History:(Heroic Age: X-Men#1 - Leon Nunez entry - BTS) - Tattoo artist Leon Nunez based himself out of San Francisco, California (see comments).
LEON
NUNEZ
Real Name: Leon Nunez
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Owner/operator/tattoo artist at
Ink, Inc.
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: The LAPD, the Y-Men (Debrider,
Jesus, Jump Scare, Lightshow, Lojack, Miss Maillard, Carlos
Rodriguez, Julio Rodriguez, others);
formerly Ink (Eric Gitter)
Enemies: X-Men (Anole/Victor Borkowski, Dust/Sooraya Qadir, Jonas Graymalkin, Ink/Eric Gitter, Danielle Moonstar, Rockslide/Santo Vaccarro, Sunspot/Roberto Da Costa)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Cuzin," "Lucy" (nicknames)
Base of Operations: Utopia island;
formerly Apartment 222 in an unidentified apartment
complex in La Jolla, California, USA; San Francisco, California, USA (see comments)
First Appearance: (unidentified) Young X-Men
I#1 (June, 2008);
(identified) Young X-Men I#8 (January, 2009)
Powers/Abilities:
Leon Nunez is a mutant capable of utilizing his own will to bestow
others with the superhuman powers reflective of whatever symbolic
tattoo that he gave them. However, each tattoo Nunez creates saps a
little more of his will and too many active at once has been shown to
render him catatonic and comatose due to the intense strain on his
willpower.
Some examples of the powers Leon
has given others through tattoos are superhuman strength via a tattoo
of Colossus-like lines on their skin, flight via tattoos of wings,
telepathy via a tattoo of zigzagged lines reminiscent of the artistic
representation of Professor X's mental powers, the ability to cause
sickness in others via a biohazard logo tattoo, explosive punching
powers via a tattoo of a bomb, superhuman speed and sharp claws via
tattoos of cheetah spots, optic energy blasts via a tattoo resembling
the scars over Cable's eye, superhuman agility and dexterity via a
spider web tattoo, the ability to breathe fire from a dragon tattoo,
the ability to fire bullets from one's fingertips via a tattoo of a
handgun, healing powers from a tattoo of the Caduceus staff logo, the
ability to generate energy shields from a shield tattoo, Phoenix Force
powers from a Phoenix firebird tattoo, among many, many others.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 155 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
History:
(Heroic Age: X-Men#1 - Leon Nunez entry - BTS) - Tattoo artist Leon
Nunez based himself out of San Francisco, California (see
comments).
(Young X-Men I#9 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Leon acquired an apartment in La Jolla, California.
(Young X-Men I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Leon opened the Ink, Inc. tattoo parlor in La Jolla, California.
(Young X-Men I#9 (fb)) - Leon discovered he was a
mutant when he tattooed a rose on the back of a woman and found that
the tattoo smelled like an actual rose. At first thinking the rose
tattoo situation might've been all in his head, Leon convinced a young
man named Eric Gitter to get an explosion tattoo on his bicep as a way
of testing out his powers. When Eric developed powers from the tattoo,
Leon decided to manipulate Eric into thinking the powers were the
result of Eric's non-existent mutant powers rather than his own.
(Young X-Men I#8 (fb) - BTS) - Over a period of months, Leon Nunez became the regular tattoo artist for Eric Gitter. Leon remained off the grid from the more well-known mutants like the X-Men.
(Young X-Men I#9 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually, Leon felt
into $18,000 worth of debt with a large California gang and opted to
pay off his debt by providing each of the gang members with
superpower-creating tattoos, work that kept him busy over a period of
six months.
(Young X-Men I#1) - Leon Nunez was
convinced to give
Eric Gitter a tattoo on his hand despite the risk of losing his tattoo
artist license for providing a tattoo on hands or above the neck. When
Leon expressed worries of being caught, Eric assured him it would be
fine and that taking risks was part of "livin' fast and dyin' young."
