Skinner is said to be the fiercest of the Lilin, and he hunted without prejudice. Human, mutant or lilin were not spared when Skinner came for them. However, times change, and Skinner had eventually put the old ways behind him, finding peace among those he once slaughtered. Skinner found a wife who bore him children, but his new life was about to come to an end when his mother walked the world of men once more. Lilith, along with Pilgrim and Blackout, came to Skinner’s home to bring him back into the fold, but Skinner refused, violently. Nevertheless, Lilith convinced Skinner that his rightful place was among those of his kind, and he left his new life behind in order to hunt down Ghost Rider and Blaze.
First, Skinner tracked Blaze to a diner and threatened the lives of the people inside until Blaze agreed to allow Skinner to hunt him down. Blaze fled with Skinner hot on his trail, but suddenly decided to stop and wait. Skinner was disappointed with his prey’s decision but claimed he would kill him either way. During their fight, Skinner revealed to Blaze that he had to kill his own family because his mother demanded his services – and also to save his children from becoming her pawns – but he would settle the score with her after he fulfilled his obligation to kill Blaze. Blaze would not accept defeat so easily and used his hellfire shotgun over and over again until Skinner fell. Unfortunately for Blaze, Skinner doesn’t die so easily. His skeleton – which may or may not be Skinner’s true form – rose up and attacked Blaze again shouting how Blaze took the last memories of his family from him by burning their flesh off his bones. A timely intervention from Ghost Rider saved Blaze’s life, and a disgusted Blaze fired on Skinner repeatedly until the hellfire left him just a pile of ashes. Ghost Rider and Blaze left to hunt down more of the Lilin as Skinner regenerated with thoughts of revenge.
Skinner soon healed and was on the hunt for new victims in order to use their flesh to give him a human appearance once again. Despite his boasts of missing the hunt, Skinner remained distraught over choosing to kill his wife and children because Lilith came back into his life. He swore on the blood of his children he would wear her flesh before he was through. As Blaze and Ketch stopped at a roadside diner, Skinner attempted to run them down with a stolen truck. Ketch became Ghost Rider, and he and Blaze were locked in combat with Skinner. Blaze was badly hurt, and Ghost Rider was on the verge of winning the battle when Lilith appeared with her ally, Centurious. The two of them took Blaze and Skinner with them leaving Ghost Rider alone and defeated.
Sometime later, Skinner found himself a prisoner in a government research and containment center dubbed The Black Hole. Skinner was to go under the knife so those in charge could see what he was made of, and the center’s overseer, Spook, did his best to make Skinner feel welcome, including taunting him over the deaths of his family. This only fueled his rage, and Skinner constantly tested the facility’s containment units in order to find a way to escape. Other guests of The Black Hole included Scarecrow and a recently captured Ghost Rider. This proved beneficial for Skinner because once Ghost Rider escaped, he knocked out enough of the center’s systems to permit Skinner to escape as well. The resulting prison break forced Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. to act fast before the subjects inside made it back into the population, and even the Avengers were called in for back up. As they were securing the facility, Skinner had a chance to exact his revenge when he and Ghost Rider met up for a third time. The battle was short but furious, and Ghost Rider found out his Penance Stare did not work on Skinner the same way it does for others. Ghost Rider also felt the pain of Skinner’s victims, but the stare left Skinner weakened and beaten, still longing for vengeance.
Skinner did eventually make it out of The Black Hole, and with the seeming demise of Lilith, he set out to end his feud with Ghost Rider and Blaze. In the end, Skinner lost his struggle and was incarcerated at the Vault. After the destruction of the penitentiary to accommodate superhuman criminals by the U-Foes, Skinner quite possibly escaped and is waiting for his chance for retribution against those he feels were responsible for the death of his family.
