Created by Bob Layton and Jackson Guice and appearing in X-Factor #2, as the mutant son of Dr Carl Maddicks, Artie's characterization was as a mute mutant whose father was trying to cure him. Upon his father's death, Artie became a ward of X-Factor appearing sporadically in the X-Titles in the mid to late 1980s. These included the first series of X-Factor and the New Mutants and appearing in a supporting role in the limited series, X-Terminators. He also was seen in titles that were affected by the Mutant Massacre such as Thor and Power Pack before his character fell into comic book limbo with his appearances being limited and occasional. In the mid-1990s, Artie resurfaced, alongside Leech, as a ward of Gene Nation in the pages of Generation X. How he came about being with Gene Nation has yet to be addressed. Later, he and Leech become wards and supporting cast members of Generation X, alongside Franklin Richards, who had become an "orphan" after the "death" of his parents. This led the three boys to star in their own limited comic book series, Daydreamers, alongside Man-Thing and Tana Nile. After the Generation X title ended with issue #75, Artie fell into limbo again with his fate unclear. Since the end of Generation X, Leech reappeared having been captured by Weapon X and later as part of The 198. Artie was briefly mentioned as being one of the many mutants who was depowered and whose powers were being "used" by the Collective in New Avengers #18, and although the full circumstances about his being powerless and where he has been have yet to be revealed, he appeared as guests of Franklin's birthday party within Fantastic Four #574. Artie Maddicks received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #4.
Fictional character biography
Artie's mutation gives him a lumpy pink form with no nose, large round eyes, and renders him mute. As a ward of X-Factor, Artie is a member of the "X-Terminators".
St. Simons
When X-Factor splits their wards between two boarding schools, Artie attends St. Simons. During the Inferno, Artie is abducted by the demonN'Astirh. Before he is rescued, Artie witnesses at least two murders. After helping to foil a mutant kidnapping plot, Artie gains an unofficial grandmother in Ida Fassbender, a nervous but kindly woman who lives near St. Simons.
Generation X
disrupts the school with another kidnapping scheme, this time successful. Artie then becomes a ward of the Massachusetts Academy. When Black Tom Cassidy attacks the school, Man-Thing saves Artie and his friends. As a group, they have several adventures.
Artie loses his mutant powers after M-Day. Artie moves to the Baxter Building where he gets a special helmet made by Valeria Richards. It allows him to communicate by creating images in the air - he remains mute due to the deformity caused by his mutations. Joining Artie is his long time friend Leech. Later, the original Fantastic Four leave our reality for what they assume to be four minutes. Weeks pass instead. This possibility had been planned for and the Foundation children are watched over by a trusted roster of replacement members. The Future Foundation help re-create the multi-verse after the events of the Secret War. For the Foundation, five years have passed, while a much smaller amount of time has passed at home. Artie has spent all this time with Reed and Sue Richards and the many fellow students of the Foundation.
Powers and abilities
Artie is a young mutant with bright pink skin and a lumpy, misshapen skull. He possesses the ability to project telepathic holograms of his thoughts. Usually, he uses his power to communicate, because he is mute. However, he can make large-scale holograms as a means of defence. Artie can also tap into and project images of the thoughts of other people, at times on the scale of a city's population. He can also use this limited form of telepathy to mind-lock people and prevent them from acting. Artie was stripped of his mutant abilities by the Scarlet Witch at the conclusion of House of M, but now wields these same powers artificially through the use of a helmet created by Valeria Richards.
In other media
Artie Maddicks appears in the film, , portrayed by Bryce Hodgson as a student at Xavier's school. In the film, Artie was shown at the X-Men's field trip to a museum, where Storm was teaching a class. When Stryker's team attacked the X-Mansion, Artie was shown as one of the students captured, but was eventually rescued by Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men. Unlike the comic version, Artie wasn't bald or had pink skin, but had a forked snake tongue and was mute. It's uncertain if he possesses telepathy similar to his comic counterpart.