Leon then questioned whether the tattoo on Eric's hand would even work
and Eric reminded Leon that his last tattoo had worked before they were
interrupted by police, who were seeking Eric. Eric jokingly tried to
claim Leon was Eric Gitter but Leon sarcastically revealed the truth,
prompting the police to question Eric about the heist of a woman's car
outside. Eric tried to stall, asking if Leon was almost finished, and
when the police began reading Eric his rights, Leon commented that he
didn't want any trouble in his tattoo parlor. Eric promised there
wouldn't be any trouble as Leon finished the tattoo. Eric then got up
and put his newly-tattooed hand, bearing a biohazard symbol, to the
face of one of the officers, prompting Leon to remind Eric that he had
promised no trouble. As the officer doubled over sick, Eric told Leon
he was just testing out the new tattoo, which seemed to work great.
Leon then watched as the second police officer hit Eric in the back of
the head and placed him under arrest.
(Young X-Men I#4) - After joining the training X-Men squad as Ink, Eric Gitter returned to Ink, Inc. and spoke with Leon regarding a tattoo that could make him smarter. At first thinking Ink wasn't serious, Leon finally concluded that he was indeed serious and the two began discussing what sort of symbol would work to make Ink smarter since his powers worked on symbolism, much like the biohazard symbol had given Ink the ability to make others sick. Leon suggested the possible symbols of a graduation cap, the MENSA logo and the IQ symbol before grabbing a pad of paper to sketch out other possible ideas. Upon seeing an old X-Men comic book, Leon noticed the zigzagged lines drawn around Professor X's head and Leon suggested giving Ink a tattoo of a zigzag line to grant Ink Professor X's telepathic powers. Despite being unsure if a zigzag line would actually work to provide him mental powers, Ink agreed to Leon's suggestion, noting that he could always grow his hair out to cover the tattoo if it ended up looking stupid. Ink then suggested Leon make it quick, as he had another tattoo idea and he had double-parked an X-Men jet.
(Young X-Men I#5 (fb)) - Following the zigzag line tattoo on the side of Ink's head, Leon Nunez tattooed a pair of wings on Ink's back.
(Young
X-Men I#7) - Leon was giving a woman a tattoo as
the Young
X-Man Dust was meeting with the captured cyborg Donald Pierce, who
informed Dust that, while her teammate Ink was not a mutant, Ink's
tattoo artist was.
(Young X-Men I#8 (fb) - BTS) - Leon gave tattoos of cheetah spots to
a criminal man.
(Young X-Men I#8) - After the X-Men confirmed that Ink was not a
mutant, Ink was surprised to learn of the Beast's theory that Ink's
tattoo artist was a mutant that bestowed whatever powers he wanted on
people via symbolic tattoos. Ink identified Leon Nunez to the X-Men and
theorized that Nunez himself might not even be aware of his own mutant
nature. When Ink tried to assure Cyclops that he was the only one
getting superhuman tattoos from Nunez, Cyclops revealed how a man named
Julio Rodriguez had recently been broken out of prison by his brother
Carlos, who punched through the prison wall thanks to a bomb tattoo.
Ink admitted he had not heard of them but opted not to help the X-Men
question Leon Nunez, feeling as if he no longer had need of the X-Men
since he wasn't actually a mutant. He then departed, wishing the X-Men
good luck in questioning Leon. Once Ink had left, Cyclops determined
that the X-Men had to clean up the mess starting with Leon Nunez
himself. Cyclops then sent the training X-Men subsquad to question
Nunez
at his tattoo parlor in La Jolla, California.
Parking their jet on the roof of Ink, Inc., Sunspot and Danielle Moonstar visited with Leon. When they asked if he was Leon Nunez, Leon replied that it depended on who wanted to know. The duo then revealed their connection to the X-Men to the disbelieving Leon and when they asked if he was aware of his mutant nature, Leon sarcastically asked why he wouldn't be aware of it. Sunspot then questioned whether Leon knew Eric Gitter, noting that Leon had been providing tattoos for Eric for months. Leon, again sarcastically, admitted to tattooing Eric and asked if providing tattoos was against the law. Sunspot then asked if Leon was familiar with Julio Rodriguez and as Leon became suspicious, unaware that the training X-Men Dust and Anole were secretly investigating Leon's back room, he refused to answer any more questions. With Leon no longer inclined to answer questions, the X-Men left his tattoo parlor but Dust was able to acquire a photo of a paintball park from Leon's office that included a player with a bomb tattoo matching the one on Carlos Rodriguez. Upon learning the park had been closed, the training X-Men deduced that the fugitive Rodriguez brothers were hiding out there and upon investigating, they found the Rodriguezs with two other men with tattoos provided by Leon. Once the X-Men engaged the men, who identified themselves as the Y-Men, they learned that Leon Nunez had tattooed the entire Y-Men gang.
