former mentor. At first, Northstar makes jokes, thinking Anole is having a problem with fitting in as both a mutant and as a gay teen. Anole explains that his town accepts him for who he is and that his problems come from Northstar, along with the other X-Men, for providing the students under their care with a poor education, stealing their innocence by constantly exposing them to danger, and then throwing them away by disbanding. Planning to run away, Anole leaves a note for his parents at the tree house and elbows Northstar in the face—similar to how Northstar attacked him in the past—and tells him to tell all of the former New X-Men not to come looking for him.
Young X-Men
Dani Moonstar personally recruits Anole to the Young X-Men team by visiting him at his new home. Anole is still apprehensive, maintaining his views from Divided We Stand, but is persuaded to join the team when Dani tells him that the X-Men have relocated to San Francisco, California, "a place renowned for its tolerance of mutants and... other minorities," a reference to Anole's gay identity. Moving to San Francisco, he engages in various missions with the Young X-Men, including assisting during the Skrull invasion of San Francisco.
When his teammate Dust dies from a hidden medical condition brought on by her fight with Magma, Anole once again voices his opinions about leaving the team as they are constantly put in danger with mortal consequences. Dust is revived by teammate Ink and she convinces the team not to disband.
Nation X