(Young X-Men I#9) - While the training X-Men were battling the Y-Men, the young mutant Cipher brought a returning Ink to Leon Nunez's California apartment. Punching his way into the apartment, Ink surprised Leon and pinned him against the wall, confronting him with the information he had regarding Leon's tattoos on the Y-Men and his manipulations of Ink himself. Admitting that he had manipulated Ink into thinking he had mutant powers to conceal his own mutant tattoo work for the Y-Men, Leon was forced out of his apartment and back to his tattoo parlor to test a theory Ink had. While Leon was forced to give Ink yet another tattoo, this time one of the Caduceus staff logo, the X-Men continued battling the Y-Men and wondered why they had not asked Leon how subcutaneous ink could provide one with superhuman powers. Once Leon had finished the serpent, Ink mentioned wanting to one more tattoo despite Cipher's insistence that they needed to the La Jolla Paintball Park to assist their teammates. After being forced to provide Ink a tattoo of the Phoenix Force firebird over one of his eyes, Leon fell into a catatonic state due to the sheer amount of tattoos out there utilizing his will for superhuman powers. Leon was then taken to the X-Men's infirmary while Ink reunited with his X-Men teammates, using his new tattoos to first heal the gunshot Danielle Moonstar using the Caduceus staff tattoo and second remove the powers of the Y-Men using the Phoenix Force tattoo.
Following the Y-Men's defeat, Danielle Moonstar
and Sunspot met with Cyclops to explain what had happened and the
specifics of Leon Nunez's will-utilizing superhuman tattoos. After they
revealed how Leon was catatonic in the X-Men's infirmary, nearly
comatose from the sheer willpower sapped from him to maintain the
Phoenix Force-level power contained within Ink's tattoo, the two senior
X-Men leaders explained how, if Leon were to wake up from his
near-comatose state and return to his normal mental state, the power
contained Ink's tattoos would disappear and Ink would return to just
being a normal human with tattoos.
(Heroic Age: X-Men#1 - BTS) - After being given the responsibilities of commanding the USA's superhuman forces, Steve Rogers sought to research various mutants to update himself on their status following the Decimation event and one of the mutants he researched was Leon Nunez. Reviewing the known information on Nunez, Rogers learned that the comatose Nunez was under the protection of the X-Men. Despite this, Rogers concluded that Nunez was a very dangerous man with purely selfish motivations.
(X-Men: Earth's Mutant Heroes - Utopia entry - BTS) - Apparently recovering, Leon Nunez was incarcerated on the X-Men's Utopia island headquarters alongside other X-Men enemies.
(X-Men: Gold II#18 (fb) - BTS) - Ink began secretly having Leon
Nunez provide him with more superpowering tattoos. Some of the new
tattoos Nunez added gave Ink a healing factor and the ability to fire
optic energy blasts similar to Cyclops.
(X-Men: Gold II#18 - BTS) - Months later, during a battle between the X-Men and the alien Dartayus Union, Ink was hit and when a worried Storm checked on him, Ink assured her he was fine as removed his shirt and announced that he had been keeping his tattoo artist busy.
(Astonishing Iceman I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Leon Nunez began providing
tattoos to a new group of Y-Men seeking superhuman powers to improve
their lives.
(Astonishing Iceman I#3 - BTS) - While the Captain America of the
Railways was protecting the disadvantaged Y-Men, the genocidal Mister
Clean commented that it was sick for people to be copping powers off of
some "low-rent mutie tat artist."
Comments: Created by Marc Guggenheim, Yanick Paquette and Ray Snyder.
Leon was apparently a fan of the late 1990s movie Mystery Men, as there was a poster for the film in his tattoo parlor.
Leon Nunez's entry in Heroic Age: X-Men#1 states that he was based out of San Francisco and was last seen in San Francisco. While at the time, it was true that he was last seen in San Francisco, as he was comatose in the X-Men's infirmary in their Utopia headquarters near San Francisco, the Young X-Men comic firmly established that Leon's apartment and tattoo parlor were in La Jolla, California, which is a subsection of San Diego not San Francisco. Young X-Men I#4 even established that Leon's tattoo parlor was far enough away from Utopia that Ink had to take one of the X-Men's jets to get there. However, it's possible might've originally been from San Francisco so that is how I'm treating this information for the purposes of this profile. It's possible he was based of San Francisco but maintained a small apartment in La Jolla so he could remain close to his tattoo parlor for work purposes, though it's also possible he moved from San Francisco to La Jolla permanently when he opened the tattoo parlor. Another explanation might be that Steve Rogers, who was preparing the file on Nunez in Heroic Age: X-Men might've gotten the information incorrect or it could've just been an error in the actual comic book itself.
In Young X-Men I#9, it was stated that Leon Nunez was catatonic and nearly comatose. Heroic Age: X-Men#1 confirms that Nunez did indeed become fully comatose and that he was being protected by the X-Men. Nice little bit of continuity and follow up on behalf of the writer of his Heroic Age: X-Men entry!
Leon Nunez was not mentioned by name in X-Men: Gold II#18 but Ink mentions that he'd been keeping his tattoo artist busy as he displayed new powers. Nunez was Ink's former tattoo artist and the source of Ink's powers so that suggests the "tattoo artist" Ink mentioned was indeed Nunez. There's also the matter of the writer of that issue being Nunez's creator, Marc Guggenheim. One might think that it couldn't be Nunez, who had last been seen on panel comatose, but the Utopia OHotMU entry in X-Men: Earth's Mutant Heroes mentions that Nunez was incarcerated on Utopia. We'd last seen him in the infirmary there so if he'd been incarcerated, it stands to reason that Nunez must have recovered (perhaps due to Ink using his Phoenix powers to remove the tattoo-based powers of the Y-Men, which would theoretically have restored Nunez's will that had put into their tattoos) and subsequently incarcerated, which would have then left him aware enough to begin providing Ink with new tattoos...
Nunez was also not mentioned by name in Astonishing Iceman I#3 but Mister Clean refers to a "low-rent mutie tat artist," a clear reference to Nunez's status as a mutant tattoo artist that empowers others through his tattoos.
This profile was completed 09/12/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Leon Nunez should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Young X-Men I#1 (June, 2008) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Yanick
Paquette (pencils), Ray Snyder (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Young X-Men I#4 (September, 2008) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Yanick
Paquette (pencils), Ray Snyder (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Young X-Men I#5 (October, 2008) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Yanick
Paquette (pencils), Ray Snyder (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Young X-Men I#7 (December, 2008) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Ben Oliver
(art), Nick Lowe (editor)
Young X-Men I#8 (January, 2009) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Rafa
Sandoval (pencils), Roger Bonet (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Young X-Men I#9 (February, 2009) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Rafa
Sandoval (pencils), Roger Martinez, Greg Adams (inks), Nick Lowe
(editor)
Heroic Age: X-Men#1 (February, 2011) - Michael Hoskin (head writer,
coordinator), Chad Anderson, Mike O'Sullivan, Peter Sanderson, Markus
Raymond, Anthony Flamini, Kevin Garcia, Jacob Rougemont, Madison Carter
(writers), Jeff Christiansen (OHotMU overseer), Stuart Vandal (writer,
OHotMU overseer), Rafa Sandoval (Leon Nunez entry art), Jeff Youngquist
(editor)
X-Men: Earth's Mutant Heroes (July, 2011) - Jeff Christiansen, Mike
O'Sullivan (head writers, coordinators), Stuart Vandal, Markus Raymond
(assistant coordinators, writers), Mike Fichera (assistant coordinator,
writer, art refurbishment), Sean McQuaid, Madison Carter, Rob London,
Michael Hoskin, Kevin Garcia, Patrick Ryall, Ronald Byrd, Chris Biggs,
Jeph York, Matt Forbeck (writers), Diogenes Neves (Utopia entry art),
Gus Vazquez, Tom Chu (select character art), Gally Articola (art
refurbishment), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
X-Men: Gold II#18 (February, 2018) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Ken
Lashley (art), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Astonishing Iceman I#3 (December, 2023) - Steve Orlando (writer),
Vincenzo Carratu (art), Mark Basso (editor)
First posted: 09/06/2026
Last updated: 09/12/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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